Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Todesherr 09-08-07, 09:46 AM	Well first question is does he have a future? Let's look at his portfolio first: desert, destruction, drought, night, rot, snakes, hate, betrayal, evil magic, ambition, poison, murder Well there doesn't seem to be any logical way he could slip into the faerunian pantheon; he overlaps with Talos, Talona, Shar, Bane, Cyric and Mystra/Velsharoon...where the hell would he fit? Despite this he would make an awesome addition to the pantheon. I would love to see Cyric ousted and Set step in to take over... what do you guys think?
GothicDan 09-08-07, 11:30 AM	I don't see the Mulhorandi and Faerunian pantheons merging any time soon. They might, but not soon. So Set's just fine, I think.
MarkusTay63 09-08-07, 12:48 PM	Actually, it appears MANY gods are dead in the future - probably something to do with the two worlds merging. I think Set is one of the few that has no worries though - he is multispheric, after all, moreso then most gods (Conan, Marvel comics, etc).
SgtAnjay 09-08-07, 03:15 PM	If nothing else, his grasp on serpent races and the scaly side of his portfolio will keep him quite safe. And does anyone else have drought or desert? Aside from that, he's got a sublety combined with raw power that some of those deities he overlaps with would stand no chance in straight competition with him. I'm inclined to agree with GD, though, the Mulhorandi are on an upswing and their gods with them at the moment. The fact that they're actually a united pantheon and not a loose conglomeration like the Faerunians is a big plus on their side to resist absorbtion.
MarkusTay63 09-08-07, 06:08 PM	But the spoiler specifically mentions that Mulhorand was heavily hit by 'the disaster' (be it war, Spellplague, Mummy infestations, etc). If the population was decimated, only Bast and Set have enough worshippers outside of Mulhorand to survive. I also see Ao's silly ToT decree of 'no over-lapping portfolios' going right out the window in 4e. After all, there was too much confusion about who controlled what after that - Does Mystra control all of Toril's magic, even though other cultures had their own gods? If so, then doesn't that make the Faerūnian Pantheon more powerful then the others? What of Kelemvor? What if a Faerūnian died over in Kara-Tur, or Maztica? What happens when a Shou expatriate dies in Faerūn? Either unify the world's pantheon, or make it a free for all where gods can operate anywhere they have worshippers. All of these 'artificial' boundaries on near-omnipotent beings was just plain silly anyway.
The Ubbergeek 09-08-07, 06:37 PM	Even Gods have rules and obligations...
GothicDan 09-08-07, 07:58 PM	That depends on who's writing the setting, doesn't it?
The Ubbergeek 09-08-07, 08:43 PM	That depends on who's writing the setting, doesn't it? It is ALWAYS like this, real world or made up ones. The Gods have limitations, rules, etc... Of many, many forms. Even YHVH is perhaps not as perfect as said, or at least it may be. It is in my mind that any magical, mystical things have a logic, laws of nature and so on.
GothicDan 09-08-07, 08:47 PM	Being an atheist, talking about 'real divine laws' really isn't my thing.
MarkusTay63 09-08-07, 09:06 PM	Yes, but nowhere, RW or imagined, are gods stopped from operating in areas where other gods have influence. In fact, quite the opposite. A lot of contention is caused by exactly that, and sometimes you even wind up with the followers of good gods fighting each other for supremacy in a region. What about when Helm invaded Maztica? Didn't THAT break ALL the rules? That, BTW, was one of the most realistic portrayals of a god I have ever read in ANY FR book. Gods WANT worshippers in order to increase their power - and they WILL try to expand their territories for exactly that reason. Ao putting a 'bridle' on the gods and reigning them in always had a bad smell to me.
The Ubbergeek 09-08-07, 09:12 PM	Note, laws and rules in a large sense as also natural laws and karma-dharma. AO have a role and all, he is ensuring that the gods don 't break the universe and all... too much. It's like the Brahman, etc. He don't step in unless it would be way too much.
GothicDan 09-08-07, 09:50 PM	Again, that's assuming you believe such laws operate in real life, which I don't. So obviously I see no reason to use real life religion to support AO's stupidity.
boards 09-08-07, 11:39 PM	But the spoiler specifically mentions that Mulhorand was heavily hit by 'the disaster' (be it war, Spellplague, Mummy infestations, etc). If the population was decimated, only Bast and Set have enough worshippers outside of Mulhorand to survive. The prelude doesnt really say that Mulhorand is gone, merely that it is no longer flourishing. At the moment they are taking over Unther, one of the rare upsurges in their history for the last 1000 years or so. This could simply mean that they have gone back to their pre TOT catatonic state, not that it no longer exists or was heavily destroyed. If Mulhorand takes over Unther and parts of Thay, then gets stale or starts loosing ground again that would easily cover "no longer flourishing".
Chloramantis 09-11-07, 01:46 PM	Can they take over Unther and then become stale? If they take over Unther, the Mulhorandi pantheon has that more worshippers. This may help the mulhorand pantheon in not being absorbed by the Faerun pantheon. Now if Mulhorand is defeated (unlikely), then that in itself would be a major setback and allow Thay to launch their attack of their own on Mulhorand.
MarkusTay63 09-11-07, 02:01 PM	I think Thay is secretly helping the Untherites (I believe it was in Dragon), and a war between Mulhorand and Thay, with both sides coming out the worse for wear, could be what the spoiler is referencing. It could be when Set makes his grand move, and wipes out most of the Mulhorandi pantheon and transforms Thay/Mulhorand into the ancient, dark, sinister empire it was meant to be in 1e and Ed's Realms.
The Ubbergeek 09-11-07, 09:35 PM	Thay IS already sinister... To live in there is not happyness, even as a Red Wizard. Always to watch your back, you can end up a slave, etc... It may not be a military menace for now, it is not a country that will fall anytime soon... From outside. (Inside is anothere matter)
Suin Bahhar 09-12-07, 08:31 AM	Set's hold on the yuanti is not complete. Maybe the Spellplague helps Sseth awake from its slumber. The return to older styles of magic to circumvent the penalties of the plague could stirr the great serpent into action as he should know how to casts spells the ancient way.
Chloramantis 09-12-07, 10:39 AM	Is Sseth an alias of Set? I know Sseth stopped answering prayers, but what happened to him? His name is very close to Set. Just wondering if Set killed him or not during the Time of Troubles? What caused Sseth to go into a slumber? Lack of worship? or was he killed by another?
Suin Bahhar 09-12-07, 10:46 AM	He's been slumbering for ages now. I think its because of lack of worship yes. He used to have all scaled races as worshippers and they ain't thriving nowadays. During the ToT Sseth made some moves above the Maihr Jungles in Lapalyyia but he settled down and Set stumbled apon him and chained him somehow.
MarkusTay63 09-12-07, 01:04 PM	I think at this point Set's got the portfolios of at least three other scaley gods. I look forward to his rise in power with 4e.
daimyotx 09-14-07, 01:23 PM	I think it would be very interesting if Sseth broke free. He's really not totally slumbering anymore (at least according to the House of Serpents trilogy), but he's pretty much isolated from the Realms due to Set's actions. He still has lots of worshippers, but somehow that divine energy is being redirected or diffused.
calesummers 09-18-07, 01:02 PM	I read from Ubtao's entry in F&P that Sseth is an aspect of Set. I'm just new to all this, but doesnt that mean they're one? Like a god's avatar?
daimyotx 09-19-07, 02:58 PM	working from memory here - might be a little foggy.... Sseth was a fragment or avatar of Merrshaulk - When Merrshaulk went dormant, Sseth basically became a god in is own right. Set was an interloper power who managed to bind Sseth and assume his portfolio's and most of his worshippers. The only reason Sseth is still around (bound and slumbering on another plane) is that there are apparently just enough of his worshippers out there to keep him around - but not enough to empower him enough to care to attempt freeing himself.