This Week In Gods (Part 1) · 7:10am Jun 1st, 2014
First thing's first.
Just letting all of my followers know that the next chapter of Boast Bypassed is still coming. Its just been fighting me a little bit, I'm afraid. I have also been working on some side projects, including another fic for the Lunaverse, and a crossover between my universe and theirs. I'm really looking forward to that second one, I will confess.
Anyway! It's been quite a bit since I've done a blog post detailing some of the world building of the Skitchverse. So, I figured that now's another good time to touch upon some more of that background information, especially considering the revised Epilogue of A Skitch in Time, with the added existence of Thanatos.
Gods and Equis
I got my start in fantasy with Dungeons and Dragons, as I'm sure that plenty of people have. And fantasy settings have a great deal of gods and other such divine beings that add flavor to the universe. And throughout most of my time playing that game, there is one set of fantasy deities that I almost always come back too.
And that's the gods of Greyhawk.
While there are deities that I enjoy in other D&D settings, (Sarenrae from Pathfinder is a particular favourite of mine. About time a good aligned deity existed in a fantasy setting cared about redeeming evil, rather than just killing it.), the overall arrangement of the Greyhawk pantheons has always appealed to me. I've enjoyed their family style relationships, and connections that make them feel like real pantheons to me. And that's a design that I kind of want to carry over. Hence why Thanatos is Celestia and Luna's older brother.
So, here are a few more of the Equis pantheon, what they do, and what their relationships are.
The Equis Weather Deities
The weather gods relationship with the mortal world is complex. Aside from a few of the truly wild places left in the world (such as the Everfree Forest and the depths of the Rainfall Jungle), they no longer directly control most of the weather, leaving that to the mortal pegasai. They do, however, control the flow of the seasons, enacting the slight changes that signal to the world that its time for the next season.
Ra-Den
Father of the four wind deities, Ra-Den was the god of storms, lightning and thunder. With a storm cloud gray coat, and light blue mane and tail, and lightning bolt cutie-mark, electricity almost always sparked from his hooves. Rambunctious, and confident, Ra-Den joined Celestia and Luna when the sisters decided to become part of the mortal world, setting up shop in the far east, with the intent of guiding the ponies there, much as Celestia and Luna were in the west.
Unfortunately, Ra-Den was killed by and had the remains of his power stolen by, the kirin warlord who would come to be known as The Thunder King, during the Age of Nightmares.
Borea
Eldest of the four wind gods, Borea is goddess of the north wind, winter, and cold. She is an icy blue coated alicorn, with a blonde mane and tail, the former usually tied back in a braid. Her cutie-mark is an elegant snowflake. Borea is an introverted goddess, quiet outside of interactions with her family, and Luna, who has historically been her closest friend. It is said that the aurora borealis is a joint creation between the two.
She is also known as the Icesister, Mother Frost, The Ice Mare and the Master of the North Wind.
Zephyra
The next eldest after Borea, Zephyra is the deity of the east wind, spring and renewal. She is a light orange coated alicorn, with a darker orange mane and tail. She usually wears her mane in two braids that frame her face, and her cutie-mark is a blossoming spring rose. She is a happy goddess, spreading joy to those around her, like the way the spring winds bring warmth to the farmland.
She is also known as the Joyous Mare.
Satallia
The youngest of the four sisters, Stallia is the deity of the south wind, summer, and comfort. A pale yellow alicorn with flowing pink mane and tail, and simple sun cutie-mark, she sometimes mistaken for Celestia in non-pony cultures. Satallia is a somewhat slothful deity, always seeking comfort and trying to avoid unnecessary activity, she often finds herself prodded into her duties by her sisters.
She is also known as The Summer Princess, and the Princess of Ease.
Wenta
The middle child, Wenta is the goddess of the west wind, autumn, harvest and brewing. A dark brown alicorn with a mane and tail the color of harvested wheat, her cutie-mark is a bundle of grain. She is the inheritor of her father's gregarious nature, and loves to wander, explore, revel and brew, going where her heart takes her.
She is also known as The Alewife and the Harvest Daughter.
And that's part one, for now. More entries will go up over the following weeks.
>Ra-Den
>Raiden
Am I correct in assuming that these deities would and do hail from your Equis' asiatic regions? Also, would that make the Kirin your analogue for Chinese/Mongolians/other?
So very intriguing, and I love it!
2163874
Ra-Den certainly did, as he chose to make it his home on the mortal world.
The other four, who never made themselves part of the mortal world, really didn't hail from a particular area, having been historically followed by ponies all over the world, and some non ponies in fact.
Fun fact! Berry Punch maintains a small shrine to Wenta in the upstairs living quarters above her bar. A god who enjoys her beer and spirits is just her kind of deity!
It might be worth providing some clarification why, on a world as diverse as Equis, the gods we have seen thus far are all alicorns.
I mean, I have a sense of it, but that’s more out of necessity than anything, being the only other Skitchverse author so far.
Seriously, it’s like the rest of you guys never even looked at the flyers I put up!