What are the gods, cults and religions of 'base' Ravenloft places?
Belenus (NG), a celtic sun god
The Eternal Order (NE), a cult dedicated to the worship of the dead
Ezra, a goddess with three different aspects (LG, LN, LE)
Hala, (N) a witch goddess
The Lawgiver (LE), A god of devoted to the idea that those who are born into power deserve to rule
The Morninglord (CG), your resident happy-go-lucky undead hatin' morning lovin' feel good god
The Rajian Pantheon (Kali and Tvashtri)
The cult of the Wolf God (CE), a god of werewolves and madmen
Zhakata (LE), the devourer god
I'm sure someone else could expand upon these, and tell others that are either 'dead' gods or other small time cults.
Well... and Ezra, but she doesn't count ^.~
One sect was left out a few posts up and it is the Dementlieu neutral sect.
One in particular I find interesting is the Shard of the Shield of Ezra which implies that there are five shards that form the true shield that Ezra broke and spread across RL. Since there has been four separate books penned and manifestations of the unique spells called Shield of Ezra to date that have been excepted at the Great Cathedral, there will be a 5th soon to come if it hasn't already been covered up as a heresy. It is speculated that this Fifth Schism will be presented by the final sect and the whole of Ezra's Grand Scheme will be complete and known.
As for that fifth Shard of the Shield of Ezra, that's tied into the whole affair involving the Time of Unparalleled Darkness I believe. Don't ask me how, I'm just theorizing.
Technically he would still be able to answer prayers of the followers he amassed in RL when he left, but at a lesser degree with the rules of outlander gods. All of this is if you want to go along these speculations of who the Lawgiver really is.
I like it.
The question I have always had about that is if he intended as a contingency to go to RL to nurse his wounds in the event when he was killed by Torm and allow his son to rebuild his power base in Forgotten Realms for his return or he was just sucked in?
I think that's doubtful. 2e RL was infamous for "borrowing" things from other settings without getting "permission." There was a blow up between creators over Lord Soth and whether he was on Krynn or the Demiplane; I think they even made a point of mentioning him in a book as a jab over this very issue.
That said, I think Bane was adopted into RL because his dogma fit so well with the cultures of Nova Vaasa and Hazlan. It's unlikely he ever did answer the prayers of his priests in RL; for that matter it might be that the Dark Powers answer all prayers in lieu of the gods. There is the Unspoken Pact to consider...
I think that's doubtful. 2e RL was infamous for "borrowing" things from other settings without getting "permission." There was a blow up between creators over Lord Soth and whether he was on Krynn or the Demiplane; I think they even made a point of mentioning him in a book as a jab over this very issue.
I wouldn't say that. The RL writers of that era had full acknowledgment of TSR, and tried to have RL sending tendrils in all other important prime material world.
While Hickman wasn't OK with that, as in don't play with my toys, the Lord Soth thing was also OK with TSR, who conviently just owned the rights for this. You should read the full story in the FoS FAQ - see my sig.
Joël
Given also the way gods are not directly involved in the demiplane of dread as they are present in other prime material words, outsider gods are not worshipped the same way or responding the same way.
Joël
So the Lawgiver is Bane and the Morning Lord is Lathandor, huh? So then Hala is Mystra, right?
Yes, no, and no. The Morninglord is a god created just for RL, and Hala was first introduced in Van Richten's Monster Hunters Compendium Vol. 3, though that book does detail Hala on other worlds (including Faerun). Not all of the gods of RL are ripoffs of others. Ezra is uniquely Ravenloft and Hala was almost like her more benevolent counterpart. It's even said that Ezra was a "witch" of Hala before her ascension to godhood (though all sees consider that heresy).
I can only guess as to why the gods in 3.x didn't match up with their original counterparts. Likely it has to do with licensing RL out to S&S. And Gotten has a very good point. It's mortals that perpetuate the worship of outlander gods, not the gods themselves. This is why "Belenus" supports Elena Faith-hold; in many cases you can do away with alignment restrictions for clerics and paladins and the gods they worship to represent the distortion and corruption of dogma when the gods aren't looking.
So the Lawgiver is Bane and the Morning Lord is Lathandor, huh? So then Hala is Mystra, right? Which other gods are RL counterparts to otherworldly deities? Belenus is clearly not Pelor given that he's actually part of a pantheon.
The Lawgiver is Bane viewed through Ravenloft's filter. Same with Lathander. With Hala I'm not so sure. The myths surroudning her are very different. Hala and Ezra are original to the Ravenloft books. Belenus is from the Celtic pantheon, the Akiri gods are the Egyptian pantheon, again viewed through Ravenloft's dark lense.
I also want to note that most of the other (read non-RLPHB) deities are found in the Gazateers.
? Huh?
I'm working on my cult which is center around a fiend who is claiming to be avatar or aspect come to Ravenloft to lead his followers to freedom from the Demiplane of Dread.
RL natives wouldn't know anything about avataras or aspects. Those are technical planar terms.
For the savior/escape idea Ezra is the best fit imo. She is said to have been a mortal who gave up herself to the Mists to save the people of Ravenloft. Any fiend which can take a female Jeanne D'Arc like form could claim to be Ezra herself. Maybe said fiend would pen the 5th book of Ezra itself? Or "inspire" a mortal to do it.
If Ezra is truly a god and not only a figment of the Dark Powers, and if her true form is LN, than the existing sects (LN, LG, LE, N) are all the allowed alignments for a cleric of Ezra. I agree that a 5th book of Ezra is bound to surface somewhen and wrap up the mystery of the Ezran chruch. It also helps that the faith of Ezra is a bit similar to the christian chruch, and has inquisitors. A fiend setting itself up as a secret inner cult of the true Ezra would be a crafty fiend indeed. (Though from a symmetry point of view the 5th sect should be CN)
Another option would be Hala, the other mysterious Ravenloft faith. As a Witch goddess she is already tied to the occult. Check out the 13 Skulls of Hala in Van Richten Arsenal.
PS: There's an excellent article on Ezra in one of the netbooks. I believe there's one on Hala too .
PS: There's an excellent article on Ezra in one of the netbooks. I believe there's one on Hala too .
First one is the "Book of Secrets", second I believe you mean "Undead Sea Scrolls 2003".
the Danseurs Divin (Divine Dancers)- A cult splintered from the Dementlieu sect, who believe that talking with the Goddess is achievable through modeling their lives after her words and deeds.
L'Abbeye de Fleau (the Abby of the Bright Scourage)- An order of anchorites who have sworn a vow of poverty, but it is not specific if there are paladins or monks. They feel that material wealth is only a tool to the Legions of the Night.
La Balise (the "Avatar Heresy")- Centered on an ancient shrine somewhere deep within the forests of Richemulot, they are searching for lost mortal Goddess.
This corrects Thanael's statement of RL natives knowing nothing of avatars. Clearly S is well aware of them and so is this cult; but if there is actually an avatar of Ezra that they revere, she is very doubtful in the Gazetteer as well the official church. I am not for certain if the next sect is in connection with with the "Avatar Heresy", but they sound similar.
the Echansons (Cupbearers)- A secret sect that originated in Borca who's believes were so extreme they were said to had be given an ultimatum by the then Praesidus to prove their standing by the Rite of Revelation, which tests all claims of a new Schism, or practice no further. They fled into obscurity with no inclination to become a official sect.
Their dogma is much like Christian heresies and popular fiction such as The Da Vinci Code that hold Christ bore child and his royal bloodline lives on. They believe the dogma of the official Church of Ezra has derailed from the truth and the while the majority of the followers and clergy are oblivious, the powers of the church continue to orchestrate lies to protect their holdings.
The Cupholders believe that the Goddess did not join the mists, but chose to be born as a mortal infant child. This sacrifice of herself to mortality was her gift of a divine bloodline to the faithful so they may protect them from the Legions of the Night and to fill the Hollow. She came of age, married, and bore several children, and died like any other mortal.
Their sacred text, The Vessels of Mercy, is full of encryption and prophesizes the descendents of the mortal Ezra will unite all domains of RL under a true theocracy and bring hope once again. The feel that many of the official Books of Ezra contain these same revelations, but have been omitted by those who felt these tenets were destructive to the church.
The sect endlessly searches for Ezra's remaining bloodline, called Prodigals. Evidence they feel has been uncovered in studying the text points to Richemulot as the main domain where many Prodigals had settled and it is said the Cupholders possess a great treasure. More than likely they feel it is a Shard of the Shield of Ezra or some great relic.
Among other things, this lack of divine communication has left Ravenloft open to agnostic or even atheistic philosophies, like the Lamordians'. In Paridon, renunciation of gods as "superstition" gave rise to the Divinity of Mankind: a philosophy that sees spiritual enlightenment as attainable by mortals through contemplation and self-improvement, without any need for divine middlemen. There are clerics and even paladins of the DoM, but no gods. (The idea originally came from the 2E Complete Priest's Handbook, IIRC.)
Likewise, there are cults that originated in Ravenloft which worship deities that never existed, such as Zhakata. They, too, have divine magic, most likely bestowed by the Dark Powers.
The following are a list of Egyptian deities presented in the supplement Sandstorm. Any domains not found in either the PHB or RLPHB are in Sandstorm; also note that there's another version of the Repose domain presented, so for the sake of this post consider the RL Repose to be called Final Repose. Also note that alignments are taken from the supplement.
Anubis--LN god of mummification and the dead. Law, Magic, Repose. FW: Mace.
Apep--NE god of darkness and disorder. Evil, Fire, Sand. FW: Heavy pick. (Note he's also mentioned in the Fiendish Codex 1 in the Wells of Eternal Darkness, trapped by the other gods there).
Bast--CG goddess of war and protection. Chaos, Destruction, Protection, Strength, War. FW: Spiked gauntlet.
Hathor--NG cow-goddess of creation and wife to Ra. Good, Luck, Protection. FW: Longsword.
Isis--NG goddess of motherhood and sister/wife to Osiris. Good, Magic, Protection, Water. FW: Quarterstaff.
Nephthys--very CG goddess of protection and guardianship. Chaos, Good, Protection, Repose. FW: Mace.
Ptah--LN god of primordial creation and crafts. Knowledge, Law, Travel. FW: Mace.
Re-Horakhty--LG combination of Ra and Horus in Egyptian mythology, a unifying god from whom all others are aspects. Good, Law, Sun, War. FW: Khopesh.
Sobek--LE god of crocodiles and rivers. Animal, Evil, Water. FW: Shortspear.
Thoth--N god and Ra's mind, voice, and will made manifest. Knowledge, Magic, Rune. FW: Quarterstaff.
These are vastly simplified descriptions, and note that even the Egyptians couldn't agree on who represented what. It's also only a short list of the divinities in Egyptian religion. Take it as you will.
Remember the EO is a mixture of dozens of outlander death gods, not a coherent pantheon. Plus, as mentioned above, the means they use to achieve this goal of "suppressing undeath" could certainly make them evil. Inquisitions, torture, forced confessions, witch hunts, you name it.
That's in addition to the evil practices of individual priests, both in service to their respective gods and as personal vices.
As it's portrayed in the Requiem modules, the "Eternal Order" is essentially an extortion racket. The priests secretly animate Walking Dead and set them loose to terrorize the gulible, then come "to the rescue" with their rituals that keep the "undead menace" in check. Naturally, the frightened populace has to pray hard and give lavish donations to ensure that their "divine protection" remains strong enough.
That's in addition to the evil practices of individual priests, both in service to their respective gods and as personal vices.
::Smacks forehead:: I really need to get some help. That one was so obvious I missed it.
Vecna is, AFAWK, the only darklord to have broken free by his own actions. Both Lord Soth and Nathan Timothy have been released from their domains, but only because the DPs chose to set Soth loose, and never bothered to re-imprison Nathan after the Grand Conjunction.