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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9322648" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>If you strictly accept only proper, formal deities, thus far the campaign has only featured one (<em>the</em> One, to be precise), and only under extremely limited circumstances.</p><p></p><p>In all other interactions with "the divine," it's been through representatives (read: priests, powerful semi-mortal proxies) or servants (read: powerful supernatural beings who act as agents for another), second-hand. This is very intentional. I wanted a setting where characters were <em>genuinely</em> free to believe what they wish, including to believe in nothing at all. The servants of the One (specifically, a couatl named Tlacalicue) have made clear that the One knows, <em>and is perfectly fine with</em>, the fact that They cannot prove Their divinity beyond any doubt. There is no magic, no science, no tool, no reasoning, genuinely nothing that can conclusively prove nor disprove Their claim. They simply say it is true, and They very intentionally leave it up to mortals to decide what they believe or don't.</p><p></p><p>There is sacred power in the freedom to choose. This is, according to the servants of the One, precisely by design. The One does not desire herds of passive, unthinking devotees. The One desires a universe <em>filled with new perspectives and thoughts</em>. To impinge in any way on a sapient mind's freedom to choose for itself would thus be fundamentally contrary to the goal of Their (claimed) creation in the first place. It would be <em>irrational</em> for Them to desire the tapestry of existence to be woven with the unique colors and thoughts of each mortal mind, only to then bleach and reweave each thread--the whole point is to get a tapestry of <em>new</em> thoughts, not just endlessly recycle the same old ones.</p><p></p><p>If, however, you allow a broader range of what counts as "gods," as in beings of great power that receive reverence but aren't strictly <em>divine</em> in context, then there have been several, they just don't tend to be directly involved in the lives of mortals very much. They're rather busy being the sapient (or sometimes only partly-sapient) essence of all the <em>stuff</em> that makes up the world. The World-Serpent, who both guards and shakes the earth and fulfills the cycle of the seasons; the First Oak, from which all forests draw some measure of strength; the Elder Flame, ditto but for fires; etc. Of these, the only two the party has personally interacted with are the World-Serpent and the Spirit of All Winds. The former was a direct conversation. The latter was an indirect calling on the part of our (now-retired) party Druid.</p><p></p><p>Are there other gods? Not known. No other religions that actually posit distinct gods have been encountered thus far. Most religious traditions other than the Safiqi (who revere the One) are either animist in nature or hierarchical (e.g. the "Celestial Bureaucracy" of Yuxia, the Jade Home, with the "August Jade Emperor" at its apex, whom the Safiqi Priesthood recognizes as a different name for the One.) At least one now-lost culture seems to have used a lot of triune/trefoil/trinity symbolism, but exactly what this means is no longer known.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9322648, member: 6790260"] If you strictly accept only proper, formal deities, thus far the campaign has only featured one ([I]the[/I] One, to be precise), and only under extremely limited circumstances. In all other interactions with "the divine," it's been through representatives (read: priests, powerful semi-mortal proxies) or servants (read: powerful supernatural beings who act as agents for another), second-hand. This is very intentional. I wanted a setting where characters were [I]genuinely[/I] free to believe what they wish, including to believe in nothing at all. The servants of the One (specifically, a couatl named Tlacalicue) have made clear that the One knows, [I]and is perfectly fine with[/I], the fact that They cannot prove Their divinity beyond any doubt. There is no magic, no science, no tool, no reasoning, genuinely nothing that can conclusively prove nor disprove Their claim. They simply say it is true, and They very intentionally leave it up to mortals to decide what they believe or don't. There is sacred power in the freedom to choose. This is, according to the servants of the One, precisely by design. The One does not desire herds of passive, unthinking devotees. The One desires a universe [I]filled with new perspectives and thoughts[/I]. To impinge in any way on a sapient mind's freedom to choose for itself would thus be fundamentally contrary to the goal of Their (claimed) creation in the first place. It would be [I]irrational[/I] for Them to desire the tapestry of existence to be woven with the unique colors and thoughts of each mortal mind, only to then bleach and reweave each thread--the whole point is to get a tapestry of [I]new[/I] thoughts, not just endlessly recycle the same old ones. If, however, you allow a broader range of what counts as "gods," as in beings of great power that receive reverence but aren't strictly [I]divine[/I] in context, then there have been several, they just don't tend to be directly involved in the lives of mortals very much. They're rather busy being the sapient (or sometimes only partly-sapient) essence of all the [I]stuff[/I] that makes up the world. The World-Serpent, who both guards and shakes the earth and fulfills the cycle of the seasons; the First Oak, from which all forests draw some measure of strength; the Elder Flame, ditto but for fires; etc. Of these, the only two the party has personally interacted with are the World-Serpent and the Spirit of All Winds. The former was a direct conversation. The latter was an indirect calling on the part of our (now-retired) party Druid. Are there other gods? Not known. No other religions that actually posit distinct gods have been encountered thus far. Most religious traditions other than the Safiqi (who revere the One) are either animist in nature or hierarchical (e.g. the "Celestial Bureaucracy" of Yuxia, the Jade Home, with the "August Jade Emperor" at its apex, whom the Safiqi Priesthood recognizes as a different name for the One.) At least one now-lost culture seems to have used a lot of triune/trefoil/trinity symbolism, but exactly what this means is no longer known. [/QUOTE]
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