I just finished typing up some information on the gods in one region of my setting. They are a mixture of Greek and Norse deities and are still in a rough state. I'd love any feedback anyone might have.
THE GODS
The gods are best defined as a family of extremely powerful spirits who draw worship from across the region. The line between "spirit" and "god" is not distinct, and for the purposes of this section, exists only to differentiate between beings who receive general prayers and those who enjoy institutionalized worship. To the average person, the spirit of a local lake is as much a god as Kore or Alator.
[SPOILER="PRIMARY DEITIES"]Primary Deities
VĒTRA
Epithets: The Thunderer.
Sphere of Influence: Rain, Storms, War, Weather, Wind.
Symbols: Bear, Eagle, Girdle, Hammer, Ram, Shield.
Relationships: Married to Sieva.
Vētra is the most widely worshipped deity throughout the land. He is the skygod, whose spears are as lightning and whose hammerblows are as thunder. The distant rumbling on the winds of a storm are the wheels of his ram-drawn chariot as he bolts across the sky. He is the embodiment of the male ideal – strong, courageous, thoughtful, wise, steadfast, and forthright, but his one failing is his love of women – particularly mortal ones. He is renowned for his numerous affairs with mortal women, and the extreme jealousy it inspires in his wife, Sieva.
More than his lecherousness, Vētra is known and worshipped for his strength, prowess, and unshakeable courage in combat. He wears a magical girdle that grants him tremendous strength and bears a solid metal shield of such weight that no other god can lift it. He often takes the form of either a tall, powerfully-built man with a scruffy, red beard or a particularly large bear.
LIKUMA
Epithets: The Lightbringer.
Sphere of Influence: Civilization, Law, Oaths, and War to maintain peace.
Symbols: Fire, Girdle, Gold, Lamp, Ram, Shield, Sun, Sword, Wolf.
Relationships: Daughter of Karalis and Sēra.
Likuma is the virgin goddess of civilization, law, oaths, and war, but she does not focus on personal combat or killing, like Vētra. Instead, her domain encompasses strategy, tactics, and establishing peace afterward. She first performed this feat when she introduced Law to the ancient clans, allowing them to find peace and make decisions without the need for bloodshed among kinsmen.
Likuma is the child of Karalis and Sēra, who sheds her life-giving warmth on the fields as she flies through the sky on her owl-drawn chariot with her sword and golden shield. Her shield is of particular note, as it is made of solid gold, burns with the fire of a the greatest conflagration, and sheds its light to create the days. She is a friend of Vētra and often spends time in his halls, training, drinking, and discussing matters of importance. Her complete disinterest in love prevents Sieva from growing jealous of her – no small feat for sure.
Likuma most often takes the form of a wolf mother or a terrifyingly beautiful warrior woman clad in full battle regalia. She is particularly cold and distant, and this often frightens those she meets.
KARALIS
Epithets: The One-Eyed; The Doomspeaker.
Sphere of Influence: Doom, Madness, Prophecy, and Wisdom.
Symbols: An Eye, Horned Helmet, Owl, Panther, Raven, Spear, Twilight, Wine.
Relationships: Married to Sēra and father of Likuma and Kore.
Karalis is the god of wisdom, doom, and madness and serves as the king of the gods. He is the embodiment of cruel, fickle Unreason. His oracular foresight and tremendous knowledge make him a natural leader, but even the other gods often wonder his motives, for those, not even his wife, Sëra knows. While aspects such as doom and madness might appear "Evil," he is not particularly malicious. He often grants victory in battles, and through his gift of madness, drives men to great achievements.
While Karalis is widely worshipped, he does things for his own reasons, regardless of sacrifices and prayers. It is believed that Karalis' power is most strongly felt in living juices, such as blood, sap, and especially wine, and his rites typically include the consumption of a great deal of wine and blood sacrifices and culminate in a saturnalia. It is during this ritual madness that worshippers give in to their madness, releasing it and permitting them to maintain a firmer grasp on sanity in their daily lives. This is the mystery of sanity through madness often mentioned by his dedicated priests.
Karalis is the patron god of diviners, madmen, and berserkers. He often appears as an old man missing an eye and wearing a rough cloak and either a hood or a broad-brimmed hat. At other times, he might take the form of a raven or a great, black cat.
SËRA
Epithets: Mother Earth, the Life-Giver.
Sphere of Influence: Fertility, Plenty, and Prosperity.
Symbols: Cow, Earth Square, Hearth, Horse, Mistletoe, Sickle, and Wolf Cross.
Relationships: Wife of Karalis and mother of Likuma and Kore.
Sëra is the goddess of fertility, plenty, and prosperity, and in this capacity is mostly seen as a barer of life. While she assists in impregnation, she does not preside over child birth; she creates life. Her power is evident in everything within her domain: plant a seed, and it will grow. She also has a strong chthonic connection through her daughter Kore.
Sëra most often appears as a hearty and beautiful middle-aged women often accompanied by her magical boar, Gullin, who is said to be able to outrun any horse.
JUANAVA
Epithets: The Virgin.
Sphere of Influence: Animals, Chastity, the Hunt, and the Natural World.
Symbols: Blood, Chalice, Doe, Moon, Silver, and Swan.
Relationships: Daughter of Mëness.
Juanava is the goddess of animals, chastity, hunting, and the natural world. She is the inevitable force of nature that drives every living thing to survive at all costs. Thus, she is a dark goddess - she loves animals and loves hunting them; she ruthlessly persecutes any man who sees her naked; she is particularly fond of bloody sacrifices. Still, she has a compassionate side. She serves as the goddess of childbirth and often comes to the aid of hunters and those lost in the wilderness - especially those who dedicate themselves to a life of chastity.
She most often appears as a young, nubile woman lightly clad with a cape of swan feathers and carrying a bow. She is closely associated with does and stags, who often accompany her. [/spoiler]
[SPOILER="LESSER DEITIES"]Lesser Deities
JŪRA
Epithets: Lord of the Deep.
Sphere of Influence: Sea, sea creatures, seafaring, and weather at sea.
Symbols: Giant Squid, Whale, Trident, Twilight.
Relationships: Married to Dzilūma and father of the Viļnī.
Jūra is the god of the seas, and oceans. He commands all that happens at sea, from the weather to the creatures; in his domain, none can oppose him. He is the viciousness of storms and the smashing waves; the father of sea monsters and the husband of the Deep. His wife, Dzilūma, whose symbol is a circular net, is the Queen of the Deep and receives the souls of those who drown to death. Their children are the Viļnī - the multitudes of waves and horrific sea monsters that plague ships and coastal towns.
Jūra most often appears as an old man holding a trident but rarely makes a personal appearance anywhere. He is stern, unrelenting, vengeful, and destructive, but also honest, steadfast and trustworthy.
MĪLA
Epithets: The Lovebringer.
Sphere of Influence: Love, Fertility, and Sexual Desire.
Symbols: Cats, Doves, Swans, and Dates.
Relationships:
Mīla is a ferocious lover and warrior goddess who presides over love, sex, and serves as a minor fertility goddess. She takes no husband and is renowned for her promiscuity among both gods and mortals. Her personality is occassionally childish, but she is dependable in a clinch, especially where her leadership of the Kauja – a host of Amazonian female warriors – is concerned. While she cries tears of gold, it is wise not to upset her.
She appears as a mind-numbingly beautiful maiden with flowing auburn locks, large green eyes, and a fit physique. She regularly wears a golden breastplate and a cape of swan feathers. She rarely appears without an escort of swans, doves, or cats - any of whom might be Kauja in disguise.
MĀLA
Epithets: The Soulbearer.
Sphere of Influence: Boarders, Boundaries, Cunning, and Winds.
Symbols: Falcon, Fox, Door, Portal, Shoe.
Relationships: Son of Mëness.
Māla is the god of boundaries who leads souls to the Underworld. His connection with crossing boundaries links him to thieves, spies, and invaders as well as honest travelers, merchants, and messengers. His connection to the dead also ties him to necromancers and resurrection.
PAZEME
Epithets: The Dread King.
Sphere of Influence: Caves, Dead Souls, Deep Places, and Riches.
Symbols: Funerary Ashes, Hounds, Owls, and Skills.
Relationships: Married to Kore.
Pazeme is a fearsome god who rules over the Underworld and judges the dead. All that exists deep in the earth is his, so miners and others seeking wealth in deep, dark places intrude on the fringes of his domain, but he is not worshipped directly – sacrifices are offered to keep him away. Thankfully, he rarely visits the upper world.
He also serves as the antagonist in the Serän Mysteries, in which he courts and steals the heart of Kore, Sëra's daughter. He takes her to the Underworld to be his queen, but after a dispute with Sëra, Karalis imposes a deal on them both: Kore may live with her husband in the Underworld for half of the year, and her mother the other half. This cycle of sadness and mourning in Sëra causes the eternal cycle of the seasons.
KORĒ
Epithets: Queen of the Dead, the Winter Queen.
Sphere of Influence: Dead Souls, Imprisonment,
Symbols: Chalice, Crystal, Silver, Snakes, and Veils.
Relationships: Wife of Pazeme and daughter of Karalis and Sëra
Korē is the queen of the dead whose absence from her mother, Sēra causes autumn and winter. While she helps mortals occasionally and prevents the dead from escaping the Underworld, she remains a cold, dark, and fearful divinity. She appears as a sorrowful young woman in wispy, white robes and porcelain skin and cold, blue eyes.
MĒNESS
Epithets:
Sphere of Influence: Darkness, Magic, the Moon, Pathways, Sorcery, and Women.
Symbols: Candles, Cats, Cauldron, Chalice, Crescent Moon, Doves, and Silver.
Relationships: Mother of Jaunava and Mäla.
Mëness is the goddess of a great many things, but primarily of women, magic, and sorcery. Her ties to the moon link her to darkness, cycles, menses, and fertility. She rules the wilderness of land, sea, and air; and is often associated with beauty, war, and death. Mēness appears as a youthful maiden wearing a cloak of falcon feathers and carrying a torch. She is usually accompanied by a pack of great hounds or scores of cats.
SIEVA
Epithets: The Watcher.
Sphere of Influence: Prophecy, Protection, and the Stars.
Symbols: Bells, Cauldron, Circle, Cows, Eyes, and Stars.
Relationships: Wife of Vētra.
Sieva is the goddess of astrology, navigation, and protection. She represents the ideal wife in that she is dignified, motherly, dutiful, supportive, and strong; but her wrathful jealousy stands as a warning against infidelity. She is often responsible for persecuting the bastard children of Vētra, but in doing so often drives them to accomplish tremendous feats. She appears as a fearfully beautiful and dignified woman wearing a robe of peacock feathers.[/spoiler]
Immediately, right off the back, I like your take on spirits and gods as it hearkens to the same influence that my own setting draws upon. It's a style near and dear to me, which both makes the gods more down to earth but also makes them more alien. They aren't just powerful people, they're spirits with their own unique psychology.
Rather than commenting on them directly, other than to say you really nailed home the Greek/Norse feel (It is interesting that many Greek/Roman gods have Norse equivalents), I feel more compelled to comment on the generalities. They have many human characteristics; are these their actual characteristics, or are they projected upon them by their worshipers? Do they draw power from their worshipers, or do they seek worship for more emotional matters like pride or parental nurturing? Are they united together in a pantheon, or are their cults/churches more separate?
Keep everything coming. You have my curiosity.
Thanks for the response! I'm approaching the deities from the worshipers' perspectives, so none of this might be how the individual spirits actually behave. In fact, I doubt a PC will ever meet one of these gods personally.
They don't draw any particular power from their worshippers and don't actively seek worship; they might respond to requests if it suits their fancy, however. Some might just get a kick out of watching humans do stuff and try to keep their favorite show from being canceled; others might use them to some mysterious and unbeknownst end. Heck, Jaunava (pronounced Yow!-nuh-vuh . . . I used Latvian as a base for the names and will eventually invest the time in a proper naming language) is pretty bloodthirsty and might just be a sadist who loves animals for the pain she can inflict on them.
They are worshipped collectively as a pantheon, for sure. There are also some mystery cults, like that of Kore and Sera (essentially an Elysian Mystery Cult) and the weird/scary one dedicated to Karalis (a mix of Dionysian Mystery Cult and Norse berserkers). I also intend to eventually write up a couple of other mystery cults to include one dedicated to an Anubis/Osiris-style foreign god, as well as a typical Druidic cult.
[ooc="Off Topic"]It's probably worth mentioning that I'm making this setting in a manner largely backwards to how I usually do. I'm trying to justify the type of game I want to run and the society I want in it. So far, the religion lets there be druids, clerics, holy warriors, shamans, etc. It's very much a Points of Light setting surrounding a city-state that maintains a population of adventurers by offering them a special status in society similar to Doomed Slayers (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?571602-Doomed-Slayers-Justifying-the-tropes-of-Adventurers), but with some political potential, in case players want that sort of adventure at some point. I'm still working on sorting out magic, as well, but more in the mechanical sense than how it ties into the setting - it's simply rare, powerful, flexible, and likely to be out of reach for PCs who aren't demigods.
In a little bit, I'll post some information on death, dying, the soul, and where undead come from. Much of that is ripped from a mix of Aztec and Hindu stuff, but it permits a great variety of undead wtihout trouncing on typical human customs or pidgeonholing the setting into a stereotype (or so I think, at least).[/ooc]
As promised:
[spoiler="Eshatology & Thanatology"]Eshatology & Thanatology
The soul is believed to be tripartite: the aigne resides in the head and represents vigor, life force, and magical energy. The anam dwells in the heart and embodies knowledge and personality, and is the part of the soul that actually enters the afterlife. Found in the liver, the intinn is the base part of the soul responsible for a person's animalistic instincts and passions, like hate and lust. Upon death, the aigne should rejoin the collective spirit of the world while the anam attempts to carry the intinn with it into the afterlife.
When a person dies, his anam and intinn are severed from his aigne, which returns to the earth. The freed anam and intinn must then journey into the underworld and brave many harrowing tests before reaching their final destination. There, they are judged on their merits and given a place among the dead for all of eternity.
FUNERARY RITES
The dead are cremated so as to aid both in the release of the anam and intinn, embodied in the rising smoke, and the return of the aigne to the earth in the form of ashes. Failing to cremate a body has dire consequences. First, the uncremated body can get up and start walking around as an undead animated either by its anam or worse, by its intinn. Worse still, evil spirits can inhabit and animate these bodies, and worst of all, Ravana and his demons can reanimate them as rotting, leprous monsters. Cremation prevents all of this.
CHTHONIC DEITIES
Meness is an ancient goddess of fertility, death, and to a very minor extent, the earth. She is often associated with magic - especially spirit magic and necromancy - and has a dualistic nature. During the waxing and full moon, she is approachable and helpful, offering fertility, life, and rebirth, but during the waning and new moon, she is harsh, fierce, and deadly. She does not tolerate undead, but because the anam and intinn must make their way into the underworld, they may sometimes return as shades. Other times, they lose their way or have such a strong will to remain behind that they become a haunt or ghost.
Meness is associated with several symbols: the owl, who is said to serve as a spirit guide for dead souls; the color black; silver represents the moon and its light; the cauldron is symbolic of the womb and rebirth; the moon as a symbol of perpetual death and rebirth; the sickle in the sense of the harvest; water symbolizes the womb and rebirth. Some of these aspects have been adopted by Sera, making Meness appear an even stranger and darker deity by contrast.
HONORING THE DEAD
It is common practice to honor the spirits of dead relatives with personal shrines. These shrines incorporate a varieties of symbols of death as well as those personally relevant to the honored spirits, and offerings and tokens of respect. The latter usually includes drink, flowers, food, and incense and perfume. While neglected spirits rarely return to visit their vengeance on those who forgot them, proper offerings can both help restless spirits move on and garner favors from beyond the grave.
UNDEAD
The most prevalent form of undead are anam or intinn who, for some reason, do not enter the underworld. Such beings continue to inhabit the world of the living as incorporeal spirits who no longer belong to this world. Far less common are uncremated bodies who rise as restless undead or are reanimated through demonic magic.
Corporeal undead typically stop rotting as soon as they rise to their new unlife. It is even possible for dismembered body parts to be granted a crude and horrific form of undeath, but this rarely occurs naturally. Overall, the state of decay has little to do with whether or not a body can rise to undeath; skeletal undead are roughly as common as fleshy ones.[/spoiler]
And...
[spoiler="General Beliefs"]THE CYCLE
There is no Beginning. There is no End. There is only the Eternal Cycle of creation and destruction; death and rebirth. The Cycle began shortly after Vēmekļi consumed the last of the universe and her belly grew so fat and bloated with creation that she could no longer contain it. She opened her maw and vomited forth a seething chaos of raw elements infused with fragments of her spirit. These spirit fragments became the myriad spirits that infuse every aspect of creation today, and among the most powerful of these were the great elemental lords known as the Primordials.
The Primordials created the worlds, as we know them, but left them to the gods to tend; the Primordials still reside in the Elemental Chaos outside of Creation.
As time inevitably ticks down, Vēmekļi will once more grow hungry and begin devouring the universe, one piece at a time. After eons of this, She will once more have eaten all that exists and grow sick. She will open her maw and once more regurgitate a chaotic slew of raw elements infused with fragments of her spirit, and once more the cycle will begin anew.
FREE WILL
While the doom of the universe is certain, those within are not bound by an unbreakable fate. People are free to act as they please, but in the end, Vēmekļi will grow hungry and not cease to eat until filled to the bursting point with creation. Whether or not this fate is unavoidable is not particularly addressed; it is simply taken for granted that it will happen and is unavoidable.
ANGELS & DEMONS
There are no truly good or evil entities native to the universe. Some spirits may be beneficial while others maleficent, but there is no concept of Good versus Evil.
THINGS FROM BEYOND TIME AND SPACE
There are creatures that are truly alien to the world. They sometimes intrude to some means beyond our understanding, and more often than not cause great havoc and distress. Whether they are spreading madness or devouring villages, such creatures are best avoided at all costs, and if such is the power at a person's disposal, destroyed at all costs.[/spoiler]
I love your components of the soul, as they give a good explanation for many features of your setting. I also commend you on blending many of the "Points of Light" elements into your setting while making them your own.
I'm curious to see how you handle your lack of good and evil moralities. This is typically something I don't like in a setting, especially video games; I'm often turned off when I cannot do the "right" thing, no matter how realistic having two bad choices is. But I'm a goody goody, so ...
I hope I didn't give the impression that everything in the setting is a shade of gray. There are still social values and what not, but the idea of Good and Evil as a cosmic law doesn't exist. A paladin isn't Good because he wrote his alignment on a piece of paper; he is good because he embodies the virtues held dearest by society. Let's face it, no one likes to live next door to a serial killing, kleptomaniac compulsive lyer. Being honest and followig the law are generally regarded as the right thing to do, as is telling the truth and upholding your word, but you don't instantly register as Evil and get Turned just because you talked back to your grandmother. Eventually, I'll get around to a writeup on the society itself. I just find that much of society dependant on big-picture things like religion, nature of magic, history, etc. By the end of this, I hope to have a setting where treating goblins like treasure-filled pinatas is acceptable - not one where PCs must cope with the morality of persecuting and pillaging a minority race with the potential endgoal of committing genocide.
[Warning: I am pretty sarcastic and usually make extensive use of hyperbole when I speak. I don't mean to offend or to be taken literally]
First, I love sarcasm and hyperbole (which I always pronounce as hyper-bowl when I read it, sometimes ironically when I say it), so don't worry.
And I understand now. So good and evil aren't cosmic forces of nature, but they are name plates for the traits that "civilized society" use to define the virtues and vices they believe in. I can get behind that. Now I feel bad, because that's sort of the direction my world goes as well: there is a concept of Light and Dark, but it's more like the concept of Yin and Yang (balance is good, imbalance is evil).
It's interesting, though, that you say you want your players to not quibble about the morality of killing monstrous humanoids. Generally, the good/evil concept makes that easier on the surface, but harder when you look closer. Disbanding the cosmic element of it could actually make it easier to ignore those types of moral conflicts.
Well, I figure genocide has been common enough in the real world, and we don't have some cosmic Good/Evil divide, so why impose one as justification to mercilessly slaughter ever greenskin you meet?
Incidentally, I have some other random tidbits scattered around about the mysticism of Elyria, but there may be contradictions, since it's been an on again off again project. I figure the inconsistancies will just make it feel more organic, though. I'll post them as I sort them out (some have an annoying amount of crunch involved).
I must say that my idea of magic is actually quite similar to your own, except that the mechanics I use don't differentiate between long rituals and fast spells. I'll have to start a thread on that eventually, just to vet that mess.
Yeah, my separation of spells from rituals happened in my head before 4th Edition D&D came around, though I don't think they stole it or anything. The idea probably sparked from Mutants and Masterminds, who has both powers and a ritualist feat. You probably have also figured out that I like it when things make sense, and I've always found the standing around a kettle tossing in ingredients magic to be very different from the wiggle your fingers and say "boom" kind of magic. Now I stand by my macaroni and cheese analogy.
And very good point about the genocide on Earth, though much of that is justified by a belief in "good" and "evil". It would probably be compounded in a fantasy world where there are different humanoid species; paleoanthropologists think we killed off a bunch of other members of our genus, after all.
Oh, belief in Good and Evil is different than their actual existance, I think. And yes, it most certainly would be compounded. I was actually figuring that humans define anything that isn't a human or a farm animal as a monster to be killed mostly on sight. If a sentient non-human managed to make an alliance with humans, it'd be an uneasy one at best and only last as long as a mutual interest to keep it alive remained. The humans would break it and kill the xenos as soon as it was convenient. FOR THE EMPE....sorry.
The way I intent to handle magic is slightly like yours, except I don't differentiate between spells and rituals. Some people happen to have a talent for casting quickly or are good enough to pull it off fast, while others end up taking ages. How long a spell will take to cast depends on its power. I'm still mulling over a wide variety of mechanics for this, but as I'm using GURPS, it will certainly have a skill-based component. I'm debating the need to even include an energy one, though I'll likely at least make each spell a little fatiguing.