paizo.com Recent Posts in Shimye-Magalla's alignmentpaizo.com Recent Posts in Shimye-Magalla's alignment2012-09-07T14:52:09Z2012-09-07T14:52:09ZRe: Forums/Lost Omens Campaign Setting: General Discussion: Shimye-Magalla's alignmentFredrikhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs2otml?ShimyeMagallas-alignment#52012-09-12T15:25:46Z2012-09-09T02:57:41Z<p><b>The Bottom Line</b></p>
<p>Chaotic neutral.</p>
<p><b>The Explanation</b></p>
<p>I've thought about this a lot. (For whatever that says about me.) Is Shimye-Magalla really a janiform amalgam of Gozreh's female aspect and Desna? Or is that just narrow-minded Chelish claptrap? Does Shimye-Magalla have an independent existence, does the answer to that question matter, and is the question even a sensible one regarding beings so far beyond us?</p>
<p>What if the faces that the gods present to the mortals of Golarion are just masks? Roles played by actors, since we couldn't possibly comprehend them as they really are? What if Shimye-Magalla is the real one, and Gozreh is a character that she helps another deity play? Would anyone notice or care about the difference between that and the provincial Avistani evaluation?</p>
<p>So anyway, I'm going with CN. Whether or not SM is really janiform, she's described to us from the colonials' perspective, so that's all we have to go on: fickle like the sea, free like the sailor, and inscrutable like the stars. So there you go.</p>
<p>But that leaves the interesting question, what about her domains? If you take out Gozreh's male aspect, combine hir female aspect with Desna, and focus on the concerns of sailors, then it sounds to me like this...</p>
<p>Domains: Chaos, Liberation, Luck, Travel, Water</p>
<p>Subdomains: Curse, Fate, Freedom, Oceans, Protean, Trade</p>
<p>But I've seen <a href="http://paizo.com/campaigns/DMAlexanderKilcoynesSargavanSaga/recruiting#44" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">at least a couple</a> of other <a href="http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/campaignSetting/general/shimyeMagallaAsAPCsDeityWhatDomainsShouldSheHave&page=1#3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">ways of looking at it</a>, and I can't say that they're wrong.</p>
<p><b>The Appendix</b></p>
<div class="messageboard-quotee">Sargava, p.27 wrote:</div><blockquote>It's generally known that Shimye-Magalla reflects Gozreh's female aspect — that which matches the capriciousness of the sea — and pairs it with Desna's love of travel, freedom, and the stars by which the Bonuwat navigate.</blockquote><div class="messageboard-quotee">Gods and Magic, p.18 wrote:</div><blockquote>Born of the ocean’s fury and the wind’s wrath, Gozreh is a fickle deity. Those who ply the waters or rely upon the rains know this better than most, and are sure to placate Gozreh and honor him when the winds and waves are favorable. Gozreh has two aspects, equally depicted in art and sculpture. When at sea, or over water, Gozreh is a woman, with wild, flowing green hair whose body transforms into endless waves. In the sky and over land, Gozreh appears as an aged man with a long white beard, emerging from a mighty storm cloud.</blockquote><p>The Bottom Line
Chaotic neutral.
The Explanation
I've thought about this a lot. (For whatever that says about me.) Is Shimye-Magalla really a janiform amalgam of Gozreh's female aspect and Desna? Or is that just narrow-minded Chelish claptrap? Does Shimye-Magalla have an independent existence, does the answer to that question matter, and is the question even a sensible one regarding beings so far beyond us?
What if the faces that the gods present to the mortals of Golarion are just masks?...Fredrik2012-09-09T02:57:41ZRe: Forums/Lost Omens Campaign Setting: General Discussion: Shimye-Magalla's alignmentMikazehttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs2otml?ShimyeMagallas-alignment#42012-09-12T00:29:07Z2012-09-08T06:03:35Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Totally Mikaze, Fo Shizzle wrote:</div><blockquote> EDIT: What?! I'm <i>totally</i> Mikaze! It says so in my name right there! I've got the red hair and everything! Certainly I'm not a poorly disguised Tacticslion! I'll tell you that much right now! </blockquote><p>I'm way hornier.
<p>...</p>
<p>oh wait</p>
<p>MOVING ON, I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand maybe the janiform is just Desna and Gozreh being worshipped in tandem, and you pull the alignment from whichever deity's nature is favored in that priest's worship of Shimye-Magalla. But I really like the idea of Shimye-Magalla being a very real quasi-entity formed from the interactions of the two gods, the belief of the Mwangi, and maybe even some of the echoes of Curchanus and his influence on Desna(like maybe Shimye-Magalla was the goddess Curchanus was grooming Desna to become? Hm...). Can't help but see that amalgam falling somewhere just between CG and N, to the point that classification becomes nearly impossible.</p>
<p>On the latter, I'd lean towards Tacticslion's interpretation on alignment. Something with a benign bent, but still as wild and capricious as nature itself. If she had to be CN, I'd pull from what 3.x did with St. Cuthbert, having a partial alignment restriction to reflect Shimye-Magalla's combined nature: CN, CG, and N clerics only. </p>
<p>Thinking on it further, both the "worshipping Desna or Gozreh as Shimye-Magalla" <i>and</i> "worshipping both combined as Shimye-Magalla" could be happening at the same time between different worshippers, meaning you could have CG, NG, CN, N, LN, and NE clerics that all believe they're worshipping their goddess properly. Gets complicated!</p>Totally Mikaze, Fo Shizzle wrote:EDIT: What?! I'm totally Mikaze! It says so in my name right there! I've got the red hair and everything! Certainly I'm not a poorly disguised Tacticslion! I'll tell you that much right now!
I'm way hornier. ...
oh wait
MOVING ON, I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand maybe the janiform is just Desna and Gozreh being worshipped in tandem, and you pull the alignment from whichever deity's nature is favored in that priest's worship of Shimye-Magalla. But...Mikaze2012-09-08T06:03:35ZRe: Forums/Lost Omens Campaign Setting: General Discussion: Shimye-Magalla's alignmentTotally Mikaze, Fo Shizzle (alias of Tacticslion)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2otml?ShimyeMagallas-alignment#32012-09-07T15:15:21Z2012-09-07T15:15:21Z<p>EDIT: What?! I'm <i>totally</i> Mikaze! It says so in my name right there! I've got the red hair and everything! Certainly I'm not a poorly disguised Tacticslion! I'll tell you that much right now!</p>
<p>So! I'm going to say <a href="http://www.pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Shimye-Magalla" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Shimye-Magalla</a> is either "chaotic neutral" (the most likely) or "neutral good" (the least likely).</p>
<p>The reason I'd side with "chaotic neutral" is that from what little I can find, Shimey-Magalla seems to have all the capriciousness of Gozreh and Desna combined (being effectively a goddess of storms, sea, and the like). I could, however, see a case being made for her to be neutral good as a "constant" goddess of the sea, due to her association with navigation and stars.</p>EDIT: What?! I'm totally Mikaze! It says so in my name right there! I've got the red hair and everything! Certainly I'm not a poorly disguised Tacticslion! I'll tell you that much right now!
So! I'm going to say Shimye-Magalla is either "chaotic neutral" (the most likely) or "neutral good" (the least likely).
The reason I'd side with "chaotic neutral" is that from what little I can find, Shimey-Magalla seems to have all the capriciousness of Gozreh and Desna combined (being effectively a...Totally Mikaze, Fo Shizzle (alias of Tacticslion)2012-09-07T15:15:21ZRe: Forums/Lost Omens Campaign Setting: General Discussion: Shimye-Magalla's alignmentCheapyhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs2otml?ShimyeMagallas-alignment#22012-09-07T14:57:08Z2012-09-07T14:57:08Z<p>Incoming Mikaze in 3...2...1...</p>Incoming Mikaze in 3...2...1...Cheapy2012-09-07T14:57:08ZForums/Lost Omens Campaign Setting: General Discussion: Shimye-Magalla's alignmentminoritarianhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs2otml?ShimyeMagallas-alignment#12012-09-07T14:52:09Z2012-09-07T14:52:09Z<p>I'm curious about Shimye-Magalla (the Bonuwat amalgam deity of Gozreh and Desna) and what alignment she has or what alignment her worshippers ascribe to her as it looks like she isn't a separate entity. </p>
<p>Heart of the Jungle doesn't give one and nor does Sargova or the Campaign setting. Gozreh being N and Desna CG leaves it up in the air.</p>I'm curious about Shimye-Magalla (the Bonuwat amalgam deity of Gozreh and Desna) and what alignment she has or what alignment her worshippers ascribe to her as it looks like she isn't a separate entity.
Heart of the Jungle doesn't give one and nor does Sargova or the Campaign setting. Gozreh being N and Desna CG leaves it up in the air.minoritarian2012-09-07T14:52:09Z