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  1. On gods and role-playing

    (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!
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