wenyadur

"Please! Please, help me!" But the flowers and the bones and the crystals are silent. Even as life is still in them, they are silent. Accomplished, perfect were they for the plant, the animal or the mineral souls, but they know nothing of the soul of man. But then how can such a soul be held to life in their midst? He raised his eyes. Jayden was smiling. She also remained silent. "Can there be another matter than these? Could I know it? ...What finds its way in the potion built of inferiors so that it reaches beyond my body?" The vision of the goddess vanished revealing only the exit from the cave. The answer must be out there... He said goodbye to Grim and the others. Grim just nodded. He had some stored goods to sort. Dylan and Maxine answered. But it didn't really matter because he felt this is a road on which he's ment to be alone. He smiled though. If he fails, at least, he would have done all that was possible, in his whole life, in all things. Now... he must turn his back to all that he can't take with himself. Stepping out of the cave, he faced the open desert. In this larger circle, the circle of the cave, with its worries and needs, seems like another empty space. Slowly, his mind begins to merge with the openness. For a short while he can look for the sceneries of his dreams. And then he will find the same path of work, of one step after the other, of just trying, of not knowing ahead. This is the only measure of time until reaching the border to Portland - to have become again a part of the loneliness of the whole... ...At the banner he felt like stopping for a moment. What may he be seeing of himself in it, as in a mirror? Could it be of the past, the stubborn affirmation of his ideal in the middle of a barrenness of unmet desires, while everyone else in his life, and life itself, passed by? Could it be of the future? He reached for the painted cloth and it felt like having reached for his heart. "What could still have held his soul in there, among the dust of failed potions?" On the other side, only more waste could have been gueesed. But he steps through, again, because this is were the path takes him. Something changes. Slowly, the beats of his heart begin to measure his steps, one after the other, like grains of sand dropping from the bottom of an hourglass. Between the promisses of small tufts of grass, taking the place of the desert, and the threat of the goblin, from the distance, time flows thinner here, like a string, pulling him, waving him into the tapestry of the banner. Aluwen must have been walking at his side for some time. He didn't noticed. "There is no defense against him - you know, don't you?" He gathered the materials closer. "Sure, you will do your best. But if you're getting tired, just close your eyes." The materials sighed. For a moment he saw himself in the Underworld... He blinked a few times to clear his eyes. The goddess was gone. But he did feel like the path widened. And while the time of arriving safely at the School kept flowing in a line, time as a whole seemed to flow from all directions at once now, going nowhere. A smile? Was this a time to smile? Why not? It was a time for anything. Even for raw materials. And if there would have been a potion for smiling, could it have done more than take out of the way all that was never ment to be his concern? No expectations then? His steps begun to feel like he was dancing. The grass, the flowers, the trees and the sky above, and the houses, and the people in them, and the people passing him by - all were beautiful music that he was free to enjoy. And through the loosened fabric of his heart, he let the colors of the dawn out into the soul of the world... There is no recipe for a soul touching another. And there can be no failure, every reaching is perfectly full of hope, of love. And the other ingredients matter only in the beginning. Or not at all...

She stopped right next to him, her fur almost touching. He could feel the warmth of her body. But she won't notice him. Too close, she is too close to be reached. He must wait. What will she do next? Where would she go? Behind that rock? Among the trees, getting lost? Then he must follow. Or would she lie for a while in that small clearing, under the light of the Moons and his eyes? She moved her big weight on the other foot, pushing him slightly, then she started to move away. Is she playing? She lingers on every step like she knows that he can only watch her. It is too soon to follow. Too soon to be raising the bow. In his breath getting colder and colder he can feel the distance between them increasing. He is used with this coldness. The times when she chose to spend a little time in his company were so few. And for a few moments, of the bear only the shape remained, with the shadows waving around the large hips. He could not hunt her, whom he loved. He wanted to be fair and since she had someone, and since she refused him from the start... he even acted against his interest in being with her. Principles... But there were others more daring, who wanted less than love, less than the best in her than her nature, skilled at getting smiles and caresses, and other things more intimate most likely, from women, who may not have seen Heaven in their first love. And she must have been... bored? Not knowing herself beyond that... The bear had reached firing distance. She steps to the right. No, she doesn't go anywere. She turned her head to look at him, For him to see her better. The arrow was shot. A miss. He aims again, she moves out of distance, he follows, the hunting goes on in the dark... How to pursue a woman's attentions without love? The goddess is silent. As time passes more, more love seems like something out of this world. And the sparks he can strike up of his own mortal heart only lit his smile for such a short time. How distant a world it must be, how very distant a star that he came from, for his soul to be stretched so. So that easily he can forget his own and then rediscover himself, after a while, as if by a miracle... He may already have felt all that he could have felt, already known all that could have been known. And now, he is still here so that, unknowingly, he may bring love to a woman, some woman... guided only by signs of her happiness. And then, if there can be no woman, perhaps, there will be some way to express this love, that he may not know more of, or again, to the whole world. Even a new way, a new form of art. And he will keep trying to find it, that way to be all that he can be. The goddess is smiling. Elandria is, of the past, and Aluwen is of the present, and Zarin too, of the future, all one, and all in his heart, silently. In the footsteps of the bear, following, looking for her shape to form out of the dark, in that stretching forward out of just being alive, and out of that something that he has not yet become, into this world that is yet incomplete, or new, always new, he must strive to bring beauty and joy, until the end of his time. And knowing that he has done so, there will be no place for regret. He would go to the gods as light as a feather, for his faith had been part of that which belongs to no man and lives on... But for the moment, and for the next, as before, the great things of concern may be hidden, and thus he must be a Sun unto buds, a bow unto beasts, a lone. Yet also from moment to moment, and maybe only this way, there is hope that he'll reach, deep, into the heart of the world and that then, around his rays having attained perfection, he will see life gathered into a blossom like those that Nature can draw, or into a fruit that quenches a thirst which cannot be named, or perhaps, into another soul like his own...

...so Perception increases your chance to hit "in low light conditions" (i.e. at night or in caves, when the target is sufficiently far from lighting sources) which translates to being able to hit more often at a longer distance in low light conditions (the farther the target, the lower the chance to hit). (One way to look at the mechanism of Ranging is to assume that the Ranging Xp received increases with the distance to the target, not directly with the chance to hit, which means that you will be able to get more Xp by shooting at longer distances; because you have a higher chance to hit at longer distances in low light conditions due to a high Perception. That the Xp received varies with the distance to the target and not directly with the chance to hit is really just one point of view, a way to explain what happens. Perhaps more correct would be to say that the Xp received depends only on the chance to hit which decreases with the distance to the target multiplied by a factor determined by Perception - this factor would decrease when Perception increases, thus leading to an increase in the Xp received, at any range; but, again, I'm just guessing here - please ignore these last two phrases if they seem confusing.) I was able to get as much as 55 Xp from one hit (probably a critical hit) while still at level 18 of Ranging (the complete setup is described at point 7 of "My thoughts..." in my first post). It is possible that the Sharp Shooter perk helped with this, even if my Perception was still at 4 at that time... (For the newbys interested in Ranging, I would add that shooting at a long range has, even in low light conditions, a good chance to miss and so, you would profit more from shooting at a range that offers you most of the time 10 to 20 Xp / arrow. Also, if you manage to shoot a target that moves away from you, at any distance, the Xp received is greater.) (I'm still in doubt about whether Dexterity influences the ranged Accuracy/Chance-to-Hit or not... I decided for a Reasoning based build, which implies increases in both Dexterity and Perception. But does an Instinct based build imply lower ranged Accuracy because of the lack of Dexterity?)

On a sheet of past leaves, or years, the bow rests, unstretched. In its shadow, as in the horizon, the sky and the earth seem to touch. But beyond, they are fallen into each other, unknowing, asleep. And the archer is not yet the archer... ..A light breath of day plays around the leaves and his heart. Spring stubs blush and would bloom. Shapes of trills wrinkle and curl out to the buzz in the air... fail to follow and fall, back unto the string and farther, down, getting lost in the silence. But from that midst of heavens where love looks like her, a smile still climbs in the east, to remind of the promise... ...A stream of ants passing by and under the wood, darkening the mixture... The hands that would divide all in two, can no longer be made of hardship, of want. Or of the touch of a short bow. The gold that would be exchanged is not the gold raised from the ore, the plant or the flesh. That which repeats cannot be the same, from one step on the way to the other... ...A cloud taking the shape of a unicorn, the birch trees echo a distant tapping of hoofs... In the picking of flowers, of quartz, in the trutching with pestle, in speaking, in walking, or in getting dressed, or in the opening of a door, in eating, in breathing, in all these is the beginning of art... ...The yellow of leaves bursting, overwhelming the eyes of the trees, the Sun coming out of a cloud... If the arrow will reach the target, or not, it don't matter. The life that the archer would lose, isn't real, the arrow that fails, not the real one. Nothing is, anymore, but the bow in the heart... ...Through the veins of the earth, flowing, with the vapours, rising through air, with the rain, falling, the same blood in him and in her... The string, stirred by his touch, the wood of the bow, blossoming, perfumes, warmth, calls, the bosom of nature bustling with these, and with happiness promissed in dreams. Perfection... ...The evening Sun descending at the horizon, small fire-like lights appear here and there and stories begin to be told, to remind the world of his love. The Forest of the Fall fills with magic... ...Jayden opens the flask, lets it breath in the endless sky of the night. Stars sparkle, startling eternity for... a moment, a lifetime.

...There seems to be one more thing that could have been deduced from the reply - Rationality, through the bonus in experience received, indirectly influences Ranging efficiency, by helping increase the Ranging skill a bit faster. But in this way Rationality is rather a factor in the economy of play, along side the Ethereal Ranger perk, than a direct determinant of each Arrow's success... (It may be interesting to observe that other Cross Attributes determined by the Basic Attributes that give Perception and Rationality - Reaction and Matter - have a say on the Ranger's survival in close range until his party members rescue him/her. I don't know if he could heal himself repeatedly, so as to add Ethereality to the enumeration. If Dexterity doesn't influence the ranged Chance-to-Hit then it is not as useful in the same context. Charming may only be useful defensively, I assume, if the Ranger has summoned before engaging in the fight...)

Indeed it helps! ...somehow I arrived at a different page on el-wiki.net when choosing Ranging from the menu, one with an incomplete table (no ranged weapon damage) and no explanations... If I understood correctly, Might has no effect on ranged Damage, new Ranging levels also bring an increase in ranged Damage and only Armor Piercing Potions apply the Armor Piercing bonus to ranged attacks. While Perception may increase the ranged Chance-to-Hit, as indicated by a decrease in experience being proportional to the increase in Perception, what can be said about Dexterity? Is Dexterity limited to hand-to-hand Combat? Is Perception the equivalent of Dexterity for ranged atttacks? I imagine that one would need good 'perception' to focus on a target, but also good 'dexterity' to shoot straight... About the table/list: It was designed to contain only Cross Attributes so as to serve as a reference for investing Pick Points in Basic Attributes. ...Perhaps a note at the bottom of the table should inform on everything else (than Cross Attributes) that helps increase Ranging efficiency? Based on the information received through the reply above, it seems that the list/table would associate at most 1 or 2 Cross Attributes with Ranging efficiency (Perception for sure and maybe Dexterity also?). Nevertheless I think it would still be useful to newbys, as it would leave no doubt about how they should invest their Pick Points. Thank you so much, Wolf/Ratstlin! I hope no one minds agreeing or disagreeing with him... Please, let us have a community based conclusion!

List of the Direct Influences of Attributes on Ranging Efficiency (Damage and Accuracy) +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Might - none | | Matter - none | | Toughness - none | | Charm - none | | Reaction - none | | Perception - influences/determines the ranged Accuracy in low light | | conditions | | Rationality - indirectly contributes to the ranged Accuracy and | | Damage by helping increase the Ranged skill a little | | faster; also contribues by helping increae your | | Overall level faster which means having access to new | | Pick Points, to increase Perception (and other Cross- | | Attributes possibly related to ranged efficiency...), | | faster | | Dexterity - ? | | Ethereality - none | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- temporary conclusions list above original first post below --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greetings experienced Rangers! I hope, based on your contributions, to have here put together a concise, definite and clear list of the direct influences of attributes on Ranging efficiency. I think it would be in the interest of all new players that choose Ranging over hand-to-hand Combat as a means to fight monsters; alone or in a party. While advice is often available on chat channels and the current topic has been addressed in other posts on this forum, the newby can say at most that his or her choice is based on the opinion of this or that player or on similarities between the opinions of a few players. Please join and arrive at a conclusion! More than helping beginners like me, it could perhaps constitute an update to the in-game help, the attributes definitions of which seem to predate the implementation of the Ranging skill. As you know, the demands of advancing in Ranging are rather high and they come down to a great expense of time. The perspective of developing a number of alts just to see the effects of 20 or more points in one attribute, and I have mainly Might, Perception and Dexterity in mind, takes on preposterous dimensions; further increased by the necessity of testing the effect of the Fatal Man and Body Piercing perks. The tests I could run with only 14 Pick Points (9 to start with + 5 from harvesting), for Fatal Man, Might and Dexterity effects, were inconclussive. Please use abbreviations only accompanied by full descriptions of the game elements that you are reffering to, at least at first use! As a newby, I found it difficult to figure out what you were talking about in the forum, occasionally. Below the following table, that would contain your results, I describe my views on the current topic, at the time of writting this post. They may help other newbys relate to it. I also hope to get their support for achieving the goal of this post. Please join me in asking the experienced players for help! List of the Direct Influences of Attributes on Ranging Efficiency +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Might - | | Matter - | | Toughness - | | Charm - | | Reaction - | | Perception - | | Rationality - | | Dexterity - | | Ethereality - | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ ... My thoughts on the influences of attributes on Ranging efficiency, at the time of writting this post: 1. I think only ranged Damage and ranged Chance-to-Hit could be relevant descriptors of Ranging efficiency; the Wilhelm Hood perk increases both of them. 2. The in-game help/encyclopedia sais that "Ranging is used to calculate your chance of hitting your opponent with arrows and bolts". Therefore it is similar to the Attack skill, not having anything to do with (ranged) Damage. 3. I wonder if Might could influence ranged Damage... I imagine that more strength would mean making more out of a bow, but the power of hitting would still be limited by the bow's capacity to project the arrow. Games like WoW use attributes as requirements for weapons that inflict damage and higher attributes allow the use of more damaging weapons. In EL, beyond the Elven Bow (with no prerequisites), the in-game help/encyclopedia lists nothing. Would my character's ranged damage be limited to the damage of the Elven Bow until the end of the game? 4. Dexterity may determine Attack, thus the chance to hit in hand-to-hand Combat, but could it also affect the ranged Chance-to-Hit? Does the Fatal Man perk help with Ranging? 5. There are hints on the developer's blog and on CEL, except the repeated recommendations on this forum, that Perception influences the ranged Chance-to-Hit; that making you "see better in low light conditions" implies a greater ranged Chance-to-Hit. Is this always true, or only in low light conditions as during the night or inside a cave? The Sharp Shooter perk, which increases Perception, seems, by name, dedicated to rangers... 6. (possibly not attributes-related:) Is Armor Piercing relevant to Ranging efficiency? Does the Body Piercing perk help with Ranging? I imagine that Armor Piercing should be independent of the means of hitting the opponent, from close or long range, and could increase the Chance-to-Hit. Is Armor Piercing equivalent to Dexterity or Perception? 7. My main character currently has the Elven Bow, the Wilhelm Hood, Ethereal Ranger and Sharp Shooter perks on, No Point in Basic Attributes and his Ranging is at 18 (from experience prior to a reset, in case you're wondering); he is using Training Arrows. One shot almost kills a Fox, while at least 3 shots are necessary to take down a Deer. Thank you for your interest in this post and I hope that you would consider adding something from your knowledge!

He placed the flowers at the doorstep, he knocked and then he went away. There were days when it was not enough to tell her in his heart how much he loves her... Would the goddess find a way to her? to bring her joy? He did not risk to ask. He hoped. After a while, the tree temple having remained far behind, he slowed down. He had to stop working that day (nothing went right anymore...) and now... now that he felt as if releaved of a burden, he would not rush back. He felt... a strange humming inside... like his heart, exhausted by that last effort, has earned the right to rest and now it was dreaming... Slowly, the humming grew deeper as if it was repeated by more and more voices. It seemed familiar, like there were once words matched to it. The trees, in their stillness, echoed of a memory from long ago that had lost its meaning... A deer stopped and looked at him. He tried not to startle her and leaned slowly onto a nearby tree. They stood like that for a while... And then, as the deer went her way, a feeling took over him, that he was supposed to belong to that place. ...He did not grow like the other elves. He did not learn the bow, he did not join in their games. He spent most of his time alone, in the shadows. He knew he was different. And the forest knew. It did not teach him how to take his place in this world. Instead, it always called to something beyond him, with voices and lights that first he played with, then he struggled to free himself from, but he never did understand... He thought he has left all these behind. What did the forest want now? The heart turned in its sleep. It was smiling... All he had to do is be there, in those dreams that surrounded him with magic. And he believed in this happiness as in a promise... But that was not what he grew into. And the way to the dreams that disappointed has been lost. Yet... a part of him is still there, waiting to be realized... holding him back... or in this life... A sigh passed through the leaves. So... he failed, then? ...No ...He loved her, all those years, from the distance, even if she did not care... He pushed himself away from the tree, but he could not walk. The humming had stopped and out of a deep, dreamless sleep, a thin silence begun to spread through the woods, like a web. The face of the trees darkened. And as the corners of his vision drew closer and closer, he felt the weight of the need to be loved sinking in on him... ...It was her... A gentle touch led his lowered sight up through the branches. In the distance, the white walls of Aluwen's temple shined in the light of the setting sun... Do you remember? ...Sparks and rays of the glitter entered his eyes to rekindle that moment of heaven when he fell in love...It was her...it was her that love was all about... It can still be... And he said her name. And once more. And again. Against not having been and not being enough, her name, and against what he knew and against what he knew not, her name, and against his life and his hopes and himself, again and again. Until there was only her... What was this new dream growing among their kind? Behind the leaves and the twigs and in the hollows, the magic gathered to look at him. Some touched it, some called the dream in their language. But it was no dream. It was real. As real as he was. It was him. It was a sun at the edge of dusk, warm and gentle and still shining, while the shadows grew longer and longer, overcoming his world. And one step after another, the forest was slowly letting him go, to lead the way...

Soft streams of sand begun to poor from his opened hand, slowly... slower... Its delicate texture against the hardened skin. He reached with the thumb, gently, as gently as he could... Oh, would it ever be gently enough? The sea was opening, endless, in front of him. Yet he would not raise his head. Not even as he came there, at the end of a day's work, drawn by the moistured whispers of the waves - not even then did he look at her. He liked to know her closer, where she could fit in his arms... or his opened hand. Where he could know that she smiles for him... The sea was always there, behind, to remind him, as he dipped his soul deeper and deeper into work. The dirt kept him back, but he struggled and struggled, stubbornly, with the swollen hands and the bent back, to overcome, the pain, the tension between them. And there were days when he could not reach her. And then, at the end, having found his way back to the beach, eventually, he would just sit there, not daring to touch the sand and find it harsh and cold... She would have liked the gardens here, on the island. And the flowers. Everything grew abundantly, nature was generous. And there was a pretty cottage near the gardens. In some good days, he smiles to himself, imagining she lives inside it. Sometimes he would rise his eyes from the ground to catch her passing by the window and sometimes the sun happens to reflect in the glass and smile back... And in the evening he would come home, with food and with coins, and tired, but with her only in mind. He would open the door, the smell of fresh flowers would welcome him and an undescribable feeling, like the joy of anticipation, would make his heart beat faster... But usually he keeps his head down, to hold the smile a little longer. He smiles to her wherever she is... Would he ever be able to become good enough? Of all the uncertainties of the future, this troubles him the most. Hope, love seem to drive him forward, yet the road only becomes clear again when it is returning to himself and then it doesn't seem to lead anywhere else for a while. And he is at peace. And a faint thought begins to form in the distance, the thought that he does not become for himself... He remembers the gods then and he feels as in one of Jayden's flasks, mixed and separated and purified and then mixed again. Until, for a little while, the Sun is again revealed, smiling to the whole world. And in that light, Aluwen's words are the last to leave him: "to meet the world through his love for her"... But in the quiet evenings, after his self and his troubles remaind behind, mixed with the dirt where something useful is hoped to grow, when he just sits there, on the beach, with the sand like her hand in his hand, his heart still asks softly: "would he be able to express his love?"

"Don't worry...", she said as she gently drew him closer. And he sat down next to her, on the bed, to allow the feeble light of the hand to cover her belly. It was the last light of the house and already the shadows, darker than dark, crowling in from the night, were gathering around it, whishpering it their curses and doom... He had tried everything he knew, but their gods seemed to have hidden themselves, taking the magic of the stars with them. "Don't worry..."...As he stood there, with his fingers barely touching her skin, waiting for his light to fade away, it seemed as if he was leaning on her...on a hope he could no longer imagine... Then, for a moment, he thught he saw a glow, answering from inside her! "Did you feel that?", she said, "He is smiling..." And since that night in Mortia, when the child was born, he smiled for a while. For a little while, until the shadows of Claw and of Lock and of Pendant, darker than dark, grew strong enough inside to take over his glow. * And then, well... for many years there was nothing he cares to remember about. This weedy tree waiting and waiting its time to bloom among the others wasn't him... Still, there is something he keeps in his heart. There was one time of bloom, although no one knew. He was still far from the last shadow to overcome, from the last wall to climb until he would see the Sun. But one day he thought he saw It. Her. The star of the mountain, the most beautiful. His half-closed heart filled with light and the glow answered, one more time. And again, the smile stayed for a while. A bit longer this time, although he could never look at her again, not as he would have wanted. Such love was not allowed under heaven. Then, of course, at some point, the shadows overcame. And well... he went on, growing towards a Sun he no longer believed he could reach. He tried now and then to think that he saw It, but somehow it seemed that the glow had chosen her and so truly, there could be no other as beautiful as the most beautiful. * Eventually he redrew from the world, but the gods kept him waiting still many years before giving an answer. And no, they did not want him up there. They sent him back into the world. When the time was right... Much of what was taken from his life was given now back, except that which one has to earn by his own efforts. And except the lost years, of course; although, they might have thought that, for an elf, it was not such a great loss... The answer came perhaps through the grace of Elandria. Perhaps it was she who took the shape of his beloved, as the love as fresh as in the beginning; and guided his last steps out of darkness. Of course, he was to figure that out only later. Having went through his kind of life made him in no way more deserving to know the minds of the gods than the other mortals. And so, for a while, all he knew is that he returns to the world for her, to... love her... somehow. And Aluwen, perhaps, added: to better himself, in all ways, so as to become worthy of a love like hers; although love was not promissed. To live for her, not for himself. This was the answer of the gods. * And so, he found himself learning about life from the beginning, starting among the unqualified on Isla Prima. Often the becoming as someone she would find agreeable takes the form of the difficult lessons of the earth: of great patience, of unshaken diligence, of harsh discipline and slow, deliberate calculations. He follows this path joyfully because, having known her in one special way all this time, he feels half-dwarf in his soul. And because he has the conviction of his life's purpose. The shadows return from time to time, to confuse his judgement, to trouble his dreams, to hide the glow. But somehow he always finds his way out of the caves, taking out with him, wrapped in his heart, some shining stone of the past, from when she smiled, or when she was kind, or when she sought his company for a little while, as would a friend. * And after his long work, and after meeting friends and sharing in the things of this world, how would the story end? He knows that he will be happy, whenever the story will have to end. To follow his path makes him happy. And the gods are pleased. And there is harmony in the world.

(Updated last on 23-09-2015. Look for the @ sign. Also modified keywords.) ~Foreword This post is about taking the EL gods into account when defining your character, from a role-playing point of view. Besides my own not-EL-related observations, I based my opinions on the information found in "The Great Almanac of the Gods" post; from "Official Histories & Reference Records". After skimming though the results of a search for "gods" in the Forum, I only managed to find one mentioning of a similar idea in the post titled "Curious about Roleplaying, but just asking...". According to my limited knowledge the subject has not been treated of on this Forum. I would have been just as happy to post in reply on a thread started by someone else. As this may not be the proper place for this post's contents, I thank in advance to the moderator that would correct the situation ~A character's personality and the gods. A classification of the gods from the perspective of a character's life on Draia. Indications for choosing among gods. While planning my first EL character, I wondered whether his personality could not be related to the personalities of the gods. To find the answer I needed to properly differentiate between them. As the personality cannot be disconnected from the actions, I chose as the criteria of differentiation the way in which the personalities of the gods may be reflected in the choices of action of my character. And so it appeared to me that some of the gods may be considered to rule primarily over one's relationship with the world and the other people, while other gods seem to rule over one's own interest. There are also those that don't seem to have anything to do with one's life interests, but rule over forces that one cannot do much about or make much of. ~ The first category of gods is formed of Aluwen, Elandria, Mortos, Selain and Xiao. These deities are inclined primarily towards good or evil. I share in the opinion that to be good is, fundamentally, to respect the freedom of others; evil - the opposite. It follows from this principle that, in order to secure the good, freedom has to be restricted as much as to not interfere with the freedom of others. Also in my opinion, to be good implies to take position against evil, which is to restrict the freedom of evil doers; by reducing it to freedom corresponding to good. (Returning to the first group of deities: ) Elandria seems to be less representative for pure good than Aluwen, as she replaces a sense of global justice with the inclination towards the internal harmony of communities. Selain and Xiao seem to be less representative for pure evil than Mortos, as they are described as not only enjoying evil, but mainly employing evil means to achieve power. I have considered these gods first, because all actions of a character have a good or evil effect on others, direct or indirect (also through what the character becomes inclined to). I share in the belief that good and evil are not borned only after the action was performed, as any being capable of reasoning can anticipate the good or evil effects of the action. Instead, they preceed the action as the root of any inclination towards interaction with the surrounding world. And so, it is also my opinion that the preference for good or evil must be constituting the central aspect of one's personality - the spiritual aspect of the relationship with the whole. ~ The second category of gods is formed of LaForge, Unolas, Jayden, Glilin and Galienne; and Iringold may be added to the list. While not caring about the good or evil results of actions (neutral/indifferent) or believing that both have the right to be equally represented in the world (balanced) may be morally questionable*, these gods are said to be primarily concerned with the excellence of material results, in different lines of professional occupations. (*from the point of view of good; from evil's standpoint, indifference and balance may only equal indecision, a lack of determination) The second category of gods is related to the worldly, practical aspect of life and thus, of personality. Their focus is on efficiency and those traits of personality which are developed while working towards any long term, yet finite, material goal may be seen as related to them. It should be noted that Elandria, Selain and Xiao are also concerned with achievments, yet the good or evil form of the means employed and/or their results takes precedence in their characterization. Also, they tend to make use of the work of others (including the works of nature, in the case of Elandria) instead of producing themselves out of their own efforts; which would accord more to a spirit of equal responsibilities (less so for Elandria, of course). ~ The third category of gods is formed of Zarin, Lucaa, Glydoc, Varyssa and Vias; and Dvar may be added to the list.@ @ Update: Centau, the god of change, in particular of the rains at the beginning of the year, may be added to the list; he shares in the traits of Lucaa (the force of nature) and Varyssa (the herald of change). These gods could only be related to the personality in that aspect of how one deals with forces over which there is no control, here: the esthetic sense, the forces of nature @, the thrill of battle, the dreams and the journey after death. @ Update: Lucaa seems to be more about the apparently chaotic/unpredictable and even vengeful forces of nature than the forces of nature in general, to which also Aluwen, Elandria and Centau are related. About the esthetic sense and the thrill of battle it must be added that most people feel them in different degrees; and forms, in the second case (panic or bravery). I share in the opinion that these qualities are a part of one's inborn nature. From my personal experience and observations, I may add that changes of inborn qualities may only take place after having been predominant a long period of time; usually from the beginning of life, until some people evolve beyond their limitations. And so, it was justified to say that there is no control over them. Sure you can fight to repress them - thus merely dealing with them, but you cannot invoke or generate them - beyond what is available to you naturally; and immitating their appearance, obviously, doesn't count. In opposition to this situation, a sense for good and evil is available in all reasoning beings and also, the capacity to work and increase in efficiency belongs to all; although, of course, the results vary according to particular circumstances. ~ I chose for my character one god from the first category and one from the second category. In my opinion one has to choose from both these categories and should choose no more than one god from each of them. The (first) condition is justified by the fact that good and evil, of the first category, only take on a realistic form when judged in relation to practical means of surviving and achieving material goals; of the second category. To adopt the (second) proposition, one would need to clearly differentiate among the gods of the second category and The Almanac offers little information to start with. I tried to make use of my own observations on the relation between real-life equivalents of the in-game professions and the general intellectual inclinations of people. In general, you may want to decide on one god of each of the first two categories from the start in order to avoid the possibility of discovering a personality conflict* later on; when you would have become more intimate with your choices. (*the war of the gods that you don't want to be caught in) ~ This is all I had to say. I hope these thoughts will help you get more involved with the game and bring your own special world within Draia. Thank you!