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Message: <blockquote data-quote="QuietBrowser" data-source="post: 7312383" data-attributes="member: 6855057">So, yeah, the last post was actually cut-short because I overestimated how much energy I had when I started writing it. I really want to discuss the range of halfbreed races in this setting some more.But, in an update, I've been doing some thinking about the possible position of the Tondi in this world. I'm seeing these Orchid Mantis-folk as being loosely Xixchil-inspired. They evolved independently amongst the more magical regions of the Gardens of Zyn, gifted with psionics but inherently antisocial, for they needed neither mate nor civilization to survive. However, their exposure to the Sun Elves changed them; from the Elves, they learned the benefits of harmony and team-work, and are trying to change themselves to emulate the tribal structure of their neighbors. It helped, of course, that the Sun Elves inadvertently saved the Tondi from extinction when some force threatened their homeland.Does this make sense to you guys?And, as a bonus, here's a relatively final writeup of the Haffun Gods. I've literally never done anything like this before, so any feedback at all is crucial.Nanna Auda: The Grandmother, The Green Rabbit, The Black Hare, Momo of All Things, Lifebringer, Great CroneHoly Symbol: An overflowing cornucopiaDogma: Celebrate the life you have been given and be grateful for what you have, respect the peace of the dead, listen well to the wise, cherish the days you are given, and fear not death.Worshipped and cherished as the eldest and wisest of the haffun pantheon, even if Jorunn is seen as the pantheon's leader in the modern era, Auda is the Goddess of the Earth, Nature, and the Circle of Life who sees to it that fields and wombs prove fruitful and shepherds the spirits of the dead to their rest and eventual rebirth.Her priests serve haffun communities as midwives, matchmakers, gravediggers and wise women, whose advice ensures the productivity of crops and livestock and that the people respect what they have been given.Most of Auda's priests are female; males who hear her call are a rarity, and are almost always adventurers or nomadic wise-men, in contrast to the more sedentary priestesses. Male priests of Auda are sometimes known as "Seedsowers", for their traditional role involves planting seeds for trees or shrubs as they travel.Adventuring priests of Auda mostly do so to benefit their home community in some way, or to battle those that despoil nature or practice necromancy. Hobgoblins, with their pollutive devices and willingness to practice scorched earth tactics, are common enemies of Auda's priests.Auda is typically depicted as an older, amply curved but still attractive female haffun. She possesses long, flowing green hair and may be portrayed as being  green or wheat-gold colored on one side of her body and black on the other, a reference to her governance of both birth and death.Priests of Auda have access to the Domains of Grave, Life and Nature.Grampy Oddr: The Grandfather, the Wind Shepherd, the Dreamkeeper, the Eyes of LightHoly Symbol: A sun overlaid by a crescent moonDogma: Never lose hope or faith, for every force in the world ebbs and flows. The heavens look down on all things without favor. Freedom is the right of all. Think before you do.The elder patriarch of the haffun pantheon, Oddr is the God of the Heavens, Freedom and Contemplation. Lord of the sun and moon, shepherd of the stars and winds, Oddr gifts the world with day, night, weather, dreams and wisdom.Priests devoted to Oddr serve their communities in two ways; through attempts to observe and predict (and gently coax) the weather and through the role of judicators. As Oddr's teachings call for the faithful to think before they act and to value the freedom of others, Oddr's priests serve as judges or sheriffs to haffun communities, seeking to pass decisions on the acts of criminals and to ensure fair restitution is provided.Adventuring priests of Oddr are often serving their god in an abstract way, walking the world in pursuit of wisdom rather than following any direct divine mandate. They do have a strong antipathy for the slavery-based cultures of both the hobgoblins of the east and the hutaakans of the west, and have been known to travel the vast distances to try and interfere with these cultures.Oddr himself is usually depicted as a calm-featured, sleepy looking older male haffun, whose long ears drape down his back like a cloak. Some depictions may show him either with wings or with ears that are so large they can function as wings. He often carries either a shepherd's crook, a sack, or both, and has one eye painted brilliant gold and the other pale silver.Priests of Oddr have access to the Domains of Knowledge and Light.Sweet Jorunn: The Mamma o' Mammas, The Mother, The Lady, The Tiller of SoulsHoly Symbol: A rainbow-colored fireball forming a clockwise spiralDogma: Work with others to achieve your goals, for community and order are always stronger than the disjointed efforts of lone individuals. Tame the wilderness to make it fit for habitation and defend the lights of civilization against the encroaching darkness. Respect your family, for they are the greatest gift the gods can give you. Protect the young, for they are the future.The matriarch of the haffun pantheon, Jorunn is the most important deity of them all, for her portfolio covers those things most important to the haffun race; she is the Goddess of Fertility, Civilization and Family, the great teacher who raised the haffuns above animals and who works with her own mother, Auda, to ensure that fields, livestock and haffuns alike thrive and flourish.The priests of Jorunn are essential to their communities. They are lawmakers, leaders, and healers, tending to the physical and spiritual well-being of their family. Their roles often overlap with those of the priests of Auda and Oddr, who are more common in isolated or small settlements, whereas Jorunn's priests favor the larger settlements. They officiate over weddings, bless births, heal the sick, approve and organize building and expansion, settle minor disputes, and educate the young. Few haffuns indeed would seek to build a new barn or start a new field without first seeking the counsel of the priests of Jorunn, and they specialize in managing the festivals that help unite their communities.Jorunn is also one of the two gods associated with arcane magic in haffun society. Agni created it, but Jorunn tamed it and made it accessible. She is thusly the primary goddess of haffun wizards and artificers.Adventuring clerics of Jorunn are a rarity, and usually are either pilgrims who wish to learn the secrets of other civilizations, extant or extinct, in order to help the haffun race grow stronger, or else they are warrior-diplomats working to both protect the haffun race from external threats and to strengthen its internal bonds. Jorunn is always depicted as a beautiful female haffun with exaggerated feminine curves, and usually heavily pregnant to boot. She is typically depicted carrying a book, which is often chained to her hip, and/or surrounded by haffun children.Of all the haffun gods, Jorunn's faith is the most gender-segregated; its ranks are almost exclusively female, and though the rare male haffuns who feel the calling to serve Jorunn are welcomed, they will always stand out, and in some more isolated settlements may find their credentials disbelieved.Priests of Jorunn have access to the Domains of Knowledge, Life, Arcane and Forge.Agni: Rattlebones, the Horned Rabbit, Mr. Too-Clever, the Trickster, the FatherHoly Symbol: Two deer antlers with a many-colored flame burning betweenDogma: Follow your passions, wherever they might lead you. A clever trick or a well-chosen word can do more than a strong arm. Life is meant for living, so eat, drink and make merry. Love should conquer all things - but sometimes it needs a hand. There's always something worth seeing beyond the next horizon. Never forgive those who despoil beauty, harm love, or hurt your kin. Fortune favors the bold.A well-meaning but oft foolish rascal, Agni is regarded with great affection and equal parts amusement by his people, although the more serious-minded often roll their eyes at his antics. A classic trickster deity, Agni is a lazy hedonist who frequently gets himself into trouble, but always comes through in the end.As a many-faceted deity, this God of Chaos, Deceit and Passion has different groups of worshippers within the haffun race.His most socially acceptable priests are those who focus on his portfolio of luck, whimsy, revelry and love; these faithful grant blessings to those who seek to find love, counsel couples who are having marital difficulties, educate the youth on the topics of pleasure and love, grant blessings for those seeking good fortune, and throw festivals. Many of these Agni-priests are barkeeps, brewers or chefs, and it is customary even for laypersons to offer prayers to Agni when preparing food.In comparison, his trickster priests are less welcomed. Whilst they often useful, serving as entertainers, they are also distrusted by the more serious-minded, and have a reputation for being trouble-makers.Agni is one of the two haffun gods associated with magic. Specifically, Agni is associated with wild magic, having created the raw, untamed forces of elemental magic - thusly, he is the patron of haffun sorcerers, in contrast to his wife.Adventuring priests of Agni are the most common of the haffun clerics, seeing as how adventuring and travel are some of Agni's portfolio. Most have no particular divine mandate, beyond their god's general encouragement to see the world and have fun. However, Agni also has a vengeful streak, and adventuring priests of Agni are thusly often seeking retribution for wrongs done to their people, either abstractly or because of personal motivation.As with Auda and Jorunn, Agni priests are typically gender-segregated. The majority of his priests are male; whilst female Agni priestesses are more common than male priests of Auda and Jorunn, they still are an uncommon sight, and are often the subject of unfair assumptions about their nature.Agni is depicted as a handsome male haffun with a whimsical grin and two impressive stag-like antlers growing from his skull. Of all the haffun gods, he most obviously marks those who have caught his whimsical attention; "Agni-kissed" haffuns likewise grow antlers and show a marked relationship with fortune - whilst not all such haffuns become priests of Agni, it is unheard of for an Agni priest to lack these antlers.Priests of Agni have access to the Trickery, Arcane and Life Domains. Many "priests" are actually not clerics, but instead Bards (Colleges of Glamour & Blades) and Sorcerers (Wild Magic, Divine Soul or Luckbender), with a smattering of Arcane Trickster and Holy Trickster Rogues.Thund'rin' Torunn: The Hellion, the Thunderer, Stormrider, Beast-WrasslerHoly Symbol: A many-forked, claw-like lightning boltDogma: Be bold and seize what you want in life. Never admit defeat whilst you can still fight. The world belongs to the fierce, so be the fiercest that you can.The wildest and least-liked of the haffun pantheon, Torunn is less worshipped and more appeased, for she is a fickle, destructive and vainglorious goddess, who drives her mother Jorunn nuts and tests the patience of even her legendarily laid back father, Agni. The closest thing to an evil deity in the haffun pantheon, Torunn claims dominion over those forces that haffuns fear; she is the Goddess of Storms, Beasts and Fury, embodying the violent and chaotic aspects of the world around her.This lack of interest influences her priesthood; unlike the others in her pantheon, Torunn's priests have no official place in society. They are usually perceived as troublemakers, bullies and thugs; useful when the town is attacked by bandits or some monster from the Grassy Sea, but otherwise just in the way. At most, layfolk will offer a brief prayer to Torunn before attempting some feat of strength or after successfully wrangling livestock - it is the ranchers and hunters of haffun society who come the closest to being her faithful.In fact, Torunn is more often cursed at than called upon, for most haffuns, as she is believed to take a self-centered delight in the chaos that ensues when one of the deadly storms ravages the plains or people are roused to battle. They often use colorful and cacophonic fireworks during celebrations, in an attempt to appease (or at least distract) the volatile goddess.Thusly, most priests or devotees of Torunn are adventurers by default, traveling the world to relish in testing their strength against whatever gets in their way, hard-fighting, hard-playing, hard-drinking, hard-cursing souls who throw themselves into battle with a smile on their lips and a song in their heart.Torunn is depicted as an attractive but feral female haffun, with dark gray fur streaked with lightning-bolt white markings, fang-like teeth, burning eyes and clawed fingers & toes. She invariably carries a dual-headed axe-hammer and a lariat, though in recent years it has become more and more popular to depict her with one or more deathcrackers (pistols), as its believed she smiles on these imitations of her beloved thunderbolts.Priests of Torunn have access to the Domains of Tempest, War, Nature and Strength. Her more martial priesthood is reflected by Storm Herald Barbarians.Ragnhild: Everwatcher, Lady Stone, She With The ShieldHoly Symbol: A shield emblazoned with a flame in a circle.Dogma: Protect the weak, liberate the oppressed. Be loyal, true and devoted to your kin and to your cause. Do not flinch in the execution of your duty, no matter what the consequence.Relatively young in the pantheon of the haffuns, Ragnhild is a sister to Torunn, and has only recently come into favor amongst the haffuns. Goddess of Duty, Hearth and Protection, she is the patron of all who would stand up to defend their people, and is regarded as the beloved champion of their race in face of the many dangers facing them.It is often held as fact that Ragnhild and Torunn despise each other, for the one is wild, chaotic and refuses to be tamed, whilst the other is stoic, loyal,  and dutiful. It does not help matters that haffuns would rather pray to Ragnhild for the strength to protect their people than to Torunn to share her indiscriminate fury and pride.Ragnhild's priests are the center for the haffun military, such as it is. They are the ones responsible for founding militias, ensuring the chains of command and the other sundries are established in their memberships, and lead their people in defense of their home. They also serve as the marshals who look over haffun settlements, subduing those who commit wrongs against the haffun race.Adventuring priests of Ragnhild are less common than those of Torunn, and usually pursue either criminals who have committed wrongs against the haffun race, or seeking to grow in order to have the strength to better protect their people.Ragnhild is depicted as a tall, strongly built female haffun warrior, carrying a huge shield and a spear.Priests of Ragnhild have access to the Domains of War,  Protection, Life and Solidarity.</blockquote>

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