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DrMbutu
Acolyte
4 Posts |
 Posted - 05 Oct 2014 : 11:09:09
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Is there anything stopping someone from worshipping racial deities from other races? I'll give a couple of examples.
1. Dwarf baby falls into an underground river, gets washed out of the mountain into an elven forest, and is raised by elves. He wants to become a priest of Hanali Celanil. Can he?
2. Human priest of Bane is defeated and captured by a paladin of Yondalla. After long talks and living amongst the halflings, he has a genuine change of heart (and alignment), and wants to convert to Yondalla. Can he become a priest of her?
And do they go to their new deities when they die, at least, if the answer is no to the above?
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Edited by - DrMbutu on 05 Oct 2014 13:28:04
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 05 Oct 2014 : 13:38:52
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| It's not common, but it is possible for members of one race to worship deities of another race's pantheons. With some obvious exceptions, of course -- Shevarash hates drow and would not accept drow worshippers, for example. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 05 Oct 2014 : 14:10:46
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And yet, if you had a drow that was a race-traitor who hunted other drow, I could see it as a remote possibility... even if Shaverash hated him/her in secret. No god is beyond using mortals as 'tools'.
But yeah, according to Ed, "everything is possible, where the gods are concerned". The sourcebooks only provide generalizations - there are always exceptions. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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CorellonsDevout
Great Reader
USA
2708 Posts |
Posted - 06 Oct 2014 : 02:28:17
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| I don't think a god is going to turn away a follower, no matter the race. Though, as others have pointed out, there are likely exceptions. |
Sweet water and light laughter |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 06 Oct 2014 : 04:43:10
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quote:
Originally posted by CorellonsDevout
I don't think a god is going to turn away a follower, no matter the race. Though, as others have pointed out, there are likely exceptions.
Demihuman Deities notes several examples of humans worshipping dwarven deities and dwarves worshipping gnomish and elven deities for example.
So it can, and does, happen. |
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CorellonsDevout
Great Reader
USA
2708 Posts |
Posted - 06 Oct 2014 : 04:45:59
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| Exactly |
Sweet water and light laughter |
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Aldrick
Senior Scribe
909 Posts |
Posted - 06 Oct 2014 : 12:36:45
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I agree with everyone else, it is completely possible for someone of a different race to worship a deity primarily devoted to another race. I believe Lolth has human worshipers, and even some female human clerics as well; just as another example. Lolth has shown clear signs that she wants to extend her worship beyond simply the Drow, and her most overt move in this direction was to try and take up Moander's persona.
The big problem for a deity that is being worshiped outside of their racial / ethnic group is that if enough people do it then it means they are going to be brought into conflict with an existing pantheon. We saw this about to take place between the Faerunian deities and the Mulhorandi deities.
In my personal Realms (and my attempt to make sense of 4E's bad lore on the matter), I have Selune attempting to absorb Sehanine Moonbow and Sune is attempting to absorb Hanali Celanil. This is a direct result of Elves and Humans mixing together in Silverymoon, and the creation of a heresy that has sprung up as a result of the merger of their cults there.
This is how the Faerunian Pantheon was formed in the first place, from a mixture of interloper deities and the merging of human (and some non-human) ethnic pantheons. So if humans were to begin worshiping the Elven deities in large enough numbers, they would eventually begin to merge with the Faerunian Pantheon, bringing them into conflict with those deities there. |
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1150 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2014 : 17:04:12
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Yes, there have been several examples of this. Moon elves worshiping Eilistraee, an avariel who worships Baervan and a human who worships Dumathoin are just the three that immediately come to mind.
Why would any deity who is not noted as being racist turn away the worship of any mortal who follows their tenets? |
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TBeholder
Great Reader
2382 Posts |
Posted - 08 Oct 2014 : 08:47:16
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quote:
Originally posted by DrMbutu
Is there anything stopping someone from worshipping racial deities from other races?
Another problem here is "racial deities". Because the line between "racial deity of X" and "belongs to a pantheon other than usually worshipped by Y" is very blurry.
Is Mystra a "human deity"? She got followers everywhere, up to and including a drow lich, and it's not like a dragon or beholder could never choose her over the others.
Then, we know that some wild elves have a thing for Eilistraee, enough to paint their hair silver. But does this count? After all, she is neither quite in their pantheon, nor quite out of it, and her whole point is trying to bring the subraces together.
Then there are at least two well-known elves known to enthusiastically worship Sune: Taegan Nightwind (Avariel bladesinger from The Year of Rogue Dragons) and Belinda Moonglow (a Dean in the wizard guild of Ravens Bluff). Sune is not specifically a "human deity", but given that the elves have her counterpart in their own pantheon, this does say something. The former is somewhat exasperated with all things elven, with the latter it's more a matter of different attitudes of these deities, though it's also implied that she may have some human blood.
Same deal with "Shield of Innocence", only more so.  |
People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch |
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LordofBones
Master of Realmslore
1477 Posts |
Posted - 09 Oct 2014 : 16:01:38
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| Lichdrow Dyrr worships Velsharoon for some reason, so the answer is no. |
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Aulduron
Learned Scribe
USA
343 Posts |
Posted - 10 Oct 2014 : 22:22:08
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Velsharoon is not a racial deity, he's the deity of necromancy.
Eilistraee had followers of other races. |
"Those with talent become wizards, Those without talent spend their lives praying for it"
-Procopio Septus |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 10 Oct 2014 : 23:11:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Aulduron
Velsharoon is not a racial deity, he's the deity of necromancy.
True, but the point being made is that a drow was worshiping a deity outside the drow pantheon. |
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Aulduron
Learned Scribe
USA
343 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2014 : 00:51:29
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| There are many examples of that. Liriel and Mystra, for one. |
"Those with talent become wizards, Those without talent spend their lives praying for it"
-Procopio Septus |
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MrHedgehog
Senior Scribe
688 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2014 : 03:30:35
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I have always discounted racial deities being specific to that race. When I imagine living in a world with deities I can't imagine thinking "I love Correlon...oh wait he's just for Elves..."
I would assume that interactions between races/species would be similar cultural exchanges to those of humans in the real world, and we have ample evidence of religions and notions of specific entities or divinities being transmitted across cultural lines. Presumably this would happen more if these divinities answered their prayers... |
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Worshipping other's racial deities?
