Vudra reveres Embaral and Obari, twin deities of the oceans that flank the subcontinent, and it just dawned on me that I’m surprised there isn’t something similar for the others that I know of. Is there any canon out there about worship of the Arcadian or Okaiyo oceans? It seems so obvious that I’m surprised to have not noticed its absence earlier.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Very interesting question! Also, the Arcadian Ocean had been largely bisected by Azlant, what was the Ocean/Sea between Azlant and what is currently the Inner Sea Region called. And if it was named after a Diety, what happened to that Diety?
Personal fan theory, between Azlant and what is currently the Inner Sea Region was the Besmar ocean. Then as Azlant sunk, Besmara abandoned her claim on that track of ocean.
Isn't that more of a cultural thing? Like how some people worship spirits as gods and others just treat them as something different?
Reading up on the Vudra Pantheon they seem like the type to worship all the different spirits as gods regardless of how powerful the spirit might be. Making them closer to Japanese Shinto that has a whole lot of shrines for a whole lot of gods most of which are just spirits and ancestors.
There's a number of cultures on Golarion - notably certain groups of Amurrun and Dwarves - who revere the gods as 'merely' incredibly powerful spirits, so that's a fairly widespread practice across the globe. If spirits exist for other oceans, then surely they can exist for the Arcadian and Okaiyo!
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I will say, I’m broadly hurting for a better understanding of what Pathfinder considers a “spirit.” It’s a topic I’d definitely love a meaty chapter or full book on, even before considering a potential Shaman class.
I would guess the Arcadian Ocean is probably named by the Azlanti after Arcadia the continent (the Arcadians likely/should have their own names for it), so if there WAS a god of the Arcadian ocean then they might belong to one of the Arcadian pantheons. Otherwise, it might have been an Azlanti deity who has been lost to history or died when the continent buckled and shattered. Maybe Amaznen and Acavna weren't the only ones the Starstone felled?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Azlant was shattered nearly 10,000 years ago, more than the time between us and the earliest dynasty of Egypt; it feels very plausible to me that it was the Azlanti Ocean to the people of a world with an Azlant in it, but every non-Nidal society in the Inner Sea today knows it as the troubled span between them and Arcadia.
That said, I love the idea of slain Azlanti sea god who took an Earthfall square in the chest.
|
Azlant was shattered nearly 10,000 years ago, more than the time between us and the earliest dynasty of Egypt; it feels very plausible to me that it was the Azlanti Ocean to the people of a world with an Azlant in it, but every non-Nidal society in the Inner Sea today knows it as the troubled span between them and Arcadia.
That said, I love the idea of slain Azlanti sea god who took an Earthfall square in the chest.
Buried under the Mordant Spire ?
Buried under the Mordant Spire ?Azlant was shattered nearly 10,000 years ago, more than the time between us and the earliest dynasty of Egypt; it feels very plausible to me that it was the Azlanti Ocean to the people of a world with an Azlant in it, but every non-Nidal society in the Inner Sea today knows it as the troubled span between them and Arcadia.
That said, I love the idea of slain Azlanti sea god who took an Earthfall square in the chest.
Isn't Acavna the deity buried under the Mordant Spire?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Isn't Acavna the deity buried under the Mordant Spire?Buried under the Mordant Spire ?Azlant was shattered nearly 10,000 years ago, more than the time between us and the earliest dynasty of Egypt; it feels very plausible to me that it was the Azlanti Ocean to the people of a world with an Azlant in it, but every non-Nidal society in the Inner Sea today knows it as the troubled span between them and Arcadia.
That said, I love the idea of slain Azlanti sea god who took an Earthfall square in the chest.
I was under the impression that Acavna is the Mordant Spire.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I was under the impression that Acavna is the Mordant Spire.Isn't Acavna the deity buried under the Mordant Spire?Buried under the Mordant Spire ?Azlant was shattered nearly 10,000 years ago, more than the time between us and the earliest dynasty of Egypt; it feels very plausible to me that it was the Azlanti Ocean to the people of a world with an Azlant in it, but every non-Nidal society in the Inner Sea today knows it as the troubled span between them and Arcadia.
That said, I love the idea of slain Azlanti sea god who took an Earthfall square in the chest.
This is true! One of my favourite little tidbits of Lost Omens trivia, I really like Acavna. The Mordant Spire is made of her soul-stuff as it tries to escape into the Great Beyond for judgement, and so the Spire is forever growing taller:
The tower’s true origin was even stranger than most mortals’ wildest theories. The Azlanti goddess of the moon and battle, Acavna, was slain attempting to protect Golarion from the immense asteroid sent to destroy the planet. The dead god’s corpse fell upon the elven observatory, perhaps drawn by its connection to the moon, and destroyed it. She was buried deep in the world’s crust. The Mordant Spire rose from her grave, grown of her essence and drawn ever upward as her soul attempted to free itself and journey to the Boneyard for Pharasma’s judgment.
As I understand, the Mordant Spire is what's left of Acavna's soul trying to reach the Boneyard, spiralling up futilely into the sky but tended respectfully by the elves. And Acavna had little to do with oceans other than being a moon goddess, though might have overseen the rising and falling of tides as such.
If there was a hypothetical Azlanti sea god, I imagine they were probably right under the Starstone when it fell and might lie at the bottom of the Arcadian ocean in the middle of Azlant, long forgotten by everyone except maybe neighbouring Gillmen who still record them in their folktales. Though as Keftiu mentions, it's more likely they called it the Azlanti Ocean before Azlant sank into the sea, and it was later renamed by their descendants.