The upcoming game (only a week away!) and I have all the character sheets. Actually printed them out, and I have them in notebook. And I printed out one of the potential adventures as I only have that in PDF form.
Anyway - the druid is following Hern the Horned God. I found a few interesting references:
From this reference:
Unlike the majority of deities in the Pagan world, Herne has his origins in a local folktale, and there is virtually no information available to us via primary sources. Although he is sometimes seen as an aspect of Cernunnos, the Horned God, the Berkshire region of England is the home to story behind the legend. According to folklore, Herne was a huntsman employed by King Richard II. In one version of the story, other men became jealous of his status and accused him of poaching on the King's land. Falsely charged with treason, Herne became an outcast among his former friends. Finally, in despair, he hanged himself from an oak tree which later became known as Herne's Oak.
In another variation of the legend, Herne was fatally wounded while saving King Richard from a charging stag. He was miraculously cured by a magician who tied the antlers of the dead stag to Herne's head. As payment for bringing him back to life, the magician claimed Herne's skill in forestry. Doomed to live without his beloved hunt, Herne fled to the forest, and hanged himself, again from the oak tree. However, every night he rides once more leading a spectral hunt, chasing the game of Windsor Forest.
Which is a pretty sad tale! But there are other references such as this one, which is the one I think we're going to go with:
In Celtic mythology, Cernunnos was the Horned God who ruled over wild beasts and places. He’s most commonly associated with forests, wild animals, fertility, and wealth. Cernunnos is often depicted with prominent stag antlers on his head and was known as the Lord of the Wild Places or God of the Wilds
Which works out well as I am really wanting to lean a bit more into the Fey as a darker, richer world. While the Fantasy Trip treats Orcs mostly like a different branch of mankind, most game systems have them a bit further apart. Same with Goblins: they are not just small green (or whatever color your goblins are!) people that act like humans: they are a mischievous and dangerous folk that think and act a lot differently than humans do. And should have minor glamours and things like that (which does not work well in the TFT game system though OSE supports it. But we can make it work!) Though getting the idea of the Fey across well is hard (at least for me). Though I am backing the Secret of the Fey and the Dolmenwood kickstarters which are heavily fey! And still want to plop the characters into Rackham Vale. The murder hobo approach in any of these settings would not go well! I will have to place gates in various places, including that mushroom ring in my mountain scene where Thiseas currently calls home.
The more gods the merrier. Nope - Hern the Horned God is not part of my little pantheon, but I run a very open world and like what other people bring to it. The universe (or at least my gaming universe) has lots of room for all sorts of deities. My Centaur Druid did not specify a god. Looking over my ancient pantheon, the druids are normally associated with Tonna, Goddess of the Lesser Creatures. However, Centaurs are generally affiliated with Aronius, Goddess of the Lands. Which explains why he had to leave and now lives in that forest glade several miles from Windemere.
And I decided to roll reaction rolls for how Tonna feels about Hern, and vice versa. Gods can be capricious! In our case, Tonna is open armed to Hern. He is not part of her family of deities. Hern, on the other hand, is not as open towards Tonna, but has no problems with her. No outright antagonism. How some druids or clerics feel may be different, but the gods themselves have no issues with each other.
Thiseas of the Gallantos Herds of the Western Fields worships Tonna. While raised to worship Aronius, he felt a calling from wide open plains of the Western Fields, and slowly roamed south and eventually ended up in the Vele Hory Range (which is actually close to Czech for large mountains - one way of coming up with names: get translator to translate to a different language!). Here is communes with the animals and helps protect this side of the mountain. While he is gaining affinity with Tonna, there may be some animosity from Aronius: she may not want to lose a single being to another deity. And centaurs need wide open fields to run as much as they like! Something to think about at any rate.
I asked whatever art engine Bing uses for a fantasy goddess of small animals and got back some interesting results. Not sure which one I like and they may all be aspects of her. Interestingly they are all very similar, though I did ask for standing in the woods surrounded by small animals. Images at the end.
And digging out my Lesser Keys for avatars, let's see what sort of avatar she will have.
Tonna's Herald is roughly humanoid, about 6' tall and proportioned normally but looks to be made out of air. Its eyes have the appearance of stars. There are 6 mouths that when speaking, create a chorus that can be disconcerting. When appearing, there are also 1d6 rodents/skunks/weasels (roll 1d3 for each animal). The Herald rises up from the ground, and mortals witnessing this become sycophant bootlickers until it goes away. The Herald also fluctuates in size, from rabbit to giant-sized. And smells of fresh rain when it appears. The Herald does have a name: Iaharuyauh, though few know or use it,
Tonna's holy symbol sits on a trapezoid base and depicts a field of grain under the stars, usually carved in bone or ivory when near the sea. The grain is to feed the animals, and the stars represent Tonna herself. Most clerics or druids wear a modest robe during ceremonies, with ribbons adorning their hair (Thiseas even has ribbons in his tail). Reading from the sacred texts is accompanied by percussion and acapella singing. Mead is often poured out as a sacrifice. The ribbons are often knotted, which is also how messages and doctrines are passed along (part of the Druid's cant for Tonna is being able to read and write using the knotted ribbons).
The planting of crops at the end of winter is when Tonna's adherents celebrate. Quiet prayers at the edge of the crops at dawn and pouring out mead from the previous year's harvest.
Priests of Tonna, if they become sainted, have their body interred in a moveable shrine. In a seated position with their hands at their sides, wrapped in linen. This shrine is guarded by 2 types 1d4 animals.
The Lesser Key To The Celestial Legion also has a list of boons. I may use that as needed if we need a deux ex machina at some point.
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| and one of my game group got me a cat dice tray! |
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