Sacred Places (help)

[Mr. R]

As others have commented, having the Gods (Goddesses) demonstrate their power from time to time helps in breathing life into the world.  To that end I wish to give each deity at least one sacred location, a place where their power is seen!

 

So here is a list of Deities, please help me get a sacred spot for each.  Note: none should be in a city location.  This is an out of the way location, that the god/dess has chosen for what ever reason!

 

Note I have done two-

 

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Gods of Order

God of Commerce: Also the traveler, the explorer, of keeping your word, oaths (for good or ill). The god of the legal cheat. The collector, the god of wonder and exuberance! Master of language. (any other ideas?)

 

Goddess of Justice: The balancer, the god of just endings. Goddess of vengeance. the goddess of honor, (any other ideas?) Feuds? Perseverance? Retribution

 

Goddess of Earth: Mistress of Agriculture. Lady of Seasons. Birth, death and milestones. Queen of the Forest/Jungle. The herbalist / poisoner. (any other ideas?)

The Goddess Wood is found in Northern Kerq near the Wyrm Pass that leads to the Bola Desert.  It is fairly large and at the center is found the Stone Tree.  This is a large oak made of stone, but is still a living tree.  The leaves wave in the wind and occasionally drop to the ground, as do branches.  These are in great demand by runecrafters as components in magic items they make.

 

God of Knowledge: learning, tactics, logistics, Healers, cooking

 

 

 

 

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Gods of Neutrality

God of the Sky: Lord of the sun. The one who gives warmth. The drought lord. Mountains (any other ideas?), 

 

Goddess of the Night Sky: Lady of the Stars, the navigator, Patroness of sailors, desert travellers. The night predator. romance. (any other ideas?) Poetry, beauty

 

Lord of Storms: the rain bringer, Thunderer, Destroyer, Renewer, 

On the southern edge of the Continent, just before the ever ice, is the mountain chain called Moreg’s Brow.  At the eastern end, Moreg’s Brow becomes the peninsula Spine of Rhorzan and the Rhorzan River runs through the middle, sort of like this:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

—--------------------------------

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

                     X

At the spot marked “X” are Tolar’s Falls, a one mile high drop of water.  Tolar supposedly likes the location as the sound of the falls reminds him of thunder and the falling water of rain.  Occasionally a green gemstone called Tolar’s Tears can be found at the base of the falls.  All are magical and are desired in making items of magic.  

 

 

God of Disease: Pestilence, Purges, sickness, 

 

 

 

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Gods of Chaos

The Lady of Luck/Trickery: the queen of chance, the thrill seeker, the one who brings down the mighty, fortune favors the bold 

 

Wrath God: Blood: suffering, anger, suffering cruelty, war

 

Fire Lord: Heat, chaos, Uncontrolled fire, 

 

Goddess Of Revelry: thieves, generosity, the potlatch, Alcohol, Celebrations

 

 

[Duke Bushido]

Nice list!

 

For what it is worth, I would think that the god of just endings and the god of feuds would be one and the same, what with each side praying and fighting for their "just ending."

 

In fact, you can consider that idea stolen,,,,   

 

 

[Lord Liaden]

When it comes to a god of justice, I was thinking of a "place of testing," where a person accused of a serious crime could petition to undergo an ordeal to prove their guilt or innocence. For example, an eternal bonfire they walk into, which doesn't burn the innocent; or a pool into which a weighted-down person would be thrown, but who floats to the surface if free of guilt. There are historical parallels to such tests, but in your world the test actually works as advertised.

 

Clearly, someone would need strong faith in both the god and their own innocence to request such an ordeal. It's also unlikely just anyone could ask for it. Like other extraordinary measures, it's usually the prominent people who are considered.

[Lord Liaden]

For the sun god, how about an underground chamber with an opening to the surface, through which the light of the sun pours; but the light is continuous, whether clear or cloudy, day or night. Something like a permanent version of the lava tube at Mojave National Preserve:

 

[mallet]

You've got to have a special Crossroads somewhere out there. Maybe one where there was an already natural "crossroads" based on the geography, then over time it became first made by animal trails, then human trails and pathways, and now dirt roads. 

 

This Crossroads is the special place of Lady Luck/Trickery. It symbolizes: the unknown future/destiny and paradoxally also choosing your own fate/direction in life, chance encounters, the road less traveled, adventure, the unknown, and so on. 

[Duke Bushido]

17 hours ago, mallet said:

. 

 

This Crossroads is the special place of Lady Luck/Trickery. It symbolizes: the unknown future/destiny and paradoxally also choosing your own fate/direction in life, 

 

 

Actually, I have a floating location like that on a lot of my campaigns (inspired by a line or two in one of May favorite guilty pleasure movies).

 

"Between the Joshua trees." 

 

Moon's up, so you'd best mind the path.  After about thirty minutes, you'll round a bend that carries you near a lone Joshua tree.  Whatever you do, don't stop, and don't leave the path until either you're standing in sunlight or you pass the second Joshua tree a short piece later.  Just don't do it, Son.  Stay on the path, and keep moving.

 

And of course, things conspire to make the Players seriously consider doing both. 

 

 

[DShomshak]

For the God of Commerce, folklore and literature already provide the Goblin Market: the place where you can buy and sell anything. It is always dangerous. For the foolish or greedy, the price that seems right always turns out to be very, very wrong. But sometimes the pure of heart or quick of wit can buy miracles.

 

(You probably don't want to call it the Goblin Market unless your goblyns, for all they seem to be a significant threat to several societies, bear a special connection to the God of Commerce.)

 

Tales differ about the location of the Market. Some say it's an oasis in a desert beyond five mountain ranges. Others say an island surrounded by five whirlpools, and only a blind steersman can find the way. Some say if you toss a coin into a certain well at the dark of the moon, the path to the Market opens before you. And there are many other tales. Are you clever enough to unriddle the clues, or savvy enough to buy the secret from one who truly knows and not be cheated?

 

Dean Shomshak

[DShomshak]

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Goddess of the Night Sky: Lady of the Stars, the navigator, Patroness of sailors, desert travellers. The night predator. romance. (any other ideas?) Poetry, beauty

Terror. The unseen and unknown. Revelation, whether read in the stars or from confronting your greatest fears. What came before the beginning of things, and shall remain after all has ended.

 

The Undermere is a great sinkhole -- a cave whose roof fell in. The bottom holds a pond. Smaller cave-tunnels lead off into darkness. On a moonless night, with no wind to reach the depths of the sinkhole, the Undermere shows a perfect mirror of the night sky. Stars above you and stars below. Look in the Undermere and you shall see the truth you seek. Or maybe the truth you need. Or the truth you fear above all, though the latter two are often the same. The legend that whoever strips and bathes in the Undermere becomes immortal is a metaphor. The Wise would be wary to try the experiment.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Mr. R]

21 hours ago, Mr. R said:

God of Knowledge: learning, tactics, logistics, Healers, cooking

 

In the center of the Bola Desert is the City that Storms, called that because of the over present storm that surrounds the city.  Adventurers still try to get into the city for the riches that it contains, but also for the Great Library.  Supposedly there is located in the city a library with every book/treaties/manuscript ever written.  All magically protected.  If you can get into the city, you can get into the Great Library to research/find the answer to almost any question.  Many consider the trouble and risk to get into the Great Library worth it!

[Mr. R]

So I found a few ideas:

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God of Knowledge: learning, tactics, logistics, Healers, cooking

In the center of the Bola Desert is the City that Storms, called that because of the over present storm that surrounds the city.  Adventurers still try to get into the city for the riches that it contains, but also for the Great Library.  Supposedly there is located in the city a library with every book/treaties/manuscript ever written.  All magically protected.  If you can get into the city, you can get into the Great Library to research/find the answer to almost any question.  Many consider the trouble and risk to get into the Great Library worth it!

 

 

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God of Disease: Pestilence, Purges, sickness, 

so a god of disease might just as easily be invoked to cure disease - maybe there's a hard to reach location where a disease can be commanded to leave you.

 

 

 

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Goddess Of Revelry: thieves, generosity, the potlatch, Alcohol, Celebrations

Perhaps there's a plaza where a party will never run out of supplies and no one will suffer ill effects (in the case of alcohol, it will get you drunk, because that's what people want from it in the context of revelry, but there will be no hangover).

 

[DShomshak]

13 hours ago, Mr. R said:

So I found a few ideas:

The place where the party never has to end reminds me of the Venusberg from Wagner's Tannhauser. The place of ultimate pleasure... but for Tannhauser even the embrace of the goddess herself palls and he abandons her to seek a higher meaning. Spiffy melodrama, if you've a taste for Wagnerian music and singing.

 

Whereas Hieronymus Bosch supplies a classic name for such a locale: the Garden of Earthy Delights.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Scott Ruggels]

 Walking down a country road, and spotting these plinths at the corners of the fields. On top of the plinths are holy symbols.  As you approach the town, all the fields have these at the corners. They are subtly magical, but don't call attention to themselves. the symbols are from the fertility deity, and have been blessed within the town temple. The  town is very prosperous, and there is a lot of commerce in crops and produce going on there.

[theinfn8]

Wrath and Nature

 

The Story

 

Centuries ago, a leader was wronged greatly by the deeds of his neighbor. In his wrath he mobilized his army and attacked. He promised sacrifices, glory, and a place of honor for the God of Wrath when he eliminated the enemy. In return, the leader was granted a powerful artifact to accomplish his goal. At first, he laid waste to not just the kingdom but also squandered the power of the artifact destroying the land as well. To the point that when it came time to make the final push to destroy his enemy, he had nothing left.

 

The leader was forced to flee with the remnants of his army, back across the blasted landscape. But his actions and failure had drawn the ire of two gods, Nature and Wrath both cursed him and the entire army. Nature turned the scattered force into stone, creating a massive field of standing stones, but Wrath wasn't happy with that alone and cursed the spirits of the soldiers and their leader to be forever constrained by those stones, never allowed to pass on, always suffering.

 

The Location

 

During the day, walking among the stones, reddish sand and mud one is filled with the majesty of the site, but is constantly filled with a sad sense of loss. In small pockets inside the valley and up to it's edges, nature is slowly turning back the devastation. It may take centuries more, but Nature is nothing but patient.

 

At night the eerie wailing of the soldiers can still be heard echoing through the air. It is whispered that spending the night within is to invite Spirits of Wrath to attack, or worse to possess those who hold anger in their hearts and incite them to great acts of evil. Either way, those who survive a night in the valley are forever changed by the experience.

 

Two towns have taken root on opposite edges of the valley, surviving in the restored areas. One venerates Nature and the other has those who venerate Wrath. The towns function as waypoints for travelers who want to traverse the valley. Since it is unsafe at night, a group can cross the entire valley in one day if they are capable of maintaining a nice steady pace and they have a navigator skilled enough to not get lost in the maze of ravines and standing stones.

 

Several sealed burial sites, convenient caves really, have been found for the countless dead, those wounded in battle with no medical help or starved during the march back. Somewhere in the blasted ravines and crags of the valley it is said that the artifact still sleeps, hidden before the destruction wrought upon the army. Adventurers use the towns as jumping off points as well, making forays into the valley. But even during the day it is unwise to disturb the souls trapped and tortured within.