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While Ra may be King of the Heavens, the cosmos greater than any one being can safeguard - even a god cannot see everywhere at once. The Eye of Ra is a guardian against chaos, tasked with finding and destroying any threats to the sanctity of the pantheon, the proper order of the universe, and their solar monarch. Like the King, the Eye of Ra burns with the power of the sun, its purity banishing deception and burning the judged.
The role traditionally falls to a goddess of the Osirian pantheon, and often acts as a counterbalance to Ra's typical fixation on unflinching Law; Sekhmet is infamous for her desire to take the fight to the foe, while Bastet and Hathor prefer to safeguard the realm and the home. It's unclear when or why the position changes hands, leading some to believe that the three may even be many faces of one divinity; at this suggestion, the three old goddesses merely smile.
Edicts protect the weak, destroy unnatural evil, enjoy intoxication and music
Anathema become lost to intoxication, go a full day without thanking the sun
Areas of Concern slaying fiends and other monsters, guarding families, revelry, the sun
Follower Alignments CG, CN, NG
Pantheon Members Bastet, Hathor, Sekhmet
Divine Ability Strength or Charisma
Font Harm or Heal
Skill Performance
Favored Weapon claw or spear
Domains family, sun, passion, protection
Alternate Domains destruction, trickery, wealth
Cleric Spells 1st: pest form (cat only) 2nd: flaming sphere 3rd: threefold aspect
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A brief note: closer names to the proper Ancient Egyptian for these three are Bast (the -et is redundant) and Het-Heru, with Sekhmet being the only one not mangled by the Greeks.
This interpretation of these three has historical precedent - and, not coincidentally, is the framework I use for my own private worship. On Golarion, this Pantheon is probably long-forgotten by most folk in Osirion today, but fits the region's Amurruns - allegedly created to "hunt evil spirits" at the dawn of time - like a glove, though they probably interpret Het-Heru as being feline like the other two. With the fondness for cats in LOIL, you might even sneak some small cult of the Eye of Ra into Dongun Hold.
With me begrudgingly accepting that the explicitly Kemetic elements of Osirion aren't going away, it seemed fitting to throw this together; I hope folks like!
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I love it, though I'm much more experienced with 1e, and should really work on 2e versions of my homebrew versions of the gods. The Pantheons mechanic especially seems very ripe for some creative collections. The Divine Triad of father, mother and son, Osiris, Isis and Horus; Horus and Set, the Two Powers United; Ra and Horus as Ra-Horakhty, and so on. The Ogdoad of Hermopolis especially could only be reasonably represented by a Pantheon, since they weren't typically worshipped solo.
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I love it, though I'm much more experienced with 1e, and should really work on 2e versions of my homebrew versions of the gods. The Pantheons mechanic especially seems very ripe for some creative collections. The Divine Triad of father, mother and son, Osiris, Isis and Horus; Horus and Set, the Two Powers United; Ra and Horus as Ra-Horakhty, and so on. The Ogdoad of Hermopolis especially could only be reasonably represented by a Pantheon, since they weren't typically worshipped solo.
Horus and Set in their united aspect of defeating Apep, either accompanied by Ma’at as the incarnation of conquering Law or some other solar/warrior divinities, would be a lot of fun to see!
The Ancient Egyptians loved weird hybridizing (Sobek-Ra, the solar crocodile!), “mantling” deities (the dead protected themselves from Duat’s demons by stating “I am Osiris!”), and just broadly being fluid with divine identity - it’s ripe fodder for inspiration.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I love it, though I'm much more experienced with 1e, and should really work on 2e versions of my homebrew versions of the gods. The Pantheons mechanic especially seems very ripe for some creative collections. The Divine Triad of father, mother and son, Osiris, Isis and Horus; Horus and Set, the Two Powers United; Ra and Horus as Ra-Horakhty, and so on. The Ogdoad of Hermopolis especially could only be reasonably represented by a Pantheon, since they weren't typically worshipped solo.Horus and Set in their united aspect of defeating Apep, either accompanied by Ma’at as the incarnation of conquering Law or some other solar/warrior divinities, would be a lot of fun to see!
The Ancient Egyptians loved weird hybridizing (Sobek-Ra, the solar crocodile!), “mantling” deities (the dead protected themselves from Duat’s demons by stating “I am Osiris!”), and just broadly being fluid with divine identity - it’s ripe fodder for inspiration.
Ma'at was sometimes called the one who pacifies the Two Lords, but Isis is caught between helping her son and being unable to harm her brother in the Contendings of Horus and Set. She might be a worthy inclusion in a Two Powers United pantheon? But I think Ma'at is simpler, since the Contendings likely antedate the original period where Pharaohs tried to reconcile the two in their titulary.
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If folks are really hurting for another deity in this Pantheon (as much as I like it as a triad), Wadjet has a rightful claim to the title historically - but I kind of like the niche they currently have as a bastion of Chaotic Good amid a deeply Lawful group of gods, and Wadjet is LG. Still, she has similar enough interests, and the title is rightfully hers.
I do think I like her Zeal better than Het-Heru's Wealth as a third Alternate Domain.
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I notice that 2nd Edition Wadjet doesn't accept Lawful Neutral worshippers, so she probably isn't going to insist on unflinching law, and maybe she could be sympathetic to the Chaotic Good pantheon even if a bit borderline for being in it herself (maybe not officially in it, but providing enough support to actually provide Zeal support?).