Post/Author/DateTime	Post
queenfange 05-20-07, 08:17 PM	I've made the outline of a pantheon for a race of personable and beautiful but simple humanoids (+2 Cha, -2 Int). They are essentially hedonists, and have skin in several different pastel shades (each subrace believes its skin tone in the best). So, below are the deities I have right now. I don't really want to add any more (though if you have a great idea for one, do post it), but I'd like to flesh them out. What do their clerics wear? What's their holy symbol? Personality? Holy days? Rituals? Origins? What signifigance do they have to other races or adventuring parties? Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!!! :D NG Beidief (m) Fertility, flowers, happiness, love Animal, Creation, Good, Healing, Plant NG Armonia (f) Community, harmony, musical arts Air, Community, Good, Protection CG Escelcia (m) Creativity, talent, flirtation Artifice, Charm, Chaos, Good, Magic CG Tirshaem (f) Athletics, sunshine, energy Chaos, Good, Liberation, Strength, Sun LN Fesph (m) Natural cycles, nature, being calm Earth, Law, Plant N Plani (f) Sadness, rain, the ocean, death Death, Repose, Travel, Water, Weather CN Kiroo (f) Mischief, getting away with trouble Charm, Chaos, Luck, Trickery LE Aralle (f) Organization, slavery, intelligence Evil, Knowledge, Law, Protection CE Heacean (m) Anger, rage at injustice Chaos, Destruction, Evil, Liberation, Madness
Tyberian 05-21-07, 06:41 PM	Perhaps you could add a neutral evil deity of disease and pestilence with things such as oozing pores. It would be a good foil to the general nature of the beings described. Perhaps you could reduce the evil side of the pantheon to only one deity, fairly powerful, feared, and spoken of only in whispers.
sciborg2 05-21-07, 10:17 PM	I said Eralle is the evil you know, and Heacean is the evil you don't: Eralle represents what most would term "necessary evil". Slavery is a part of our lives, it helps the elite acheive greatness because their underlings sweat the small stuff, there is a reincarnation cycle that justifies caste-slavery. All the usual BS justifying Evil acts, Eralle is however also seen as a god that ensures society continues to exist. In fact, one might have Eralle be the major bulwark against Heacean who represents the alien evil or perhaps, as Set once did, the foreigner and the wilderness. Eralle may even be more widely worshipped that some of the good gods where believers are minorities or face daily attacks by non-believers against the pantheon, as he is the Protector. In fact, as one begins to make an honest examination, the policies of Eralle may allow for "good" to exist for believers. Are the followers of Armonia, for all their charity, worth listening to in the world of actual politics and war? The followers of Tirshaem - are they liberators or mere archanists without any vision for the future with a childish hatred of the present? I think there is a lot of potential for Eralle, but I'd advise staying close to a political investigation that avoids any major parallels with real world politics. People don't usually want to argue via the game. Ancient historial examples are good but of course "no one learns anything from history" so people will accuse you anyway...:(
blackjackg 05-24-07, 10:48 PM	a race of personable and beautiful but simple humanoids (+2 Cha, -2 Int). They are essentially hedonists, and have skin in several different pastel shades (each subrace believes its skin tone in the best). Sounds like humans. Or a fairly obvious satire thereof. Either way, I've got a couple of ideas. The whole pantheon is typically depicted as youthful and beautiful, even boyish Kiroo and solemn Aralle. The exception to this is Plani, who is almost always portrayed in myth and art as a crone. She is the personification of age and death, and the two concepts are inextricably linked in religion and culture. No holidays venerate Plani; at best she is given cautious obeisence at harvests, birthdays and funerals. Worship of Plani is most common among the elders of the race, with almost no clerics below middle-age. Tirshaem and Escelcia are always considered in conjunction, though different traditions describe them as twin siblings or as lovers (never both at once). They share the highly-regarded title of "Summer God," standing apart from Beidief's patronage of the Spring, Feseph's Autumn and Plani's Winter. Heroic myths of the pantheon generally follow the form of "A deity of another race, jealous of our beauty, kidnaps one of the gods (most often Escelcia or Armonia), and the others stage a daring rescue in a hidden or foreign location." Typical heroes are Tirshaem, Kiroo and oddly Heacean. Beidief and Aralle are often depicted as supervisors or other authority figures, while Feseph takes the role of the wise sage. Plani rarely appears in myths. Holy symbols for the pantheon usually take the form of jewelry or other personal adornment. Pendants, tiaras and bracelets are the most common. Priests of Aralle generally wear iron bracers or armbands, while priests of Beidief frequently wear brightly-coloured belts or codpieces (males and females wear either indiscriminately). Just a few random tidbits that may serve as starting points.
queenfange 05-25-07, 04:57 AM	Really good suggestions; thanks, everyone. :) I agree with sciborg2 that avoiding any politics which mirror the real world is important, and the descriptions of Aralle are good. Blackjackg's linking certain deities to the season is great, and something I don't think I would have thought of. Keep posting if you think of anything else!!!