Deities of Orlos
Deities of Orlos
Religion is a central aspect of nearly every group on Orlos, civilized and uncivilized. An interesting feature of the religions though is that, even should the names and images depicting the deities change, certain aspects always remain. Certain principles are present across numerous deities of dozens of cultures – strength in war, supporting the dying, preservation of nature – yet the names and appearances of them change or sometimes seem almost a blend of multiple deities. This has led me to the conclusion the deities are not the personages that people try to bind them to. A deity can take many forms or names, it is merely the powers and principles that they present that they have dominion over and will remain constant. So, while there could be large churches worshiping deities by a certain name, the deity can also be found among smaller communities under a completely different visage.
There are several possibilities for why a deity would behave in such a manner. Would not it would be better for them to unite all of their supporters under one name and banner? I thought this as well at first but by making the aspects they represent the center of their personage it actually allows them to be a lot more versatile and possibly attract more worshipers. Groups that may not always agree with each others interpretations of a deities beliefs need not admit that they worship the same deity under this dynamic. You could have two completely different groups worship the same deity for completely different reasons without risking many of the internal and political difficulties that may otherwise arise.
Additionally, the emphasis on the principles allows the deities to interact with each other in a lot more devious manner. Should a community worship a set of principles but no single deity represents them all then two deities can ‘merge’ to provide the principles necessary. Such an occurrence would be impossible should each strictly follow their own appearance and principles. It gives them access to more worshipers and makes them more adaptable to optimal conditions. However, there are a couple of deities whose principles are so different that they have never been recorded as combining for a deity.
This belief on the essence of deities is not widespread on Orlos. Only a few high priests accept this concept and recognize the divine names of the deities they follow. Of these priests, even fewer openly proclaim the full extent of the deities interconnectedness. Many great churches have lost large numbers of followers as a result of such open conversation. From these occurrences though several other ‘religions’ have sprouted. These tend to view life as a path surrounded by the divine essence which touches every being. Some believe that your path is predestined for you while others grant the individual more initiative to shape the essence to their own devices. Most followers of these paths admit the existence of the deities but believe greater power and oneness with creation can be achieved through following a separate route from those the deities support. Sometimes though followers of these paths still worship deities in addition to following their own paths; it is largely up to the individuals.
Through extensive research I have managed to find and talk to a handful of such priests through the ages and have recorded the deities here along with the principles they represent.
In Game Play:
The Deities in Orlos have been designed to be adaptable to the players and open a wide range of options due to the interpretation of the principles. Additionally, due to how the same deities crop up in multiple forms, it allows the DM to always be able to point back to the list of deities below no matter what race or civilization the DM needs a religion for. This will help reduce the long list of small forest deities the DM might encounter in the uncountable tribes that the party might pass through.
The deity’s core principles can be interpreted in many ways so that, for some deities, they can have both good and evil aspects. For example, Estrell escorts death and disease. This could mean that her worshippers bring death and disease with them when they travel, dealing it to those they meet. It could also mean that they protect the sick and dying and lead them to new life. The interpretation would vastly change the way that the character would be represented and how different PCs and NPCs would regard the deity. It could also change which abilities such characters would hold. All of this would be up to the DM’s discretion.
The deities can be used in two different ways. First, they can be chosen as written below and then worked into the campaign and world. You have the set list of what is possible and, outside of this, it is all up to the player’s and DM’s interpretation of the principles. The second way involves combining the deities. For this method choose two deities. The two deities cannot have core principles that directly clash (such as raising the dealing pain and healing) Then pick two of the core principles from each deity. The resulting four principles are what the character would then be worshipping. This allows for more variation in the deities but also players who would need to follow a slightly stricter religious path.
“Throughout my travels it is amazing the principles and values that seem to crop up over and over again. No matter the country, no matter the deity worshipped, no matter the race of those around me, the principles remain the same. This has led me to believe that there is something larger at work, something there that can only sometimes be grasped. What if, all of the deities and cultures all reflected the same people, only focusing on different aspects?” Excerpt from Arimel’s notebook, 1140 AC
Religion is a central aspect of nearly every group on Orlos, civilized and uncivilized. An interesting feature of the religions though is that, even should the names and images depicting the deities change, certain aspects always remain. Certain principles are present across numerous deities of dozens of cultures – strength in war, supporting the dying, preservation of nature – yet the names and appearances of them change or sometimes seem almost a blend of multiple deities. This has led me to the conclusion the deities are not the personages that people try to bind them to. A deity can take many forms or names, it is merely the powers and principles that they present that they have dominion over and will remain constant. So, while there could be large churches worshiping deities by a certain name, the deity can also be found among smaller communities under a completely different visage.
There are several possibilities for why a deity would behave in such a manner. Would not it would be better for them to unite all of their supporters under one name and banner? I thought this as well at first but by making the aspects they represent the center of their personage it actually allows them to be a lot more versatile and possibly attract more worshipers. Groups that may not always agree with each others interpretations of a deities beliefs need not admit that they worship the same deity under this dynamic. You could have two completely different groups worship the same deity for completely different reasons without risking many of the internal and political difficulties that may otherwise arise.
Additionally, the emphasis on the principles allows the deities to interact with each other in a lot more devious manner. Should a community worship a set of principles but no single deity represents them all then two deities can ‘merge’ to provide the principles necessary. Such an occurrence would be impossible should each strictly follow their own appearance and principles. It gives them access to more worshipers and makes them more adaptable to optimal conditions. However, there are a couple of deities whose principles are so different that they have never been recorded as combining for a deity.
This belief on the essence of deities is not widespread on Orlos. Only a few high priests accept this concept and recognize the divine names of the deities they follow. Of these priests, even fewer openly proclaim the full extent of the deities interconnectedness. Many great churches have lost large numbers of followers as a result of such open conversation. From these occurrences though several other ‘religions’ have sprouted. These tend to view life as a path surrounded by the divine essence which touches every being. Some believe that your path is predestined for you while others grant the individual more initiative to shape the essence to their own devices. Most followers of these paths admit the existence of the deities but believe greater power and oneness with creation can be achieved through following a separate route from those the deities support. Sometimes though followers of these paths still worship deities in addition to following their own paths; it is largely up to the individuals.
Through extensive research I have managed to find and talk to a handful of such priests through the ages and have recorded the deities here along with the principles they represent.
In Game Play:
The Deities in Orlos have been designed to be adaptable to the players and open a wide range of options due to the interpretation of the principles. Additionally, due to how the same deities crop up in multiple forms, it allows the DM to always be able to point back to the list of deities below no matter what race or civilization the DM needs a religion for. This will help reduce the long list of small forest deities the DM might encounter in the uncountable tribes that the party might pass through.
The deity’s core principles can be interpreted in many ways so that, for some deities, they can have both good and evil aspects. For example, Estrell escorts death and disease. This could mean that her worshippers bring death and disease with them when they travel, dealing it to those they meet. It could also mean that they protect the sick and dying and lead them to new life. The interpretation would vastly change the way that the character would be represented and how different PCs and NPCs would regard the deity. It could also change which abilities such characters would hold. All of this would be up to the DM’s discretion.
The deities can be used in two different ways. First, they can be chosen as written below and then worked into the campaign and world. You have the set list of what is possible and, outside of this, it is all up to the player’s and DM’s interpretation of the principles. The second way involves combining the deities. For this method choose two deities. The two deities cannot have core principles that directly clash (such as raising the dealing pain and healing) Then pick two of the core principles from each deity. The resulting four principles are what the character would then be worshipping. This allows for more variation in the deities but also players who would need to follow a slightly stricter religious path.
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