11 replies to this topic

[Tempest]

I'm doing some research for my fanfic-in-progress, At Soul's Edge, and Nalia is due to make an appearance in the future (she will be a major character in the BG2 section), and the questions of gods and religion have always been hovering in the background in the story, and will and have at times become significant issues (and the subject of Nalia's faith WILL come up). All other characters I have planned have their religious issues straight (for the record: I have made Imoen a follower of Oghma, even if she's not particularly religious) However, I'm just not sure what deity Nalia would worship, and am tossing this up for ideas.

Here are some of the ones I'm considering:

Waukeen: The goddess of merchants, but missing at the time of Baldur's Gate. I'd imagine most Amnish merchant families would be faithful of Waukeen, but I'm not so sure of the De'Arnise family.

Lliira: Goddess of joy, and at the time of Baldur's Gate, Waukeen's regent, and thus temporarily the goddess of merchants and trade. I could see Nalia being attracted to the Lliiran faith-she's the closest thing Faerun has to a deity of freedom, but at the same time, Lliira is a decidedly undignified goddess, and Nalia has always struck me as a very dignified person.

Selune: Goddess of the moon, tolerance, etc. Heavily stresses the concepts of tolerance and acceptance of anyone, regardless of who or what they are. Definitely a candidate.

Mystra: Goddess of magic. Mystra is a candidate mainly due to Nalia's magical studies-I don't see any real attraction to the Mystran philosophy otherwise.

Tymora: Goddess of luck. Generic deity choice for adventurers, especially chaotic good ones. It would fit.

Lathander: God of renewal, creativity, arts, etc. Popular deity among the young nobility, but I could see Nalia getting ticked at the vanity of the Lathandrites.

Oghma: God of knowledge. I would expect Nalia to have a fairly high regard for knowledge, but Oghma is a somewhat less likely choice of deity for her.

Tyr: Actually worshipped mainly by lawful-good merchants, politicians, bureaucrats, judges, etc. Paladins aren't actually that common. Tyr is definitely the god I have planned for Lord De'Arnise to worship, should the subject ever come up, but I'm not entirely sure whether Nalia would be a proponent of Tyr.

[Kellen]

It's also possible that she worships Ilmatar. She certainly believes she suffers so for the less fortunate.

*shrug* Just another thought.

[Rastor]

What about Ilmater? Nalia seems like she'd be into the "sacrifice for others" thing.

[Solstice]

Tyr would be good, but I just can't see Nalia being so stuffy when it comes to religion. I'd go with Selune, if you want my opinion.

[Kulyok]

It's also possible that she worships Ilmatar.

I really don't think so.

[Tassadar88]

I´d go for Llirria. I remember there was a banter where she chided Keldorn for the order and their worship of Torm being too pompous, so that could go. Otherwise I´d probably go for Selune.

[berelinde]

Tyr seems like a good fit, to me. He's all about doing the right thing, and the just thing, and it seems that Nalia, who advocates fair treatment of the poor, might be able to get behind that.

There's a shrine to Tyr in the temple in the dungeon level of the keep.

Nalia rejects the trapings of her family wealth, but she doesn't necessarily reject her father's beliefs. She just seems to think he didn't go far enough.

And by the way, tolerance is usually given as a sphere of Lathander, not necessarily Selune, but Nalia wouldn't like Lathander, given the extravagance of the faith. Lathandrites are patrons of the arts, and believe in showing the splendor of their faith through rather showy decorations.

[Tempest]

Selune's faith is characterized as being one of the most diverse in Faerun, though, Berelinde, and it stresses acceptance of anyone and tolerance above all other precepts-especially of [good-aligned] lycanthropes. Not that Lathander's faith isn't also a very tolerant priesthood, but I've always given tolerance as a sphere of Selune, a goddess I have had to do a lot of research on lately (or more specifically, her priesthood).

Ilmater, I just don't see happening for Nalia. She certainly does believe in the basic concepts of the faith, but I don't ever see her as really going whole hog on it.

Tyr does look like the best choice (and Lord De'Arnise will be confirmed as a Tyrran when he shows up), though. Something that's always dissatisfied me a little-there's no chaotic deity associated with justice, a deity for the oppressed and those under the rule of evil governments. But that might be something I'll have to fix down the line...

[berelinde]

Yeah, Tyr's probably about the best you can do in this case.

Selune might advocate tolerance of lycanthropes, and you might give her the sphere in your own campaign, but intrerracial harmony in general is Lathander's, as you'll see in the following links. Of course, since this is your own story, you can do what you want. Here's a few links, should the spirit move you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lathander
http://www.answers.com/topic/lathander
http://www.fortuneci.../lathander.html
http://www.geocities...l/lathander.htm

Edit: And I'm going to burn for this, but I really don't see Nalia worshiping Ilmater. She professes the desire to do for the poor, but you never see her actually giving anything up to help them.

Edited by berelinde, 06 September 2007 - 11:19 AM.

[Tempest]

Selune in turn, while not playing up interracial harmony that much, actively seeks tolerance and acceptance. Here are some good links (you'll need to dig a bit, though):

http://lwnsql.lfchos...m/MdSelune.html
http://www.geocities...d/d-selune.html (Note-this is one of my primary sites for researching priesthoods in Faerun

Edit: And I'm going to burn for this, but I really don't see Nalia worshiping Ilmater. She professes the desire to do for the poor, but you never see her actually giving anything up to help them.

Mind you, you don't exactly see Jaheira promoting harmony between civilization and nature, Keldorn performing the duties required of him as a paladin, or *any* of the druids/clerics performing any of the activities their faiths require of their clergy (Viconia in particular). There are some limitations to what is and is not feasible, but I think I'll go with Tyr as Nalia's deity, which will in turn set up some very interesting religious issues down the road.

[Simbul]

Actually, many of Faerun's people don't venerate one deity forsaking the others. Ed Greenwood, creator of the setting, often said that most faerunians worship several deities at once, paying homage to Chauntea for a good harvest, Umberlee before a sea voyage, Tymora for good luck, etc. Nalia didn't struck me as a particularly religious type, and all of this "helping poor" thing always felt more like a hobby to her. She's still a noble - and Ilmater isn't really popular among Amnian nobles, IIRC (dunno 'bout Tyr)
If you really *have* to find her a patron, I suggest checking D&D supplements such as FR Campaign Setting or Lands of Intrigue (the latter could be found as a free pdf over at WotC site) and look there for gods commonly worshipped in Amn.

[berelinde]

While most people in Faerun might make offerings to any number of gods, they seem to have one patron deity, and that's what determines what happens to them in the afterlife. At the time of BG2, those without a patron would be relegated to the wall of the faithless upon their deaths, rather than being collected by their deity's avatar for the afterlife.

Faiths and Avatars is what I've been using for the bulk of my research, by the way.