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Thread: Questions on the OotS religion
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2012-04-09, 02:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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Questions on the OotS religion
There are a few things I don't understand about religion in the OotS setting. Since there is no evidence, let's speculate.
About the Northern Pantheon.
Sometimes this pantheon seems to be worshipped specifically by dwarves. For example, during his explanation of the afterlife, Durkon only talks about dead dwarves. Does it mean that Hel is a dwarven goddess? Also, how is this vision of the afterlife consistent with the fact that it's common knowledge that the souls spend their afterlives in the plane of their own alignment?
Thor's credo seems to include love for beer and fear for tree. Haley mimics these clichés when she pretends to be a worshipper of Thor. Does it mean that Thor is a dwarven deity as well?
And the only cleric of Odin we have seen so far was a dwarf. And he was called simply "Odin's priest". Does it mean he is the only one (or the only dwarf)?
On the other hand, the first human city that the Order visits after Dorukan's dungeon had a temple of Freya. And Greysky City, another human city, has a temple of Loki. Maybe Freya is the main human deity in the Northern continent?
About the Southern Pantheon.
Does the fact that paladins worship the Twelve Gods as a whole mean they're all lawful and/or good? So who do the evil Southerners worship?
In Start of Darkness, the Mouse is shown as one of the Dark One's few allies. But if it (or any other one of the Twelve Gods) is evil, why is it worshipped by the paladins? And why should the Twelve Gods as a whole grant their grace to the paladins?
About the Western Pantheon.
Isn't Tiamat violating the agreements among the Pantheons? She seems to be the main goddess of all evil dragons, kobolds and other reptilian races. This means most of her followers don't leave in the Western Continent. And the Oracle doesn't live there for sure. Granting visions to him seems a big divine intervention as he's not a cleric.
My first thought was that Tiamat could be an outcast deity. Afterall, we know Marduk, the king of the Western Pantheon, is LG or something like that (he has paladins). And, if I'm not mistaken, Tiamat was indeed an enemy of the other gods in real mythology.
But Malack says Tiamat is a fine deity and that the Western Gods get along well.
Thoughts anyone?
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2012-04-09, 03:12 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
That comic has Durkon specifically state that only those that die without honour go to Hel, the rest end up in their proper aligned plane. The Northern Gods are worshipped by the continent as a whole, not just the dwarves.
The Southern Pantheon seems to be a bit more cohesive than the other ones, in that they don't have as much internal fighting. The Paladins only need to be Lawful Good, their gods apparently don't. I remember my friend telling me about Birthright, and how the followers can have multiple interpretations of a god and therefore can have opposite aligned worshippers. Perhaps something similar is going on here.
Perhaps she expanded her portfolio, allowing her to become the racial deity of kobolds (maybe a powerful kobold reached ascendency like the elves and goblins did, and she killed him and took the position for herself).
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2012-04-09, 03:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Sorry, I didn't express clearly what my doubt was about this part.
Is this true only for dwarves? Durkon only refers to dwarves.
If yes, why would the Northern Gods refuse to take the honorless dwarven soul, but not the souls of other races? Aren't they the gods of all the races of the Northern Continent?
If no, then who inhabits the Chaotic Neutral afterlife for example?
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2012-04-09, 03:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
I really don't want to get in to any speculation, but we do know that the Northern Gods are worshiped by humans as well as dwarves, and possibly other races as well. It seems that, as a general rule, creatures in OOTS-verse worship a deity (or multiple deities) who corresponds to their geographic homeland and is roughly the same alignment as them. Exceptions for specific racial deities (Tiamat, the Dark One, V's Elven Gods, etc.) obviously apply.
Also, the Twelve Gods are not uniformly good.SpoilerThere is a scene in Start of Darkness where the Dark One discusses the Snarl with his allies (who are all explicitly evil Gods). One of them is Rat, of the Twelve Gods.Last edited by rgrekejin; 2012-04-09 at 03:24 PM.
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2012-04-09, 06:03 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Maybe chromatic dragons and kobolds originated on the western continent and over time some just happened to migrate to the rest of the world. Since clerical magic still functions outside of the god's primary region, the transplants would still be able to draw on Tiamat's power on the northern and southern continents and thus would not have any reason to stop worshipping her.
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2012-04-09, 06:25 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Don't forget about the Elven gods,Orc Gods, Shamanism (Island Orcs), and Dark One.
Though Dark One and the Elven gods, according to TV Trope, remind me of Elderscrolls Talos (A human general who became a god).
I think Elven Gods are okay with being racist and cruel to Goblinkind but I think it may apply to the Peregrine commander and his lieutenant.Badly drawn helmet avatar drawn by me.
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2012-04-09, 06:26 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-04-09, 06:28 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
What I'm point out is that the Oracle is not a cleric. Shouldn't granting him such powerful powers (apparently unlimited knowledge), in another continent, count as a divine intervention? Or, if you prefer, count as altering the laws of magic?
Last edited by Fenice; 2012-04-09 at 06:29 PM.
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2012-04-09, 06:46 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-04-09, 06:56 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Maybe the Southern Pantheon gave Tiamat a pass on the Oracle. He isn't going to cost them any worshippers since no one who goes to him will remember that he serves Tiamat, and given that he makes his services available to everyone, having him on the Southern Continent is actually a major boon to the Southern Gods since their worshippers have the most ready access to him.
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2012-04-09, 10:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Northern Pantheon:
There's no direct evidence in the comic to support this, but in 3E Deities and Demigods, I believe the Asgardian pantheon is divided into suggested race-based groups, with Thor, etc for Dwarves, and Frey, Freya, etc for Humans. Presumably, Dwarves like hammers and getting hammered, and Humans are into procreating like bunnies. Maybe Rich's world has a similar thing going on, where certain groups of worshippers are culturally predisposed towards particular deities' portfolios.
Southern Gods:
In certain campaign settings, you can be a cleric of a whole pantheon, and this doesn't necessarily influence your alignment. Obviously, unless the majority of the pantheon (or at least those holding the majority of the power) are of an opposite alignment from you, you may have some challenges advancing in the church hierarchy. Even in FR, am I remembering wrong, or is there at least one prestige class that worships the whole Morndinsamman?
Western Pantheon
Kobolds were one of the "adversary" races created mainly to provide XP for adventurers in general, and clerics in particular. "They were, in essence, betrayed by their very creators from the moment they sprang into creation". The mainstream Gods likely don't consider them people worth having as worshippers. Tiamat likely accepts their worship and gives them metaphysical swag to further her own evil agenda.
And there doesn't seem to be any rules about the servants of the Gods operating only within their home turf - just that the Gods can't directly intervene.
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2012-04-09, 10:35 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
I've kind of taken the way the Lizardfolk and the Kobolds in OOTS are treated as running contrary to the Dark One's story and therefore reason to suspect the Dark One's claims.
That or he tries to cultivate a victim complex while the Lizardfolk and Kobolds of the Western Continent said "screw that" and actually tried to make things better for themselves without resorting to potential omnicide.Last edited by MReav; 2012-04-09 at 10:35 PM.
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2012-04-09, 10:47 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-04-09, 11:23 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Don't forget about the Orcs, along with their half breed kins.
P.S- I think Azurites might be racist to Half Orcs (There are no half orcs in the army during the battle or refugee fleet). I think they sided with Gobbotopia since they get treated like second class citizens under Lord Shojo. We'll learn about them in Therkla's backstory.Badly drawn helmet avatar drawn by me.
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2012-04-10, 12:17 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
I've kind of taken the way the Lizardfolk and the Kobolds in OOTS are treated as running contrary to the Dark One's story and therefore reason to suspect the Dark One's claims.
That or he tries to cultivate a victim complex while the Lizardfolk and Kobolds of the Western Continent said "screw that" and actually tried to make things better for themselves without resorting to potential omnicide.
The Western government run mostly by humans, with only a token representation by the reptilian minority groups among the upper echelon - there's Malack, that one lizard with the monocle, and Kilkil, who's just a minor functionary anyway. To me, this looks a lot like the humans came in and displaced the lizardfolk living there, and assimilated them into the human, Western God-worshiping culture.
While I don't necessarily approve of RC's methods, his people seem to have their own religion, their own culture, and their own identity. Should they just give all that up, start going to Thor and 12-Gods temples, and assimilate the best they can into a society that isn't inclined to give them a fair shake?
I mean, we've seen Redcloak's village get wiped out - including younglings - by Azure City Zealots, without any indication being given that these particular goblins had harmed a single human. In fact, unless I recall incorrectly, none of the pallytards even accused them of having done evil - only that the 12 Gods had judged them evil. Clearly, there are differences between how the reptilians on the Western Continent and goblins and orcs on the Eastern Continent are treated.
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2012-04-10, 12:31 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
I'm not quite sure what the argument you're making is - on the one hand, you're agreeing that there's a difference between the treatment of "Eastern Continent" goblins and Western Continent lizardfolk that may mean something, but on the other you're arguing that the reptilians are more-or-less a marginalized minority within human society.
Although I don't think that second point really stands up - Malack is the high priest of his religion, at least in the EoB and possibly continent-wide; the "lizardfolk with the monocle" is the ambassador from the nation of Reptilia - suggesting that there's at least some kind of specific cultural identity among the reptilians - and judging by the rough proportions of lizardfolk/kobolds to humans in the settlements and groups we've seen, it looks like humans are just the majority (as is general for D&D), not that lizardfolk are specifically oppressed. You may as well argue that "Eastern Continent" halflings are a marginalized group.
Also, this whole subject is kind of off-topic - I might make a separate thread for them.
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2012-04-10, 12:34 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Actually
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0680.html
According to this strip, I think the western continent used to be like Athas (good land turned bad) except The elves made their own version of Hadrian Wall to keep out the reptiles and humans. I think it could be like West gods made lizards and elves. Then the land went bad, except the elven lands, and human come in.
Note- I use Hadrian Wall reference since Elves are roman and they build a wall in England, Harian Wall, to keep out the Scots and Picts out of their turf.Badly drawn helmet avatar drawn by me.
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2012-04-10, 12:55 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Speculation on my part, but it seems like since dwarves have such a different and much stricter society than humans, different afterlife rules may well apply to them, even if Northern humans worship the same gods. So maybe Hel does only get dishonored dwarves, since honor is so much more important to dwaves than other races as a whole.
Thor-worship is cited as stereotypically Dwarven, so it wouldn't surprise me if humans preferred some of the other Northern deities. Odin, as chief of the gods, probably has clerics and devotees everywhere, even if they're a minority of overall worshipers.
There aren't any halflings, elves, or dwarves in the Azurite forces either, other than the Order. Azure City is simply a human-only society. That said, half-orcs are listed among the "growing minorities" of Gobbotopia.
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2012-04-10, 01:53 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
I think the concept of "honour" Durkon is referring to here is a specifically Dwarven one--note that he says a dwarf who dies of sickness rather than in a fight counts as having no honour. I imagine the other races who worship the Northern Gods have a considerably different concept of honour and thus the same thing does not apply. This isn't to say that non-Dwarves never go to Hel, you understand, it's just to say that we don't know what the criteria are for them to end up there, and probably neither does Durkon--which is why he specified Dwarves in his comment.
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2012-04-11, 01:21 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Pretty much this. A human can worship Thor if he wants, certainly, but he is much more popular among the dwarves. Hel is specifically the goddess of the dishonored dead, which requires a system of honor/dishonor that really only applies to the dwarves and those humans that choose to believe in such things. If Haley died of disease, she wouldn't go to Hel because she wouldn't believe that she had been dishonored.
Also, this. The Twelve Gods are worshipped as a pantheon, by everyone, including evil characters like Kubota and Tsukiko.
As for the Oracle situation...no comment.Rich Burlew
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2012-04-11, 01:58 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
About the western gods, does the Western Continent started out as Green lush land and turned into desert, except Elves might have stopped its spread and build their own Hadrian Wall. Maybe Elven god might be heroes who stopped the desert blight and revered as gods (and abandoned the Western Continent as their gods).
Note: I used the word "Hadrian Wall" because Elves have roman esque name.Badly drawn helmet avatar drawn by me.
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2012-04-11, 02:28 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Thank you, Giant.
Wow, Hel seems to be a really cunning deity. I imagine her using the dead souls' beliefs and despair to bind them to herself.
Also, this. The Twelve Gods are worshipped as a pantheon, by everyone, including evil characters like Kubota and Tsukiko.
I still find odd that the paladins share this vision, but maybe no mortal knows the Twelve Gods' alignments.
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2012-04-11, 02:37 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-04-11, 09:48 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
No, they're specifically called "Gods of Knowledge" in SOD. The elves worshiped logic and knowledge, not some heroes who... okay, I didn't read the whole thread but where on earth did that theory come from? Why wouldn't a desert just be a desert, especially when we see a mountain range next to it. You don't see the United States being overtaken by desert, and we have one of the dryest in the world.
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2012-04-11, 09:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
I think you're thinking of the specific elven god of knowledge V worships. In SoD, doesn't Redcloak just say that the elven gods are elves who became really powerful and gained a lot of followers?
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2012-04-11, 10:44 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
But the comic said that the elves sealed up their land from the desert (Either call Go Away Mountains as Great Wall or Hadrian Wall (to make it more Roman)).
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2012-04-11, 11:13 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
... Or the Elves simply consolidated their hold on the northern territories early in history and the Goaway Mountains are just a naturally occurring phenomenon that happens to make the border easier to define and defend, especially against nations that are constantly wasting resources fighting each other.
Anyway, despite Rich's refusal to comment, I always figured that the Oracle had some extra-territoriality going. Y'know, Sunken Valley is considered "Western", much like embassies are considered to belong to the nation whose representatives they house, not country their located in.
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2012-04-12, 07:01 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Since you like references to other settings so much, the elves of Lothlórien have sealed up their land, too, and they also didn't need a wall for it, much less the Hadrian Wall.
Why do you insist on "making it more Roman" anyway, when there's neither a Hadrian, nor Romans or Picts in this setting?Last edited by Valyrian; 2012-04-12 at 07:01 AM.
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2012-04-12, 09:00 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
The Azurites are clearly Japanese-based, which is distinct from Chinese.
And yin yang is not about balancing good and evil. It's the concept of how apparently divergent aspects of the universe are not opposing but complementary and interdependent. Morality has nothing to do with it; it's the ebb and flow of the universe. It's the observation that, with time, things rise and fall, what is obscured becomes revealed and obscured again, etc.
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2012-04-12, 09:00 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Questions on the OotS religion
Well, elves have roman esque names anyway.
1. There is no natural barrier (as in mountains or wall) near borders of Germania and eastern barbarian territory.
2. Since the cartographer said that elves sealed up the mountains, I thought they used some magic to raise the mountains (ala Populous) to keep away the human and lizardfolks, like Picts in Hadrian's reign.Badly drawn helmet avatar drawn by me.
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