Counsil Meeting of 816

[Windblade]

One more thing I don't quite understand is exactly how followers affects your status as a god. I will use Lakius as an example but I am sure there are other examples.  You need lots of followers to become a Quasi deity.  Then as your followers grow so those your influence.  The counsil notices you and votes you on.  That all makes sense.  I also understand how having little bit of followers but a strong influence over things such as Compture allows him to stay as a higher ranking deity.  What I don't understand or better yet disagree with is that when you have a certain amount of followers the counsil shouldn't be able to demote you just based on a vote.  So I am going to assume Lakius followers increased based on all the story line around Nathan.  So if you followers are increasing you power should grow and you shouldn't be able to be demote by the counsil because if this happens to often then followers become much less important and makes influence the most important thing in becoming and staying a high ranking deity.  If follower matter less then this just changes everything I thought I knew about Habololy for the past 30 years. 

[Asinjin]

Here is a feel for how things work as it pertains to the deities:

On Habololy there are advantages and disadvantages to being a counsil or cult power. For cult powers your divine rank/category is strictly a measure of your following and control over your area of influence. Nothing else affects the power’s status. The downside is, as Sutyr and Chaos just found out, if the Counsil decides they’ve had enough they will band together and wipe you out, so not only do you lose status, you might end up floating on the Astral Plane.

Powers on the Counsil don’t have to worry about that issue (in theory, see Stasis and Tyrogatore’s recent experience). Counsil powers can lose status in two ways- if something happens to their following (Falan cut about 25% of his loose) and/or if the other powers decide another power has left behind part of their portfolio without replacing it with something else. This means a power can be demoted even if their flock remains constant.

In theory, if the demotion doesn’t match the power’s actual rank, they could become a cult and immediately return to their prior rank. This was essentially what Hemator did in 2nd Era when the powers refused to promote her multiple times. But then the whole crusade issue arises again.

[Asinjin]

So I am going to assume Lakius followers increased based on all the story line around Nathan. 

This is not a correct assumption.  When it became clear that Nathan's sect of the religion was ascendant, and that the deity Lakius approved of this vision, many of the clerics who were hermits or who had struggled against Nathan, lost faith and converted to someone else.  Celetal and the Oldest Orc being the two most common destinations.  Once there, those clerics actively sought to recruit faithful of Lakius.

Additionally, in the turmoil of those years, Lavash'ki and Tommimao went hard for sailors and others members of the religion who were put off by the struggle.

[Asinjin]

It real seems like everything we did in the Seas and with Nathan did not even matter and then the voting in post snap 2 didn't even matter.  Nathan did everything to in his power to make changes to the religion which seemed to be successful based on everything you told me.  Then before I even get to play in a world where those changes matter everything is reversed in this vote.  I really would like you to reconsider this because it really takes away from the changes in the world that you say our characters can make it.

Your changes were very impactful and will be seen.  You reversed the long downward trend of the religion of one of the creator deities and set it on a path to restoration of what Lakius was close to at the origin of the world.  The whole perception of clerics of Lakius in the 4th era will be different from the 3rd era.

[Windblade]

Thanks for the clarifications that makes some sense and I understand better what happened.  I have a few more ideas about this that I will email you.

[Zunder]

Please review the Domain spreadsheet, and make sure I did ok!

[Malchia]

Please review the Domain spreadsheet, and make sure I did ok!

Where is this spreadsheet located?  I don't see it on OneDrive.  I have an old Excel copy from 2012 saved in my email, but nothing more recent except for the current posts.

[Asinjin]

Please review the Domain spreadsheet, and make sure I did ok!

I forgot that was there, you did good, I color coded it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tHR_fAwFoG-3-uUwJAMQNW05Vt2sxNTkaOfzkSV8AEg/edit?usp=sharing

[Malchia]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tHR_fAwFoG-3-uUwJAMQNW05Vt2sxNTkaOfzkSV8AEg/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks for sharing; this is very helpful.

[Asinjin]

Thanks for sharing; this is very helpful.

If there are any more questions on the domains, lets move it to that topic on the boards, I will post this there as well.

[Asinjin]

Alarault (Chaotic Neutral)

What appeared at first to possibly be the end of Alarault turned out to be the greatest gift his religion could have received.  The rise of Iott included their efforts to destroy Nomagrok.  While his ancestor Drunnbar had the advantage of organization and kingdom to protect it, Alarault had little of that.  The only thing that protected his faithful was that they were disorganized enough that Iott could not delivery a fatal blow to the faith.

The Day Magic was Broken was cheered mightily by Alarault and his followers.  They had been minimally involved in the planning for the day, for Gneon did not trust the chaotic nature of the quasi deity and his followers.  Those that were almost all died in the distraction attacks.  Scholars thought the five years of persecution and tragic day might be the end of Alarault.

The next two decades did not see the winding down and disillusion of the faith, but its rapid increase.  Many had grown to hate arcane magic, but a long standing fear or dislike of cults, or an alignment disagreement kept them from Drunnbar.  This was especially true of barbarians and humanoids.  Borkondof became home to a temple, and shrines popped up in the Frozensky Forest and the Yellowian Hills.

When the Counsil met in 816, there was some hope among the more sophisticated members of the faith that he might gain a seat on the Counsil.  In anticipation for this, the lead clerics had distanced themselves from Drunnbar and parleyed with clerics of Compture, Dedestroyt and Tommimao.  They also staged attacks on the cults of Corahakar and Loomashyn in the underdark.  It worked, and Alarault was a Counsil member.

The long time high cleric, Graid 6th Sledgehammer, lives in the Feral Valley in Nomagrok.  The Sledgehammer dwarves that live above ground have gravitated towards Alarault.

The best known member of the faith is the bugbear Atek Fiercebreath.  After the defeat of Kallark, he led raids whenever he could against Iottian camps and keeps on the main continent.  Once there were no more evident, he moved to the coast, where he is camped with other of like mind in hopes and invaded Iott.

Power Level - Demi

[Asinjin]

Tfop (Neutral [chaotic] Good)

The religion of Tfop was strong during the time of Iott. Alchemy grew in importance.  The underdogs won in the end against Kallark and Iott.  Tfop's long held beliefs about the status and deities was proven correct when Sutyr betrayed the Counsil.  Port Talp was allied with Iott for a long time and benefitted from that relationship, suffering little from the backlash against magic after Iott fell.

The high cleric was appointed within the past year after Tobin Rockwell died.  The elderly and respected high cleric appointed Brendan Wiskwell, former head alchemist of Iott as his replacement.  The move was looked upon with horror and many thought Iott had wormed its way into the faith.  However, Tobin played upon the value of forgiveness and redemption and promised that Brendan would be true to Tfop and a great high cleric.

The best known followers of Tfop are Claude and Ari, who have not been seen since the defeat of Kallark and are known to have traveled to the planes to defeat him.

Power Level - Greater

[Windblade]

Can you elaborate on this a bit. 

"Tfop's long held beliefs about the status and deities was proven correct when Sutyr betrayed the Counsil". 

What exactly are Tfop long held beliefs.  Just curious.

[Asinjin]

Can you elaborate on this a bit. 

"Tfop's long held beliefs about the status and deities was proven correct when Sutyr betrayed the Counsil". 

What exactly are Tfop long held beliefs.  Just curious.

He is not a fan of the Counsil system.  He thinks deities should be free to up and down come and go and allowed to make their home on the outer planes.

[Hero]

Did Tfop’s alignment change? I thought he was CG.