Why does your Character revere a certain Deity? (Or Not)

[Tara]

(I'm always nervous when posting because I'm never certain I've gotten my post in the right area.)

 

I'm curious to know why your character reveres a certain Deity? Is it because they were born under that Deity's month? Because of their upbringing? OOCly for me, I normally go for a deity that matches my characters as well! For me:

 

Nevahe reveres Thaliak, not only because of her upbringing, but because she truly loves knowledge and believes it to be a very powerful thing, and not just mental knowledge, knowledge of the martial ways is just as powerful.

 

Mikiri follows Azeyma, because when you travel for a living, sometimes the passing of Day into Night is the only constant in your life. Miki's also always had an affinity for fire spells.

 

Natsumi venerates the Dawn father, as does most, if not all, Raen, but on the ship to Eorzea, she heard tales of Llymlaen and grew to respect the Lady of Navigation above the other Eorzean Twelve. She hopes the Navigator will guide her to a place she can come to call 'home' again.

 

Kamazryn is a farm boy at heart but a warrior by trade, therefore it might come as a surprise to those who take the time to get to know this stoic Lalafell that he venerates Nophica, Lady of the Harvest. 

 

That's my small posse done...why did your character/s choose to worship their deity?

[GhostlyMaiden]

Nanagi revere's Nald'thal, but not as strongly as other people.Her parents were merchants, plain and simple. They believed that Nald'thal who is the god of traders, would eventually bless them with the fortune they desired. Her parents knew it would never just be given to them, they had to work for it and they did; they worked but never saw the fortune due to the caravan attack.

 

If it wasn't for her parents, she would most likely live her life without looking up to any deity. However, she doesn't see him or any of the other gods as the all mighty beings. The Calamity proved this, and because of this and her way of thinking, she doesn't strongly follow Nald'thal.

 

In fact, whenever someone says "I will follow the path X deity has set for me." she will begin to question why they rely on X deity so much. Nanagi has faced the reality of things and know that the deities aren't there to hold everyone's hand, and therefore she isn't dependent on Nald'thal.

[Aaron]

Aaron's pretty much non religious. He only says by the twelve or by Halone for those dramatic situations, but he never actually worships them.

[Shoshopu]

Shoshopu's entire family worships Oschon (although since the patron diety thing seems to be based on birthdays??? Shoshopu and her father are the only ones actually born under Oschon, which is a point of pride if you ask them) because, well, they're wanderers too. They're nomads that ride around on giant adamantoises and live off the land. Although most of them (except for the oldest brother and the parents) have moved on to other things in life, they still revere him. Shoshopu just sees it as wandering beyond Thanalan.

 

Awyrbyrt was born under Menphina but he's not really religious. I mean, he kind of is? But not for the Twelve. He reveres the Twelveswood and the Elementals more than anything.

 

Dyrstswys was also born under Menphina, and although I don't imagine her as being a particularly devout person myself, it definitely reflects on her relationships and how she treats others.

 

My other alts are so rarely played (Dyrst included, to be real) as to not be of interest...

[Erik Mynhier]

He follows the Halone cult, because:

 

OOC: In beta she seemed best suited for a knight and I like my characters to be religious.

 

IC: Because his mom was devout and raised him to be so. She even wanted him to become a priest instead of a soldier, classic mom.

[Tara]

Shoshopu's entire family worships Oschon (although since the patron diety thing seems to be based on birthdays??? 

I think that was what they were going for, like Zodiac signs type deal, I've just chosen to throw that out the window and choose the one that best fits my character 

[Warren Castille]

As an aimless, homeless nobody Warren admired Oschon's ability to, you know, go wherever and not die of exposure or starvation. He's not really devout or anything, but he acknowledges that in times of need or worry he found some solace in the myths and legends about the Wanderer.

[111]

Evangeline thinks that the twelve are basically just the Primals of Eorzean society. She thinks they exist, but they're no more holy than Ifrit or Titan. 

 

She says this view often, and loudly, which makes people mad.

[Aya]

And Ser Natalie was more of the Eris sort....

 

Aya has a special place in her heart for both the Fury and Destroyer, but despite a general respect and reverence for the Twelve she is not particularly dedicated to any.

[Leanne]

Leanne is not only quite pious, she also has a profound reverence for her patron deity, the Wanderer. Always craving for freedom, she sates such thirst through her travels and adventures. Her dream was shaped by the way she envisioned her own life to be, which is, to travel through all, every single nook and cranny of Hydaelyn, enjoying vistas, meeting people, learning things...

 

When one of her friends told Leanne that she was practically an avatar of Oschon himself, Leanne played it down with humility, despite the fact that she was fully taken with joy by the sound of such prospect, for being able to emanate the ideals of her deity's teachings and ways to the point of being compared to him.

 

The Wanderer is the primary deity of her life, but there are others that Leanne has a particular fondness for: Llymlaen, for being the goddess of navigation; Nophica, goddess of fertility, patron deity of Gridania, her home; and Azeyma, goddess of the sun, patron deity of the seekers and also her parents.

[Nebbs]

Well Nebula got to the point of suicide and she was caught by Nymeia, now she is her servant, agent of fate and all that.

[Edda]

Edda holds close to Nymeia because her FAMILY says so (she can thank her great-grandmom for that, the family used to be balls-to-the-walls Nald'thal aficionados (gotta make dem coins)).

 

Aside from that, she unwittingly uses Nymeia as an escape. Doing her 'duty' isn't a choice - it's her fate. Even if it makes her unhappy - it was meant to be. If she remains good and pious, then perhaps it will all work itself out in the end.

[cuideag]

Delial was born under Byregot but she reveres Rhalgr first and foremost as any good Ala Mhigan should. At first it was mostly a matter of tradition: both her father and elder brother were devout as well, and were involved with the Fists up until their deaths. Somewhere along the line she became enamored with the notion of strength (and by extension one's capacity for destruction) being a measure of worth, and that coupled with Rhalgr's place as father to the Fury and the Builder probably sealed the deal.

 

Seeing the moon fall didn't hurt, either. Nothing like a big angry red ball of death and destruction to put the fear of Rhalgr into you.

[Riven]

Riven will make offerings and pray to all Twelve, but she primarily follows the Scholar because her intellect was all she had going for her at some points as she was growing up.

[13uddy]

Although my character does pay respects to most deities (he's not a practicing anything really, but he wants to cover his bases and all that as well as genuinely wanting to learn about various beliefs and practices), the one deity he actually really worships to any degree (though not in public) DOES NOT EXIST.

 

 

When they were young, his adoptive older sister told him there was a Goddess of Sweets, and she simply never told him that she was joking.  So his whole life, he has given the most thanks to this Goddess of Sweets every time he gets the luxury of indulging in them because he has an enormous weakness for any sweets, and although he isn't particularly naive or simple-minded, he still hasn't figured out that his sister was teasing him.  He assumes her followers are secret, so he rarely speaks of "her divine sweetness" with others for fear he might be breaking a taboo and fall out of her favor.

 

However, of the actual Twelve, he is most drawn to Menphina.  He believes love, and not just romantic love, is the most powerful emotion there is, for good or for ill.  He knows it can make you feel powerful, like when he is with or thinking of those he cares for the most, and that it can completely devastate you, like when his sister went missing or when his adoptive parents passed away.

[Nodem]

OOC: I picked Oschon since it's the same month as Aoi's namesday. I generally do this with all characters I make, as it just seemed the way to go. I'll pick a diety before the month as well to make sure they match up.

 

IC: While a Raen, Aoi follows Oschon because she wanders a lot and through divine interventions he seems to always set her on a certain path. It just happens in RP without me going >INSERT OSCHON MIGHTY BECKON HERE< and she goes with it...

 

However she'll be speaking a bit more about the Dawn Father now. Though Oschon will always be her patron.

[Lamia]

OOC: When picking 'guardians' I always try and select one that would have meaning to my character, or their interests icly.

 

IC: Lamia, despite his ishgardian upbringing is a full blown athiest. He does not, in any way shape or form, think the twelve are actually real. But instead thinks halone is nothing more then an deity the founders of ishgard, and their church, made up in order to justify themselves and their actions against their own people. He refuses to follow this 'cult of halone' and when that earned him being branded as a heretic. He fled the city, and found a new life within the rest of eorzea. If anyone asks who he worships, he'll proudly say Jandelaine, because he's an asthetician.

 

 

Religion is a fun topic with him.

[Martiallais]

Martiallais is a fairly devout, if unorthodox, worshiper of Halone which is largely due in part to his being Ishgardian. It's who his father and family largely worshiped, of course, but he also has a special place in his heart (ha ha) for Menphina as both his sister and mother revered The Lover alongside The Fury. It makes for, IMO, a character with some interesting views. Ask him about it sometime!

 

Aedan is a bit less openly religious but gives honor to Rhalgr before and after his hunts and battles as his parents were from good ole Mhigo. Growing up in Limsa Lominsa and spending time at sea as (gasp) a pirate means that he also revers Llymlaen.

 

I haven't delved into this (yet!) on my new Hellsguard, Iron Storm, but I think I can narrow his 'patron' down to Nymeia the Spinner, Nald'Thal the Traders, or Althyk the Keeper.

[As'elena]

Maariya doesn't worship just one specific deity, but instead quite openly boasts that she pays her respect to all Twelve and is haughty enough to dub herself a servant to them.

 

She prays to different gods depending on the situation and what it is she wants. She actually believes to have been blessed by them and shouts quite some pious nonsense in battles as well.

[Silinat]

The Inquisition.

 

Praise, Halone!

[Njira]

U'nijira Odh reveered the diety Azeyma for the majority of her life.  The radiant warden who always weighed the scales of the traders, Nald and Thal, in her tribe's favor.  Balance between prosperity and scarcity, of life and death. 

 

A year or so leading up to the Calamity, the tribe was visited by a member of an ancient occult healer's circle.  This wandering ascetic gives Njira (And tribe) a plethora of wisdom, mostly in the from of riddles but he very carefully instructs her  (specifically) to worship the deity Menphina.  Njira, reluctant at first to follow the Keeper of the Moon's Deity, soon comes to embrace Menphina like the lost lover she represents.

 

  

To the current date, Njira still worships Menphina. She's been sent to study Conjury in the Still Glade Fane but has supposedly been denied accesss by the elementals. She looks to the goddess of love to calm her mind's fury when dealing with such rigid minds.   

 

This unexpected exclusion has pushed her to research the other deities and Eorzean history. She still identifies Menphina as her Deity of worship, though wants to learn the roles of the other deities and their stories.  Perhaps a pilgrimage in her near future is due.

[C'kayah Polaali]

Why, so he can blaspheme more effectively, of course!

[TK Hikaru]

Chou grew up in a house steeped in Ala Mhigan culture, worship of Rhalgr is par the course. 

 

 

Oschon is her patron however as I felt a god referred to as the Wanderer and stated to be a guardian of vagrants seemed an apt choice for a gangster at the time. While I feel he fits wandering bards and the such more, I get the feeling thieves would invoke him all the same.

 

 

Ironically, she invokes Rhalgr far more often than Oschon.

 

mostlybecauseIforgothowtospellOschonsname

[Heidrek]

Heidrek grew up instilled with a reverence of Rhalgar that all good little Ala Mhigan's should have. A good portion of his life has been spent trying to discern the truth of the Destroyer that isn't filtered the mouths of angry refugees.

[Branson Thorne]

I was always disappointed there wasn't a "None" option in the character creator. I know very little about the Deities in-game, so the best way around that is playing a character who doesn't really give a crap, and T'khoa doesn't.

 

However, being a sailor lends to superstitions and the like, so he would believe in them, but just not really care that much about it.