The Little Ceremonies of Life - Followers of Winlas

[Apupunchau]

One of the things I love most about Golarion is that there is a ton of stuff left unwritten. It allows me to expand on things in my games and invent new things to further enrich the game world. A part of the setting that always interests me are the divine being they have and how the interact with their followers and each other. On one of the Pathfinder FB pages I play a little game of creativity where as ask about what kind of character you would make to follow a god. This week I'm looking at Winlas, Empyreal Lord of ceremony, religiousness, and service.

Sitting at our theoretical gaming table, our GM turns to us and says, "All of the characters must be followers of Winlas, although they do not need to be divine casters." What character do you make? Who is he? Why has he chosen The Elder Divinity as his patron? In what ways does he further the Empyreal Lord's goals? Why would he be attracted to this beings doctrine?

[avr]

Given how many empyreal lords and similar there are, while the big name gods still seem to have most of the worshippers, I think three widespread organisations is at least two too many for Winlas. Especially since Winlas looks to be the sort of god who'd keep his original organisation from splintering or otherwise falling apart.

An empyreal lord likely starts with a mystery cult as I understand it. A personality cult with magic gifts, essentially, which may operate in secret to avoid getting stepped on before it gets big enough to survive that. If secrecy does splinter it... they all still have some sort of contact with the lord who can presumably send signs to reunite them if he's so inclined. Winlas's might have started within some civil bureaucracy or even within the lay part of another church. The exact details would flavour how it acts even now given the focus on ceremony and service.

[Apupunchau]

avr wrote:

Given how many empyreal lords and similar there are, while the big name gods still seem to have most of the worshippers, I think three widespread organisations is at least two too many for Winlas. Especially since Winlas looks to be the sort of god who'd keep his original organisation from splintering or otherwise falling apart.

An empyreal lord likely starts with a mystery cult as I understand it. A personality cult with magic gifts, essentially, which may operate in secret to avoid getting stepped on before it gets big enough to survive that. If secrecy does splinter it... they all still have some sort of contact with the lord who can presumably send signs to reunite them if he's so inclined. Winlas's might have started within some civil bureaucracy or even within the lay part of another church. The exact details would flavour how it acts even now given the focus on ceremony and service.

Except Golarion is huge. And those worship Winlas in Magnimar where the devotion to Empyreal Lords is actually pretty high, might not be the same as those who have chosen Winlas as a patron from the River Kingdoms. Both of those may be vastly different from some one from a mystery cult in Nex who takes on the rites of the Empyrean lord. With three or even four continents that could house worshipers saying there would only be one connected mystery cult seems a little off to me.

Also ceremony and service do not necessarily mean unity. Although I'm sure you could look at his lawful alignment and say he would probably work for unity even churches such as abadar's which are the epitome of the lawful alignment are not all unified. I don't think WInlas' cults or sects would be huge maybe a dozen or so members in any given country if there were even any at all, but i don't think all of his followers across all of Golarion would be unified, Different people raise up different aspects of any god. Which is why clerics can be one step in alignment and why you choose different domains.

[Samasboy1]

A Peri-blooded Aasimar Hex Channeler Witch with the Devotion Patron