What is the alignment for this deity?

[Macbeth]

What alignment would you give this deity:

Verdante
"ver-dant-eh"
The Greenman, Keeper of the Cycle

Enworldian Lesser Deity
Symbol: A Longspear Covered with ivy
Home Plane: Wilderness of the Beastlands
Alignment: ?
Portfolio: Natural Cycles, Plants, Animals
Worshipers: Druids, Rangers, those who love nature.
Cleric Alignments: ?
Domains: Animal, Earth, Plant
Favored Weapon: "Verdante's Branch" (Spear, short or long)

Verdante is a god of natural life, of the cycles that bring everything alive, a god of falling rain and blowing winds, a god of beautiful flowers and majestic animals. Verdante teaches that everything has a natural cycle: life and death, good times and bad, sickness and health, all of these are part of the cycles of the natural world. This belief leads to some rather strange druids in Verdante's service, druids who believe that cities are a part of the natural cycle of the wilderness, and so make their way in cities, tending public parks and feeding ally cats. Verdante's followers are known for embracing the changes in their lives, believing each change to be the next phase in their natural cycle, and so his followers are found in all walks of life. Verdatne encourages his followers to help others find the beauty in their natural cycle, and to support those who are in a dark part of their cycle. Verdante's followers seek to create a more harmonious world by accepting the changes of natural life, but they will take up arms if those natural cycles are disturbed.
Verdante appears as a roughly human figure composed entirely of plant matter, a man made from nature. His coloration depends on the season of the place where he appears: in summer he is a strong green, in autumn, a regal mixture of gold and brown, winter finds him a collection of branches, not a leaf in sight, and spring brings flowers to his form, making him an explosion of yellows, oranges, and blues, all on a backdrop of green like newly growing grass.

Please post your alignment for this deity and the rational of your choice. Thanks for helping contribute to the development of Enworld, a Truly Living Setting.

 

[Bleys]

To me it just screams LN. With all the balances, neutral seems to fit, yet with everything fitting into a very orderly, structured 'whole' lawful springs to mind....

Just my opinion, and I'm curious to see what others have to say

 

[der_kluge]

Gods don't have alignments. People do.

 

[Desdichado]

What alignment is the Beastlands again? I'd just go with that.

 

[LuYangShih]

Actually, I would see this deity as CN. He seems to espouse a belief system that allows for a great deal of individual expression, and is very non judgemental. He also greatly encourages change.

Every belief system, even that of CE deities, has a defined structure, and as such, having one does not indicate a predeliction towards any of the nine alignments, in my opinion.

 

[Macbeth]

I'm trying not to interfere with the poll, but I will answer Joshua Dyal's question: The Beastlands are "Mildly Good Aligned." Make of that what you will.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Lawful Neutral - Following a cycle, even the cycle of life is a lawful thing, sun rises, hunter and prey, all laws in their own right.

 

[LuYangShih]

If that was the case, wouldn't the generic alignment for Druids be Lawful Neutral, instead of True Neutral? The cycle of life is more of a give and take (thus Neutral), rather than a set of rules for existence. I would still say the deity is CN simply based on his freeform approach towards the Druidic tenets.

 

[Desdichado]

I'm trying not to interfere with the poll, but I will answer Joshua Dyal's question: The Beastlands are "Mildly Good Aligned." Make of that what you will.

Moving along the axis towards chaos, if I recall. I'd say Chaotic Good, or Chaotic Neutral with good tendencies.

 

[Trickstergod]

True Neutral.

Following a cycle does not Lawfulness make; a cycle can involve taking the status quo, tearing it down, and rebuilding a new one in its place. An essentially neutral act, in my mind, and one that nature seems to follow, to a degree.

After all, a cycle is all about change - a chaotic act, but it follows a pattern - a lawful one. As such, they cancel each other out, for an ethically neutral standpoint. The cycles aren't necessarily all in sync, either - be they the lunar calendar vs. the rotation of the planet around the sun (not quite a fantasy example per se, but still applicable), or the differences between the cycles in a mountainous region, a tropical one, or on the coastline. Natures cycles tend to be roughly regimented, as well, even without interference of people, or what have you. A volcano explodes, and winters grow longer from all the dust in the sky.

An utter lack of cycles, everything being maintained the same, would be a bit more in-line with lawfulness, whereas unpredictable change would make for a more chaotic bent. Reliable change seems more an aspect of ethical neutrality.


Morally, life and death, the taking of one life for the benefit of another, who in turn offers their remains up to the other, and so, seems a good candidate for neutrality as well. I don't believe most folk are going to argue with that.

Just like with most nature deities, True Neutrality seems to be the most appropriate alignment.