My posting ability will be somewhat limited until Tuesday. Headed back home for a few days' leave.

@Dead Cruiser No problem-o, jump back in when you're able!

While I've just been floating about, I realized that I forgot to say that the banners for this are quite beautiful. I've never been able to make banners but I've always found them to be an additive to the feel one gets from a roleplay when you first read its plot.

Edit: I'll probably get to work on the description for Goethia now. And possible work on some descriptions of animals as well. Sort of wrote a description for the Goeing bird when Transience wrote it into existence.

I propose that we divide the Pantheon into 7 ranks of gods, the highest being the oldest and strongest and the lowest being the youngest and weakest. These ranks will be divided into what I call the Vanguards.

The First Vanguard contains the gods who existed from the beginning of time—or perhaps transcended it. They include Tael, Novissah, Faerthus, and Andurias (Perhaps? Depends on his role, which I do not know). I don't know if any of the other gods fit into the First Vanguard, but that hinges more on the importance of specific elements and how they govern the universe.

Thoughts on the proposal? Any idea what the prime elements that control every aspect of the universe are, perhaps? I know thus far that Time and Wisdom/Knowledge must be in that highest level because we're talking about stuff that's everywhere—all of those things are infinite and have an effect on things.

Maybe I'm just rambling, this might be a silly idea that we don't need to elaborate since I know it's not intrinsic to the plot, but I feel like it would fill some gaps in our knowledge.

I propose that we divide the Pantheon into 7 ranks of gods, the highest being the oldest and strongest and the lowest being the youngest and weakest. These ranks will be divided into what I call the Vanguards.

The First Vanguard contains the gods who existed from the beginning of time—or perhaps transcended it. They include Tael, Novissah, Faerthus, and Andurias (Perhaps? Depends on his role, which I do not know). I don't know if any of the other gods fit into the First Vanguard, but that hinges more on the importance of specific elements and how they govern the universe.

Thoughts on the proposal? Any idea what the prime elements that control every aspect of the universe are, perhaps? I know thus far that Time and Wisdom/Knowledge must be in that highest level because we're talking about stuff that's everywhere—all of those things are infinite and have an effect on things.

Maybe I'm just rambling, this might be a silly idea that we don't need to elaborate since I know it's not intrinsic to the plot, but I feel like it would fill some gaps in our knowledge.

Lore is always important. We may not need any of this but is does seem like these Gods and Goddesses do deserver different rankings.

Edit:

My two cents on that matter: I feel like we should account for heterodoxy and alternate religions altogether. My personal preference to setting mythology is an approach of "everything is true, and nothing is true." When religions and myth becomes accurate description of cosmology and history, it loses what differentiated it from science and study. Not trying to sound like I'm wearing a particular oft-ridiculed hat, but religion is truest when it is the best efforts of people to explain why the world is the way it is. Not that "true" cosmologies cannot be good or interesting, as the Elder Scrolls has an utterly fascinating and well-constructed mythos. Mostly because it draws from real religions such as Hindu and Gnosticism.

My two cents on that matter: I feel like we should account for heterodoxy and alternate religions altogether. My personal preference to setting mythology is an approach of "everything is true, and nothing is true." When religions and myth becomes accurate description of cosmology and history, it loses what differentiated it from science and study. Not trying to sound like I'm wearing a particular oft-ridiculed hat, but religion is truest when it is the best efforts of people to explain why the world is the way it is. Not that "true" cosmologies cannot be good or interesting, as the Elder Scrolls has an utterly fascinating and well-constructed mythos. Mostly because it draws from real religions such as Hindu and Gnosticism.

Hmm, I would indeed have to agree here. I feel that some of our Gods would be from separate religions. They all would exist on the same plane and there may be a few who's power's collide which I'm sure could be reasoned into the way the world was formed in an overall view. As you have stated though, I feel as if each separate religion should have a different way to explain why and how the world is the way it is now. There would just be an sort of story woven from the separate creations stories which would tell how the world formed. Though, it may just be better to keep them separate. Anyway, on to the main reason I believe that some of our Gods are from separate religions. To begin we must cast an eye at the opening post of our dear GM where his/her character is sitting a star filled space which is virtually empty. Now we look at my character.

Pricia is found in a lush forest in night time after her death and, quite like Ansur's empty plane, time has no real presence here as mere seconds can pass thousands of years. Meanwhile, Ellarian and Altim sit in a plane similar to Ansur's. Why would Pricia's plane be any different than the other's? Sure you could explain that each plane is a space in which the dead heroes see only which they want to see but I prefer the answer the some Gods rule over a space similar to others while others don't. Goethia, for example, rules over a plane of the after life which looks almost like a forest at night time and only those who she favor's have been allowed into it. She could very well be from a separate pantheon than the other Gods and manifests her plane of the after life in a separate fashion than others do as a part of this. Anyway, this is just my ranting on the idea of separate pantheons for the night.

This is actually an incredibly interesting discussion. I will say that I never planned explicitly for there to be one big pantheon or multiple pantheons around which many religions have formed, but the way that different interpretations form based on a lack of solid information one way or the other is... intriguing. Hey, it's almost like real world religions and how differing opinions can manifest into entirely separate ideas.

The main reasons I imply that the gods all belong to the same pantheon are that: a.) the first post in the OOC indicates a single pantheon, pantheon singular and b.) the Bastion of Light is a fire that represents the lights of all the gods, implying that their powers combined are interrelated and represent a unified force of order in the world.

While it can be argued that they are from separate religions, I'm given the impression that they originate from the same religion and that cults and sects specifically devoted to specific deities are regional—for instance, Faerthus is extensively worshipped in Cyndaria, but in other regions may not be as heavily emphasized despite his importance. This is analogous to Hinduism in the real world and how Hinduism defines important gods but acknowledges the existence of lesser deities and a pantheon of gods that are as numerous as the stars in the sky and how Hindus may express devotion to a single god while acknowledging the presence of others, especially in their rituals, beliefs, and practices. I also believe that they might originate from the same pantheon because it is written in the lore that Ansur brought the gods (plural) to Ansus, which is an important fact to note because it leads us to believe that Ansur did in fact recognize multiple gods in the same religion and that the people who he led to Ansus simply had patron gods that they worshipped above the others, with varying degrees of devotion to the gods as a whole.

But the afterlife, as presented to Ellarian, Altim, and Ansur, is extremely similar, and that in turn makes it seem that the afterlife they are presented with is the same. It could be that the believers themselves merely see what they want to see or that the gods do rule over the universe together but have separate domains into which they admit their most devout. It could even be that the realm the legends themselves entered after death was merely temporary under the notion that it lacks time and is merely like an egg before their rebirth because their souls never fully left the mortal world. The idea that gods have separate 'pocket dimensions' and 'personal planes' has nothing to do with what religion they belong to or whether or not they have an interaction with other gods.

But the world itself begs that the gods interact in some way. Even in the lore of our characters, it's given that divine intervention is a common theme, but that divine intervention is universally recognized across Ansus; the people of Ansus know that there are other gods and do not deny their existence, hence the likelihood of a common religion. Furthermore, that divine intervention has an effect and a consequence in the physical world. The entanglement of their controls over the physical world, therefore, begs that the gods must interact and exist together on some level. In better words, they all have an effect on the same world; therefore, they all must exist in that same world.

Another thing, how do we know that science and study are completely separate from religion and myth in this world? This world may have not experienced that sort of divergence which exists in our own, wherein some time ago science tore itself from religion to become a separate field unto itself. It could very much be that in this world, science and religion aren't entirely separate. Likewise, we could suppose the opposite. But we don't have definitive history that suggests that religion and science are separate, nor do we have definitive history that suggests that the gods come from separate religions. If anything, religion and study could be very close, and multiple sects/denominations could have emerged from the same religion in which the pantheon of all the gods are contained, these sects all having common tenets but devotions and commitments to different gods, all the while submitting to the truth that all the gods exist and have sovereignty.

TLDR: I don't think there are different religions, but I do think there are sects or schools of worship of a single, polytheistic religion that is similar to Hinduism. That religion traces its source on Ansus to Ansur, who was born of a god, very well could know of the other gods, and could hold to the belief that they belong to the same religion.

What I intended to create was a structure for that religion's pantheon based around the cosmology of this world, which has yet to be fully determined.

A lot of our conclusions so far are heavily deterministic and imply that the roots for many of these ideas exist in the first place when in reality, the evidence that we draw from could also be manipulated easily to show that the other opinion could hold equal truth, due to the lack of a canon that has established either opinion as true.

Edit: But I don't know. I want to avoid trying to apply paradigms and philosophies that, despite making perfect sense and being rooted in fact in the real world, do not hold so well in a universe that is very clearly fantasy, especially when it's obvious that this universe we're taking part in is separate from our own and is removed to a degree from the logic, realism, and rationale of our world. I can't make the claim that any one of us is particularly wrong, and neither can that same claim be made against me, especially since, you know, this is fantasy, and the world, in our case, is very much up for interpretation. I just kinda wish I didn't have to worry about the alternate religions or the heterodoxi-whatchamacallit because this world doesn't have to be 100% firmly bound by real world rules.

*throws himself a small party as his fast mobile internet has been restored, though frankly it will end pretty much in an hour or two since I give it from my phone to my laptop >_> tche...*

Wait what on earth have I missed * sees the long phylosophical talks going on* O_O damn, I missed quite the interresting thing going on while I was asleep.

Yeah man, this shit got deep. It's actually a really interesting read, though. I'm just preparing to give raven a present for blowing my mind.

!!! he deserves a present!!!

I personally do like the idea of all gods to be connected in the same pantheon. Afterall Ansus is one land now. Even if they weren't originally it would not be a surprise if they were summed up after the unification.
I personally based the fox goddess and her followers on a myth from my country. And I'm pretty happy how it turned out!

I'm going to post what I have in way of responses now.

@Blackbeard This is important for you because I am aware you haven't posted in the current 'round' yet. Luckily, as each arc is moving at different paces it shouldn't actually matter. This works better for me, as splitting up the responses and doing yours separately actually reduces the hefty workload for me a bit. Everybody wins!

EDIT: @rivaan what myth is the fox goddess based off of? I don't think I can pinpoint it.

The fox goddess herself is not really based much on a myth itself. But the entire myth where I based her fondness of tricking and playing pranks on people, and her followers be almost otherworldly beauties dressed in etherial clothing, there is a myth in my country, about women that roam the forests. Beautiful beyond compare, wearing white fine robes, with crows made from flowers. They live in the forest and play tricks and pranks on the unweary travelers who pass through them, never something dangerous though. There are many tales from the past of those encountering those creatures, thus it became a legend. Though there is also another kind of those women, who are considered bad... they lead people to their deaths and so on, but let's leave those ones alone :3 mine here are the good kind~

Speaking of deities, one thing I always found interesting was setting or stories where the god's strength is based on the faith of their followers (numbers, strength of faith, etc.).

It provides a nice reason for why the gods cared about the world (enough to have agents acting in their name or even to involve themselves directly) and it also can help to explain why some gods might have vanished (even before they began being actively hunted) or changed (based on how people believed in them).

Part I of my post is up, a short post, wherein Harald Silvertongue rages against the world and the gods.

Part II is in the works, wherein the Green Knight returns.

Lots happened while I was away! I'll post later tonight hopefully @Transience you can reply when you like, if you would like my story to fall back a little to give you some breathing room then have at it. I'll post and you reply when you plan to :)

On the discussion on differing religions. I propose (And I haven't read everything yet so I might be reiterating someone elses point) that there IS a set pantheon of gods that everyone draws from, yet each hero (Or at least heroes from vastly different times) would recognize these gods differently. For instance a goddess of the wilds, Goethia to Invisible and his character, but to someone else they could be known by a different name and possibly a different myth from which they were born/began. This way we have a set structure of a Pantheon of gods for ease sake, but one that attunes itself to different cultures and times via slightly different myths and names. Almost like all major religions mentioning some form of great flood. They all mention it but they have their own twist.

Although I don't agree with all his claims (in general it's a pretty solid book), Joseph Campbell makes a similar argument in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

@Invisible What should we do about the deities of Pricia and Ki'ira actually. Cause well one is the Queen of the wilds and the other the Fox goddess. Any special relation we should decide on? Or we shall just keep it that each was just minding their own business?

@Invisible What should we do about the deities of Pricia and Ki'ira actually. Cause well one is the Queen of the wilds and the other the Fox goddess. Any special relation we should decide on? Or we shall just keep it that each was just minding their own business?

Hmm, it is possible that they have some relation to each other. After all, Tavra is the Goddess of Nature and then Goethia is the Goddess of the Wilds. The only real way to explain why one exists while the other does is that they have a sort of story between each other. My thoughts are that Tavra created separate beings to rule over separate aspects of Nature and only really watches over them. As such, Goethia was created by Tavra to rule over the wilds giving her the name of the Queen of the Wilds as it would be in the pantheon rather than the Goddess of the Wilds. As such, it is possible that Goethia saw a particular liking in the foxes of the world and their cunning and decided to that they needed a separate being rule over them. Thus, it is quite possible that Goethia created the Fox Goddess.

All of this is open to discussion as we once again get back to the matter of a single Pantheon or multiple Pantheons. It does get kind of difficult for us to work out the relations of Gods and Goddesses to each other if we have yet to determine the Pantheons.