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Post by DOT on Sept 27, 2020 14:03:22 GMT -5
How likely is a copper elf of aglarond to worship deep sashelas given the coastal nature of the land?
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Post by Warlord on Sept 27, 2020 14:05:54 GMT -5
Maybe the copper elf learned of deep sashelas while having a ocean side romance with a fellow aquatic elf!
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Post by DOT on Sept 27, 2020 14:10:49 GMT -5
Maybe the copper elf learned of deep sashelas while having a ocean side romance with a fellow aquatic elf! Muy risqu茅 馃槄 |
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Post by malclave on Sept 27, 2020 14:23:08 GMT -5
given the nature of pantheons, it might be very likely if the elf in question has a family or profession with ties to the sea... he'd likely worship the entire Seldarine, but pay special homage to Sashelas
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Post by DOT on Sept 27, 2020 16:09:18 GMT -5
given the nature of pantheons, it might be very likely if the elf in question has a family or profession with ties to the sea... he'd likely worship the entire Seldarine, but pay special homage to Sashelas Aglarond does have a fleet, my assumption then is a cleric is unlikely to be a land elf as opposed to a sea elf? |
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Post by malclave on Sept 27, 2020 16:29:06 GMT -5
given the nature of pantheons, it might be very likely if the elf in question has a family or profession with ties to the sea... he'd likely worship the entire Seldarine, but pay special homage to Sashelas Aglarond does have a fleet, my assumption then is a cleric is unlikely to be a land elf as opposed to a sea elf? From the entry on Deep Sashelas: Aquatic elves are more likely to have Sashelas as a patron deity, but other elves certainly can as well |
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Post by mandene on Sept 28, 2020 5:21:36 GMT -5
How likely is a copper elf of aglarond to worship deep sashelas given the coastal nature of the land?
Playing an elf from Aglarond and having read a lot on the history and background of Aglarond - not likely.
Firstly, although recently (starting with 3e) the books point to there being elves in Yuirwood, the older books only pointed out to there being half-elves living in the forest.
If you check out the map, Yuirwood is not coastal. Aglarond proper, Altumbel, and the Wizard's Reach surround the forest on all sides, so the forest doesn't even touch the water. There's no big lakes in Yuirwood whatsoever. There are some waterways - rivers, and the Foresters (an officially recognized "military" organization under Simbul, and mostly made up of Half-Elven rangers) are said to use them (with simple water-vessels - extremelly simple). The elves there have very little contact with the coast, if any.
Aglarond is divided into 2 groups of people, that almost never intermingle. 1) Those that live in the forest. 2) Those that live in the coastal areas and unforested mainland. Both groups almost never meet - they are as different culturally as if they were 2 different countries. The one thing that has united them in the past is safety against Thay - and having one single ruler (who currently is Simbul).
Group 2 is farther divided into 3 groups) a) Aglarond proper, who don't mind the elves. b) Altumbel who don't even consider themselves to be part of Aglarond (and hate elves and half-elves). Both Aglarondans and people from Altumbel are of Damaran ethnicity, but it is visible in group a, that they've all been intermingled with elves at least partially. (This points me towards thinking that the reason people didn't belive in the past that there's any elves in Aglarond, is that all of them are partially intermingled with humans and some pure blooded, elitistic sun elves believe that elves with even a drop of human blood are not pure-blooded elves and should be considered as half-elves) c) Wizard's Reach - a group of more or less free city states of ethnic Mulan (considered to have moved in from Unther very long tiem ago - even before Thay was a thing). Some of these cities are free, some are ruled by Aglarond, and some are Ruled by Thay.
Main religion of Aglarondan/Yuirwood elves are the standard Seldarine and forest elves worship. So Corellon, Rillfane, Solonor (in addition to Mielikki and Silvanus among the half-elves). [Edit] I also forgot to add that some of the ancient Yuir gods are still worshiped in Yuirwood - Relkath, Eilikarashae, Zandilar, Magnar the Bear, and Simbul (not to be confused with the current ruler who for some reason took that name).[/edit]
Deep Sashelas is not really worshiped in Aglarond, but can be considered to, due to there being aquatic elves living close to the coast. (There's one small settlement nearby). If you really, really, want to roleplay a copper elf that worships Deep Sashelas, have it as one that somehow came in contact with the aquatic elven culture. Maybe he was saved by them and by Deep Sashelas from drowning, because he was in the water for some reason or other. I suggest to also read up on Ser么s and Myth Nantar.
[Edit]
Aglarondan map:
Ser么s locations:
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Post by mandene on Sept 28, 2020 9:37:11 GMT -5
Aglarond's connection to water has two sides. (Three if you consider the "extended races").
On one side the books mention that Aglarondans worship/appease Sel没ne, Valkur and Umberlee.
On the other side, Aglarond is said to not really bother with what is beyond their coasts. Aglarond as a country is a backwater place. They have no navy to speak of - only a few ships that they use as warships. Aglarond's biggest threat has always been Thay, and they don't come by water. Aglarond is not a mercantile nation either - for trade by sea they rely on merchant ships from abroad - they only provide the ports and the small security through their "warships" and anti-pirate policy. Aglarond has a hard anti-pirate policy - any caught pirates will be executed pretty much on the spot. The Sea of Fallen Stars is overall just used for fishing by the Aglarondan communities that are near the water.
If you saw the maps I have in the previous post. You can see that Altumbel is largely an archipelago, and that there's Pirate Isles in the middle of the Sea. Pirate Isles are exactly what they are named as - a seat of pirates. They have learned to avoid Aglarond, due to their "anti-piracy policy". Altumbel, which doesn't consider themselves to be part of Aglarond, are culturally something of a wanaby-pirates. Several books describe them as wearing clothes similar to what we would describe as pirate-like. It's also been said that many sailors (and pirates) have been retiring on the Altumbel's mainland and its islands. I'd say that most of Aglarond's connection to water and worshiping the deities connected to water stems from Altumbel. And Altumbel wants nothing to do with elves - people there moved as far from Yuirwood as they could. And the sources also mension that elves who come there are treated, if not badly and with outright hostility, at least with deep suspicion.
Now on "special races".
If one looks to the extended racial descriptions on Forgotten Realms, you can find 2 interesting facts there. Aglarond is considered so much connected to water, that you can actually find an odd Water Genasi there. And since there's sea/aquatic elves living in the water nearby, you can also find some aquatic half-elves in Aglarond. Both races tend to worship water-deities. And both races can live on land (I don't remember if Water Genasi can live in water, but half-aquatic elves can).
I'll write something about Ser么s and Myth Nantar in the next post.
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Post by Warlord on Sept 28, 2020 16:32:40 GMT -5
That beach romance, telling ya
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Post by sightblinder on Sept 28, 2020 22:46:56 GMT -5
That beach romance, telling ya |
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Post by mandene on Oct 5, 2020 8:30:55 GMT -5
So, what is Ser么s?
Ser么s is the name of underwater realms of the Sea of Fallen Stars. There are many races living there, having anything from city-states to actual countries. They live at different depths. Each depth is named (kind of like different levels of Underdark are named).
Ser么s has complex geography, both natural and socio-political.
I'll just mension the sea elves. The biggest colonies of the sea elves are in Naramyr and Sely'Marar (in the Dragonmere and Dragon Reach areas), the Sharksbane Wall garrisons east of the mouth of the Vilhon Reach and west of Alamber, Faensour on the continental slopes east of Starmantle, and in number of small villages among the reefs off the Fang of western Aglarond.
Sea elves are not traditionally the "good guys" in Ser么s. The First Ser么s War was started thousands of years ago, because the elves wanted to subjugate entire Ser么s into an empire under "benevolent" sea elven rule. The other races didn't really appreciate that opportunity. The rest of history of Ser么s is pretty complicated and as eventful as history of other places in Faer没n.
Sea elves live mostly in the so called "Shallows" that are sunlit waters between 0 (Surface) and 150 feet. This is the most colorful and very biologically varied depth, with corals and kelp, clouds of planktion, sargasso weeds, schools of fish. air-breathing sea mammals, and so on. Nearly all the sentient races of Ser么s can be found at this depth, depending on the amount of light and heat in the water at the time.
So what is Myth Nantar?
The name Myth Nantar makes the mind wander to another place that starts with the word "Myth" (Myth Drannor) - doesn't it?
It's because Myth Nantar has been a sea elven city to begin with. It was created during the height of elven empire in Ser么s. Originally, it was just a town called Nantar. It was a center of the Dukar orders (Dukars are mages of Ser么s, but much more interesting, mysterious, and organize than mages on the surface) and became a bipartisan center of magical power during the Aryselmalyr Empire of the aquatic elves.
The city got the addition of "Myth", similarly to Drannor - the Dukars and the elves created a mythal that allowed surface-dwellers to have a place to negotiate, trade and socialize with the people of Aryselmalyr.
Today, Myth Nantar (also called City of Destinies) is a great example of a big metropolis. Think of it as kind of Myth Drannor/Waterdeep of the sea.
One of the special effects of the mythal is that it produces a special type of "airy water" that is breathable by both aquatic and surface-dwelling races. Which makes it a fairly interesting place to gain good contact with sea elves, and their culture.
There's much much much more - like with any other places.
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