D&D 30day Challenge: Day06 - Favorite Deity

I've been posting about a lot of deities (mostly from the Roman / Greek tradition), and if the question were really just about them, I'd name Minerva / Athena and probably Apollo and Zeus. But really, almost any of the ones I've covered in this blog are of interest to me.

But this is a D&D challenge question, so I 'd assume it's somehow related to D&D gaming or reading experiences, and I really don't have any that jump to mind.

If Immortals count as deities (in Mystara, they're not gods, y'know), then I'd actually cite Rad (a.k.a. Etienne d'Amberville) who, despite being cast as something of a villain in Wrath of the Immortals, benefits from some familiarity in D&D modules as the person 'released' by adventurers in the X2 module Castle Amber (Chateau d'Ambreville). He comes across as a young Immortal eager to shake up the ways things are done and acts as a sort of controversial POV character who could be counted as a 'contemporary' of adventurers, despite his rather high ranking amongst his kind.

Other gods that have caught my interest in the past were:

• Seker from the Egyptian pantheon, primarily for his anti-undead abilities according to the AD&D Deities and Demigods book;
• St. Cuthbert from Greyhawk, who made me wonder at a very young age how saints figured into the D&D game, as I didn't know he wasn't a real saint;
• Waukeen from Forgotten Realms, due to his ties with commerce, triggering the creation of an overt and covert set of societies in my derailed campaign that would have worked to counter bad trade practices round the Realms.

Lords of Pandius: Inspiration -- Thor God of Thunder

The current Marvel series Thor: God of Thunder is a good source of ideas for a multi-pantheistic world.:

Throughout the ages, the gods of the Marvel Universe have been vanishing, their mortal worshippers left in chaos. NOW! the Mighty Thor follows a trail of blood that threatens to consume his past, present and future selves. The only hope for these ravaged worlds lies with the God of Thunder unraveling the gruesome mystery of the God Butcher!

For Mystara, with a relatively stable set of Immortals -- perhaps a Butcher of Immortals is something that the Hierarchs have all heard rumors of. Perhaps it is something that the old, true gods -- or merely the generation of Immortals long past -- had taken care of.

In my case, I'd certainly tie it to the absence of the Olympians, and perhaps suggest why there are Immortals that take the name of gods from other pantheons: the Old Ones are still locked in battle against the Butcher of Immortals, but their source of power and meaning -- Mystara -- must still move and turn with time and the seasons. And perhaps the next generation of Immortals will find the key to defeat the Butcher once and for all.

Lords of Pandius 07 - PROWESS and Immortals

I'm basing it on Armor Class.

In Lords of Olympus, Prowess is defined as a combination of physical skill in combat, as well as a grasp of strategy and tactics. Intelligence might modify it, but since the rules say that intellect isn't a Primary Ability, we only go with combat skill. I could base it on either the Immortal Level or Hit Dice, giving me 35 Class Rankings of Prowess (zounds!) or I could compress it a bit by going with Armor Class. So, I'm basing it on Armor Class, coz the straight progression irks me a bit.

Using Immortal Armor Class, the following would occur:

AC 0 is Olympic Class
AC -1 is 18th Class
AC -2 is 19th Class

and so on until

AC -20 is First Class.

There's an interesting effect as well, where the first 6 Immortal Levels are essentially the same Class ranking, while Immortal Levels 27 to 36 have a Class ranking each level.

Next: Summarizing the Primary Ability conversion approaches + Costs of each Class ranking

Lords of Pandius 06 - EGO conversion

This took a while, because I was wrestling with a need to be a bit more symmetrical in how I determined the remaining Primary Abilities for Lords of Olympus in the Mystara setting. Then I thought about the fact that if I was trying to recreate the Wrath of the Immortals (WotI) rules in a different game system, why didn't I just play the WotI game as is?

To that end, I went back to the wordings in the Lords of Olympus RPG and tried to find out if there were equivalent abilities aside from the Ability Scores that reflected it. Here's what I decided:

EGO and Immortals

Ego is described as being very important to mental defense, domination, and the ability communicate with mortals and gods mentally. And it's also important for a lot of the powers of the gods. I therefore decided to take a fresh look at the various WotI tables.

Here's a good candidate:

This table gives us a view of how Immortal levels map against Mental Attacks. Which theoretically gives us a measurement of how many classes there are for Ego!

Progression ranges from 18 to 5, across 36 levels. If we assume that levels 1 through 6 are Olympic Class, then 17 through 5 are the various Numbed Classes (and Tied Numbered Classes).

There are 13 Numbered Classes (First through Thirteenth) for Ego as follows:

Levels 1-6 are Olympic Class
Levels 7-8 are 13th Class
Levels 9-10 are 12th Class
Levels 11-12 are 11th Class
Levels 13-14 are 10th Class
Levels 15-16 are 9th Class
Levels 17-18 are 8th Class
Levels 19-20 are 7th Class
Levels 21-22 are 6th Class
Levels 23-24 are 5th Class
Levels 25-26 are 4th Class
Levels 27-28 are 3rd Class
Levels 29-30 are 2nd Class
Levels 31-33 are Tied 1st Class
Levels 34-36 are 1st Class

Lords of Pandius 05 - MIGHT and FORTITUDE

Having done the quick & dirty conversion approach, plus the ability score conversion approach, the time has come to see how these would translate Mystaran Immortal stats into the Primary Ability class rankings.

Lords of Olympus specifically states that there are no equivalents of Intelligence or Charisma (as those are to be role-played), so we can drop those from ability score conversion. That leaves four ability scores to four Primary Abilities. Simple, right?

Not quite. Let's see why:

MIGHT and Immortals

Might is clearly described as physical strength in Lords of Olympus, so that means Strength in Wrath of the Immortals (WOTI). I have some minor doubts, as WOTI also has a table that shows that damage from bare-handed attacks is based on Immortal rank.

A stunning range of 2d6 to 4d6 damage! Well, I think I'll stick to the conversion of WOTI STR to Lords of Olympus MIGHT. However, if your Immortal level is from the Empyreal to Hierarch range, you are definitely among the top in your class; those below that range are considered Tied in their class ranking.

So: MIGHT is based on the Ability Score conversion table.

FORTITUDE and Immortals

We don't follow the same rule with Constitution. According to the table above, and other text in WOTI, hit points are determined by your Immortal level WITHOUT any influence by Constitution! Therefore, an immortal's level determines the FORTITUDE class ranking in Lords of Olympus.

Constitution only impacts an Immortal's ability to resist Immortal poisons. Regular poisons, as you might guess, don't affect immortals. Therefore, we ignore the Constitution ability score as negligible for the purposes of this conversion and use the table that I created for translating Immortal power levels into Lords of Olympus class rankings (which I thought was a mistake).

Lords of Pandius 04 -- Immortal Ability Score Range Conversion

After all my thoughts on the prior posts in mind,  I've created the following conversion approach for the individual ability scores of Mystaran Immortals into the Lords of Olympus rankings.

There's still some fine-tuning necessary, since:

• D&D hit points figure heavily into the durability of a given immortal
• there are four 'ability scores' in Lords of Olympus, while there are the classic six ability scores in D&D
• there are a lot of Mystaran Immortal abilities that may or may not have Lords of Olympus equivalents (like the Aura ability)
• quite a number of Mystaran Immortals will devolve into Heroic and sometimes even Mortal range!

That last bit can be addressed by reiterating that Immortals of Mystara are not quite 'gods' either. That and the fact that these Immortals are NPCs anyway, and not likely to get into the scrapes that PC Immortals will get into. And possibly that they have other secrets (like powerful Olympian artifacts hidden from the sight of other Immortals) that compensate for this arguably 'fatal' level of ability.

Lords of Pandius 03 -- Olympians and Equivalents

The reason that I'm spending time of the Olympians is because they're the default characters statted out in the Lord of Olympus RPG.

From their D&D stats, I was going to gauge relative power levels with the other Immortals. But their absence makes things tricky.

Now I have a different approach. If I can establish them as being part of the Mystaran Universe, with the rest of the Immortals as a huge group of PCs, then all the stats that talk about ranks being First + 1 or First + 2 (in other words a rank or two above the highest ranking PC in that stat), then I just have to deal with the stats of the Immortals as a batch.

Consequence: the Olympians are top dog in terms of power, and thankfully missing (or pursuing other projects in the multiverse).

Fortunately there is much out there that I can already use to support such a theory:

• this list of Mystaran Immortals identifies (among many things) existing Immortals who are worshipped as the Olympian deities in the Milenian culture (found in the Hollow World)
• here's a theory about the IM2 module and the false Olympians found there, and introduces the Mandala of Myth artifact
• this article expands on that false Olympian theory, and further rationalizes the events in IM2 in terms of Olympian gods from the Plane of Myth
• this Mystaran Cosmology post establishes where the Plane of Myth (Laterre) might fit into the overall cosmology and the other playgrounds of the Olympians
• this post shares a bit more about Laterre, and other cornerstones of the Mystaran Universe that came from that plane -- like a couple of families in Glantri, and one of the Immortals (Rad)!

Lords of Pandius 02 -- Research and Ideas

After my realization in the prior post, I begin reading up on the mechanical side of the ability scores for Immortals in Mystara. As per Wrath of the Immortals, the ability scores actually extend the normal range of scores from human to beyond. Here's the table:

I suppose this means that some Immortals may actually be in the Mortal Class or Hero Class in Lords of Olympus terms. And a quick look at some Immortals' stats actually confirms that. So it's a matter of coming to an arbitrary definition of those two classes, which effectively establishes the rest of the ratings as Olympian Class or better.

Speaking of Olympians

They're not in Mystara. As per a Vaults of Pandius article, the Olympian pantheon does not exist (visibly) in the Mystaran universe. It does make me want to research the Milennian culture and the Immortals they worshipped, though.

But this does open the gateway to playing -- in the vein of Lords of Olympus -- true children of the gods. If the Paths of Immortality are therefore ways of welcoming people who might secretly have the blood of the gods in their veins, or transform them into god-like beings through mastery of the magics.

Lords of Pandius 01 -- Translating Power Levels (Initial Mistake)

This being an ongoing attempt to convert Mystaran Immortals into the Lords of Olympus ruleset. Woohoo!

So the first thing I look at is translating the Mystaran Immortal 'levels' into equivalent Lords of Olympus classes. Mystara has the following Immortal power level names:

• Initiate
• Temporal
• Celestial
• Empyreal
• Eternal
• Hierarch

Lords of Olympus has the following power level classes:

• Mortal Class
• Heroic Class
• Olympian Class
• Numbered Class (extensible)

Olympian class is actually a mediocre level of power for the gods, so we can set that as the Initiate power level, making all subsequent classes the equivalent of Numbered Classes. Therefore, our first pass at power level translation would be:

• Initiate => Olympian Class
• Temporal => Fifth Class
• Celestial => Fourth Class
• Empyreal => Third Class
• Eternal => Second Class
• Hierarch => First Class

In Lords of Olympus, these classes are used to rank Principal Abilities (Ego, Might, Fortitude, Prowess). Which reveals our first problem: Principal Abilities are more akin to D&D Ability Scores, not class levels.

Furthermore, looking at some of the stats of the various Mystaran Immortals, some of them have ability scores rated at 50, while others are at the more modest 18 to 20 range.

What to do? Well, according to Wrath of the Immortals, the Immortal Rank actually determines the number of dice to roll OR the number of points to allocate for an Immortal's ability scores.

Therefore, the Immortal Rank is actually more a reflection of how many points are available to build one's character abilities. We'll have to revisit this, therefore, with a more thorough look at Lords of Olympus character creation in the next installment.

LOTFP Mystara: Death, Magic, and the Jackal-Headed God

I was toying with the idea of inserting the Death Frost Doom module into Karameikos by somehow having him related to the Jackal-Headed god of the Hutaaka known as Pflarr.

This statue appears in the Vatican. How
cool is that?

However, in the process of doing research, I happened upon the god Hermanubis.

Hermanubis is a god that combines the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Anubis -- the son of Egyptian gods Set and Nephthys.

Definitely tied to death via both Hermes's and Anubis's role in bringing the dead to the afterlife, he also carries the sacred caduceus that both Hermes and Iris bore as messengers of the gods.

The twisted Pflarr we're crafting would therefore have provenance over death and magic (in fact, Pflarr is tied to both death & magic based on his written origins), and might be a special patron to those seeking to uncover secrets that mortals were not meant to know.

He may even be the god that -- in my 'pagan spells' approach -- all empowers all spells that deal with death, undeath, and piercing the secrets of the outer dark.

Immediate questions that come to mind: are the Hutaaka possessed of certain abilities tied to their creator's interests? Perhaps they have ties to the Kingdom of the Ghouls that has yet to be placed in LOTFP Mystara. Perhaps they perform the role as a guardian over the portals to the Underworld. And what strange rituals do they perform in their Lost Valley?

Enigmundia: Spheres, Magical Fields, and Outsiders

In a gamer's life -- especially a young one playing D&D and seeing stats for a god in a D&D sourcebook -- there often comes a time when one chooses to measure one's self against these gods, perhaps even engage them in combat, perhaps even win.

This can be attributed to an improper appreciation of scale. After all, most game systems tend to a handle a relatively tight range of characteristics, and appeals to 'players just die' tend to smack of either killer DMing -- with players sometimes asking to see the written down stats.

But let's take a look at where players are coming from: the point of view the gods and outsiders are just really high level PCs (usually on a more or less linear progression of characteristics and spell abilities). The expect a chance against other PCs.

They don't see them as forces of nature -- which is what gods have been defined by some. If they did, they would treat them like that series of death saves some PC must make when trying to survive being crushed by the pressures of the deep, deep ocean while avoiding suffocation (hopefully with a magic item or a spell without a verbal component).

This is my rationale of such beings, as well as the various magical fields and disciplines, in Enigmundia -- a rationale that hopefully will help players understand what they're playing with when tackling gods and outsiders and other things that operate on a planetary and even universal scale.

This is the Magical Field of Enigmundia

Okay, it's actually a representation of the magnetic fields of the Earth, but it's my starting point. The reason that there are conflicting tales about Enigmundia's Hollow Earth is because the 'center' of the world actually a collection of spheres that roil and revolve and rotate inside Enigmundia's aetheric core.

What are in the spheres? Some are Ages, preserved spheres of magical reality that act as reservations for races, zoos for creatures, and prisons for gods, titans, demons, and other terrible creatures. Others are pure spheres of magical principle. Others are broken remnants of realities, dimensions, and universes, and perhaps a dead or dormant god or three. Despite their seemingly chaotic dance within the aetheric core, they have settled into a semi-regular pattern for certain intersections with the material plane, resulting in cities and worlds that intersect with Enigmundia on constant, daily, nightly, weekly, monthly, yearly cycles, or the occasional weird every 100 years.

Their movement and interaction has made possible the current, mostly stable set of magical laws that work on a relatively thin layer of the world's material and aetheric atmosphere that eventually shift and even get chaotic as you go further out. There are, of course, nodes of strange magic that wander here and there, and (very) occasional catastrophic changes in the overall magical field due to some inherent instability in the Dance of Ages, leading to (if lucky) the subtle changing of magical rules to (if unlucky) a rewriting of the rules of reality.

However, the existence of this field protects us from the outsiders, who -- try as they might -- cannot penetrate this powerful, chimeric, chaotic field of energy borne from the fierce interactions between powerful sources of reality bending Ages, spheres, and realities. They covet the fragile and bountiful world of Enigmundia, and seek to sear their influence on us as multiple suns would sear life from our world through multiple barrages of solar wind.

The gods of Enigmundia, are parts of this massive mechanism -- some more aware of their role in the grand defense of the world from outsiders, some its secret architects from long forgotten and rewritten eras and eons -- and they fragment their attentions to occasionally deal with the mortals of Enigmundia.

Enigmundia: Pagan Spells of Mercury -- 1st Level

Past posts in this series will be refined and reformatted; for now, I'll tackle the last two pagan spells from the pagan god Mercury.

Now, Mercury is a slippery fellow. He is worshiped by messengers, travelers, traders, thieves, mages, and other lesser known groups and cults. He has dealings with many gods as their Messenger, and is rumored to communicate with mortals either directly or through their dreams (courtesy of Somnus and Morpheus). Perhaps his strong showing in the pagan spells, and his invocation in many spells to other pagan gods, shows just how important he is now in the waning influence of this fading pantheon.

Floating Disc (1)

It allows the caster to transport items on an invisible disc of force. Movement is said to be accompanied by the faint flutter of wings; an echo, perhaps, of the wings that adorn Mercury in his many depictions across ruins and hidden cults.

Ventriloquism (1)

The messenger of the gods lends the ability to send messages through the air in one of his most trivial of applications of power. However, it is one of his favored spells -- possibly due to the great deal of mischief that has been, and will be done, with this spell.

And that wraps up the 1st level spells of Labyrinth Lord. I'll try to clean all the past entries up and make them more consistent soon. Also, I think I'll shift the actual spells into my Mystara interpretation in the coming months, as Enigmundia seems to be RuneQuest-bound in my mind. However, I do enjoy the research of these 'pagan gods', so the essence of the cults and their ties to spells will remain in Enigmundia.

Inspiration: More Prometheus

The international trailer of Prometheus is revealing even more about the movie. In line with my prior posts, I like looking at films like this and seeing what they might contribute to games I run and backstories that I concoct.

The clearest element here is the concept of the 'alien gods' and that our understanding of science and magic is pitiful compared to the scope that they operate on.

Another element here is that of mere mortals who seek to interact with the 'gods' and their artifacts. Unlike the traditional campaign, which tends to treat godly artifacts as compliant tools, it is argued here that -- like the One Ring -- they may have purposes and agendas that humanity tends to ignore or misinterpret.

And the consequences rarely turn out in favor of humanity.

Which brings me to ruminate on Mystara's Wrath of the Immortals campaign, which I'll tackle in another post...

Enigmundia: More Pagan Spells from Minerva

In this penultimate post on 1st level pagan spells, I tackle two more that are associated with Minerva:

Read Languages

The gift of understanding other written languages is certainly part of the portfolio of Minerva. In addition to wisdom and education, she is also a keeper of knowledge and secrets. When this spell manifests, the reader's eyes become akin to those of an owl in appearance -- and remain so for the duration of the spell.

Shield

Minerva's affinity with the legendary Aegis is well-known. Supplicants may summon a small measure of its might through this spell. At higher levels, an apparition of Minerva may be seen extending her Aegis over the spellcaster.

Past Pagan Spells 

For the curious, the older posts may be found here:

Pagan Spells of Apollo
More Pagan 1st level spells
Pagan 1st level spells
Pagan Spells of the Underworld

Inspiration: Wonder Woman and the New Old Gods

I'm enjoying a lot of the depictions of the Greek gods in the New 52 Wonder Woman series. They weren't all noble, but they were essentially really powerful superheroes -- enigmatic but understandable ultra-high level superheroes / cosmic entities.

The current creative team's take brings the gods back to an earlier perception and sentiment -- they are fickle and vicious and constantly scheming and conspiring against one another. And one seldom profits from being entangled in their games.

Excellent source material for fantasy games, and a good inspiration for Enigmundia's take on Greek / Roman Gods.

So far, Hera and Hermes my favorite depictions, though Apollo is creeping up there. The missing Zeus is one I suspect I'll rather enjoy, as he's been mentioned as always appearing in a form most desirable to the woman he wants, and that's likely to be Wonder Woman down the line.

Hermes is interesting with his affinity to birds, the constant referring to him the messenger by the other gods, and the obvious visual cues to render him avian-like. And even he suggests that as a messenger, he seldom traffics in truth.

Hera is portrayed as powerful, dangerous, and desirable -- I hesitate from using the word sexy because the body language shies away from 'sexy' poses except when she is resting from her labors. Although, I wonder if the choice to suggest her nakedness beneath the peacock cloak was really necessary. I like that she dresses up when she gets home -- perhaps one needs to be naked when cloaked in that artifact?

I'll admit that the modifications to the Wonder Woman canon are severe, and definitely require parental guidance, but they have caught my interest due to their non-sanitized take on the Greco-Roman gods in a modern idiom.

Research on Gods: Trimorphoi - the triple godhead

Some research from a friend on the Trimorphoi.

"Trimorphoi (tree-MORH-foy) is a term that covers the multiple aspects of triple godhead, which is to say various divinities understood as a set of three. Debatable exceptions to this include Diana and Hecate (both part of the set of Diana, Selene, and Hecate, but each also frequently depicted independently) and the nine Muses, said to be a 'tripled triple'.

While the trimorphoi are classically only depicted as maiden, mother, and crone in their aspect as the Fates, it can be perceived that, in the majority of forms, there is a progression of beginning-middle-end, which is interpreted by some as morning-noon-night, and some as past-present-future, and can certainly be taken as a youngest-to-eldest representation."                  

Enigmundia: Cults of Orcus

The Cults of Orcus are many and varied in name and goals. They tend to be more secretive in cities, grow in organization and influence in the rural areas, and consolidate into masses of  followers in the wilderness.

A common trait to these cults is a fondness for vows and oaths -- every rise in rank and stature in the cult is accompanied by a new, very eruditely composed oath that is added to all the prior ones. Politicking and jockeying for position is commonly characterized by attempts to get opponents to directly or indirectly break oaths to their lord and master.

Cult Depictions

The depiction of Orcus as a goat-headed lord of the undead seems to stem from his Panthenian roots, where he was considered to be one of the first cthonic gods and therefore one of the princes of the vast Underworld of myth.

Even back then, his demesne was Oaths, and he was a feared punisher of oath-breakers -- a much-replicated image in the museum of Imperian relics depicts him as a wild-haired, non-descript old man effortlessly heaving two muscled oathbreakers off a cliff as punishment. Sages have pointed to the strange stygian colorations of the cliff, starkly contrasted with the sylvan splendor found above, as an indication that the punished are being cast down into one of the many Pits to the Underworld.

There is another series of depictions of Orcus that is found in the foul tomes of the Oathbound (sorcerers who have entered into pacts with demons and devils). He is shown as a young, whiskerless man wielding a wand when the Oathbound first make their pacts, then as an immaculately robed patrician a rod when warning them against potential violations of their oaths, and -- his most fearsome aspect -- a grey-haired, bearded old man with long nails and piercing eyes when claiming them for breaking their pacts.

Lord of the Undead

His association with the undead seems to be tied to his purported role as overseer of contracts and agreements between demons and the sentients of the mortal realm. There are a variety of cults that are not dedicated to Orcus per se, but call upon him to officiate the sealing of pacts with demons and devils. It is rumored that the undead that serve him tend to be those that he's punished for failing to live up to their vows in life, and now must uphold foul oaths in death.

Other more discerning scholars of his cults have suggested a different reason: they theorize that Oathbreakers and those they make pacts with are often unaware of certain clauses inserted into their agreements -- clauses that bind both demons and sentients to the service of Orcus if either of the two violate the terms of their contracts.

If this is true, then the power of Orcus is fearsome indeed. Centuries of broken pacts between demons and sentients of the sunlit realms make for a terrible Underworld army at his command.

Orcs, Ogres and Orcus

Few orc and ogre tribes worship Orcus, yet he is known to them all as the father of their races. Their animal cunning, their distrust of words and equivocation, and their seemingly inherent treachery seem to be totally at odds with the fiercely cerebral, meticulously literal, and oath-sensitive nature of their progenitor god -- which is perhaps why a number of cults sponsor expeditions, crusades, and wars against orcs all across Enigmundia.

A few have theorized that the races were attempts to create his own minion race -- one to replace the hordes of humanity on Enigmundia -- that were cursed by other gods. Others have suggested that they are the personification of his own brutal nature, driven out (mostly) from his person.

It is likely that the truth will never be known, as no scripture or writing seems to speak of the incident, leaving the matter to apocryphal oral traditions in the humanoid tribes.

Enigmundia: Pagan Spells -- Light, Continual Light, Magic Missile, and Protection from Evil

Here are four spells that have one god in common -- one god with different epithets.

The god is known as Apollo Phoebus, who is interesting because he is one of the few gods who had no direct equivalent during the transition from the Parthenian Age to the Imperian Age. His Parthenian name was Apollo; his Imperian names included Apollo Phoebus (in his aspect as god of light) and Apollo Helius (in his aspect as god of the sun.

There are other reputed invocations that call upon Helios and Sol as sole names, not as epithets of Apollo -- most of them deal with aspects of the power of the sun.

For now, let's take a look at how Light & Magic Missile are handled as part of the Imperian magical tradition.

Light (1) and Continual Light (2)


Invocations to the spells for Light and Continual Light are to Apollo Phoebus, which is a source of surprise to many. As god of light, it would seem that granting Continual Light would be an easier spell to cast, but it is theorized that all gods are concerned about granted permanence to their spells being to easy. Another theory is that the prison that binds the old gods makes such permanent boons difficult, hence the presence of the easier to cast Light spell.

Magic Missile (1)

There are many distance spells open to mages, but one of the most dangerous and accurate spells is magic missile. The signifier of light-kissed arrows flying unerringly to their target is a sure sign of Apollo Aphetor -- his aspect as god of archery.

Protection from Evil (1)

As Apollo Alexicacus, his aspect as protector and warder against evil, comes to the fore. Mages with a number of spells already from his portfolio tend to call upon him for this spell, as they have already formed a familiarity with his particular brand of power.

However, most mages seem to prefer to spread their invocations across several sources -- there are rumors of benefits and banes to spellcasters that tend to favor a single source.

Enigmundia: Pagan Spells -- Charm Person, Protection from Evil, Sleep

My prior post on mage spells powered by pagan gods tackled three 1st level spells and one 2nd level spell. Here are three more by different gods.

Charm Person (1)

It should come as no surprise that Venus is the primary source of sudden charm. Given her powers, her past, and her nature, the only surprise seems to be that the spell is so subtle in its effects. Those who've endured its effects in the name of mystical inquiry have stated that the caster seemed to have suddenly become more attractive and worthy of friendship, and that romantic or sexual thoughts were only at the very edges of consciousness. Her patronage is often signified by the scent of rosewater and myrtle.

This effect is similar to another favorite patron for this spell: Bacchus. Victims of this flavor of the spell have mentioned experiencing a strong but ultimately fleeting bond of friendship with the caster, much like one who has shared a round of strong drink with a group of strangers and have become fast friends. The feeling of friendship evaporates in the same way that the prior night's drunken memories fade and are gone. His patronage is signified by the faint scent of wine that grows stronger as the spell nears its end.

Protection from Evil (1)

Terminus, god of boundaries, is often called upon to define the limits of property and location. Though fairly focused, his power and authority afford an easily tapped set of spells -- such as this one -- for mages.

No visible signs are shown, though ghostly boundary markers appear briefly when the protection is triggered by need.

As an aside, Terminus is also often called upon when inscribing certain magic circles or sacred geometry.

Sleep (1)

Because the name of the god is synonymous (in ancient Imperian) with the common name of the spell, many mages are unaware of the patron of this spell: Somnus.

Somnus is the god of sleep, and ruler of a vast land of dreams, chimeras, and nightmares in the Underworld. He belongs to a set of gods (known in the Parthenian tongue as the Demos Oneiroi) of that place not directly related to death or hell, and raises the eyes of many scholars and mystics regarding our understanding of those vast unknown depths. They have been mentioned elsewhere in this blog as Hypnos, Morpheus, Phobetor and Phantasus.

For this spell, in the caster's shadow, appear to wings briefly stretch and move, arising from the caster's shoulder or brow.

Enigmundia: Wands, Rods, and Staves revisited

In an earlier post on mage culture, I talked about wands, rods, and staves.

That philosophy tends to be the case for the male mages in particular. Many female mages follow a different tradition. Wands tend to be wielded for purposes of creation, Rods tend to be wielded for purposes of detection, measurement, management, or control. Staves tend to be used for destruction.

This is because these women look to the Parcae -- the Fates -- for their inspiration and resonant sources of power.

The wands tend to evoke the look of a stylized spindle, reminiscent of Nona, who spins the thread of life. As per her name, there tend to be nine of something in the patterns of the wands.

The rods tend to evoke the look of a measuring rod, reminiscent of Decima, who measures the length of each thread of life. As per her name, there tend to be ten of something in the pattern of the rods.

The staves are the most distinctive, because they are stylized to look like long, closed sets of scissors sheathed in a scabbard of sorts. This is reminiscent of Morta, who cuts the threads of life. Patterns of skulls tend to adorn these staves.

Their light weight tends to suggest a lighter material transformed into wood or metal.