Gods and Domains

[harvs2]

I am curious...

Why is it that Nesirie has the healing domain?? I seem to think of Nesirie as a something like a goddess of the dead, peace (we all recieve peace in death?) and of the sea. Perhaps it would be fitting for her to have the healing domain if this is associated with freeing other from suffering, maybe?

Anyways, since Avani is something like the godess of life why doesn't she give access to the healing domain instead of the Magic domain? It seems like though magic is important to avani, it seems to be important because magic is a form of knowledge.

I am not sure...I am tossing this out for comments...

[Osprey]

Neserie's clergy have always been strong healers, and I think you guessed right: easing suffering is one of her clergy's primary functions as I understand it. Which goes hand in hand with Protection, the specialty of preventing suffering.

I think along with that one might describe Neserie as a goddess of compassion. She doesn't wish her own suffering on others. In her benevolence, she seeks to shield others from the pain of suffering.



As a personal aside, I think Neserie is way too wrapped up in the suffering bit, but that's me. Heh, in my game I have a Jetana, High Priestess of Neserie (Great bloodline of Masela) working to rework Neserie's image closer to Masela's: one of a primal sea goddess, whose moods run the whole gamut from sadness to joy to the rage of a stormy sea. It wasn't by chance Neserie birthed the Stormlord...so Jetana wants Neserie and her faithful to reclaim Neserie's full birthright, and perhaps aid their goddess in breaking out of her pain and embracing her full heritage. This might seem overweening and arrogant if it weren't coming from a great scion of Masela, one who "knows" Neserie's predecessor in a very intimate way. It's been an interesting time trying to "reform" Neserie's image in Anuire...

[kgauck]

----- Original Message -----

From: "harvs2" <brnetboard@BIRTHRIGHT.NET>

Sent: Sunday, April 18, 2004 7:08 PM





> I am curious...Why is it that Nesirie has the healing

> domain?? I seem to think of Nesirie as a something like

> a goddess of the dead, peace (we all recieve peace in

> death?) and of the sea.



I really don`t see Nesirie as a goddess of death, though I know that`s a

popular interpretation, and I certainly wound`t attempt to dissuade a player

who took that interpretation. I think Nesirie is a Demetrian mother figure.

When Persephone spends her appointed time in Hades, Demeter morns and we

have winter. As a mother, she grieves for her children, the Masetians.

(Actually her ancestors, but she a diety now and that alters perspective.)

But also as a mother she`s protective and nuturing.



Kenneth Gauck

kgauck@mchsi.com

[irdeggman]

I think the mother concept pretty much sums up how Nesirie ends up with Healing as a domain.

[geeman]

I don`t see Nesirie as the goddes of death either. At least, the

connection with "mourning" and "peace" are pretty tenuous, so her

connection isn`t any more direct than several of the other BR gods might be.



In the essay on the role of the SW in the afterlife of mortals in Aebrynis

I wrote up a few weeks ago I mentioned something that I think is quite

important in relation to death in BR. That is, that the gods themselves

died en masse. Death is more significant than the gods themselves, and

they are all subject to it. It`s more difficult to justify one of the

existing human gods embodying the power of death after having gained that

power only because their predecessor succumbed to it. Such a thing is not,

of course, outside the realm of possibilities when it comes to a theology

which is, after all, a process that embraces many contradictory concepts,

but in the context of a RPG/setting (in which almost every little detail of

cosmology is ultimately explicable--that being something of the charm of a

fantasy game) it doesn`t really satisfy.



It`s also probably important to note (as long as we`re well into the realm

of esoterica) that though there are a lot of real life gods "of death" they

often do not embody the power of death per se. Certainly they can strike

down mortals--but so can just about any god worth their ambrosia. Rather,

they are the god in charge of the spiritual locale that the dead travel to

after death, or they are the judge/warden/executioner/guardian of the dead

after they begin or complete that journey. Hel (Norse) and Hades (Greek)

and Anubis (Egyptian) might be seen as examples of the concept. While

often described as being the "god/dess of death" what they actually do is

observe and maintain the souls of the dead. They are not the actual force

of death. Rather, they occupy a divine role in the process of death and

afterlife, they aren`t the power of death itself. If they were to vanish

from the cosmos mortals would still die, but their souls would go

unsupervised, unjudged, unpunished or unrewarded, etc.



That`s certainly not 100% the case for every pantheon, of course, but I`d

suggest that for the real life examples upon which the BR pantheon is based

it is generally true. It`s relevant for our purposes because Neserie (or

any of the gods) don`t necessarily have any such descriptive role in their

spheres. Neserie is the only god who mourns the dead (or, at least, she

mourns the end of a culture/tribe) but she doesn`t seem to have any role in

the process of their souls after death.



Gary

[Osprey]

There is no god in Cerilia with complete power over death: otherwise, how could gods die? I agree with Geeman, there are many gods who play a role in the sphere of death; I&#39;d say none are dominant, though the Cold Rider may come closest (esp. if we accept [un]Death as one of his domains, tho I&#39;d say his portfolio should say "undeath" as he seems to represent a corruption of the natural cycle.)

Here are some summary aspects as I interpret things (see Royal Library threads on polytheism, and SW and the Afterlife, for more ideas from the BR community):

Neserie mourns for the dead, and protects them on their souls&#39; journeys through the Shadow World.

Erik protects and enforces the natural cycles of life and death - I see his priests as being very strict aboutforbidding the raising of the dead (and opposed to any other clerics doing it, too&#33;).

Belinik is more like the Great Contributor to the realm of Death ;). To him, death is the punishment for the weak...though I believe he makes exceptions for those who die without fear, embracing the rage of Belinik.

While the Cold Rider feeds on the perversion of death (probably by corrupting the souls of the dead in their journeys through the Shadow World), Avani and Ruornil are opposed to this perversion, and battle undeath with the light of sun (in the physical world) and moon (in the Shadow World). I see the followers of Avani, Erik, and Ruornil as tending to strongly unite against threats from the SW.

In general, I think every Cerlian deity has a place on their home realm that is a paradise for those who best serve and embody that deity. I always imagine that this is where the deities recruit their celestial servants from (whatever form they may take). Thus, every deity has at least a personal claim on some aspect of death and the afterlife.

Osprey