RPC Census, Part IV (Religion-CLOSED)

[Kylin]

NOTE: Please refrain from nitpicking about the wording of the poll and/or the choices presented. It's getting tiresome. These are meant to be fun activities to help reveal where the RP community as a whole lean in certain areas in order to facilitate possible future discussions and ideas. These polls are also a means for RPers to post little blurbs about their character they may not often get the chance to talk about if they so choose. The constant nitpicking over minor details is a major buzzkill for everyone and hardly necessary. It's why people can't have nice/fun things!

 

The fourth census poll focuses on a character's religious leaning. Religion plays a big role in Eorzea. Does it also play a role with your character? In general, which deity does your character favor and/or relate to the most?

 

Options include each of the Twelve, none, other, and multiple. Please feel free to specify with a post~

[Eva]

Nymeia, hands down.  No great surprise here as Eva has strong fatalist tendencies and firmly believes in destiny, "everything happens for a reason" and all that other good stuff.  I hemmed and hawed a bit about selecting the last option for "tied" as she has recently adopted a tremendous amount of respect for Nophica as well, firmly believing that her prayers to the Matron have been answered as she was not supposed to be able to bear children and now finds herself pregnant (though certainly not by any sort of divine intervention  )

 

This all being said she has a great deal of respect for the ten other deities as well and honors each depending on various situations (such as saying a quiet prayer to Llymlaen before taking a voyage by sea, for instance).

[Gospel Gestalt]

Hmm, where to begin? It's not everyday I get to talk about my characters religion. I marked him as "Other. (non-Twelve entity)" Biggest issue is because IC, Gospel over time had begun to learn about the Primals and how they drew Aether from the land to manifest into our world. Around the time of the end of Project Meteor, he began to research more and more about the Twelve and how word of mouth got out that some crazy old man had the power to call them into our world in a similar fashion to summoning the Primals.

 

Now this made something click inside Gospel's little philosophical noggin. "If the Twelve too require Aether for sustenance, does this make them no different than the Primals and even the very creatures of our own world?" After much thought he started to piece things together a bit. All creatures; the Gods and Primals included, rely on Aether to survive. Aether as far as Gospel was aware, is the manifestation of the worlds life energy and is also what all creatures are developed of in some form, but only the highest concentrations of it form Aetheryte or Crystals. So in his mind, he feels that there has to be a source as to where all this Aether is coming from, a mother lode of sorts.

 

So as of right now, he believes there is a giant crystal or core somewhere buried under the ground that's pumping out Aether and giving life to all the creatures in the world; Gods and Primals included. Now if he tried mentioning these thoughts to anyone, he'd be viewed as a heretic and also labeled a lunatic. So he keeps these thoughts very close to heart, and if someone were to ask which one of The Twelve that he would worship? Gospel would merely say that he would follow Thaliak because his knowledge is something he could only attempt to strive for.

[Rhashi Nefhys]

Rhashi strongly believes in Oschon. He follows the path of the wanderer for many years now and that believe got even stronger and more important in his life with the threat of Dalamuds fall.

[Manari]

Manari was raised in a tribe deep in the eastern Shroud, who all worshiped Menphina the Lover. As a tribe of entirely nocturnal Miqo'te, the moons of Menphina were very important to them. That said, if Manari's tribe were still around, and she were still with them during the events of Dalamud, her views on the whole situation would have been quite different. They likely would have believed Menphina was using her red moon to punish or destroy them. Most of the older, more devout of her tribe would have accepted this supposed fate and urged everyone in the tribe to spend their remaining days in prayer, meditation, and ceremony for Menphina.

 

But due to the events that happened to Manari and her tribe, she has been turning her back on her old beliefs, at times close to forsaking Menphina, but never actually able to do it. She's been spending years trying to forget her past and her tribe while trying to find her own happiness without them, but events since this have continuously caused her to believe that Menphina is still with her, and helping her find what she is looking for, even if she has been taking Manari along the scenic route for it.

[Aysun]

Born under Oschon and has that nature, but pays tribute to Llymlaen due to her upbringing. Though she didn't really do very much of that until confronted with 'the end of things'.. so she's a crappy follower. x3

[miyasha]

Miya was originally born under the the sign for Byregot, but with her affinity for the sea and her years of sailing she follows/relates to Llymlaen, the Navigator.  By nature though, and like many sailors, she is more superstitious than religious and has her own private ways to revere her patron (like giving small gifts/etc to the sea for a safe voyage).

[Valan]

Sarah believe only in things that she can touch (or smash) with her hands.  Gods are too far to be reached, for her the twelve are only void names, statues or simbols on some odd spell.

 

furthermore her family wasn't Eorzean, she couldn't believe in twelve in any case.

[TheLastCandle]

Eorzean religion being polytheistic, Tev tends to honor each of the Twelve when appropriate. However, he is closest to scholarly Thaliak for obvious reasons and, as a child of Gridania, Nophica the Matron.

[Rhio]

Rhio goes under "other" (this is becoming repetitive), mostly because she's in the midst of undergoing a massive crisis of faith.

 

When the game launched, Rhio followed Thaliak without the slightest iota of commitment. She liked the idea behind the Scholar, but she was generally not terribly concerned with deities. Still, she had no real need or desire to be an iconoclast and paid her dues appropriately. As far as she was concerned, the gods were simply entertaining stories.

 

A series of losses in her life saw her slipping gradually into a resigned acceptance of Nymeia, helped along by some of her discussions with Eva on the subject. It wasn't so much that she switched over to being a full believer that she started to believe that fate was clearly present in her life, which made the hop to believing in a deity less onerous. It also made her misery at least a touch more explainable. So she marked off fully intending to die in the last battle, that fate had a purpose for her that involved her death.

 

Needless to say, that didn't happen. So come ARR, she's going to be knee-deep in wondering what she's supposed to do or feel. Neither fate nor the absence of fate have worked out well for her, and so she's left adrift and confused. What happens after that is... well, I really don't know. But it does mean she's not quite agnostic, nor a devoted follower.

[Moltove]

Hmm...

 

I think most Eorzeans don't just believe in one or a few of the twelve; I think if you believe that at least one exists, you automatically believe that all of the twelve (or rather, 13) and you follow all or but a few. Ishguard and a few others excluded, this seems to be the mentality I've seen most NPC's exhibit.

 

So, Molt was weary of the Twelve at all. His family/lineage guardian deity is Menphina, the Lover, though Molt did not grow up following to closely as Love was not one of those things that he was granted past age 10+. Especially after his Ex-Wife left.

 

blah blah blah, then Dalamud came ever closer, and Molt had a few philosophical moments with a friend. Nymeia and Thal became two focus points of these debates and Molt was left pondering the meaning of life, only a few months before the fall. "Everything happens for a reason" and "Death is inevitable, and not to be feared" were a few of Molt's new mantras before Dalamud hit.

 

After the tragedy, and Molt made it through the perilous night, Molt realized that he would easily fall under as a follower of Oschon, as many would be that day after realizing their home would be destroyed and there would be very few places to go-- all would be left but to wander. He meditated on this fact for only a little bit before realizing that over time it became more and more true for him.

 

So I guess Molt has adopted a sort of bleak, "It is what it is" outlook through Nymeia and Thal, and is closer to being an actual follower to Oschon. That and his nameday falls under Oschon, so go figure. So...I suppose Multiple will have to be my answer...I think.

 

Molt does not look at Nald and Thal as one being. They are their own separate entities, and therefore does not pray or follow them through his mercantile career. Simply enough, he believes that the skill of commerce relies solely on ones own skills.

 

[Aysun]

Of course you can believe in all of them and still focus on one. SE said it was quite normal, actually, for Eorzeans to follow one of the Twelve more exclusively than the rest based on their guardian or job (ie: Spinner for Weavers) or home (ie: Llymlaen for Limsa).

[Mtoto Wamoto]

Of course you can believe in all of them and still focus on one. SE said it was quite normal, actually, for Eorzeans to follow one of the Twelve more exclusively than the rest based on their guardian or job (ie: Spinner for Weavers) or home (ie: Llymlaen for Limsa).

 

It's much how the ancient Greeks and Romans viewed their pantheons. There were dozens of gods, but people typically worshiped those that pertained to their lives more than the others. The same can be said about Eorzeans and possibly the other civilizations within the world of Hydaelyn.

[Myllor]

Multiple really. He chose Nald'thal because it was from his birth month, and he wasn't a follower of the twelve, being an outsider.

 

However, events and things led him to discover the twelve, and he began to follow Nald'thal's teachings a little bit more, actively selling his wares, and accumulating wealth.

 

Nowadays It's tied with Nald'thal and Byregot, as he is known as a smith more so than anything else. Azeyma is maybe up there to, as a shield maiden, but he's not much for the shield anymore.

 

TLDR: Nald'thal/Byregot, and Azeyma less so.

[Blade]

Blade is privy to Althyk, having been born under him. Blade takes a few characteristics of Althyk as well, namely in the change and time aspect. As I've mentioned (OOCly only, so far), Blade isn't my character's real name, and the reason behind it has a lot to do with how my character views names and how they can change people. In changing his name, there's also a bit of him 'starting over new and fresh' so to speak, or in other words, turning the hourglass over.

 

Being brought up without much education though, and especially growing up poor on the streets, Blade hadn't really engaged much in the Twelve. Religion wasn't really something he focused on back when he was scrounging around for food. He had bigger issues to deal with. That being said, he was mostly ambivalent towards the Twelve. It was something he heard about but he lacked a real defining religious experience. Be believed they were there, though. But it was always something that he had difficulty connecting with.

 

However, in A Realm Reborn, what little faith Blade had is going to take a serious blow. The Battle of Carteneau saw Eorzea razed under Bahamut's assault, with the landscape burning. When they finally were summoned, they did not have the power that Eorzeans would've hoped for, and were unable to seal away Bahamut. So, Blade's gonna be shaken by that, quite a bit. He's not going to regard them as being any greater than Primals. If anything, weaker. After all, from all that we've seen, Primals have been able to cause havoc and attack the Eorzeans, and when the Twelve were finally moved to action, they collectively could not stop one (although, a pretty damn powerful one). Will depend on how the RP plays out, but Blade may even initially be hostile towards the Twelve. There are some people close to him who will have died in the carnage that Bahamut unleashed, and Blade will probably angrily argue that the Twelve either aren't as powerful as they would have us believe, or that they simply did not put forth the effort required to seal Bahamut and let Eorzea burn.

[Ryanti]

As far as relating concerns Ryanti, it's Nymeia. Fate is one of the strongest themes of Ryanti's character development. As regards to his actual faithful beliefs... I haven't figured that one out yet.

[ArmachiA]

Althyk, the Keeper

 

She's actually going to believe in him heavily after the 5 year skip, but I'm not 100% on her belief system yet. I just know this will be her guardian.

[Arlon]

Uruvion is agnostic, laughing at those who continually pray to the gods, considering them too weak to make their own decisions and relying on the gods for answers.

[Gideon Aryeh]

Reese worships his ancestors and the strength of his own willpower and fists. If this were a superhero game he would be a Green Lantern. Besides there are twelve gods and Bahamut destroyed the world regardless, so why follow weaklings (In his eyes)

[Myal]

Myal believes in the existence of the Twelves, but is too self-conscious to consider that they would actually bother with her. Thus, she refrains altogether from involving herself with any of them. This is actually a trait of her she dislike and the looks at those of great faith with envy.