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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Feb 2018 : 12:20:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Ummm... that's a CANON PrC, IIRC...
There are no prestige classes in AD&D you heretic! 
LOL, but that idea of them ripping out their eye does predate 3e. I remember it from I think a dragon article discussing orc worship or something. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2018 : 12:28:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Storyteller Hero
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
-Stepping back for a second, I think we're losing sight of something: deities are balls of divine energy. Gruumsh doesn't actually have eyes. He lets himself be portrayed as such, takes physical avatar form with only one eye, does not punish his priests/shaman for covering an eye in homage of him, so it obviously somehow benefits him. The only benefit I can see would be that by "validating" the Corellon Larethian took his eye, it will always keep the "it's us or them" mentality that is basically the framework of Orc society.
Based on how non-avatar battles between gods have been portrayed in novels and in splatbooks, I believe that it may be more accurate to say that although the gods don't have physical bodies in the mortal sense, they do have physical bodies in the conceptual sense. A god can be wounded or crippled by another being of such great power that they can affect matter on a conceptual level.
A conceptual body would be both physical and metaphysical (matter, spirit, and concept combined), so while it would become more difficult to harm a deity the higher up they rank, it is not impossible.
It's like when the Q on Star Trek were able to harm each other even though they are otherwise omnipotent and can't be harmed by any means that mortals could conceive of.
I'd say that Storyteller Hero has a point here. Gods may exist in multiple "dimensions" as I know we've discussed. So, rather than them simply being balls of energy that can appear as whatever they like at any second... maybe these restrictions from other "dimensions" confine them to certain forms. Essentially, maybe they have to "grow" the forms that they extend here as avatars somewhere else and then "transport" them across the "dimensional barrier" for those avatars to interact with the world... and where they're grown they have to mirror the "reality" of themselves there. Now, they can change their appearance and whatnot, maybe they can even transfer bodies, etc... these are all tricks that mortals can do... but just like with mortals it takes energy... also just like with mortal magic, maybe there are ways to see through it... so if you don't want to be called a "fake god" you don't do that kind of thing often. There essentially has to be a guiding reason in my book for why these beings keep these forms (now, granted, I just gave an option for orcs saying he's doing it for the faith energy, but that can also just being taking apples and making apple juice).
One thing that comes to mind for instance is Cyric "killing" Leira in Limbo (and I know everyone's heard my theories of Mask and Leira in cahoots, and Mask simply absorbing/hiding Leira). Where am I going with this? If Mask and Leira were in cahoots... and if they were doing this in the service of Ao, because the Time of Troubles was something else behind the scenes..... then MAYBE there was a reason for Tyr being blinded. Maybe Ao didn't need the god of justice "seeing" the truth of things, and so as he kicked off the ToT he was already resigned to coming up with some reason to strike Tyr blind to allow Leira and Mask to pull off the Cyrinishad (or Leira becoming said artifact and infecting Cyric with madness). As I see it, Cyric, Kelemvor, and Midnight were all patsies put into place for a reason. Even Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul may have gotten their divinity leading into this same intrigue (which even more comes back to "who is the true Bane now"). Similarly, during the ToT, Ao may have clued Helm in on things, revealing that he too would need to fake his death (possibly with the aid of Leira and Mask). Ultimately, Shar was heading into a new Shadow Epoch... and lord knows how many of those that realmspace has had over time (we only know of the one... there may have been several).... and ultimately, all of these intrigues may have been centered around stopping that from happening (because maybe Shar was trying to set herself up to supplant Ao... and despite all his supposed power, maybe some of these gods are actually close to him in power level... maybe Shar allowed herself to come down during the ToT in hopes that she could take Selune's power.... she may have seen that time as a great time to hunt down and subsume godly entities). In the end, stopping another shadow epoch via a lot of divine shenanigans may have been the end goal.
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Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
Edited by - sleyvas on 09 Feb 2018 14:03:32 |
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When did Orcs come to Faerun
