ravenDivinity

Of Gods and Men - A Deity RP Interest Thread

I'm interested. Might do Orpheus or Apollo.

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

Darius →

@Laue
One more outburst from Agrellon, and the captain mercilessly sent the raging elf back to their base. Although that elf had an extremely hot temper, their captain exhibited full control and authority that could not be challenged by his subordinates. Agrellon, despite his indignance, submitted completely to the captain's orders once it was clear that the captain's mind had been made. The captain's steely gaze was disarming, penetrating even. That left only the captain, Syldric, John, and Darius, and there would be no more interruptions from then on.

"I proposed the peace; it would be absurd of me to fail to meet your demands." Darius showed complete willingness to reasonably proceed and do what was asked of him. After all, one could not ask for something from the wood elves without recompense. They would not give him aid so wholeheartedly without expecting something in return. The brunet glanced at John guardedly, unsure of his personal ability to put trust in John. John's words sounded hawkish and tactless whereas Darius, in that regard, would be John's polar opposite; Darius lacked a significant thirst for worldly things like money or power. Rather, he strived for peace and understanding. While his strong moral convictions kept him from pursuing bolder actions and led to his hesitation and indecision on numerous things, Darius at the very least could maintain his humanity and stay wise and woke in times when it was most important.

The boy too stepped forward involuntarily and offered a similar gesture. Only his, on the other hand, was an attempt to understand their culture. He approached Syldric and the captain more directly and stood close, within the appropriate distance for conversation. "Like John said, where we come from, it's normal to grip the hand of the other person and give a firm shake. Does your society do something similar?" Darius asked.

Starless

Altim

H E P L A Y S T H E D U E T O F L I G H T
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"The gods knew before they fell."

The guards exchanged bemused, skeptical glances, and they pressed Altim further with their questions. The first one advised, "Do not move from where you stand! If you lack proper permission, you will be forbidden entry! Now, state your business."

Fearlessly but not rashly, Altim approached the guards and left ten yards between him and them. "I have come for the other voice for the song that Faerthus composed. Listen to that voice as the wind carries it." Altim cast before him from thin air a glowing, white light that formed the same shape as the Mark of Faerthus. It lingered in the air where the guards could see it for a brief moment before fading, and it served to prove his identity. "I am Altim, blessed by Faerthus."

The guards' eyes widened, and they backed away a few feet with trepidation. They spoke to each other in hushed deliberation while they contemplated the meaning of Altim's actions, while they considered the truth of Altim's statements. "How do we know that he is not lying?"

The other guard stared at the first incredulously at the question as though the first guard had denied the immediately obvious. The second urged the first, "Fool, he cannot be anyone else! No mere mortal can do such a thing, none but gods and legends. The mark belongs to the god Faerthus, and Altim, one such legend blessed by Faerthus, is capable of such a feat!"

"I cannot disagree. But I remain skeptical. We must make sure that this is Altim, and not a different legend or wizard or mage of sorts."

"We shall let him inside. One of us should accompany him, in case he speaks lies," the second guard said quietly to the first. They nodded in agreement, and the second guard called out to Altim. "Very well! You may enter. I will show you inside." The first guard and second guard led Altim on the path to the Bastion's entrance, and the first guard returned to his post while the other showed him inside.

Starless

Just left a quick post, hopefully it's enough to get that ball rolling.

Starless

Altim

H E I S S T R O N G A N D V I R T U O U S
________________

Altim smiled at the remark. Aye, he was blessed by Faerthus, but the father had no knowledge of that. The legend thought to himself and wondered if he should tell the man the truth. Altim listened while the man described all the details of his plans for the theft, and he felt in his heart the moral obligation to intervene. Altim reasoned that although the plan made easy ground to reobtain his equipment, the plan was not righteous or wise. A crack in the father's facade showed the error in his ways, and Altim desired to reconcile that vice. "The gods have been slain," Altim said. "The flame has died because the gods have." The truth was painful and hurt to say, but he had to come to terms with it. His old quest of myth and legend was over, and the new quest to restore order and protect mankind had begun. "But even in the absence of the gods, do not lose hope, and do not lose sight of what is righteous and good." Altim pointed at the door. "For the sake of your family, do what is right. You do not want your boy to follow the path of a thief. Greed and opulence is for fools. If you choose to tread that evil path built by mankind, you will never come back. I won't help you in the deed, for Faerthus has blessed me." He tipped his head and mumbled in Cynderian again as he had with the priest. The mark of wisdom, a tree surrounded by rays of light, burned itself into the ground between Altim and the man. With that, Altim turned his back on the man and started in the direction of the temple.

Starless

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.

Starless

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.

Starless

Mitlamai: When you can't think of a better, subtler fake name to use.

Starless

Altim

H E I S R I C H I N K I N D N E S S
________________

When Altim found the boy at his feet, the legend himself was at first puzzled. That boy, who so indignantly rejected the paradigm of destiny laid by his elders, reminded the adventurer of a time long past, when Altim himself ran from home to avoid a fate not of his design. The boy nearly moved Altim to tears, but he remained resolute and cool-headed for the child's sake. He crouched to meet eyes with the boy, and he wiped the salty, stinging tears from the boy's eyes. He said, "Cry not, young one. You control your fate by virtue of your freedom, and your freedom is inviolable."

Sniffling, the youth nodded, and his crying lessened.

"Remember this. Altim's wisdom was not realized through subservience. He pursued his dream without putting enmity between himself and his elders." At this, Altim stood again and, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, made his request. "Let us see your father. You should not be here in the forest alone." He looked down at the child and gave a warm smile, an oath of protection. It would not be proper for Altim to abandon the child in the forest, with whatever beast lurked in the shadows.

The boy smiled back and nodded, and he grabbed Altim's hand to lead the legend back to the village in the direction the boy came from. Altim knew that the detour would delay his reunion with the violin, but he paid no mind to helping those in need. The village itself was a little closer to the temple than it was when Altim lived, a change that Altim owed to the passage of time and the growth of civilization. Thank the gods as well, for in its previous location, the village would have caused much more delay to his travels. Along the path, Altim made small talk.

"Who are you, little one?"

"My name's Daither, what's your name, mister?"

Altim chuckled. An odd little name, but likely a popular one in the current era. "My name is Mitlamai," he replied after a short period of thought. The name was a pseudonym to protect Altim's true identity, and on this brief excursion, giving a fake name could do hardly any harm. They spoke more about simpler and more childish topics—the types of songs they liked, the instruments the boy favored, among them. The village came into view while they were speaking of animals and colors.

When they arrived at the boy and his family's humble abode, Altim gave the door three firm but unintrusive knocks.

Starless

So, on the journey to the Bastion, are there other things that will happen, or will we timeskip?