more thought provoking questions from the
Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions, by Patricia Wrede:
Quote from: HistoryHow far back are there records or tales of historical events? How widely known are these stories?
* Do average people believe old tales, or do they dismiss some that have a basis in fact (e.g., Troy)?
* How long have there been people on this world? Did they evolve, were they created by the gods, or did they migrate from somewhere else? If there are non-humans, how long have they been around and where did they come from?
* Where did civilization begin? What directions did it spread? How was its development affected by the presence of magic? The presence of non-human races, if any? The actions or direct interventions of the gods?
* Which peoples/countries/races have traditionally fought, allied, traded, or been rivals? Where are there still hard feelings about old events?
* Which peoples/countries/races have been in conflict in the recent past? Why? When and why was the most recent war? Who won?
* Which peoples/etc. are considered the most civilized? Which are most technologically advanced? Which are most magically advanced? Least advanced? Why?
* Is there a "trade language" that facilitates commerce between countries that don't speak the same tongue? Is there a "universal language" spoken by educated or noble persons, as Latin was in the Middle Ages?
[/i][note]please remember, that we don't have to answer all of these questions. But hopefully we get some good discussion/recommendations concerning this.
And some of this (such as 'population') we will need to figure out.[/note]History of the Big Gov. (to be code-named later)How accessible is this area? What natural features mark the borders? Who are the neighboring countries/peoples and what are they like?
* How do the weapons of this country compare with those of surrounding cities and countries? Have there been recent innovations that may upset the balance of power, or is everyone more or less equal?
* Who are the rivals or enemies of this country? How close are they physically? How powerful?
* How many people are there in this country? How does this compare with world population? What is considered a small town/large town/city in terms of number of people?
* How diverse is the population of this country -- how many different races (human or non-human), creeds, etc. normally live in various cities and towns in this country? In what percentages?
* Is magic legal here? All magic, or only some types? Do laws vary widely from country to country, or is the attitude generally similar?
* What does this country import? Export? How important is trade to the economy? How is currency exchange handled, and by whom? What is the system of coinage, and who mints it?
* Which peoples/countries/races have been in conflict in the recent past? Why? When and why was the most recent war? Who won?
* How much of the country is farmland? Forest? Desert? Mountains? Plains?
* What are the primary crops (e.g., potatoes, cotton, tobacco, coffee, rice, peanuts, wheat, sugarcane, etc.)? Are any grown mainly for export? What crops can not be grown here because of the soil, climate, or for other reasons?
* What water resources available, and for what uses (a mill wheel requires flowing water, i.e., river or stream; irrigation needs a large, dependable water source like a lake or large river: etc.)?
* What wild animals, actual or imaginary, live in this area? Are any of them potentially useful -- e.g., for fur, whale oil, hides, magical ingredients, hat feathers?
* How do most of the citizens make their living -- farming, fishing, trade, manufacturing? Do non-humans tend to take up different trades from humans? Are they legally limited to certain trades?
[/i]
I know we don't have to answer them all, but damn that's a lot of info to absorb and think about. Maybe we should condense them down to something a little more appropriate for D&D... maybe take out some of the questions that have nothing to do with fantasy.
I just may copy/paste this into Word and use it in the future for my own projects. I've addressed almost 100% of these questions in Sulos, without ever having a nice guidline like this to follow. Now I do. :)
-Nasty-
i took out a big chunk of the questions.
i recommend picking just a few you want to answer, and give it a shot...
we can work form there.
i'll post my answers concerning the BFG shortly.
How did the Totem Gods gain power?
are they related to the regular pantheon?
What sort of deal did the first city-states make with the totem gods for protection?
Do evil cultures seek an evil Totem, or is the culture's alignment driven by the Totem?
How much impact do the totems have on everyday life?
do people expect them to do stuff, or to sleep & grant spells ?
I say that people's relationships with the totems are loose at best. People migrated to where a totem they wished to be near lived; an evil race would flock to an evil totem, lizardfolk would flock to a crocodile totem ...
I don't see people having any expectations of the totems. Sure, people will pray to them and will beg for them to give their aid, but largely it is their decision to do it. They may not even be granting spells, if we in fact have the Totem priests be Druids as I've suggested.
I like the idea of the Totems not being truely "deific". Sure, people worship them, but it would be like worshiping a dragon or the tarrasque. Perhaps the Totems were created due to the event which destroyed the lost empire; some monstrous magical event which changed a number of creatures (godzilla anyone?).
I'm going to copy those questions too, use them for brainstorming. I'll post any ideas that come up.
I still like the idea that the totem "gods" are actually constructs of an ancient race that recent people found and activated; maybe this somehow started some "Big War." Now they're all deactivated, but wherever they settled down (or bit the dust), that's where the city-states spawn that worship them... I'm probably in the minority here, though.
Quote from: Natural 20 (in world thread) :The first man to kill a totem god... now that is a place to start... That could explain what started the wars, the increasing insecurity od the city-states as they realize their gods are mortal, etc.
(moved this here, because i think it deserver attention ;) ..)
i think thats a pretty cool place to start working with recent history. (the 'hows' and 'whys' of the attempted re-unification...)
what do you think about the ancient history?
im been triyng to come up with a solid history to provide the totem gods.
something that makes sense as to why these people have flocked to the giants.
only thing i can think of, is as protection from outside threat.
maybe one city state started by summoning a demon to help in a battle w/ another CS.
and from there it esculated.
Ah, that's a good idea. Or maybe a wizard awakened a creature and enlarged it.
Quoteim been triyng to come up with a solid history to provide the totem gods.
something that makes sense as to why these people have flocked to the giants.
i like the idea of totems being mysterious and undefined, most of them older than recoreded history. maybe go a morrowind route, and give them largely contradictory origin myths sharing only a few common points. two tribes explanations for the totems dont have to match up. we dont even have to define 'the truth' while writing the setting ;)
BRAINSTORMING:
for a totem like the torrasque, you could have a tribe of elves following it that lived off the creatures it killed. the same tribe's been following it for so long (millenia, even) that it no longer sees them as a threat, and ignores them. they collect any raw materials left in its wake when it goes on a rampage every few years, and live of stored food when it sleeps. if it ever approaches a settlement, heralds sound horns to warn city to flee or prepare, and the elvin druids try to lure it away from civilized areas whenever possible. catastrophes have resulted when they failed.
A dwarvwn city could be built around a titan statue. legends state that the titan originally appeared to the dwarves and taught them metal work, construction, clerical magic tied to the tian, and general civilizationstuffs, as they were the titan's 'chosen'. however, the titan has slept for generations, and some now doubt its any more than a statue, but no vandal can leave any kind of mark in the stone.
Well then, maybe we should start working on what different totem gods exist, and which cultures and city-states they "belong" to. I don't know if I necessarily see each of the core races having their own totem god.
I feel like it works best with (perhaps unexplainedly) large creatures; natural giant animals, super-old and powerful dragons, ridiculously powerful magical beasts (kraken, tarrasque); and maybe even just some statues (like brainface's dwarven titan). How about we start listing out some of the beings we'd like to see and how we'd like to incorporate them, and we can maybe pick and choose from there. For me, I really like the idea of a kraken being one.
The Dweller Beneath
The port city-state, Bahka-Ru (just making something up here), worships a creature in the Deep that is so large, and so powerful, that it literally effects all aspects of life in Bahka-Ru. When the Kraken (whom the clergy calls "The Dweller Beneath") stirs, huge tidal waves wash over the lands. When the Kraken is angry, his magic causes flash floods, or powerful tornados and storms. The Kraken has been known to battle other creatures in the Deep, and when they strike the ground, powerful tremors send tsunamis inland, and cause violent volcanic eruptions. Once a year, the people of Bahka-Ru sacrifice a herd of goats on a burning ship, far out into the sea, to appease their deity in hopes that he will not strike out in any sort of retribution that year.
The peoples' stories of the local weather and natural disasters are nothing more than myths, based on this powerful creature whom few have seen (much like Greek myths of a god throwing bolts of lighting from the heavens).
Keep in mind, both the names here and their reasons are all just suppositional. I'm just throwing out some things I'd like to see.
those are all cool ideas..
i was thinking, with something like the kraken, you could actually have 3 diff tribes of people worshiping it.
the sahaguain, human , and mermaid CSs (hundreds of miles from each other) could all wordship the kraken, but not really be aware of it.
i also dig that group of elves that just follows the tarrasque around and eat what he doesnt. thats awesome ;).
A celestial unicorn could be a totem. Maybe not super-big, but it's purity and grace could be supernatural.
I was under the impression that the totem gods actually sprang up only after the old empire vanished (so that would be far more recent than is supposed here).
Speaking of the old empire, what was it like? How old was it? Why did some of its former inhabitants flock to the totems while others (the tyrannical empire) started worshipping a pantheon? What did people worship in the days of the old empire?
;) Túrin
I envision the totem gods as an ancient primitive religion, that was repressed by the old empire, and rediscovered after it's collapse. Maybe the totem gods were sleeping, or bound somehow by the old empire, and freed after it fell apart.
The new empire seeks to bring these so-called heretics back under their control, and rebind the Totem gods before they can do any significant damage.
-Nasty-
yeah, i'd say 'old as dirt', and the old empire repressed/controlled all the more violent ones, at least.
Maybe the 'new empire' (BFG) had no nearby totems, went godless for awhile. or maybe they drove them off.
hmm... there was an idea in another thread--'First man to kill a totem'
We could say the BFG area had a totem, maybe a very bad one. Some guy kills it, helps found the new empire based on the 'real gods'--the saints of the BFG.
let me see if i can give a rough timeline, and you guys add or subtract from it at will.
Current Time (the 'when' of our campaign setting)
100 yrs ago: the empire started to reform itself, attempting to regain it's lost grandeur. (worship old-empire 'saints') * 500 yrs ago: the mighty empire fell apart due to many issues. (aethiest by this time (no longer believed the totems to be divine).) * 1500 yrs ago: the empire formed from a group of city states, and began conquering the continent. (worshipped totem gods) * 2000+yrs ago: the known world was made up of city states, tribes, and clans. worshipped totem gods.
tear it up.
dagg, I think that looks pretty good, except I like maybe that after the empire formed from the city states, it didn't last quite as long as you have....
* 300 yrs ago: the empire started to reform itself, attempting to regain it's lost grandeur. (worship old-empire 'saints')
* 800 yrs ago: the mighty empire fell apart due to many issues. (aethiest by this time (no longer believed the totems to be divine).)
* 1500 yrs ago: the empire formed from a group of city states, and began conquering the continent. (worshipped totem gods)
* 2000+yrs ago: the known world was made up of city states, tribes, and clans. worshipped totem gods.
Something like that is more what I had in mind.
Check the religion thread for my possible take on "saints"
So why exactly did the old empire turn away from their totem gods? Why did it fall? Let's discuss the old empire some more.
Perhaps the totem gods were too divided along their own lines of belief to be condusive to the unity of the old imperium. I have trouble seeing the totem gods as a united pantheon, and I doubt they are. They seem more like a bunch of independent entities with their own goals and agendas.
As the city-states aligned themselves together to begin forming what would become the old empire, they probably had numerous theological differences that they had to put behind them...no doubt they simply shifted loyalty from their totem gods to the empire itself. While the people of the empire were still theoretically aligned with the totem gods, when push came to shove they sided with their empire first and their faith second.
Over the course of the exisitence of the old empire, various champions and heroes were at first renown, then became legendary, and were eventually canonized, by the people of the empire. A new faith sprung up around these figures. This was the death knell for the totem gods. The empire propabaly declaired the new faith the "official" religion, and cast out the old totem priests.
A war between the totem gods and the empire led to its collapse, and the resurgence of faith in the old religion. Until that is, that the new empire began to rise to power...
-Nasty-
Quote from: TúrinSo why exactly did the old empire turn away from their totem gods? Why did it fall? Let's discuss the old empire some more.
good call, turin.
Brainstorm: histroy -
Originally, the empire was a collective of a few citystates. They each may have had a totem god that they all believed to be 'divine'.
Throughout the early stages of Empire building, these citystates would often envoke their totem gods to assist them in conquering other independents.
But something went incredibly wrong (details to be determined) and suddenly the original totem gods were no longer allied with the growing empire. In fact, the empire had actually betrayed some of their own totems, and turned on them in the midst of battle. Slaughtering them.
-----Many years of war and political intrigue followed (assissinations, coupes, whatever)-----
Within these times, the totems became symbols of barbarism, rather than divinity.
The empire's major religion became aeitheism (they were more concerned with 'power', 'magic', and 'self-satisfaction'), but new religions (and religious figures) had began to appear (a few phrophets here and there).
Finally, through multiple internal and external comflicts, the mighty empire begin to fall apart. Some, breaking back up into smaller city states, others being wiped out with war, famine, plague, etc.
After
X years, most of the planet had reverted to tribablism and city-states, but the empire was starting back up.
Tim, the great had created an alliance with a few city-states, and convinced them to lend their army towards the goal of 're-unification' (the empire's buzz-word). It wasn't long before Tim's army had to face a totem in battle. The legend says that Tim smote it, alone. And his armies were always victorious.
During the beginning of re-unification, the seeds of the religions that had been planted at the end of the empire's days, had flourished in the city-states. The prophets who predicted the empire's downfall and revival, are now generally accepted as saints of the true religion. Also, new 'saints' were being discovered, who's virtues reflect the will of the empire ;).
All of this was perpetuated by Tim and his 'advisors'.
Tim dies, a 'republic' or council of some sort takes his place. (maybe they have 'fake' elections, where they let people vote, but just ignore their choices. :) )
.. all for now.
tear it up.
Tim the Great eh? That has got to be the coolest name for an ancient hero since Eric the Viking...oh god I hope I'm not the only who remembers that movie...
-Nasty-
Nice work, daggerhart. One question: why does the new empire get a council after Tim dies (rather than a new Emperor)?
Quote from: TúrinNice work, daggerhart. One question: why does the new empire get a council after Tim dies (rather than a new Emperor)?
i assumed that with the fall of the legendary leader, it would be very difficult for the allied areas to come under another single person. I think all the seperate areas within the empire would want
their canidate for emperor, so its likely they would agree on a multi-member leadership role.
but, in the 'taltos' books, the different factions take turns electing the emperor. So like, 1 guy from CS-A would be leader until he died, then 1 guy from CS-B would been in charge, then CS-C, etc. (this is also the way the European Union works, to some degree).
i dont think it has to be a republic, by any means...
Just a random thought here, but what if the totem god themselves destroyed the old empire? That would be awesome. The people of the old empire stopped worshipping them, and the gods laid the smack down.
-Nasty-
(http://www.thecbg.org/e107_images/emotes/smiles/stupid.gif)
Love it!
Quote from: nastynateJust a random thought here, but what if the totem god themselves destroyed the old empire? That would be awesome. The people of the old empire stopped worshipping them, and the gods laid the smack down.
You could include that into 'war, famine, plague' as a part of 'war', but i think the fall of such a mighty empire should be due to many things.
Other than the Beast, the Sphinx, the Dweller Below, and other monstous totems going Godzilla on the empire? Does there need to be any other reason why it fell?
I see your point, but the image of the Leviathan throwing tsunamis at coastal cities, and the Tarresque rampaging through the imperial capitol is priceless...eat that heretics! You believe in us now!?!
-Nasty-
It could always be just like the fall of Rome... it starts with something as simple as lead pipes, everyone getting poisoned. Then there are the civil wars and arsons, then there's a plague, then the rulers of the empire lose the extremely minimal control over the totem gods that they had, and the gods go "wacky" on the empire.
Quote from: IshmaylIt could always be just like the fall of Rome... it starts with something as simple as lead pipes, everyone getting poisoned. Then there are the civil wars and arsons, then there's a plague, then the rulers of the empire lose the extremely minimal control over the totem gods that they had, and the gods go "wacky" on the empire.
Sounds perfect. A nice series of unfortunate events weakening the stability of the empire, and then BLAM godzilla time! And the nice part is that it puts a precedent in place for high level or even epic level encounters, if you ever decide to go down that road.
EDIT: I do not however advocate that the totem gods are running around smashing cities today. This was a unique occurance that has happened only once in the past. Normally the totem gods should only be active a few at a time, and in the wilder parts of the world, nowhere near the cities. I don't want the setting to turn into 8-bit Rampage (I suspect only Cymro is going to have any memory of this game).
-Nasty-
dude, was that where you were godzilla, kingkong, or the wolfman, and had to destroy all the buildings on the level? punching out people who were trying to shoot you thru windows?
cuz that game ROCKED.
That's the one! I loved it too, but it wouldn't make a good RPG now would it?
-Nasty-
Quote from: nastyI don't want the setting to turn into 8-bit Rampage (I suspect only Cymro is going to have any memory of this game).
that[/i] old of a game is it?
i mean, i totally remember it.
Hey, I played it on the Sega Master System. I'm getting the feeling that I'm one of the older 'gents' here.
I agree that "most" of the totems shouldn't be smash happy all the time, but I disagree that they should be "inactive" most of the time. They're creatures, they should be awake regularly like regular creatures. They'll be peaceful most of the time, living in their secluded areas. They're gods, so they don't really "need" to eat, so they aren't going to mess up the ecosystem or anything like that.
Quoteits not that old of a game is it?
I think I was about eight years old when it came out, so that means it was released about 20 years ago. Here we go http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampage_%28arcade_game%29 (//hyperlinkurl). 1986 release date.
-Nasty-
Time to condense most of these ideas and expand other ideas and get this history straight. Any particular thoughts on this before we start posting things in the wiki?
This is a proposal for the history of Cebegia, based on what I have read that people like and dislike.
[spoiler=Cebegia History]
Millennia have past since the world was born. The present day inhabitants each have a story that explains the events that have shaped the world into what it is today. While most share commonalities very few if any are correct.
In the beginning the gods watched their world shape itself. Most of the intelligent creatures seem to gather around creatures they believe to be living deities. These creatures became totems for the early development of the worldâ,¬,,¢s inhabitants. Each civilization that grew began to take on the characteristics of the creature it worshipped. The gods just watch. Some grew jealous of these totems. They did not like that their work was being credited to these mindless creatures.
Centuries passed, the civilizations grew, some forcibly crossing the borders laid down by others. Wars raged, and fizzled throughout the worldâ,¬,,¢s history and the gods still watched. It was their way. They had agreed long ago to quell the bickering and arguing that they would let the beings of this world live without their interference. Four gods abandoned this agreement because of their jealousy. Each picked a civilization and began to aid them with their power. These four civilizations grew larger and stronger than the others.
When the other gods found out about the betrayal, they banished the traitorous deities, but not before they made one request. The rogue gods had planned for this eventuality. They asked that if they were going to be stripped of their power and sent to the world that they keep their memories of the gods and these events so that they will remember their transgressions. It seemed to be a fitting punishment. The second thing they requested was to be sent down as the offspring of the ruling powers of the civilizations that they interfered with, so that they may correct the wrongs that they committed.
With their memories mostly intact the former gods grew each in the civilization they aided. While they grew they started to spread word of the real gods, especially themselves. A new religion started and competed with the totemist of these regions. When they came of age, each seized power of their civilization. They outlawed the worship of the false gods; the totems of these four nations were hunted and destroyed. Anyone that still worshipped the totems was either banished or killed. The four former gods banded together to conquer the world. Lead by Cecil the Wise, Bertrand the Strong, and Gialra the Mystical. The fourth former god, Silve stayed hidden and much is not know about what events he was responsible for during this time.
Before they died they had conquered many of the city states that surrounded the original four. The totem creatures died, fled, or became trapped by the newly forming empire. There was not much that could stand in the way of the empire. The former gods death is the only thing that stopped the spreading disease that was soon to be named Cebegia, named after the leaders that formed it.
For centuries Cebegia stood strong, one day hoping to finish what their forefathers had started. This was not to be so, the nation fell. Plagues and poisons ravaged poorly kept parts of the empire. This prompted six southern city states to try to break from Cebegia, they were quelled but the damage was done. The final blow came when the mighty Tarresque awoke from his slumber and started to lay waste to parts of the empire. The other surviving totems took this as an opportunity to restore the peaceful existence they once had. They destroyed the cities of the empire one by one until no more stood. The people couldnâ,¬,,¢t help but think that this was a punishment for forsaking the real gods. They went back to their roots, back to totemism.
Once again the Tarresque sleeps, and the totems live in their peaceful regions, but history has begun to repeat itself. A strong following of the ways of Cebegia had begun again. Empire has become stronger, swallowing city states as it expands once more.
[/spoiler]
Hmmm, apparently CeBeGia's coming back? If so, I'll be happy to contribute again as well.
Well if you would be happy to contribute what did you think of my history proposal? Since you were one of the first group you could tell me if I'm close to what was discussed before.
I really like that history that is listed. It covers a good deal while leaving lots of room for other important things to be added. It is good overview!
Thanks for writing it.
Agreed with the history.
Wiki now?
Although it was suggested in the Wiki thread that Devious could've been responsible for the fall.
Quote from: PoseidonThis is a proposal for the history of Cebegia, based on what I have read that people like and dislike.
[spoiler=Cebegia History]
Millennia have past since the world was born. The present day inhabitants each have a story that explains the events that have shaped the world into what it is today. While most share commonalities very few if any are correct.
In the beginning the gods watched their world shape itself. Most of the intelligent creatures seem to gather around creatures they believe to be living deities. These creatures became totems for the early development of the worldâ,¬,,¢s inhabitants. Each civilization that grew began to take on the characteristics of the creature it worshipped. The gods just watch. Some grew jealous of these totems. They did not like that their work was being credited to these mindless creatures.
Centuries passed, the civilizations grew, some forcibly crossing the borders laid down by others. Wars raged, and fizzled throughout the worldâ,¬,,¢s history and the gods still watched. It was their way. They had agreed long ago to quell the bickering and arguing that they would let the beings of this world live without their interference. Four gods abandoned this agreement because of their jealousy. Each picked a civilization and began to aid them with their power. These four civilizations grew larger and stronger than the others.
When the other gods found out about the betrayal, they banished the traitorous deities, but not before they made one request. The rogue gods had planned for this eventuality. They asked that if they were going to be stripped of their power and sent to the world that they keep their memories of the gods and these events so that they will remember their transgressions. It seemed to be a fitting punishment. The second thing they requested was to be sent down as the offspring of the ruling powers of the civilizations that they interfered with, so that they may correct the wrongs that they committed.
With their memories mostly intact the former gods grew each in the civilization they aided. While they grew they started to spread word of the real gods, especially themselves. A new religion started and competed with the totemist of these regions. When they came of age, each seized power of their civilization. They outlawed the worship of the false gods; the totems of these four nations were hunted and destroyed. Anyone that still worshipped the totems was either banished or killed. The four former gods banded together to conquer the world. Lead by Cecil the Wise, Bertrand the Strong, and Gialra the Mystical. The fourth former god, Silve stayed hidden and much is not know about what events he was responsible for during this time.
Before they died they had conquered many of the city states that surrounded the original four. The totem creatures died, fled, or became trapped by the newly forming empire. There was not much that could stand in the way of the empire. The former gods death is the only thing that stopped the spreading disease that was soon to be named Cebegia, named after the leaders that formed it.
For centuries Cebegia stood strong, one day hoping to finish what their forefathers had started. This was not to be so, the nation fell. Plagues and poisons ravaged poorly kept parts of the empire. This prompted six southern city states to try to break from Cebegia, they were quelled but the damage was done. The final blow came when the mighty Tarresque awoke from his slumber and started to lay waste to parts of the empire. The other surviving totems took this as an opportunity to restore the peaceful existence they once had. They destroyed the cities of the empire one by one until no more stood. The people couldnâ,¬,,¢t help but think that this was a punishment for forsaking the real gods. They went back to their roots, back to totemism.
Once again the Tarresque sleeps, and the totems live in their peaceful regions, but history has begun to repeat itself. A strong following of the ways of Cebegia had begun again. Empire has become stronger, swallowing city states as it expands once more.
[/spoiler]
With edits for the pantheon discussion, here is a slightly revised version.
[spoiler=Cebegia History]
Millennia have past since the world was born. The present day inhabitants each have a story that explains the events that have shaped the world into what it is today. While most share commonalities very few, if any are correct.
In the beginning the gods watched their world shape itself. Most of the intelligent creatures seem to gather around creatures they believed to be living deities. These creatures became totems for the early development of the worldâ,¬,,¢s inhabitants. Each civilization that grew began to take on the characteristics of the creature it worshipped. The gods just watched. Some grew jealous of these totems. They did not like that their work was being credited to these mindless creatures.
Centuries passed, the civilizations grew, some forcibly crossing the borders laid down by others. Wars raged, and fizzled throughout the worldâ,¬,,¢s history and the gods still watched. It was their way. They had agreed long ago to quell the bickering and arguing that they could let the beings of this world live without their interference. Four gods abandoned this agreement because of their jealousy. Each picked a civilization and began to aid them with their power. These four civilizations grew larger and stronger than the others.
When the other gods found out about the betrayal, they banished the treacherous deities, but not before they made one request. The rogue gods had planned for this eventuality. They asked that if they were going to be stripped of their power and sent to the world that they keep their memories of godhood and the events of their downfall so that they would remember their transgressions. It seemed to be a fitting punishment. The second thing they requested was to be born within each of the powers that they had aided, in such a position as to correct the wrongs they had done.
However, as they grew older, they turned once again on the edicts of their fellows. Through political meddling, blackmail, murder and thievery, three became the true powers behind their chosen nations. The fourth-god, Silve, however, reborn by a cruel twist of fate as a farmboy, established himself as not just a power, but a ruler. 'Theo' conquered his state in a civil uprising and became the lord of Cebegia. His military mindset allowed him to build a force capable of taking on anything... and he proved it.
Whilst the others wished for alliance of nations, Silve destroyed them and conquered their lands. Their names are lost in history, but it is possible that their last act of power and spite was to form the seed of doubt and maliciousness that festered inside Theo's greatest ally. His name, too, is lost to time, but he is known now as Devious. Silve had lost any power with magic along with his godly might, but Devious was a cunning and wise man with more arcane strength at his command than any other within the known world. This made him a useful tool in Silve's plan.
Silve, however, realised too late that his life was coming to an end. He rapidly began establishing a cult to himself, seeking ascension in the form of deification through belief - but belief shapes a god, not the other way around, and upon ascension he was transformed into that which he had propagated - a fatherly, loving figure, watching over the empire. Dying childless, he left his empire to his old ally - but the seed had grown within his mind. The Archmage ruled the empire as his predecessor had done - but he was not going to die, he decided. He became a lich, researching the principles of undeath and unlife, and the first lich at that. When the people discovered his twisted nature, however, he was rapidly deposed, beginning what is known by some as the decline and others as the Golden Ages. Devious, enraged, cast a mighty curse upon the throne - damning the Empire to destruction. A cult of Devious sprang up, however, led by he himself, and he was worshipped as a saint by many amongst the empire, especially mages.
The empire went through numerous rulers after Devious, many extending the Empire far and wide beyond its original scope, but trade with far-off nations brought plague and disease which spread like wildfire. Six southern states attempted to secede, and were rapidly quelled - but the damage was done. Cebegia was cast into a state of rebellion and anarchy, with the ruler, (name), incapable of preventing the rapid slide into destruction. The final blow came when the Mighty Tarrasque awoke and rampaged across the countryside, killing all in its way and destroying the colossal and focused metropoli of the Empire. Culture degenerated, and worship of the Saints all but disappeared in most regions. People returned to their roots, and the Totems were re-established as the main religious idols.
Now, though, history is repeating itself. Empire, glorious Empire, is growing a strong following in the Old Heartlands, expanding to swallow the City-States and feudal kingdoms that believe themselves free from this power.
[/spoiler]
It's too early to wiki it, There needs to be more agreement than just two people.
Golem, I'm going to have to read the pantheon discussion again, but the last time I read it not much has been agreed upon. I think totems and non-interactive gods and saints were the only things agreed upon. That is why I let the events very vague, as they are discussed details can be filled in.
That was just what I got from the suggested (and apparently agreed upon) Saints. I have no problem with your version, it's just the two threads seem to be contradicting one another. :P
Like I said I still need to read the pantheon thread more, but in your version you took out my hidden joke. :(
QuoteLead by Cecil the Wise, Bertrand the Strong, and Gialra the Mystical
... oh yeah. How did I fail to notice that? :P
Quote from: IshmaylI still like the idea that the totem "gods" are actually constructs of an ancient race that recent people found and activated; maybe this somehow started some "Big War." Now they're all deactivated, but wherever they settled down (or bit the dust), that's where the city-states spawn that worship them... I'm probably in the minority here, though.
I like this. I get the image of governments or what have you creating and manipulating gods... maybe a god or two turns its back on its creators, its silence heralding the end of that city state.
I also for whatever reason see this rocky, hilly, grassy place... like a cross between Ireland and New Zealand... and big cylindrical statues covered in relief work popping out of the ground all covered in ages of moss and soil... don't know what to do with the image, but it seemed like a cool idea. Maybe a picture of what it would look like when gods were summoned?
Maybe one or two like that, but I still like the totems being living or once living creatures, or even objects. Ishmayl's dwarves that worship a volcano as a god is a great idea.
Quote from: brainfacedude, was that where you were godzilla, kingkong, or the wolfman, and had to destroy all the buildings on the level? punching out people who were trying to shoot you thru windows?
cuz that game ROCKED.
I love that game! The best part is, I live near one of the largest classic arcades in America (I believe it's
the largest, but I'm not 100% sure on that), so I still get the chance to play it. I can also play Double Dragon, Playboy Pinball, Pacman, and even the Atari Star Wars game!