Divine Mojo MIA

[steenan]

If a god is severely weakened, he loses control over a part of his portfolio. If he dies, the whole portfolio is free to take.
It will be taken by someone, sooner or later (and rather sooner). But, in many cases, not be the god's enemies. If a deity is to take a part of someone else's portfolio, it has to be, conceptually, "near" his own. A god or goddess of predators and hunters may easily take over the rule over the wilderness; a god of clockworks may not. After destroying an enemy with drastically opposing domain all one can do is to guard the remains so for some time nobody may take the portfolio. That it why, as I imagine it, it is gods of similar domains who war most violently - they have most to win.

Sooner or later the portfolio will be taken by somebody. It does not have to be a god. If, in the mess that results from deity's demise, a mortal will take some control over what happens (like, in your case, by uniting the warring cities under his rule, or by finding a way to prevent the plagues caused by nature's instability), it is very probable that this mortal will ascend to godhood and get an appropriate portfolio.

Last thing to remember is that a deity shapes what it rules over in its likeness and is also shaped by the portfolio it acquires. If it gains society as a part of its portfolio, it will focus on maintaining and growing organized human groups - but whether they will be strong, just monarchies, republics focused on personal freedoms, slaver oligarchies or warlord-ruled tribes depends on the deity's profile.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Another question is: Where IS Melora? What's going on there at all? Which brings me to this.


I like this, along with Jason's suggestion. But that last point really has my attention.

An idea I was kicking around was Melora being hunted for sport. The Goddess of Nature being a hunter's prey is deliciously poetic.

The Problem is this: Someone big enough to be hunting a God (especially in the case of the Wild Hunt) is a Seriously Bad Dude. How do you get PCs that aren't Epic in on the action, here, at all?

Rechan, when I wrote that I was thinking of the Fionnavar Tapestry where the Wild Hunt is really scary and well capable of killing gods and really cannot be controlled unless a child (an innocent) volunteers to lead them.

The way I would run it is that the Wild Hunt is normally contained and can only hunt in certain places, for example it can only hunt in the boundary between the Mortal and Fey realms.

If the Hunt is left loose for too long it will destoy everything. Though I do like the idea of it starting with the gods.

So the PCs will have to find the Child and escort it to the Wild Hunt or find a way to summon the Wild Hunt and hope they survive long enough for the Hunt to recognise the Child.

Also perhaps someone left the Hunt loose for a reason, followers of Tharizdun perhaps.

 

[Rechan]

I've been doing some thinking about the Hatchling Curse. I can only really come up with three ideas:

1) The eggs are being sacrificed. A really powerful spell is causing them to just Die, and with each Death, the amount of spilled blood is adding up. Once it reaches a certain number, Something Bad Happens. I can only surmise that Tiamat would be responsible for this. But I really don't care for that, and it doesn't really give the PCs much to do.

2) A full fledged Curse. In my game, Death Curses are serious business. So it might be someone with serious mojo layed down a harsh hex on the Dragonborn. This means that PCs must find some way to absolve the curse. The circumstances of absolving a Death Curse I've not thought of yet; it should be rather hard, but I've no ideas.

3) A monster did it. It's Some sort of monster that causes the eggs to die, either by its proximity, or by basically sucking the souls out of the eggs. This seems way too simplistic, but it at least addresses the issue of 'something the players can do'; hunting down and slaying the monster is very tangible a path for achieving the quest.

Rechan, when I wrote that I was thinking of the Fionnavar Tapestry where the Wild Hunt is really scary and well capable of killing gods and really cannot be controlled unless a child (an innocent) volunteers to lead them.

True, but I also thought that the Hunt had limitations. They could only come out every so X. They only got a night to hunt, etc etc. So even if they're loose, they have Rules they have to abide by, similar to all fey.

I would think that if the WH were hunting Melora, it would be an unfortunate accident - they are released, and she winds up in their path. Or an intentional act - the Hunt was released purely to hunt her, and none other. They are not, therefore, hunting the Gods, but this is just a poetic arrangement.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

True, but I also thought that the Hunt had limitations. They could only come out every so X. They only got a night to hunt, etc etc. So even if they're loose, they have Rules they have to abide by, similar to all fey.

I would think that if the WH were hunting Melora, it would be an unfortunate accident - they are released, and she winds up in their path. Or an intentional act - the Hunt was released purely to hunt her, and none other. They are not, therefore, hunting the Gods, but this is just a poetic arrangement.

Perhaps someone/thing left them out of their box (changed the rules in someway), the Prince of Frost could be a good candidate. As for hunting the gods, who says he got it right. Maybe he has lost control of the Hunt.

As for low level characters interacting with powerful fey, well there are simple but apparently nonsensical rituals that are supposed to protect one from the fey. According to local lore, putting on ones clothes inside out was supposed to confer protection from spells of misdirection placed on a traveller by the fairies.

 

[Rechan]

I like those little rituals. Throwing salt over the shoulder, etc.

Though the challenge is: if the PCs stop the Hunt from, say, hunting Melora - that means that she'd likely go back to being the God, and that means that one leg of the entire thing is over. That there's no longer problems in that arena. That's an Easy solution, so to speak (even if defeating the Hunt should be fairly difficult).

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I like those little rituals. Throwing salt over the shoulder, etc.

Though the challenge is: if the PCs stop the Hunt from, say, hunting Melora - that means that she'd likely go back to being the God, and that means that one leg of the entire thing is over. That there's no longer problems in that arena. That's an Easy solution, so to speak (even if defeating the Hunt should be fairly difficult).

Easy! simple to describe but I see nothing easy about it. Question: where is this hunt taking place? Thinking about this is actually quite interesting, normally as a nature god Melora should be on a par at least with the Hunt and more than likely more. So the hunt could be taking place in the Shadowfell where Melora's power is diminished and the Hunts power enhanced.

Hmm, I could see this working with a Domain of Dread type scenario. The PCs have to figure out how Melora was trapped in the domain, and how to reverse it, get to Melora and return whatever she needs to regain her godlike powers and avoid the Hunt while at it.

 

[Rechan]

It occurs to me that the Winter Everlasting occuring Sooner than It Should could be a plot between the Prince of Frost and the Northern Wind.

Easy! simple to describe but I see nothing easy about it. Question: where is this hunt taking place? Thinking about this is actually quite interesting, normally as a nature god Melora should be on a par at least with the Hunt and more than likely more. So the hunt could be taking place in the Shadowfell where Melora's power is diminished and the Hunts power enhanced.

Hmm, I could see this working with a Domain of Dread type scenario. The PCs have to figure out how Melora was trapped in the domain, and how to reverse it, get to Melora and return whatever she needs to regain her godlike powers and avoid the Hunt while at it.

My initial feeling is that the hunt should be ongoing, so it's more an issue of Time. But if it's going on in another plane, then time may be more fuzzy. For instance, the Feywild. Nature there is ... More.

And, notice that you even suggest Melora has lost her godlike powers (so the Pcs can help her regain it).

My thinking is that 1) Melora is poisoned somehow and can't access her Power, or has lost it somehow, 2) She does not realize she's a God, or 3) Is trapped in the form of an animal, and so her abilities are limited.

But they being trapped in a realm in a constant state of stalemate is an intriguing thought.

 

[Southern Oracle]

Off the top of my head, I can think of two adventures where a goddess has gone missing -- the Forgotten Realms 2E adventure "For Duty and Deity" and the 1E planar adventure from Tales of the Outer Planes, "A Simple Deed, Well Rewarded."

In "For Duty and Deity," Waukeen voluntarily gave up her portfolio for safekeeping by another goddess and tried to escape Toril during the Time of Troubles by conventional means; she ended up being captured by Graz'zt and imprisoned in the Abyss. In "A Simple Deed, Well Rewarded," the goddess Lliira hid out in the realm of another god (actually gods) after falsely believing herself to be spurned by a deity with whom she was formerly romantic. In the former adventure, the heroes had to rescue Waukeen; in the latter, the heroes had to convince Lliira that Enki still loved her and that the misunderstanding was all Hecate's doing.

You could have Melora the prisoner of some other god, or perhaps she lost her portfolio due to some bet. Before she got the opportunity to win it back, it was stolen and now must be tracked down to be returned. The portfolio could take the form of a physical item, and perhaps the current possessor doesn't even realize its true value.

 

[Rechan]

You could have Melora the prisoner of some other god, or perhaps she lost her portfolio due to some bet. Before she got the opportunity to win it back, it was stolen and now must be tracked down to be returned. The portfolio could take the form of a physical item, and perhaps the current possessor doesn't even realize its true value.

THAT is intriguing.

I do like the idea of Melora being lost, or missing. But her POWER being also lost or at least findable, that's incredibly intriguing.

Or, one could say the same for Erathis. I'll need to check her portfolio, but I"m pretty sure she's got more than just Civilization/Cities.

Another possibility is that the 'object' is a person. Or a thing.

 

[WalterKovacs]

In some ways, Melora and Erathis are rivals.

Melora's portfolia is wilderness, nature and the sea. Erathis has civilization, invention and law.

Perhaps without either of them to keep the balance, the two 'rival' sides start to attack each other (perhaps blaming each other for the 'loss' of their dieties). Those living in the wilderness attack cities while cities begin destroying nature. The two sides start mixing together and trying to destroy each other (instead of trying to be seperated and in balance with one another).

Also, Gods with similar domains may take over. For example, without the goddess of civilization, around, perhaps Asmodeus, god of tyranny and domination steps in. Just as civilization seems to be falling apart and law seems to be slipping, people turn to a powerful leader that will keep people in line. With a loss of invention, people turn protective of their ideas and try to steal those of others (turning to Vecna, Lord of Secrets).

In the case of Melora, it would likely be a turn away from the divine, towards the more primal spirits, and elemental forces.

It could even be that, with the divine forces absent, diabolical forces work to replace Erathis and demonic forces work to replace Melora, and that creates additional conflict between the two groups.