The names of gods and goddesses


Pathfinder Second Edition General Discussion


Hi!

I was wondering, where does one start to gain information about some of the meta-information about the setting? Specifically I was looking to find information about the origins of the Goblin Hero god's names, such as Zogmugot and Zarongel? After a bit of thinking, why not start among the biggest collection of pathfinder people on the internet? Given the alternative is working through emailing the designers of the books, which seems neither efficient nor polite.


Before a lot of confusion arises... by meta-information, you're referring not to the lore of the setting, but the developer side of how that lore was written and created. Less "velstracs are body-mutilation fiends who mostly live with Zon-Kuthon in the Netherworld" and more "velstracs and Zon-Kuthon are inspired by Hellraiser and the 3.5e monster the chain devil, which is itself inspired by Hellraiser", is that accurate?

As for this question, I don't think it's ever been explicitly stated where the names Zogmugot and Zarongel came from. Just judging from sight and similar questions I've seen developers such as James Jacobs answer, it is very likely that all the goblin gods were fully created using common 'monstery' sounding consonant-heavy syllables (esp as seen in the two Z-names on this list).

The first place I can think to look is to search for the names of the goblin hero gods to see if any developers have posts on the forums talking about them. I don't know who specifically named these gods, but you could do worse than looking for their first published appearance and checking the authors. In this case, there's a chance it may have been Sean K. Reynolds in Gods and Magic (2008)--but that's no guarantee.

Wayfinders Contributor

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I can tell you the origins of Teki Stronggut, if you would like, as I was the person who wrote her first incarnation as a mortal.

Ron Lundeen asked me to write a backmatter article for the Agents of Edgewatch AP that was initially called "Starstone Washouts".

Publishing Information:
Backmatter for Agents of Edgewatch 4: Attack on Hunting Lodge Seven (September 2020)
* I wrote "the tales of some of the countless mortals aspiring to divinity via the Test of the Starstone" cited on the product page! This is also the first appearance of Teki Stronggut, who ascended to divinity in Lost Omens Divine Mysteries!

It was supposed to be mainly humorous, but I found myself getting serious as I talked about both Starstone failures and current day aspirants. Because the Shrine of the Failed is such an important location for those who fail the Starstone Test, I decided that one of my aspirants was someone who had been inspired to take the test by all those stories of failures.

So I created a goblin tour guide - because who else would be inspired by all the stories of spectacular failure and decide that they had a chance? I decided that her job had been to be a janitor, cleaning up food offerings before (and maybe after) they had spoiled. Hence her last name: Stronggut. The first name, Teki, sounded approachable and friendly.

And here's the original text of the mortal Teki:

TEKI STRONGGUT, GODDESS OF FORGOTTEN AND UNLIKELY HEROES:
The plump goblin Teki was first hired by the black‑robed caretakers of the Shrine of the Failed as a cleaner, tasked with removing (or simply eating) all the food offerings and tourist lunches left in the shrine. While at her job, she overheard the scholar Panizir presenting a tour to his patrons. Following stealthily, she became swept up in his stories, especially the lively descriptions of the gruesome deaths of the failed.

Looking at the thousands of plaques, Teki craved to know more about the aspirants who risked it all to attempt the Test of the Starstone. She donned the black robes to become a self-appointed tour guide to the Shrine of the Failed, provoking mixed reactions from the other caretakers. Some feel that Teki doesn’t sufficiently represent the shrine’s dignity, while others are delighted at the uptick in visitors coming to hear the goblin’s lurid tales. Teki’s stories aren’t entirely
spurious; she tries hard to reflect the realities of those who’ve failed the Test of the Starstone during her lively tours.

Learning about all these doomed aspirants sparked a desire in Teki’s heart to join them, as she felt she can’t truly understand an aspirant without attempting the same journey. Teki recently declared herself the goddess of forgotten and unlikely heroes, for aren’t goblins the most unlikely heroes of all? A few goblins, attracted by Teki’s long odds, have started cheering her on. She has no temple, but the crowds that await her tours at the Shrine of the Failed grow daily.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Can confirm that for the four original goblin hero gods, I invented them and their names, and did not pull any of that lore from previous publications or mythology.


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Hilary Moon Murphy wrote:
I can tell you the origins of Teki Stronggut, if you would like, as I was the person who wrote her first incarnation as a mortal.

Hah! Thank you for that as I enjoy giving my non-divine characters a deity to worship. Now I know who my PFS goblin braggart swashbuckler reveres! He has a cook background and is not very good at it (average intelligence), which means that he combines the metropolitan ingredients of Absalom with those found from his goblin upbringing in the Puddles district. Perfect for Teki’s humble background. Maybe he one day hopes to meet his goddess in the Great Beyond if he is brave enough in defending the weak so he can cook her his reefclaw grub gumbo.

Radiant Oath

Teki would be honored to have your swashbuckler as a follower! And she would love to eat his reefclaw grub gumbo.

Wayfinders Contributor

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You can read Teki's full divine portfolio above by clicking on her avatar.

Personal Aside:

I know that when I wrote Teki, I fell in love with the character and asked Ron Lundeen for permission to make her into a PFS character. He gave me permission, telling me, "It is highly unlikely that we will ascend anyone from this article. But... if we do, you have to retire her immediately."

I played Teki for 9 levels in PFS. Every goblin player that met her wrote down her information, and most of them decided to worship her as their god. I found out later that she had even more followers and fans I had never met. She just started gathering a following of friends and supporters who kept campaigning for her divinity.

Still, I was beyond surprised when I opened Lost Omens: Divine Mysteries and read the goblin section. I whooped so loudly that my family rushed to see what was wrong with me. I have never been so delighted to retire a character.

Truly, she herself was an unlikely (but never forgotten) hero.

Hmm

Wayfinders Contributor

James Jacobs wrote:
Can confirm that for the four original goblin hero gods, I invented them and their names, and did not pull any of that lore from previous publications or mythology.

James, can you talk a bit about the Paizo naming system? Did you choose their names for the sound? What went in to creating the original four goblin hero gods?

Hmm

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Hilary Moon Murphy wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Can confirm that for the four original goblin hero gods, I invented them and their names, and did not pull any of that lore from previous publications or mythology.

James, can you talk a bit about the Paizo naming system? Did you choose their names for the sound? What went in to creating the original four goblin hero gods?

Hmm

It's different for every person, and different for everything you want to name. For me, for the Goblin deities, I aimed for names that sounded both fun to say but also sounded guttural and kinda scary. The idea for these goblin hero gods was to create a mini-pantheon of deities that epitomized the various violences and mayhems that were our goblins, but also in theory were not SUPER high level. They could have become the villains in a "four horseman" sort of way, but never really got around to it and now goblins are less in the "villain" spotlight so that's unlikely to be a story we tell.


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Hilary, this is really cool. I love the whole journey of Teki from garbage ea...cleaner to goddess.

I could see easily using Teki as a good hook for a new campaign.


I like the name of the demigoddess Argwyn in the Continuing the Campaign section of Vault of the Onyx Citadel by Crystal Fraiser. The module as written had Argwyn created by Dryad Queen Arlantia by combining her own genetics with divine essence stolen from the imprisoned goddess Gendowyn. Clearly, the name "Argwyn" was built from "Ar" from "Arlantia" and "g" and "wyn" from "Gendowyn." Yet having the name start with "Arg" highlighted that Argywn was the antagonist.

In my PF2-converted Ironfang Invasion campaign, I changed Argwyn's origin to be a Reflection created by Cyth-V’sug from Gendowyn's shadow. The party made peace with her and she is now a permanent goddess in my campaign world and a member of the Fangwood Pantheon.

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