So something I am wondering about and I am not sure how it is properly addressed and that is Religion in Irrisen. The world guide mentions that the main religions are Lamashtu and Zon-Kuthun and while both are cool, neither gives me a vibe for Irrisen IMO, YMMV.
another thing is that Queen Anastasia of Irrisen would be a devoted follower of Orthodox Christianity though I don't think we have any rules for playing a cleric of Jesus, but if she is Queen then I imagine that she would try to build orthodox churches in her capital. I don't know if that is addressed at all in any of the books; nor how good it would be for her to do this. So I am curious how this is handled. Curious how others have handled this.
So I am curious what sort beings would be best for Irrisen and religion be it the big gods, minor gods, various empyeral lords, eldest or other divine beings. as well as how other GMs handle Queen Anastasia and Christianity.
Religion is also made weird by Baba Yaga's presence. She may not accept followers, or even actively punish people who worship her, but there's likely a lot of emulation going on. Atheist+, or something.
Some of the Eldest might make good candidates. Imbrex, Magdh, and Shyka all seem like they have neat angles.
I also have a personal love for the Queens of the Night. Mahathallah, in particular, fits really well in my mind.
As for Anastasia... I dunno. Maybe her Christianity survived the trip, or maybe it died upon taking a trip to another world with magic as a daily occurrence. Could see it going either way, depending on what stories I wanted to tell. I would be a bit shocked to see it addressed in an official book, though. (With my luck it will have already been addressed and I just missed it or forgot.)
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As for Anastasia... I dunno. Maybe her Christianity survived the trip, or maybe it died upon taking a trip to another world with magic as a daily occurrence. Could see it going either way, depending on what stories I wanted to tell. I would be a bit shocked to see it addressed in an official book, though. (With my luck it will have already been addressed and I just missed it or forgot.)
I never reached that far in the campaign, but from what I remember Anastasia was kept prisoner against her will in an Orthodox Russian church during the early years of the Soviet Union so that Rasputin could hide her. That doesn't sound like a person who would be amenable to bringing it over to Golarion with her, especially to a planet where many gods are demonstrably real and provably good.
If I was spitballing, I'd suggest she might create a more panentheistic Church of Irrisen where the traditions of Irrisen and Tsarist Russia blend so the Irriseni can revere a more informal spirituality. Especially since while Baba Yaga doesn't want to be a god, she sounds like the jealous type. There might be a few patron Empyreal Lords or Monitors, but Baba Yaga might draw a firm line at true Gods with the capital G. I would suggest perhaps a more secular witch cult, if not worshipping her then at least modelled on her ethos, but the Winter Witches don't really approve of her either and consider her the Fraud Queen so it sounds like she doesn't have much to do with them either.
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I never reached that far in the campaign, but from what I remember Anastasia was kept prisoner against her will in an Orthodox Russian church during the early years of the Soviet Union so that Rasputin could hide her.
Rasputin (whom as far as can be determined she liked and trusted about as much as her parents did) resurrected her, an experience I would think have galvanized rather than weakened her faith. She has probably not, however, made it the state religion (and Russian Orthodoxy hardly exists without state sponsorship or direction), since she has enough enemies already without adding (from their point of view) apostasy on top of everything else.
I'd imagine she might still be a Christian, but she is not exactly in a position to proselytize her faith. More than likely she would do what happened in the real world history of Russia, hundreds of years before she was even born. Adopt whatever religion was most convenient and useful to improve relations with her neighbors.
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I imagine that with the dethronement of the White Witches some goodly deities of the northern reaches are picking up steam. Alglenweis is a deity who had a witch cult in the Sarkoris Scar and is the goodly daughter of Kostchtchie—seems like she'd be popular among winter witches that are not affiliated with the White Witches. Pulura, empyreal lord of the northern lights, is another one who could very well be popular.
What dethronement of the White Witches? Jadwiga are as much a privileged caste in Irrisen as they ever were.
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Yesand?Irrisen being Neutral and not Neutral Evil does imply that it's more open to the worship of good deities, even if the Jadwiga "are as much a privileged caste as they ever were."
Why bring "dethronement of the White Witches" into things, then, if what you actually meant was a social alignment shift?
If I was spitballing, I'd suggest she might create a more panentheistic Church of Irrisen where the traditions of Irrisen and Tsarist Russia blend so the Irriseni can revere a more informal spirituality. Especially since while Baba Yaga doesn't want to be a god, she sounds like the jealous type. There might be a few patron Empyreal Lords or Monitors, but Baba Yaga might draw a firm line at true Gods with the capital G. I would suggest perhaps a more secular witch cult, if not worshipping her then at least modelled on her ethos, but the Winter Witches don't really approve of her either and consider her the Fraud Queen so it sounds like she doesn't have much to do with them either.
I do wonder how things might be changed for Christianity trying to adapt to the various stuff that exists in pathfinders, from actual demons and devils to angels to magic and so on.
As Far as The Queen of Iressin's converting her country to Christianity I doubt that will happen as the authors do no want real world religions to be in their product that are direct copies of real world religions.
I doubt that even if there was a church in Irrisen it would have lead to conversions. There might be a church in the capital for the new queen, maybe it is even made out of ice to shine with light? One could be quite creative with the magic I imagine.
I wouldn't imagine that it would be in a product, though that makes me wonder why they chose to pick a real person who is considered a Saint by the Russian Orthodox Church to be Queen? It just feels like something that has to addressed since she was a real person.
I imagine that with the dethronement of the White Witches some goodly deities of the northern reaches are picking up steam. Alglenweis is a deity who had a witch cult in the Sarkoris Scar and is the goodly daughter of Kostchtchie—seems like she'd be popular among winter witches that are not affiliated with the White Witches. Pulura, empyreal lord of the northern lights, is another one who could very well be popular.
Alglenweis works pretty well, especially since Kostchtchie is IIRC based on Koschei the deathless of slavic folklore. Looking at the pathfinder wiki, I think that Tolc cold also work, especialy since the wiki says that he is the sworn enemy to Kostchtchie.
but I am sure that there are other divine beings be they minor gods, major gods, demi-gods, empyreal lords or so on that can work.
Damn the torpedos and give us canon rules for the whole Canaanite/Levantine pantheons! Throw the Greeks and Norse in too while we're at it.
Norse would fit the neighbouring Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and the Giant gods are based on the Jotnar, but I think Canaanite/Levantine and Greek would be more thematically appropriate to Casmaron since that's where the equivalents to their real-life counterparts lie. Irrisen is more Russian-flavoured, and if there is something new it should draw from the rich cultural traditions it has to draw from.
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I don't think it's impossible that after the events of Reign of Winter Baba Yaga has either lost interest or is more content to just watch what the nation does without a White Witch on the throne. Her oversight (or lack thereof) needn't prevent an alignment shift. But all that is speculative until we get some article on Irrisen.
As for religion, I can see this being a place where Baba Yaga's influence has kept more traditional deities at bay, but allowed for plenty of fun demigods. Eldest, Empyrean Lords and Demon Lords all look like they'd fit in well here. As much as I love Lamashtu I never understood why she and Zon Kuthom were worshipped other than "they're evil core deities and this is the inner sea".
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Why bring "dethronement of the White Witches" into things, then, if what you actually meant was a social alignment shift?Transitions of power simply don't happen overnight. The Jadwiga still have a lot of privilege because they're the people who have been educated on how to lead Irrisen. That doesn't mean that the White Witches still hold the power they did before. When the Lost Omens Character Guide mentions the Jadwiga, it says they "once ruled that land."
I think the wrench in this theory is that Baba Yaga is still in control. But, honestly, in order for an alignment shift to happen in the first place, it's safe to say that many of the wicked witches that once had sole rulership over the nation would lose power. Fiefdoms would change hands in the half a decade between the end of Reign of Winter and the beginning of 2E. And the rulers that were displaced would end up plotting a coup, which judging by how some call Anastasia the "Fraud Queen" is precisely what's happening.
The idea that the White Witches, an organization of Narnia villains, are somehow still the rulers of Irrisen after someone who was not part of the faction was put on the throne, and the nation ended up undergoing a great enough shift in values to no longer be evil, is something I don't think adds up. Whatever change would happen would have to be slow going, and it would also have to be overlooked by Baba Yaga, but it's happening, and I don't think it's possible for the White Witches to still be on the throne and for Irrisen to not be evil simultaneously.
Anastasia isn't good, but she'd want competent leaders who won't stab her in the back under her command, and evil fairy tale witches aren't conducive to that.
Today in Pathfinder, social revolutions either leave societies exactly the same or make them worse, but replacing the evil Maximum Leader with a neutral Maximum Leader makes them better.
I never would have suspected either of those two deities would have widespread worship in Irissen. The more you know!
For those who don't follow PFS, Baba Yaga has appeared in Irrisen (and Taldor).
Which scenarios?
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MMCjawa, do you know anything about the Religion of Russia, Russia has always been a religious country except when it was suppressed by the KGB and the communist party. Have you ever heard of the Secrets of Fatima?
They were a set of Prophecies that are said to have been given to a Spanish teen from 1917-1920 the third secret concerns Russia returning to the Christian faith. All The Released Secrets of Fatima that have been released have come true.
I was referring to the original successful conversion of the Slavs to Christianity in 987. The ruler of the Kievan Rus at the time consulted with envoys of many of the major religions, including Judaism, Islam, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. Legend says that Islam was ruled out in part because the Russians didn't want to give up alcohol or pork. Although more realistically it was trade ties with Constaninople and the promise of a marital alliance which probably were the biggest selling points.
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Norse would fit the neighbouring Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and the Giant gods are based on the Jotnar, but I think Canaanite/Levantine and Greek would be more thematically appropriate to Casmaron since that's where the equivalents to their real-life counterparts lie. Irrisen is more Russian-flavoured, and if there is something new it should draw from the rich cultural traditions it has to draw from.
I'm mostly being facetious since we already have the full Egyptian pantheon (precedent set) and part of Reign of Winter's book 5 conceit is the PCs visit an Earth virtually identical to our irl Earth. And delving into questions of Earth's religions and how, say, Yahweh fits into the PF cosmology seems like the kind of thing Paizo might prefer avoid but that's neither here nor there. Does the Russian Orthodox deity the Romanovs worshipped have any connection to the war god of the OT? I dunno, it doesn't seem like the sort of question that would enrich Pathfinder by being answered, but Anastasia is the queen of Irrisen so the odds of it coming up are not zero.
I do actually want to see the Norse pantheon though, it's a fun corner of mythology and a tengu priest of Odin would be fun to play.
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For those who don't follow PFS, Baba Yaga has appeared in Irrisen (and Taldor).Which scenarios?
Taldor was a Tales of Lost Omen.