Osirion Pantheon

[Kendril Shad]

I was reading up on Osirion religon and it was mentioned that while the core gods (Abadar, etc.) were primarily worshiped, a following of the animal headed gods persisted.

For clarification: is this the pharonic pantheon (Ra, Osiris, Isis, Set, Anubis, etc.)?

If it is, are they living, spell granting gods?
How prevalent is their worship?
If it is based on Ancient Osirion beliefs, now that Osirion is a sovereign nation again, is the number of worshippers likely to increase?
How do the powers that be view the old beliefs?
How are these gods viewed outside of Osirion locally (Geb, Nex, Katapesh) and abroad (Absalom, Cheliax, and beyond)?

If it is not, who are these animal headed gods?
*The same questions as above here*

[Clark Whittle]

I'd love to hear the answers to these questions as well. I used to be very fond of how they laid out all of the cultural pantheons in the old AD&D deities and demigods, especially for the the Greek, Norse, and Egyptian mythologies. It would be incredibly cool if Pathfinder decides to go this route when they expand that area of their world.

[Lanx]

In Pathfinder Companion: Osirion, Land of Pharaos, there is a small chapter about Cults of Osirion. While it is mainly about two serpent cults and one dung beetle cult, it is briefly mentioned there that there are other ancient rites for beast-headed beings. But they are not fleshed out. The main deities of Osirion are the deities of the core pantheon, and there are no signs that the ancient egyptian deities of our world are recognized in Osirion.

[Kendril Shad]

So, in essence, there simply isn't an answer. Hm. That's too bad.

[Noir le Lotus]

You could easily consider that animal headed gods are local representations of some aspect of a deity or of a deity's agents.

[Kendril Shad]

Noir le Lotus wrote:

You could easily consider that animal headed gods are local representations of some aspect of a deity or of a deity's agents.

Now THAT makes sense! Maybe the foreigners just don't get it. The gods have no reason to correct this, as a worshiper is a worshiper.

[Jason Nelson]

Apep, Wadjet, and Khepri were based on real Egyptian gods, though I expanded them into a D&D style format. As to the cosmological in-game question as to whether they are "real deities," that's something that was never really clearly established. After all, you can have a cult without being an actual divinity (Exhibit A: the Cult of Razmir). If you're looking for an official answer, there isn't one. There is room in the campaign world for local divinities (e.g., Gyronna and Hanspur in the River Kingdoms, or the minor divinites in the Campaign Setting), so if you want them to be legit deities, go for it.

I am pretty sure that back when the book came out someone asked if they were deities and had domains and favored weapons, and I went ahead and came up with the ones I would have given them if I had been doing full deity write-ups on them in the Osirion Companion, rather than flavor text and some magic items. If you do a search of the message boards for Khepri, Wadjet, and Apep, you could probably find that thread.

Hope this helps.

[Blazej]

Link to Jason's post.

[Jason Nelson]

Blazej wrote:

Link to Jason's post.

Thanks for finding it!

[James Jacobs]

We've certainly already made core some real-world mythological figures (Asmodeus and Lamashtu), so incorporating the Pharonic pantheon entirely into Osirion isn't that huge of a jump. It's not something we're likely to ever visit in detail (although the Pharonic pantheon COULD be the gods of old Osirion...), especially since Earth IS somewhere out there in the universe, sharing the Material Plane with Golarion but separated by untold light years of distance and likely in a part of the universe where magic is a lot less concentrated.

[Draco Bahamut]

James Jacobs wrote:

especially since Earth IS somewhere out there in the universe, sharing the Material Plane with Golarion but separated by untold light years of distance and likely in a part of the universe where magic is a lot less concentrated.

Now this is news. It´s like when we discovered He-man´s mom is from Earth. Gives a lot of perpesctives and considerations. I really like Mythology gods in D&D (most because of planescape), then there is still hope. Time to retrieve On Hallowed Ground from my safehouse.

[Mairkurion {tm}]

Next upgrade, I say Jacobs is named "Cosmological Director," given his recent posts.

[Kendril Shad]

Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

Next upgrade, I say Jacobs is named "Cosmological Director," given his recent posts.

I second that!

Oh, and thank you very much for the time, Jason and James. I'm still getting used to the fact that we have the opportunity to have our questions and comments heard by the creators of this game, and more importantly, that the said creators actively talk back. It's a positively fantastic experience!

Kudos!

[Kthulhu]

Kendril Shad wrote:

So, in essence, there simply isn't an answer. Hm. That's too bad.

Why is it bad? It gives GMs wiggle room. If one GM likes Ra, Set, etc, he's free to insert them into the campaign as minor gods. If one GM doesn't like that idea, then he's free to NOT insert them.

Not every detail about Golarion needs to be codified, stated, or described. And if it were, the setting would loose it's appeal.