Gods & goddesses

[jack1974]

So... I'm finally doing this missing part of Aravorn lore. I've written already some Gods, but I asked a "real writer" to write them better using my "storyboards"
I am wondering though if anyone has any suggestions about Gods, any ideas I could use (fantasy stuff of course). I have so far made the main Gods but I want to have several different ones, even different based on the races. Some cultures like Amazons believe in Great Mothers so existing amazons in the past (a bit like the Saint in Christian religion).
If you have anything to suggest I'm all ears

[kadakithis]

Hmm, well one god representing the whole race is a common practice in fantasy, I always thought it made sense for each group to have a Pantheon, since nearly every culture believe they are their gods people and other groups have other gods.

Also, not every group may have Polytheism. Like the Great Mothers sound like ancestor worship. While there definitely are gods that shaped the world and are part of it, that is like saluting the flag or paying taxes where the real worship is placating and "worshipping" the family's dead. Hmm, sorta like in Mulan? The ones who move and change things on your behalf are the family's dead. Rome did this a lot too.

Spirit worship? Especially Elves. Although less actually worshiping as giving to a spirit something, or doing something that makes them happy and then benefit afterwards. Dancing, fake plays, making odd gifts. Giving a gift in a spiritual way can foster mutual aid and protection.

Gods can also be tangibly human. Many cultures across the globe, but very few now, had their gods live in a special person or leader. If things went poorly, he could die, in fact, in some cases had to die to suit the problem. On the other side, many died at a defined date. Imagine Avatar: The Last Airbender except Aang might be worshipped as a living god. Him dying might placate the gods to help them out of a major problem. I kinda feel the Goblins are a bit like this.

Not all religions have gods. Sometimes a type of faith has a form of belief that can be done without belief in a god at all. Usually they are highly Spiritual and ask a great deal from those that worship as the point changes from having a reason Why, or being empowered/watched over, and more like how to live a proper life of goodness, and devoutly peaceful people often are inspired by these religions. But also dedicated Warrior-Priests. Kinda Sauzer.

Also, having one god doesn't necessarily mean Monotheism. Pantheism is fairly common, where you believe all the world is filled with a divine power. There is not a god that can be humanized, but one that is part of everything and part of being. Every other god is how the human mind perceives the world's divinity so they can grow. Also many believe that this god can be reached following any religion. This isn't exactly a new idea, and is actually ancient. (it actually shows up in a whole bunch of religions, across religions) Anything could suit it.

Sorry, hope that helps.

[Miakoda]

Don't be afraid to mix up various conventions as well. You don't have to do it for all the deities, of course, but a blacksmith deity is usually a male god...imagine if it was a goddess, while a deity of weaving might be male.

From what I saw of the DLC, the Animal Spirits very well could act as deities, and you could do something similar with the nature oriented tribes.

Something you might play with is a society which sees undeath as a reward, and not a punishment. This need not include vampires, but say a good Lich...you could get something akin to the Great Mothers, but with the undead in a more direct fashion.

Heck, it could be interesting to have Ancestor spirits which hang around...and maybe possessing their descendants in time of need.

For specific gods/goddesses, I hope you have a trickster deity. It doesn't have to be evil like Loki, but could be like Coyote (from Native American traditions) at least in attitude.

For that matter, you could have some of the primal elements (Earth/Air/Fire/Water) have representations as powerful as a god/goddess.

And yeah, I can't help but want a Goddess of Time with an hourglass figure

[jack1974]

Haha great suggestions, thanks to both of you. Now I have some ideas
Of course not all races can be polytheists. And also there can be "cults", like the cult of Irijo of Sauzer, and so on.

[kadakithis]

No problem, ever since I was a kid this was my Passion! I love the idea of religion. Studied it independently all my life. Ooh also hero cult stuff is the coolest part of ancient Greek religion. Everyone believes that the Greeks went around declaring Zeus struck people with lightning but we believed the same thing well into the late 1700s. They mostly had ancestor worship, and hero cults, where everyone in the area would worship the hero, who as they gained importance would be worshipped more and more.

More like super saints but saints sort of intervene for you to other gods, these guys had a spiritual presence. They have large tombs(much like the great mothers) and blessed those around them after death. many had different rituals. And there does seem some correlation how over time hero cults graduated to gods. But, imagine cults to Loren. Also weirdly for such an anti-woman society, they also honored women this way. So minor cults to mothers of heroes/gods, and even back in the time where women were more equal. I only mention this because it gives a religious outlet for men and the amazons.

Magic would be pretty big too. Almost any story on how man got fire can be co-opted for the story of magic. Heck can even have the gods take them back.

Finally, tons and tons of religions say they did blood saccrifice, but very few actually killed people, and those that did usually did so rarely. Usually, bloodletting or piercing yourself, even in large groups with something as small as a thorn was enough. Many of these felt something was owed to the gods/spirits they worshipped. Rarely are the gods portrayed as bloodthirsty, so much as they needed help, or even gods died for them to live and they must give blood to ensure the god can continue to die again.

Most bloodthirsty gods in myth are placated. Like Sekhmet who was literally blood thirsty so they gave her red dyed beer to get her drunk and not destroy the world. Sacrifice usually is required of Shamans though, who go through rigorous stuff to connect to a beyond. And many cultures have a fearful respect to shamans because of it, because if Bob cut parts of his fingers and nearly kills himself, coming out of it with an understanding beyond any normal man, he is not quite Bob anymore.

[jack1974]

Added more info about existing deities plus added a few more (Naxar and Tyrion): http://aravorn.com/index.php?title=Gods ... of_Aravorn
More to come

[Taleweaver]

A little on Dingirran religion:

While most Dingirrans don't follow an organized religion, most believe that the world was created out of the essence of the Four Great Djinns, powerful spirits residing in the elemental realms of fire, earth, air and water. Before that, mankind lived in the darkness between the stars, perpetually cold, until the thief Nursal stole the four elements from the Great Djinns and brought them together, forming the world as a place for everybody to live so they would no longer have to shiver in the eternal cold. Three of the Djinns praised him for his ingenuity; unfortunately, the fourth Djinn, the one residing in the realm of fire, was angry and created a huge ball of fire - the sun - to heat up the place where Nursal had built his house so that instead of being eternally cold, he would be eternally living under scorching heat. Thus, the great desert where Dingirra stands today was created.

[jack1974]

Cool going to add this to the wiki

[MrEnvy8]

Wrote a story for the goddess of Chance/Luck, I'll put it on the wiki as soon as I figure out how to register. Nathir (From Loren 2) is a knight-priest in her service. Gonna write up details of how that religion works today or tomorrow.

Also thinkin' on the deities of the other major societies. So far major societies I can think of are:
Man
Elf
Dwarf
Nomad
Orc
Ratfolk
Lizardfolk
Minotaur
Naga
Merfolk

I know some other writers are looking at some of those societies pretty closely, but I'm wondering if there are any other major non-human societies I've missed. Also, "Man" is too broad a catch-all. There are obviously several societies within the human spectrum with their own gods.

[Miakoda]

Centaurs certainly, Goblins, and I know I've had some thoughts on the Cyclopes.