Need help with a God
- Thread starter Dareoon Dalandrove
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I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Aalllllllllllllright, about that Babylonian myth?
Look for Tiamat.
Not the five-headed dragon goddess of evil from D&D, but the mythical Babylonian dragoness. She was, in part, an embodiment of the wild and deadly sea. The story of Marduk slaying her is the story of civilization dominating a dangerous nature, but there's no reason that has to be the case with your goddess. Perhaps they haven't come to a head yet?
Also, look for the Flood of Gilgamesh. If you're leaning in a slightly more CN route, Inana might be a way to go. She was still a total wench, but she had benificent aspects as well. She wasn't *just* untamed nature, at least.
Mythographically, Babylonian sea goddesses came from a patriarchal society, who enjoyed civilization and control, and felt that the wilderness and nature were in the hands of the women and, unless properly dominated, would poison and overwhelm good, decent menfolk and the ladies who cooperated into society.
The reason was a duality; it was moon vs. sun. The sun presided over the day, the crops, giving bounty, giving heat. The moon was darkness, fear, wilderness. It was ever-changing chaos, and it also had a special link to both the ocean and women. In the ocean, the moon governed tides that flowed in and out at it's command. In women, the moon governed the monthly-ish menstraul cycle.
So wherever you get a sea goddess there, you get them set against civilization, just as the random and wild moon is set against the steady and constant sun. Tiamat, feminine, venomous, wrathful dragon, was an embodiment of all the ocean and storm (particularly the hurricane, which came from the sea) was. It was dangerous, it destroyed people, it caused floods. Perhaps also important; it was Salt Water, which is poisonous and gives no aid to those who use it. Indeed, if the ocean floods in, the fields are destroyed, and civilzation istelf is put at risk, due to it's chaotic, lunar wrath. Inana is really something of a "domesticated" sea goddess, whose role is still chaotic and capricious, changing as the moon and the tides, but who also is capable of great beauty, jus' like the ladies.....
In the frame of a D&D goddess, her alignment would depend on how violently "anti-establishment" she is. If she actively persues the destruction of the homes and cities, caring not for the cries of lament that her violent outbursts cause, she's CE. If she just wants to protect the wilderness, to have an area of freedom, to stop the sun from invading the night, she's CN.
Monster-wise, I'd seek out aquatic humanoids, especially if she's a bit evil, to work your wickedness on the shore. If you can add weresharks or werecrocodiles, that'd be great, since lycanthropy is another affliction of the moon. Sea-based fey would be fun to use, since they're chaos of nature and chaos of the ocean all in one (army of kelpies!). The Kraken is probably one of the greatest allies, if she's evil, because they can control the weather, too. I wouldn't try to preach in cities, but barbarian tribes on the shore may pay tribute to avoid being destroyed by a sudden hurricane.
Remember, you are poison and wrath. You are destroyer and chaos. Water you cannot drink. Hurricanes. Floods. The moon, the night, the wilderness. These are your allies, these are your weapons, these are your goddess.
Take that for what it's worth.
Look for Tiamat.
Not the five-headed dragon goddess of evil from D&D, but the mythical Babylonian dragoness. She was, in part, an embodiment of the wild and deadly sea. The story of Marduk slaying her is the story of civilization dominating a dangerous nature, but there's no reason that has to be the case with your goddess. Perhaps they haven't come to a head yet?
Also, look for the Flood of Gilgamesh. If you're leaning in a slightly more CN route, Inana might be a way to go. She was still a total wench, but she had benificent aspects as well. She wasn't *just* untamed nature, at least.
Mythographically, Babylonian sea goddesses came from a patriarchal society, who enjoyed civilization and control, and felt that the wilderness and nature were in the hands of the women and, unless properly dominated, would poison and overwhelm good, decent menfolk and the ladies who cooperated into society.
The reason was a duality; it was moon vs. sun. The sun presided over the day, the crops, giving bounty, giving heat. The moon was darkness, fear, wilderness. It was ever-changing chaos, and it also had a special link to both the ocean and women. In the ocean, the moon governed tides that flowed in and out at it's command. In women, the moon governed the monthly-ish menstraul cycle.
So wherever you get a sea goddess there, you get them set against civilization, just as the random and wild moon is set against the steady and constant sun. Tiamat, feminine, venomous, wrathful dragon, was an embodiment of all the ocean and storm (particularly the hurricane, which came from the sea) was. It was dangerous, it destroyed people, it caused floods. Perhaps also important; it was Salt Water, which is poisonous and gives no aid to those who use it. Indeed, if the ocean floods in, the fields are destroyed, and civilzation istelf is put at risk, due to it's chaotic, lunar wrath. Inana is really something of a "domesticated" sea goddess, whose role is still chaotic and capricious, changing as the moon and the tides, but who also is capable of great beauty, jus' like the ladies.....
In the frame of a D&D goddess, her alignment would depend on how violently "anti-establishment" she is. If she actively persues the destruction of the homes and cities, caring not for the cries of lament that her violent outbursts cause, she's CE. If she just wants to protect the wilderness, to have an area of freedom, to stop the sun from invading the night, she's CN.
Monster-wise, I'd seek out aquatic humanoids, especially if she's a bit evil, to work your wickedness on the shore. If you can add weresharks or werecrocodiles, that'd be great, since lycanthropy is another affliction of the moon. Sea-based fey would be fun to use, since they're chaos of nature and chaos of the ocean all in one (army of kelpies!). The Kraken is probably one of the greatest allies, if she's evil, because they can control the weather, too. I wouldn't try to preach in cities, but barbarian tribes on the shore may pay tribute to avoid being destroyed by a sudden hurricane.
Remember, you are poison and wrath. You are destroyer and chaos. Water you cannot drink. Hurricanes. Floods. The moon, the night, the wilderness. These are your allies, these are your weapons, these are your goddess.
Take that for what it's worth.
Stormborn said:
That's true. The people in the Iron Islands follow a deity named the Drowned God. There is a ritual where his followers get drowned by a priest in the sea and after they fall unconciuos they are revived. There is no magic involved, the priests simply use the same technics as present day life guards (don't know what they are called in English).
People are expected not to resist but those whose faith isn't strong enough are held under the water forcefully. It seams that usually this ritual is done once in a life. Normaly this is done to adults but we have heard of a character whose head was simply dipped in seawater in his early childhood and that fulfilled the ritual although the fanatic priest in the book thought that this was cheating.
A popular saying of the people of the Iron Islands is "What is dead can never die" which means that since they were drowned once and then revived, they can't really die afterwards.
Dragon 305 has a novella by George R R Martin (the author af A Song of Ice and Fire, the actual name of the Game of Thrones series), where this ritual is described in detail. If you have access to this Dragon, you could look it up for inspiration.
snarfoogle
First Post
What alignment is your character? If he's CN then the alignment thing is fine, but... I still think the evidence really stands for CE. I forgot to mention that drowning the clerics you don't think will be good enough sounds pretty evil to me.
God & character sound interesting though.
God & character sound interesting though.
Dareoon Dalandrove
First Post
morbiczer said:
I have it. As I said in an earlier post. The Balen (right) Greyjoy was an influence on my character. All wild and crazy, but very to his god.
snarfoogle said:
My character is CN. I thought it was the best fit for what I had in mind. My characters basic core is: He's 100% fanatically devoted. He's on a quest to bolster his churches ranks and the destruction of all other churches and their clerics.
I don't see their holy war being all that evil. After reading through the FRCS. It mentions many of the gods don't like each other, are scared of, or want to take another out. Sune is dismissed as "flighty and of no concern" by Torm. These are some of the elements that have always intruiged me. The gods gain power from their worshipers and as a new god, my "sea god" has got to make her presence known. Right now I liken her attitude to a small girl not being able to play with the bigger kids. They push her away and don't let her play. She's too little. So she kicks over their blocks. To make them take her seriously she's got to gain a lot of followers. She doesn't like the "bigger kids" right now so it's war on them all. I mean to a god what's a few human lives (I don't mean mass genicide either)? Does that make a god evil?
Oh one other thing. The other gods that I've refered to (Fire CG, Earth LE, Air LG) their not Element gods per say. Bahamut is the god of air for instance. The other two are home brew gods. For the one with earth in their porfolio think Bane/with a little DL Taimate mixed in. The other is a former adventurer (formerly the DM's character) who is also the god of lust and adventureing.
Dareoon Dalandrove
First Post
Kamikaze Midget said:
I'm going to have to break out my old Deities and Demigods. The new one doesn't have anything.
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