Though I suppose I could add Syllok up there (thanks, I had totally forgotten about him), all we really know is that he's supposedly a being made up of all the deceased iksar spirits. I don't think we know much more about him. Maybe we'll get to learn more in November! As for Zeboxoruk, I probably should put him up there, though I'm somewhat hesitant, since we truly know so little about his nature. As for Mayong..I'm a little hesitant to put him up there, since he wasn't a god for very long. Maybe one of the devs could tell us more about that time period. Seems sort of convenient that he ascend to Godhood while no one is around to really worship him, and that he comes back before the gods start revealing themselves again. I wonder how long he was actually a god! One of the things I was hoping to convey with this document was just exactly how vast the Pantheon actually is (and it seems to only be growing!). It makes it so frustrating to only be able to worship eight of the deities (though soon to be eleven), and in a way, how futile having an in-game deity system actually is. What might stop a character from paying homage to multiple gods? Wouldn't a farmer pray to Karana, Tunare, and maybe even the Rathe? Wouldn't you expect a theif to pay respects to Bristlebane, Torvonnilous, and Xev? In most pantheistic cultures, this is the sort of thing we see, where people make sacrifices and offerings to appease not just a single god, but many. Hoping to bring blessings from those who are benevolent, and appease those who are malicious. In my very humble opinion, it seems it may have been better to simply provide a priest or set of priests for each deity, and you have the option to go and hail them, and listen to them preach on their god/dess, and yes, why not, be able to do quests for varous religious peoples. I suppose that the reason is that this IS a game, and they wanted to add more content of a sort.
At some point game mechanics have to factor in. I totally agree with the examples stated, like the Farmer praying to different dieties for different things, (Heck, why not pray to Bert for a plague to kill the gophers ruining his root crops?) But then what? You have multiple alters to multiple Gods, with multiple blessings/miracles at your disposal. There has to be some sort of limit, just from a mechanics standpoint so as not to overpower everything.
Heh, my mechanics was to not have any blessings or miracles at all. Alters to various gods would be fun, but there wouldn't have to be any real benefit to worshiping the gods (there wasn't one in EQ, afterall, other than factions, and I suppose racial armor, but that didn't even come out until a long time after release). As a hardcore roleplayer, it wouldn't bother me to be doing quests for various religious types (you wouldn't have to actually believe what they were telling you), and have them tell more of their god as the quest lines progressed, maybe having the end item result in something like the lead up quests did, a hosue item that gives a temporary buff. But I realise that most people probably don't play this game for lore as much as they do for phat lewtz, and to be able to kill everything. I realise that they decided to make the gods more proactive, granting miracles and blessings. I realise that this -IS- a game, and that, like you said, there are a lot of things that can't be done because of game mechanics. Oh, and a farmer could even offer sacrifices to Bert, hoping to stem off blight from his crops. Appease him, so to speak. Similarly, he's try to appease Solusek Ro in hopes that he'd give the farmer enough sun to grow good crops, but not too much to dry them out. I simply used the example, because, in real life history, this is the sort of thing we see. Sailors not only praying to the sea god, but to the winds, and to the god of travel, and to the ruler of the skys, and the storms. Let's face it, if you're some puny mortal, and there's a god for everything you interact with on a daily basis, you're going to want to be spending a lot of time making everyone happy *laughs*
Nocturnal Abyss wrote: Going off the topic of discussion, if I remember right, the War of the Plagues (of the plains of Karana) started because a Bloodsaber placed an idol of Bertoxxulous in a farmer's field, and that farmer just happened to find it...
HOLY SMURF, I CAN REPLY! Phew! Glad that glitch is finally fixed! You have no idea how annoying it is to be able to read such interesting topics and not be able to respond or contribute! ANYway, this is indeed excellent work. I'd actually been looking everywhere for information on Derris and Gorynn, where'd you find that info? There are a handful of other gods I've seen referenced in various places in the EQ world that aren't on the list (yet more proof that the pantheon never seems to stop growing). I'll give their names and what (little, for the most part) information I have on them below, and you can decide whether or not you wanna tack them onto the list. I don't have all my sources on hand, but if you want confirmation on any of them, just ask and I'll go hunt down where I found them. Lasydia - Goddess of mercy, she's an EQ2 deity who is considered a patron of castaways and others who get into trouble at sea. She apparently takes the form of a mermaid, so she might have some connection to Prexus, but that's purely speculative. I believe the sunken shrine in the bay of the Isle of Refuge is dedicated to her. Meldrath, the Marvelous - God of innovation, he is the former conjoined twin of the legendary gnomish necromancer of the same name (Meldrath the Malignant). When the brothers were born, their mother was frustrated, feeling that she deserved two sons rather than one. Fizzlethorpe Bristlebane noticed this and, disguised as a healer, gave her a magical sword with which to separate them. When she did so, however, the good Meldrath rose into the air and disappeared, taken up by the gods, while the evil Meldrath was left behind, much to the dismay of their mother. The good Meldrath was made into the god of innovation and given his own plane, which he filled with incredibly advanced and intelligent clockworks of all kinds. When mortals penetrated his plane in EQ1, however, they found nothing but a legion of hostile clockworks; Meldrath himself was nowhere to be found, and it's said he's been imprisoned by his own creations. Wuria - An EQ1 deity, Wuria is the goddess of night. She is worshipped by the Shadowmane Wurines, a tribe of werewolves native to a region of Norrath's Underfoot known as Darkhollow. Rakban - Another EQ1 deity, Wuria's former mate. I know very little about him personally, but apparently, he's dead. Caertex - An EQOA deity, he was apparently worshipped by the Ratonga at one time. I know nothing about him beyond that. Vesagran - An EQ1 deity worshipped by the Dragorn race of the world known as Kuua. She is described as a prismatic or crystalline dragon, and might just be Veeshan in a different guise. She seems to have died in a battle with Oshiruk. Oshiruk - An EQ1 deity, Oshiruk is the god of chaos, and is actually native to the Realm of Discord. He is said to have destroyed all the other gods in his pantheon, and led an invasion of the world of Kuua at somepoint in the distant past. He very nearly succeeded in that endeavor, but was stopped by Vesagran, who slew him and scattered his essence in the form of pieces of his armor across Kuua before dying herself. Dranik - An EQ1 deity, he is a supposedly-dead dragon god whom the Dragorn of Kuua regard as their father. He is said to have created the Dragorn from his own blood, and several regions of Kuua are named after him. Syrill Serilis - No information whatsoever. Someone posted a thread asking for info about him/her on this forum awhile back, but nothing turned up as far as I know. Agnarr - Known as the Storm Lord, Agnarr is an EQ1 deity who once imprisoned Karana and took his place as ruler of the Plane of Storms before mortals stepped in. Nothing much known about him really, but he looks identical to Karana, so the two probably have some sort of familial relation. Alliz Onu - Known as the Reptile Queen, she's mentioned in the EQ2 pen-and-paper books as one of the three gods that the lizardmen of the Feerott worship, along with Cazic-Thule and Kyr'tok. Kyr'tok - Also called the Mangled. Nothing known about him either. Bealu - An EQ1 deity, worshipped by the race of plane-hopping elemental beings known as the Riftseekers. Nothing on him besides a name.
Nocturnal Abyss wrote: But one -can- have more than one diety. You can even have more than one alter. But you can have just only one for whom you can directly curry favour and expect blessings and miracles from. Rijacki has, since her inception shortly before release, always been a follower of Fizzlethrope Bristlebane, but she curries the favour of Sol Ro since it helps her (though that will change with the addition of FB *impish grin*). She'll still look tot he magics of Sol Ro, being a fiery wizard, but actually seek the blessing of Bristlebane. The mechanics are a place to start, not a place to end, especially when it comes to RP.
Gnobrin wrote: Indeed it is a great thread, and the OP obviously put alot of time into researching, and then posting all that info on the deities. Tis worthy of stickiness methinks <wink,wink,nudge,nudge>
Gukkor2 wrote: Meldrath isn't a god. He's just a gnome who decided to use an empty planar realm as a junkyard. Nothing in the PoP storyline even hints that he is immortal or omnipotent in any way. Syrill Serilis: Yeah, I was the one who asked when I noticed his name is one of the 3 forging hammers for the Stormhammer quest, along with Brell and Bolgin. Nobody responded. Agnarr: He wasn't a diety by any sense of the word. He was just a planar being who managed to trick Karana into going into a meditative state that he couldn't wake up from, then took his staff and gave himself the illusion of Karana.
Cusashorn wrote: I disagree about Meldrath. The nature by which he disappeared indicates some sort of gods-related ascension, as does the fact that Bristlebane was the one who made it possible for the twin Meldraths to be separated in the first place, and while nothing in the PoP storyline indicated that he is a god, it also says nothing to indicate that he isn't. There is plenty of precedent for mortals ascending to godhood and being granted control of their own plane, but there is only one case I know of that could be cited for mortals just walking up and taking over an empty plane (Plane of Knowledge), but even that one's debatable since the origins of New Tanaan are unclear. Still, though, I do guess it's possible he's not a god. As for Agnarr, I had my doubts about him too, but I haven't personally played around in Plane of Storms much, so I only know what others have said about him and what it says in the PoP prologue, and given that he's on the list of gods in the EQ wikipedia pages, it appeared to me that some evidence had been found of his godhood. My mistake if he's not.
Never trust Wikipedia. And if Meldrath was a mortal-turned-god, then why didn't the gods lock HIM up as well for the possibility of him leaking the secrets to the mortals of how to obtain godhood and destroy what a god is? Also, where'd you hear that whole Bristlebane thing? That's new to me. I'd like to know where you heard or read it from.
Cusashorn wrote: This: http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/...html?item=20043 And this: http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/n...cle.vm?id=50540
Ahh. I had a feeling you got that from Secrets of Faydwer. I was wondering why you listed all the gods who arn't canon to the EQ2 universe, but I guess as long as we're making a list, we might as well list everything, I guess.
Cusashorn wrote: Pretty much what I was thinking. And like I said, the OP can add whichever gods he wants from that post. Those were just candidates for the list, so to speak.
Cusashorn wrote: If Meldrath was a God (not saying he is/was), then he would have been put into that position by the Gods... since they lifted him up to the planes. There are a lot of Demi-gods like this (Saryrn, Sullon Zek, etc.) Zebuxoruk studied the Gods, their language, their beings, and understood enough that he became a Demi-god on his own. Perhaps because of all his studying, he understood something that other Demi-gods don't know just by being lifted up to that status... or maybe the Gods didn't trust Zebuxoruk simply because they hadn't chosen for him to be a Demi-god... or maybe he had actually tried to convey some secrets, and it scared the Gods (I think that was the case anyways... he was trying to get some information across but was stopped short). In any case, if they were gonna try to lock up Meldrath for that reason, then they had a whole list of others that they should have tried to lock up... and we know for certain that they weren't, since Saryrn was a raidable encounter in PoP
Cusashorn wrote: Wasn't it stated that Meldrath's own creations imprisoned him? Perhaps he was 'out of the game' so to speak, so didn't need to be locked up since he already WAS.
Gukkor2 wrote: Most of the gods in this are from EQ after PoP, namely, the Omens of War series, and Depths of Darkhollow (note, I said most). Though I realise that it might not look like it, I tried to keep my list of gods limited to the ones that are in the EQ2 world. That said, I've read a few rare texts that do, indeed, hint at some possible deities not mentioned. As has been mentioned, whether Meldrath the Magnificent is actually a god, or more of buddy of Bristlebane's is debatable. I'm not sure that he's done anything more god-like than the ranger that later became Karana's avatar has (Askr). Special, yes, but I'm not sure he could be called a god. Similarly, I'd need a more official source naming Lasydia as a god, as the only thing I've seen oficially in regarding to her was that little quest where you get Underwater breathing, and you have to kill sharks on the newbie isle. If I saw in a book written by the EQ2 devs (like the EQ2 Atlas) or here on the forums themselves, I'd add her. As to Caertex, the reason I didn't add him was because of the things we've learned from Vhalen here on the forums in regards to him! Though he is indeed a powerful mage, it seems he's not a god, just a Ratonga (or perhaps a Roekillik) I'm visiting some friends right now, when I get home, I'll dig up the discussion, it was quite interesting.
