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The Cardinal
Senior Scribe
Canada
647 Posts |
 Posted - 31 Mar 2004 : 20:44:30
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Recently while watching that classic movie "Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail" we came to wonder. When one is devoted to a God in Faerun, and said god sends them on some quest or task for some relic or somesuch, why do such people look upon is as a blessing of some sort? The various seekers for the gods ( in the various books of WotSQ, Crucible: the Trial of Cyric the mad, etc) have always sacrificed much, lost perhaps everything, and risk anything else in order to fulfill this 'Sacred Quest, Holy Crusade, or Mystical Pizza Delivery'. Malik would have had a decent life without Cyric messing things up, The person(No spoilers here yet ) in The latest WotSQ risks salvation, peace and happiness on a fool's errant, so our question to other scribes is Why? What idiocy drives these fools? Any ideas?
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It has to be Certain, the Gods Hate Me. For whatever irrevokable Fate, I have been made the walking Joke. Either that, or Beshaba is overlyfond Of Me.
-Unknown |
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Jamey
Acolyte
Canada
7 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2004 : 21:23:55
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Hail!
I would think that it is usually considered a blessing becasue of what it suggests about the character and capability of the chosen one. Clearly, a god is not going to chose a screw up to complete some ultra-important task. So, if nothing elses, being "chosen" suggests that, aye, one's god see's them, and also considers them a cut above the rest ... considers them worthy.
As for why one would give up the "good life" for the toil of the quest ... I would think because they believe in the quest and/or the god who sent them on it, they believe that their reward will await them in the "hereafter", perhaps that life will become intolerable, a living death, if the quest does not succeed, but they believe ...
My campaign currently includes a paladin of Torm who has been chosen to complete a quest. As the quest weighs more heavily upon him everyday he has grown more lustful and indulgent, and has even suggested that he will quit the service of Torm upon the quests completion. Most of his companions merely chalk it up to "the weight of the quest".
Little do they know that their righteous companion died over a year ago, or that his corpses is now inhabitted by a devil. The quest that they are on was laid on the devil by Tiamat, and is something of a variation on the Northern Journey campaign, requiring the demon to act as a vehicle of Tiamt's and Sammaster's vengeance. Anyway, the personality change does not seem to in any way surprise anyone ... despite some fairly drastic experiences.
Frith!
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Targon Moonrise
Learned Scribe
163 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2004 : 21:24:55
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| I think they fill so devoted they'd give their life and everything to their god. |
May Melkor smile upon every spell you cast. |
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Brother Ezra
Learned Scribe
USA
268 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2004 : 21:36:45
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Consider also the repercussions of refusing to undertake a task assigned to you by a omnipotent entity. Anyone heard of Job? |
"Suffering is the touchstone of all spiritual growth."
-St. Sollars the Twice-Martyred |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2004 : 21:39:20
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Monty Python and the Holy Grail is funny by juxtaposing conventions of medieval romance with modern (Tolkien's Sixth Age or whichever it is) 20th-century attitudes. Very broadly, the premodern mind places value (holiness, sanctity, prestige, mana, etc.) on the universal, mythic and transcendent, while the modern mind instead valorizes the particular, historical and personal. Now, the Realms is anachronistic and it certainly has people who are selfish and secular, but it also has people who seek greater truth and purpose by aligning themselves with the archetypal gods.
Modern people are weird. |
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SiriusBlack
Great Reader
USA
5517 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2004 : 23:41:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Cardinal Deimos
Why? What idiocy drives these fools? Any ideas?[/navy]
Sincere faith and belief. |
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DDH_101
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1272 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2004 : 01:23:11
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| Deimos, for good characters, it is to help their god and the church. They know that if they are willing to do as their god asks, they will have a good afterlife instead of ending up in Kelemvor's Realm. For evil characters, they know that if they do as their god saids, they will gain powers and respect. For example, Fzoul is loyal to Bane and does many things for the church. To reward him for that, Bane makes Fzoul his chosen and gives him powers. |
"Trust in the shadows, for the bright way makes you an easy target." -Mask |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2004 : 17:29:16
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| Faith has nothing to do with religion, it's what happens in the absence of actual religious experience. |
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SiriusBlack
Great Reader
USA
5517 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2004 : 17:39:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Faraer
Faith has nothing to do with religion, it's what happens in the absence of actual religious experience.
Faith can tie in with someone's relgion or it can be entirely separate. |
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Tyros
Acolyte
12 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2004 : 19:17:30
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Hail!
quote:
Originally posted by SiriusBlack
quote:
Originally posted by Faraer
Faith has nothing to do with religion, it's what happens in the absence of actual religious experience.
Faith can tie in with someone's relgion or it can be entirely separate.
Indeed! The flock of science is filled with as many faithful as the flock of religion ever has been. Most folk are believers, having faith in the better knowledge of folk closer to the "phenom", but with no actual knowledge (of the phenom) of their own. There is nothing wrong with that, and alot right with it.
Frith! |
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Lina
Senior Scribe
Australia
469 Posts |
Posted - 02 Apr 2004 : 10:03:40
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Its because they get suckered into doing things for their god due to the promised rewards, either in the physical realm or afterlife or both. And if they refuse... well, a god always has other devout followers to choose from. |
“Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows! Buried in the flow of time. In thy great name. I pledge myself to darkness. All the fools who stand in our way shall be destroyed…by the power you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!!!”
"Thieves? Ah, such an ugly word... look upon them as the most honest sort of merchant."
-Oglar the Thieflord |
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Gods, Sacred Quests and Blessings
