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varyar
Seeker
97 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Mar 2024 : 13:39:26
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Hello all,
My first DMs Guild product, a book of new (or newly rediscovered) gods for the Realms, is getting close to publication and I thought I'd post a few of my favorite entries from it. Enjoy, I hope!
Bear Lord
She Who Serves, She Who Is A Mountain
Domain: Nature
The Bear Lord, She Who Serves, is ancient even by the standards of her kind. She was young in the days when the Elves of Illefarn decided to Retreat to Evermeet. She remembers the Fall of Myth Drannor and the Fall of Netheril alike. To those who know she exists, She Who Is A Mountain is as ageless as a mountain, unchanging and enduring, but even the gods grow old in their time, and the Bear Lord’s time is near.
Like all the other Animal Lords, most of the Bear Lord’s followers are her kindred beasts, from the polar bears of the Great Glacier to the black and white bamboo bears of distant Shou Lung, but she also has some worshipers among rangers, druids and barbarians. She is also venerated by the wild elves of the Chondalwood, who call her Maralatha Who Serves and regard her the last loyal servant of a long-dead god of the Seldarine.
For her part, the Bear Lord does not speak of the past. Her concern is the future, and her followers have been charged with finding her heir, one known as She Who Will Be Obeyed and the Queen of Silver Claws. Many of the Bear Lord’s allies, a large group including other Animal Lords, many of the servants of Silvanus, and a few deities of the Seldarine and Fey, have joined in this quest. Some mortal sages wonder at the urgency of their search, while others warily look to ancient prophecies foretelling Malar and the Bear Lord locked in some dreadful and final battle.
The Bear Lord is depicted as a bear. While what particular kind varies from Icewind Dale to Mulhorand, it is generally the sort most common in the region in question. Whether it be brown, black, polar or something else, Bear is always shown as thrice the size of even the largest ordinary bear.
The indomitable Nine-Claw (polar bear) roams the wilds of the North, protecting the bears who dwell there from unnatural predators, be they man, beast or fiend. He knows that bears have their place in the natural world, and death comes for all, but there are things outside the normal cycle of predator and prey that must be dealt with. The followers of such savage gods as Malar, Selvetarm and Urdlen. Rangers and druids of the region have noticed Nine-Claw has been steadily moving farther and farther south, apparently heading for some point well beyond his normal territory away above the Spine of the World. He was last seen in the southern eaves of the Lurkwood, and that was many months ago – any information on his current whereabouts would be greatly appreciated by his many friends from the Ten Towns to the Great Ice Sea.
The Animal Lords
From time immemorial, the animals of the Realms have been guided and guarded by paragons of their kind known as Animal Lords. Even as far back as the height of the Creator Races, Animal Lords have been known, and they carry on in their duties to this day. Most species of beasts have their own Lord, although in some cases (such as apes, cats and spiders) one single Animal Lord is guardian of many related species.
The relationship between the Animal Lords and the Beast Totems venerated by the Uthgardt is a strained one. The Animal Lords consider the Beast Totems to be corrupted and enslaved kinfolk, while the Totems regard the Animal Lords as dumb, capricious beasts.
There are unknown numbers of Animal Lords, but some of the ones that have been most involved in Faerûnian affairs over the course of history are as follows.
Ape Lord – a titanic beast, tall as a tower, who is said to make his home on a remote island off the coast of either Chult or Zakhara. All who behold him tremble and fear, but strange tales of him being smitten with an Illuskan maiden can be heard in many inns.
Bat Lord – the current Bat Lord roams the Moonsea and Dalelands, apparently in desperate search of something or someone.
Behemoth Lord – Titan Above Titans, the Behemoth Lord is master of the great beasts who remain from a bygone age. Some say the towering beast roams Chult, others that his home is in distant Malatra, but all agree he is a bitter foe of the Ape Lord.
Boar Lord – the Queen of All Boars, one of the eldest Animal Lords currently incarnate, lives in the High Forest along with more than a few of her kindred Lords.
Elk Lord – the last Elk Lord was slain by Malar more than a century ago, and his heir has not made their presence known.
Fox Lord – hero of a hundred stories and songs, the wily Old Silver has been lord of the foxes for almost a thousand years and getting into and out of trouble for even longer. He’s always one step ahead of trouble. Mostly always.
Horse Lord – for thousands of years, a succession of Horse Lords have roamed the various grasslands south of the Sea of Fallen Stars. They have a strained relationship with the centaurs and their gods Silvanus and Skerrit Forest Walker.
Mammoth Lord – Great Lady Tusk, as the people of the Great Glacier call her, roams that frigid northern realm, often warring with the yetis and their king.
Raven Lord – unlike most Animal Lords, the Mother of Ravens lives amidst humans. She makes her home in the busy spires of Waterdeep, where some of the local urchins have come under her wing.
Roc Lord – the Roc Queen has no fixed abode and can be found in any of a thousand aeries from the Spine of the World to the al-Akara Mountains of Zakhara.
Snake Lord – the Maiden of Serpents roams freely, sometimes dwelling in the sweltering jungles of Chult like many other Animal Lords, and other times lurking unknown in the tunnels and dens of Najara in the north.
Spider Lord – unfairly regarded with fear and loathing by most who know of her, the Spider Queen is said to live somewhere in the Underdark but in fact wanders the Realms in secret. She is a ceaseless foe of Lolth, who regards her as beneath contempt.
Vulture Lord – the Master of Carrion is old and bitter, lingering only because he has yet to find a suitable heir.
Wolf Lord – puzzling many sages, there appear to be two Wolf Lords in the present day, one in the High Forest and another lurking in the woods of the Sword Coast. The truth is one is an interloper from another world, driven into exile and seeking the true mantle.
Yeti Lord – the King of the Snow and Peaks is an aggressive Animal Lord seeking to drive out all other rivals and, indeed, all species that are not mere food, from the Great Glacier.
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Edited by - varyar on 03 Mar 2024 13:51:11
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varyar
Seeker
97 Posts |
Posted - 03 Mar 2024 : 13:42:58
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Carliehn Meluthil
Lady Flamesong, Wellspring-of-Words
Domains: Knowledge, Trickery
Carliehn is one of the eldest of the Seldarine. The most ancient folk-songs of the wood and wild elves of Faerûn, her chief followers on Toril, say she was born of the co-mingled song of Titania and a nameless Fey lord she was dallying with at the time (the lore of the high elves says she is ‘merely’ one of Corellon and Araushnee’s daughters). She was worshiped in Tintageer and the other elvish lands of Faerie until the great disaster, after which she faded from the knowledge of the high elves – but not from the elves of wood and valley. They are her people, now as then, and she has little time for the “stiff-necked summoners of woe.”
Today, while she has few temples or even shrines, the sylvan strongholds of the elves echo with the songs Lady Flamesong taught them so long ago. Carliehn has two aspects. The first is the Tale-singer, a gentle and witty instructor in the ever-living legends and wisdom of her chosen people, often depicted with a child on one knee and a harp on the other. The second is the War-singer, a fierce and fearless teacher of battle-chants, blessings and curses.
Her followers are not very organized, and most of the faithful learn what they need to know from the village singer, just as they learned it from their own teacher, and so on all the way back to the golden days of Tintageer-That-Was. In many especially reclusive settlements, the Word-speaker is often the elder, too. During the early days of the Return, a few curious high elves tried to learn more about Lady Flamesong’s ways, but they were firmly (and politely – for the most part) rebuffed. The other powers of the elves turned their back on the Wellspring-of-Words long ago, and she has no time for their precious, prideful folk even now. All the same, she has made it clear to her students that they still have an obligation to pluck the high elves out of danger whenever they stumble into it.
Carliehn, when she is depicted in art which is not often, is always shown as a wood or wild elf, her skin either brown or copper to match, her face painted with bright colors and always with a white crescent moon on her brow, and wearing simple, flowing clothes of a plain style, with her brilliant red hair flowing down to her bare ankles. She often holds a flute, hide drum or other ancient instrument at her side.
Carliehn’s most favored follower is Silia Rhanelor (CG half-elf bard), a traveling bard who uses ancient Carliehnian portals to travel across the northern reaches of Faerûn from Waterdeep to Myth Drannor and many points between. Of late, she has spent much time among the wood elves of Cormanthor and the High Forest, teaching them new – or rather, very ancient – songs of protection and battle. |
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varyar
Seeker
97 Posts |
Posted - 03 Mar 2024 : 13:46:47
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Amaara
The Burning Heart, Mother Worldflame
Domain: Nature
The elemental lords of the so-called ‘border’ elemental planes are little known, even to sages, and their archomental peers even less so. Amaara, Champion of the Melting Wave, is all but unknown in Faerûn... at least on the surface. In the Underdark, her name is often whispered by the smiths of the dwarves, gray, gold and shield alike, as they stoke the forge’s flame. It is said that Amaara’s touch will turn the flame of a forge into something purer, the raw, potent magma at the heart of all worlds, the magma that flows like rivers through Amaara’s hidden realm, the magma that makes the finest blades cut even more keenly, the magma that protects the stoutest armor against even the mightiest blows.
How true that is, none can say. Amaara is one of the more benevolent of the archomentals, but she seldom appears or even makes contact with those dwelling in the Realms. Some say that long, long ago, when all Toril was covered with water, Amaara, at the begging of the gods, deigned to open a thousand gates to her deep realm, and the magma that poured forth and boiled away the world-ocean eventually cooled and became the foundations of the continents known today. Even now, Amaara’s handful of surface followers say, the molten heart of Toril is itself the unblinking eye of Amaara.
Amaara has no church, no more than the other archomentals, and desires one no more than they. But some scattered tribes who dwell near volcanoes pay her homage, and more than a few travelers into the Lowerdark have had mystical experiences at the flowing rivers, hearing a voice above the hissing of magma, urging them to make ready for the day when Amaara once again reshapes Toril. (In the elemental planes, these tales are scoffed at by magma elementals and genasi alike... and then the scoffers look down at the trickles of magma at their feet, and their laughter fades, silenced by a noise that is more than the sizzle of flowing flame.)
Amaara rarely appears to mortals, even those few who pay her homage. Ancient scrolls stolen away from Netheril before it fell indicate she is much like the other archomentals – a gigantic and vaguely humanoid mass of elemental substance, in Amaara’s case unfathomably hot magma kept from destroying her surroundings by sheer force of will. A being of such power could surely change shape at her desire, though.
Maarlth the Magnificent Magma Magician (CG male magma genasi evoker) is a traveling stage wizard who roams the Sword Coast, dazzling audiences with his command of the magic and might of the three planes of fire (Fire, Magma and Radiance, emphasizing Magma; attempts to include Smoke and Ash went poorly with his audiences). He mostly visits the smaller inland towns and trading posts between Luskan and Baldur’s Gate, where his arcane arts are less familiar and more exciting. Few have noticed, but Maarlth tends to arrive in places in need of aid, snuffing out the problems before they can become seriously dangerous, but the Harpers and Lords Alliance both have their eyes on the Magnificent Magma Magician. |
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varyar
Seeker
97 Posts |
Posted - 03 Mar 2024 : 13:49:54
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Kaunia
The Prime Nomocrat, the Most High Metaphysician
Domains: Arcana, Knowledge
Kaunia was the Netherese goddess of mathematics and metaphysics (specifically the study of extraplanar affairs). She was Amaunator’s faithful assistant, and much like him in personality. All manner of intellectuals, arcanists and non-arcanists, paid homage to Kaunia and sought her guidance as they progressed into deeper understanding of the workings of the multiverse. The driving goal of Kaunia and her followers was the Ur-Equation, the great burst of unfathomable mystic power that created the multiverse and gave it its form. Kaunia believed that understanding the Ur-Equation would allow one to reshape the fundamental nature of existence into a more orderly, balanced form. She also held that the so-called Language Primeval much sought after by the curious and power-hungry was actually a great mathematical formula, not something as clumsy and subjective as mere words. Kaunia’s avatar was a matronly woman with neat grey hair and drab violet and black robes.
Kaunia was originally a minor hero goddess of some forgotten tribe of the North before the rise of Netheril. She saw the growth of the arcane kingdom as a chance to spread her doctrine of the primacy of math and reason throughout Faerûn and soon became a fixture, albeit a minor one, of the Netherese pantheon. Kaunia was Amaunator’s loyal servant, adding him in the formulation of many divine decrees (even if she never persuaded him to abandon word for symbol). Her faith grew as Netheril entered its golden age, a time when learning and knowledge were embraced by a human nation as never before (and, arguably, again). Kaunia’s teachings went hand in hand with the breathtaking advances of Netherese arcanists. Indeed, many great arcane discoveries were based on the principles of the Kaunite faith, endearing the Prime Nomocrat to quite a few arcanists.
Kaunia was described by her devotees as a woman of matronly yet still physically capable aspect, her grey hair neat and cut short to above her ears. She wore the violet and black robes of a simple scholar, and a silver-framed pair of spectacles. She was usually depicted or described either as sitting at a great table, a vast astrolabe of polished crystal and gold at one side and a battered, well-worn abacus at another, quill-pen scratching as she calculated; or walking hither and thither, astrolabe and cubit rod tucked under one arm, and a lantern held in hand.
Fate: Kaunia did not long survive the downfall of Netheril. She was blamed in part for the great disaster, since it was said Karsus used some of the deepest esoteric secrets of the Kaunite faith in devising Karsus’ avatar. Asram and Hlondath outlawed Kaunia’s church not long after the cataclysm, while it lingered on in Anauria until the deserts consumed that kingdom. By then, Kaunia was little more than a hero goddess, and what remained of her following dwindled away over the next four or five centuries. By the fall of Myth Drannor, Kaunia had vanished entirely and is now remembered only by a few sages and undead survivors of Netheril.In a magic-rich world such as Faerûn, mathematics is not quite as we know it; or rather, is not limited to the math we know. What some sages call ‘mystic mathematics’ is an esoteric and often baffling phenomenon that blurs the lines between magic and mathematics. Complex equations reflect and even shape the framework of reality. Masters of mystic mathematics are essentially wizards (or very rarely sorcerer savants) who draw on the Weave in a slightly different way than most of their peers. Instead of traditional somatic and material components, mystic mathematicians memorize amazingly complex formulas and then call them to the forefront of their minds as the triggers of their spells. They also employ equations in place of glyphs, symbols and runes used in so many spells and magic items. The results are the same, even if the forms are very different. While the great dragons of ancient days first created the study of mystic mathematics, it was the arcanists of Netheril who perfected the esoteric art and used it to tap into some of the deepest secrets of the Weave (true 10th and 11th level spells). After the Fall of Netheril, mystic mathematics fell into decline. Later spellcasters, often influenced by the elves who had always shunned mystic mathematics as cold and alien, rarely showed any interest in the field. Nevertheless, the libraries of Candlekeep and Halruaa are full of tomes of arcane equations, many incomprehensible to modern mages, waiting for someone to come and peruse their secrets. |
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Delnyn
Senior Scribe
USA
890 Posts |
Posted - 03 Mar 2024 : 15:01:50
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Oghma and Deneir would argue that each element of a math equation is in fact a symbol, glyph or rune. The difference with the symbols of modern Faerun is the current mages and sages have not puzzled out the grammar of what you termed "mystic mathematics". Similarly, a letter or punctuation mark is also a special class of symbols, glyphs or runes. Likewise, ordered sequences of letters and punctuation marks, aka, words and sentences are themselves another special class of symbols. And that is just considering phonetic languages. Are not heiroglyphs and pictogram languages blatantly symbolic?
I would postulate Amaunator wanted to strictly adhere to phonetic language.
All that said, I am really fascinated with your depiction of Kaunia, who for all we mere mortals know was subsumed by Deneir. Excellent job in spite of my critique. |
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Deities and Demigods of Faerûn
