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Thread: Son of Benelik

  1. #1
    Olesens
    Guest

    Son of Benelik

    I was watching a bit of Hercules and I wondered if any Birthright gods
    had half-human children. Going through the list, Benelik seems to be
    the only one who would do such a thing. Does this sound too odd or what
    do all of you think? Maybe some Ed/Carrie comments?

    - -Andrew

  2. #2
    WILLELA@aol.co
    Guest

    Son of Benelik

    Belinik is far from the only god likely to have half-human kids. Laerme,
    goddess or romance among other things, would be almost violating her own
    creed if she didn't. & one can assume that any of the male gods are willing
    to "bless" a "deserving" female (in some cases paying attention to her
    opinion on the subject).
    From the view of game logic, we also should assume a number of holy
    bastards. It has been thousands of years since Mortals have become blooded,
    and even the strongest line would vanish within centuries. Of course Regents
    can keep the family line from being weakened, but that just means nearly all
    blooded individuals must be within about 3 generations of some regent, & we
    want to spread the Blood around a lot more than that. So the Gods getting
    hold of attractive mortals and starting new lines is game useful.
    Yours for deeper dungeons
    David Argall

  3. #3
    Olesens
    Guest

    Son of Benelik

    WILLELA@aol.com wrote:

    > Belinik is far from the only god likely to have half-human kids. Laerme,
    > goddess or romance among other things, would be almost violating her own
    > creed if she didn't. & one can assume that any of the male gods are willing
    > to "bless" a "deserving" female (in some cases paying attention to her
    > opinion on the subject).
    >

    Yeah, but that "blessing" isn't particularly noble. Sera (of Greek mythology)
    tends to get pissed off when Zeus "blesses" someone, as most any wife would. And
    I don't imagine Haelyn doing that.

    - -Andrew

  4. #4
    Mark A Vandermeulen
    Guest

    Son of Benelik

    On Sun, 18 Apr 1999 WILLELA@aol.com wrote:

    > Belinik is far from the only god likely to have half-human kids. Laerme,
    > goddess or romance among other things, would be almost violating her own
    > creed if she didn't. & one can assume that any of the male gods are willing
    > to "bless" a "deserving" female (in some cases paying attention to her
    > opinion on the subject).

    The only problem I have with this, is that it would seem to violate the
    god's "agreement" that they will never again fully manifest on the
    Cerilian plane. It would seem to me that a god would require manifestation
    in order to reproduce. Thus, it would seem to me that the only way that
    this would really happen would be a.) a god decided to "ignore" his/her
    oath not to manifest (and I agree that Belenik might be most likely to do
    this, but you could make a case for any god with "evil" or "chaotic" in
    their alignment description), or b.) if a mortal 'ascended' to the god's
    spiritual (planar) realm, either by his/her own whim and effort or by the
    god's invitation/summoning. In either case, I would think this would be a
    VERY RARE event. Such individuals might be considered "saints" by their
    respective religions.

    > From the view of game logic, we also should assume a number of holy
    > bastards. It has been thousands of years since Mortals have become blooded,
    > and even the strongest line would vanish within centuries. Of course Regents
    > can keep the family line from being weakened, but that just means nearly all
    > blooded individuals must be within about 3 generations of some regent, & we
    > want to spread the Blood around a lot more than that. So the Gods getting
    > hold of attractive mortals and starting new lines is game useful.

    Well, assuming that a god/mortal crossbreed is not sterile. Or for that
    matter finds mortals attractive.

    Mark VanderMeulen
    vander+@pitt.edu

  5. #5
    WILLELA@aol.co
    Guest

    Son of Benelik

    The gods are bound by an agreement not to fully manifest themselves in the
    area? I can drive a dragon thru that "fully" loophole. One avatar is quite
    sufficient for the task at hand.
    For that matter, this lovely piece insists she wants to really prove how
    devoted she is to You. You really want to try to convince me you are not
    going to do something vulgar and painful to anyone who presents this
    agreement?
    Yours for deeper dungeons
    David Argall

  6. #6
    Tommy Ashton
    Guest

    Son of Benelik

    At 09:34 AM 4/20/99 -0400, you wrote:
    >I was under the impression that the gods had agreed never to manifest in
    >Cerilia all at the same time and battle each other in physical form,
    possibly
    >bringing on another Deismaar- like cataclysm. But that pledge wouldn't
    >necessarily preclude a god sending an avatar to the prime plane to
    accomplish
    >some goal or whatnot. However, such a union between god and mortal to bring
    >a semi-divine child into the world would be extremely rare, IMO. It would
    >most probably only be done because the child is destined to carry out some
    >great and holy purpose.
    Yeah, like reestablishing a Andu bloodline to replace the roeles. Maybe
    Haelyn has just became to tired waiting for someone to step forward to
    reuinite his Anuiren Empire.
    T

    >************************************************* **************************
    >>'unsubscribe birthright' as the body of the message.
    >

  7. #7
    JNeighb934@aol.co
    Guest

    Son of Benelik

    In a message dated 04/19/99 9:59:01 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
    vander+@pitt.edu writes:

  8. #8
    Mark A Vandermeulen
    Guest

    Son of Benelik

    On Tue, 20 Apr 1999 JNeighb934@aol.com wrote:

    > I was under the impression that the gods had agreed never to manifest in
    > Cerilia all at the same time and battle each other in physical form, possibly
    > bringing on another Deismaar- like cataclysm. But that pledge wouldn't
    > necessarily preclude a god sending an avatar to the prime plane to accomplish
    > some goal or whatnot. However, such a union between god and mortal to bring
    > a semi-divine child into the world would be extremely rare, IMO. It would
    > most probably only be done because the child is destined to carry out some
    > great and holy purpose.

    Well, I don't hold much truck with what "Avatars" are officially supposed
    to be like--I don't have the relevant rulebooks and little interest in
    acquiring them, so I don't know what kind of heresy I'm espousing here.
    But I'm not too fond of the idea that the gods spend much of their time
    kickin' up the dust of Cerilia. I think that they DO appear occasionally,
    but usually in the spiritiual form that Cerilians have come to call
    Avatars, in which they can be seen at will, and interact verbally and
    magically with those they meet. They can even magically manipulate weapons
    and shields, etc., but are not themselves physically present. In general,
    in order to rescue a favorite from a stormy shipwreck, they'd rather
    manipulate events to ensure that someone in a lifeboat "happened" to reach
    the drowning soul in the nick of time, than to reach in and grab the
    scruff of their necks and pull them to safety.

    Just my own biases, of course. Feel free to disagree with me.

    Mark VanderMeulen
    vander+@pitt.edu

  9. #9
    Mark A Vandermeulen
    Guest

    Son of Benelik

    On Tue, 20 Apr 1999 WILLELA@aol.com wrote:

    > The gods are bound by an agreement not to fully manifest themselves in the
    > area? I can drive a dragon thru that "fully" loophole. One avatar is quite
    > sufficient for the task at hand.
    > For that matter, this lovely piece insists she wants to really prove how
    > devoted she is to You. You really want to try to convince me you are not
    > going to do something vulgar and painful to anyone who presents this
    > agreement?

    Well, completely setting aside the question of whether or not gods are
    even ATTRACTED to mere mortals any more, there is also the concept that
    gods are in a better position than anyone to appreciate the concequences
    of their actions. Most of them might realize that, in the long run, it
    generally turns out better for them if they respect their loyal followers
    than take advantage of them--however devoted they are. Who knows what kind
    of psychological changes occur with apotheosis, but I expect that at least
    in part it involves starting to think--and plan--on scales of generations
    and centuries and relatively less emphasis on instant gratification. Now
    granted this is less likely for some than others (esp. Belenik, Laerme,
    and Eloele might still be quite into instant gratification, and perhaps
    Cuiraecen too), but it would seem to me that most of the other gods might
    see it as a little to vulgar for their deified tastes.

    Does this make sense to ANYONE else, or am I just blowin' wind?

    Mark VanderMeulen
    vander+@pitt.edu

  10. #10
    WILLELA@aol.co
    Guest

    Son of Benelik

    Mark VanderMeulen [vander+@pitt.edu] wonders if the gods would be attracted
    to mortals. A quick look at nearly any religion or set of ancient stories
    settles this in the affirmative. See Hercules or Genesis.
    ...feels the gods might hesitate due to the possible consequences.. An
    idea that can quickly be rejected after a quick count of all the times you
    have made a fool of yourself over a little number, plus those times you would
    have if you weren't being watched closely.
    ....thinks they might hesitate to take advantage of their
    worshipers...which also is hit by reality. The ladies do look upwards for
    lovers and nobody is more up than their god. The number of female worshipers
    downright eager to be "taken advantage of" by their god would be huge.
    Objectively, there is every reason to assume there are plenty of
    half-gods running around, many of them likely PCs.
    Yours for deeper dungeons
    David Argall

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