You have to admit, when you see the Grand Swamp for the first time, it is uniquely beautiful to you in a way few mortals could comprehend. The entire realm is brimming with an ancient, natural and copious amount of life and death. It is like staring at kaleidoscopic stars, softly flaring and waning like a dance or a symphony. You feel like a child seeing a rainbow the first time, but many Kirin have reactions similar to yours. It has been so long since they have seen a place untouched by the ever creeping chill of the windigos and this canopy is so thick that the jungle floor can rarely be seen. Not to mention that truly huge trees, floral mountains almost, that dotted above the rest of the treeline.
More than that, the blood of the Kirin know this place and it reminds their hearts of home. It takes a bit of scouting and patience, but they eventually find a large enough clearing to land the ships. And as more of their hooves touch the fertile ground, you feel yourself, your very essence flowing out through the forest. Yet it does not accept you so easily. Of this, you are not surprised. This place is truly primordial, it would take great time for any god to truly make it their own, even a god of life.
Which brought up an issue you know you will have to address very, VERY soon.
What are you, you really?
You take a precautionary sweep over every creature under your protection. While you can't control the forest or had enough time to understand just what or even who dwells within it, you can sense that everything in there is too spooked to try attacking just yet, if anything even wants to. Frozen Meadows and Shaded Gold are already doing their parts, organizing groups of Hunters and Harvesters to scout the immediate area around the clearings for anything edible or dangerous. Quick Blade is helping others begin to set up temporary camps for the time being. Thicket's sheer presence will hopefully ward off and neutralize anything that tries to sneak up on your future worshipers. For now, they are all relaxing and enjoying true warmth for the moment.
With this, you take a chance to contemplate your own existence. In what you shall become.
As you have grown this past month, you have come to understand more about Gods in general, and some choices you have to make.
The most important thing that you have learned was the six over arching domains that all gods started their roots in: Life and Death, Heart and Mind, Material and Spiritual. And each one of those were more complicated than a mortal might initially believe.
Life and Death were both the most straight forward, but had far more depth to them than just their namesakes.
To be a God of Death, to draw strength from each mortal end, is to be a God of Fate. To influence the paths of mortal lives and know their potential futures. And to give your more devoted worshipers similar abilities. It is to be a God of Soulless Things, of the dead that still move. It is even possible for your followers to linger as spirits.
To be a God of Life, to be given new power with every mortal birth, is to be a God of Nature. For you and all that follow you to be friends to beasts and plants alike. To heal wounds so quickly that often only age may bring death to your followers. But it is also to be a God of Struggling, for as the windigos prove, life can be so utterly fragile. But it is in that struggle that you and your chosen might revitalize what was broken.
Next up, the more personal domains of Heart and Mind. Without either in the world, sapience is merely sentience. Awareness without Feeling or Feeling without Awareness.
To be a God of Heart is not merely about Love, but about Passion and other emotions. To strive out of pure desire. To give deeper meaning to things, to inspire feelings for no logical reason. To be a God of Art, by whom the greatest of expression might not only be made...but, for a time, give life to Art and even Dreams.
To be a God of Mind, however, is to favor reason. To cultivate the mortal capacity to understand and learn, to discover new ways of doing things. It is to be a God of Craft, to inspire your followers to invent tools and ideas in pursuit of progress. And, potentially, to create even mockeries of life: nonliving, but not undead entities of metal and stone: Golems.
And the final two, the hardest to grasp for mortals are Material and Spiritual ...and you can sense that these two have been claimed in their highest by a pair of gods. One of whom you know.
To be a God of Spiritual, to call the heavens your true home, is to be a God of Order. To not only inspire peace and lawfulness in all your lands, but to allow your followers to enforce it when needed. To resist unneeded and dangerous change, to find a place for all things. And to cause all in your dominion to sway to a more idealized state, that is to be a God of Harmony.
To be a God of Material, is to claim the mortal realm as your truest home, to embrace its rebellious nature to both mortals and gods alike. It is to become change itself, to be the embodiment of a paradox. It is to have the power to destabilize and adapt to any situation. To be a deity of disasters, to make your foes question the very reality they face. That is what it means to be a God of Chaos. A God of Discord.
You shudder, somehow certain that a certain god you cannot see is chuckling, wherever he is.
Still, while gods can expand beyond these definitions, their domains are always and eternally a part of them, unto a god's very destruction.
Which brings you to the first and foremost decision you must make: Your potential peer or peers as Gods of these Kirins. Following that, which of the six overarching domains would you be tied to, to define yourself as a god. For pantheons mainly came in four flavors, with some deviations and exceptions, and those four flavors determine how many domains you shall be limited to.
The first was obvious. Rule alone, be a Monotheistic. Or henotheistic, if other lesser gods joined in. The main idea being that you rule alone, wholly and fully as the highest god for your followers. This was certainly appealing, and for good reason. Doing so would give you access to all six domains, but there was the risk of spreading yourself too thin in doing so. For it would take time and energy to make use of each domain to their maximum potential, if you so choose to.
The second was to rule with one other: A Duality, a "twin" in a non-literal sense. To do so would mean to rule with one who covers all you do not: For each domain you shall rule, they will be of the opposite. To allow one to be strong in everything the other is weak. To have a clear and clean divide between all matters of Life and Death, Material and Spiritual, Heart and Mind.
The third was interesting and, if nothing else, efficient. A Trinity, to have a god ruling over both domains in each sets. Fpr instance, to rule over Life and Death, giving and taking lives with each limb. To grant equal, non-conflicting authority and attention to each of the two opposite realms of power.
The final could be the most and least tempting: a Pantheon, true Polytheism. To share your authority with five others, for every dominion to have its own individual god to manage and oversee it. Certainly a way to keep all areas covered, and to have many peers to watch your back, but it would make cooperation and consensus difficult.
It was a deep and difficult things to consider. To share your divine rule in such a way was to run the risk of resentment and rebellion between not only each other, but your cultists. To rule alone was to risk defeat by lack of comrades. But your own personal power was not the only thing to consider. You would eventually have a religion, a church of sorts among your followers. Not only that, you had to consider the prospect of an avatar, among other things. You only had so much power to work with and shape yourself and your followers.
And this was the first step. Just as the Kirins considered the bedrock of their new society, you were now considering the first stone to be truly placed at the foundation of your godhood.
To Rule Alone or To Rule With Others?
To Risk it all on yourself?
To Risk it all on other gods?
Would you be end up bringing others into the fold or even raising some among your mortal followers to a divine, equal level?
Not only that, but...the subject of the Death domain had made you wonder, what happened to the souls of the Kirin already lost? Was there another god, native to their homelands that claimed them? Or did some other divinity claims the ones left behind? Worse, were they just lost and alone, unable to move on?
It was something you'd have to look into one day, but you did know this much: The souls of those that died escaping the Crystal Empire were yours, if only briefly. They were...waiting on you, for lack of a better term. Not truly awake, but in an unaware state as their souls clung to yours. This made you realize that you needed to pick an afterlife for them. Creating one was surprisingly easy, almost any god could do it. Even those without the Death domain were empowered enough by the passing of their followers to
support one.
Trouble was, you weren't...well versed in this subject, yet. You only had knew of two afterlife systems currently, and only because almost every god used these two.
The first was simple and took care of itself: Reincarnation! Your followers would be reborn upon death, and while it was mostly operating on its own accord, you could take direct control to ensure certain souls were reborn where, when, and to whom you wanted. While risking the notion of Kirin Supremacy, you could even ensure your non-Kirin followers could be reborn as Kirin. Thoughts for later.
The other was popular just for its use as an incentive, or as something to fear: An afterlife as an actual place, a plane or planes for your spirits to dwell in. A chunk of the heavens, fashioned to your design and welcome to all those you deem worthy. Of course, this also allowed you to create...alternate locations. Underworlds to house the average soul belonging to you. Not paradise, but not terrible. Dull at worse. And, of course, you can have a realm to punish your truly unworthy followers and captured souls of enemies. You liked the rewarding one, but were unsure how to feel about the other two.
But you hesitate greatly as you believe you know why these two are picked the most often. If you are in anyway normal for a Godling, than others likely picked these as they are the first two options to have available. But you know better.
You sense there are more forms of afterlives. Not many, but some. The souls of your dead were waiting, but was there a reason they could not wait longer?
These subjects weighed heavy on your mind and heart as you watched the Kirins go about their lives, unaware of you in their encampment.
Mostly unaware, at least. You have found more than a few staring at you. Most were children. What did they see, you wonder? Or was there even anything definite to see about your being yet? Still, some were adults, squinting their eyes at something that wasn't there. Interestingly, Shaded, Frozen, and Quick were NOT among those that saw you, and you had watched them to be sure. You'd have to take note of those that seemed attuned to you. When you got around to revealing yourself to them, you'd likely need them.
Still, you reminded yourself not to think too far off to delay making a decision. So, the grand questions were, what kind of god did you wish to be? And did want to grant your followers an afterlife or reincarnation? Or wait and see what else you could grant them?
A. One/Mono= Basic access to all Six Domains
C. Wait to discover other Afterlife Options.
1.A. One/Mono= Basic access to all Six Domains
2.A. Place/Paradise
but If we can become god of death I be happy too
1, C, Triforce O' Gods
2, C, wait and... 'C'
... Somebody, hurt me for doing that. Please.
Trinity sounds nice, one more than Equestria will have~
[B.] Two/Dual/Twin= Basic access to threes domains, one per set 25%
[C.] Three/Trinity= Basic Access to both domains in one set 75%
[C.] Wait to discover other Afterlife Options.
1: Number of (Main) Gods for the Kirin Pantheon:
C. Three/Trinity=Basic Access to both domains in one set.
2: Your Afterlife:
C. Wait to discover other Afterlife Options.
D. Bring on the Pantheon like the Greeks and Romans.
On the subject of the afterlife a kind of semi-reincarnation through one's bloodline seems cool. You could make this depend on how much honor or dishonor one brings their family. The Kirin could view the soul as a flame which waxes and wanes. If a kirin brings great honor to their family they could gain greater magic potential in their children. While the dishonorable are overcome with cold until their soul becomes nothing. Like a fire without fuel.
First off
1: B. Dual
That one is an easy choice for me, if we have a partner then we can reflect the duality of the Kirin themselves. One god to reflect the Kirin, one to reflect the Nirik, both working together as one for the better of our worshipers.
The second though is a bit tougher for me to decide on.
I'm hesitant to vote on reincarnation because there could be alot of instability with it, like what if we have a major die off from, say, a war? It could take a long time for a new body to be born for some of those souls and what might happen to them while they're waiting, and what if someone figures out how to retain some part of themselves through the reincarnation with ill intent? Yes, reincarnation pretty much takes care of itself, but that is also it's biggest flaw as well. And it also may leave those souls vulnerable while they're waiting.
With an aferlife, we could keep our followers souls safe, they live their lives then go to a plane of our creation where they can reuinite with and wait for their friends and loved ones, away from any that may wish to cause their souls harm or unrest. As well as giving us a place where we can send and seperate those that we see as truly evil, even if not permanently at least untill we deem that they have been punished enough/they have learned their lesson before they are sent to the other plane with the rest of the souls, sort of like a prison where their sentence can be measured in years, decades, or even centuries if we wish.
And the final option, wait. Personally I do always like to have as many options availiable to me as I can so I may pick the one I like best, but keeping these souls here may have some unknown consequences and may put them in danger like I was talking about before, though to a much lesser degree because we won't be holding on to them for too long. Although if we hold onto them for now other interesting opportunities may present themselves, like they could become one with us, allowing them to join with their god in the afterlife, and possibly making us stronger, faster, but if we have more than one god then we would need to distribute the souls between us, and absorbing them could be like denying them an afterlife in a way.
So I think my vote is going to be
2: A. An afterlife plane/planes of existance
And finally, nice call on the authors part to have us decide how many gods first, and the exact domains later, that way we can have a more unified vote instead of it being divided between the number of gods, then what domains to take with that number, as well as making the vote simpler and easier to keep track of and tally up.
(1) Six/Pantheon/True Polytheism.
(2) Wait and see.
*[3]The Avatar should be either a Kirin (for the light side (i.e. life)) or a Nirik (for the dark side (i.e. death)).
*This is a suggestion.
9900841
[Whaps you on the back of the head]
(I use a translator, do not judge strictly)
My choice of C and C.
Allies are important. Isn't that what the show is about?). But, I don't think owning one sphere is wise. You always need to know both sides of the situation you are solving.
1 C - Allows consensus to occur between the divinities and not come to a stalemate or heavily fractious divide while not spreading too thin. Though disagreements could and probably would still occur, at least the argument will be able to be made with respect to each of the trinity's two roles.
Should also note that C is for Cookie, which, quite frankly, is good enough for me. (I'm only slightly sorry.)
2 A - Would prefer the souls not wait, though doing so could allow them to linger one the edges of the living for a time. Brings out a mystical sense of their new home. The other two, as others have pointed out, have their own benefits and drawbacks. I want to be able to pick re-incarnation but ThinkTank, to me, made some very good points for all three. So I'm falling into an afterlife as a place/paradise.
To add my own little bit and tweak a bit on ThinkTank's afterlife point, perhaps the ones not given a paradise are, after a period of punishment to "burn away their sins as it were", given re-incarnation in a way to better themselves the next time around depending how nature vs nurture lands on them in a new life?
Definitely go with a Duality with another God. It's a nice mix between spreading the load and not having to deal with conflict. It has much more value than a trio, and also significantly less potential for conflict than a pantheon. One only needs to look at the Greek pantheon for my argument against one.
Wait to discover afterlife options. I'm curious about this, and the way that it's worded suggests a greater long-term benefit, even if the short-tem may be rougher.
9900905
For your number 3 option. Maybe a strange split down the middle being to show both life and death at once?
1:A, - It might be a bit too soon to think about sharing the workload, and exposing our existence to something/someone else that can actually possibly hurt us. Just because we rule the whole thing by our selves, doesn't mean we can't take on advisers, or split the power with another down the road.
2:C - We should wait. A bit more busy work keeping them safe for now, but we shouldn't let our impatience cost our people a potentially better option. After all, it's not like the two current choices are going anywhere.
Normally I'd be more decisive, but this is the first vote I get to contribute to, and the situation doesn't feel like we need great change yet.
(contemplation music)
What can a divine expression of the kirin be but a duality? Passion and calm, fire and water, two sides of a reflecting pool.
A spinning coin.
The kirin and the nirik are not opposing enemies, competing rivals, or even close siblings. They are one and the same, two halves of the greater whole. Can their animus be any different?
Logos and Pathos, a wheeling dance.
There is nothing so certain, nor so permanent as death, there cannot be a beginning without an end, just as an end cannot come about without a beginning. Such a serious enterprise requires proper deliberation, a hasty decision here will burden not just us but our subjects, for a very long time.
The choice must be gotten right, we must pursue understanding.
1. B
2. C
Choice 1: C
Choice 2: B
9900905
A Nirik, his coat a darkly gleaming jet, mane and ruff a splendid blaze, every color that fire can be. He prowls, leaps and strides, every movement suffused with an enthusiastic, furious energy. His laugh is golden cheer, his whisper sly amusement, his snarl promises blood, his oath as sure as stone. He sings with the poet, weeps with the widow, and strives with the foe.
He is fire, a life lived in a moment.
A kirin, her coat shimmering with a mother-of-pearl glow. Her mane a soft cascade of pale blues and cool greens. She steps quietly through the morning mist, her passing unremarked by bird or beast. All thoughts are valued, from a child's simple question to an elder's deep pronouncement, there is always wisdom to be found.
She is water, a moment considered for a lifetime.
1.
I'm not gonna lie I was expecting representation by
infinity stones or lanterns corpse Emotional Spectrum
2.Pool
B. Two/Dual/Twin= Basic access to threes domains, one per set
The best options I see are Mono or Dual.
Not too much loose and enough control. For now, better stay Mono but for the long run go Dual because I don't know if it can be changed later
C. Wait to discover other Afterlife Options.
Keeping souls safe to see other options should give us some information
First how souls react with Godling, d they dissipate, etc
Even if new options won't be better, we still can choose the previous one
1- B ( Duo) - Perhaps create your partner instead of finding one, far to early to trust anyone completely. Or perhaps one of your followers.
2- C (Wait)
B= Duo Gods
C= Wait for more options
I really don't want to share power with another god; it would mean that our power and worship is split in half. And frankly? I don't like sharing. However, at our current power level, it's probably the best choice that we have two Gods.
If, hypothetically, our fellow God betrays us, can we kill them and take their power? Can we find a newly born Godling and take them as our own, or would we be pursuing an already established God? Also meta question; would this second God be an extension of ourselves and thus controlled by our votes, or would they be their own character?
As for my other choice, I see no issue in waiting. We could get some really cool options later on.
One more question; can we do some research into Godhood? Specifically Discord's. How is he so powerful? Is it a trait of his domain, or did he do something to become particularly strong? What CAN'T he do as the God of Chaos, besides wield the powers of Harmony? Can we find these answers WITHOUT asking Discord directly?
B. Duo
C. wait to discover other options
1. C Trinity
2. C Wait for other options
9900937
That sounds interesting.
9900929
[Eye smiling] I see somerin really enjoyed "Sesame Street"
A then later B: C
In my opinion a small collection of Gods not based on conflict and instead based on friendship has the potential to be incredibly powerful, however I believe that we should remain a monotheistic religion for now eventually finding suitable a Godling later for a dualistic pantheon.
For afterlife I say we wait for now. I think that an afterlife with a combined reincarnation/afterlife plane would be the best. All souls would go to the afterlife, those who were evil in life will he sent to a place of reformation and if they refuse to reform they will be cast away. those who are good and righteous spend their afterlife have a chance to be reborn many years later if they so wish. I think a great power would be the ability to summon great warriors from the afterlife as ghosts, a kind of army of the dead.
Are we staying at the swamp or could we eventually move?
This is good, let the leaders be for now. It’s never a good idea to look directly into the eyes of one’s Gods, for you may not like what you find there. If we will eventually have a religion, that means we will also eventually need to choose a high priest/priestess/oracle though. I wonder how we might do that.
Not choosing yet, am still undecided.
Is this on purpose?
Mistaking order with harmony by Glodling and maybe even by every other God?
Or is it your mistake?
If you wanted the opposite of Chaos then yes, it is Order but not Harmony.
I think the opposite/competitor of Harmony is Balance
In short:
Harmony -a gathering of forces of various levels of power working together, an unstable gathering/alliance that can collapse if one force is eliminated
Balance-two forces of equal power and importance, they don't fight with each other but compete, because one cannot exist without the other and when one gets stronger the second follows behind to meet it (for example light and dark, good and evil, life and death)
9901400
No, this intentional. Spiritual covers both Harmony and Order, just as the Material covers both Discord and Chaos.
9901234
You might, MIGHT (I can't stress how big of a maybe that is) get a chance to change it later, but its best to work under the assumption its permanent.
9901521
A question is Pantheon permanent?
Let's say Mono wins,can we later vote to change it to for example to Dual?
9901548
….I just answered this? I said, you should assume whatever number you choose will be permanent as it is very highly unlikely to be changed.
I'm going to have to go for the D Pantheon option, not only because specializing in one domain possibly means more expert/power/skill in that domain. But also because having not just allies in other gods but perhaps friends, family, and maybe just maybe love with one of them as well.
Because the lifespan of Gods is immortal and just setting up shop alone even with loyal followers is setting yourself up for a lonely journey through the passage of time.
Though have to ask if more Gods do enter the picture and join the Kirin God, whether duo, trinity, or my vote of Pantheon, will they be OC or will be possibly seeing some canon MLP characters outside of the Alicorn sisters and Discords join our Kirin God?
Because a part of me thinks it would be interesting to see some canon character if not Gods themselves somehow become Gods and join the Kirin God.
For the next vote i'm going with C it's best to hear out and learn about all the options before making any choices here. I mean this is the Afterlife for the Kirin race and perhaps followers outside of the Kirin race as well, not something to take lightly at all.
1.a
2.c
1. C. Three/Trinity= Basic Access to both domains in one set
I like the idea of the Kirin gods having control of two opposite domains like Life and Death, kinda like a mirror of the Kirin x Nirik situation.
2. B. Reincarnation
Every beginning is an end, and every end is a beginning.
1) I would personally prefer D, the pantheon. It means that we limit ourselves to a single domain but it also means that we have allies, but it could also lead to resentment and and power hungry allies turned enemy. So I vote for C, the trinity. It has the same pros as a pantheon giving us allies, even if it is less. But it also gives us access to two conflicting domains which is representative of the Kirin themselves, and is less likely to end with us attempting to kill each other in the same way most stories of pantheons go.
1.5) B would also be representative of the Kirin but it is also highly likely to end with us fighting our twin in the same way we know a certain story to go. Hence why I went with C, none of us will have conflicting domains.
2) My immediate answer is A, Reincarnation. But my vote goes to C, there is no need to be hasty and make a choice that we may just regret in the future.
9900957
Thanks for the music.
My votes are 1 A and 2 C.
I hate the idea of multiple gods because we as readers know exactly what happens, all pantheons in history are horrible, with betrayal, rape, kidnappings, murders, etc. And even in the show a simple duality ended up in rebelión and in fighting. There will always be a favorite God, and I don’t want to imagine what would happen if the favorite was the second God.
My second option is easily justifiable, waiting = more options. We don’t even lose the previous options and the souls go nowhere, there’s literally no reason to rush this.
C and c for me.
Three is a good number and I think that there could be better afterlifes out there
I vote A and B I think re-encarnation is a cool concept, besides our protagonist is not nearly defined enough to be adding new characters.
9902392
Ohhh boy. if WE weren't the favorite God, I'd 100% kill our fellow Godling... We do NOT play second fiddle.
That is definitely a risk in regards to having more than one God.
1) A
2) B
1.A
While the idea of a trinity is extremely appealing in the balance sense, I have to agree with 9902392 in that it'd most likely end in so much infighting we'd eventually collapse. Therefore, we should stay monotheistic.
2.B
I like the idea of making every follower of ours kirin tbh. Makes it like we were the creators of them, granting more faith from the kirin to us, enhancing our power.
1- Ruling alone may be too much for the young Godling, and a duality may not be the best option. How would agreements be settled if there's only two to discuss and decide and they cannot settle on an answer? But Pantheons could be a bit too much, so I vote on C: Trinity. As the text says, it is efficient, and efficiency may be what these people need.
2- C. Lets Wait and see what other options for an afterlife are possible before deciding.
The swamp is southwest of the Crystal empire, that means we may come into contact with ponies soon depending on how far southwest we are, this could lead to a conflict with Equestria, especially an expansionistic one, this could also be the source of Equestria’s knowledge of Kirin in the show.
Who do you think we will encounter first and how do you think first contact will be.
9906250
To clarify, its more west than it is south: The Grand Swamp is in the Undiscovered West.
9906307
What does it look like. Is it your typical swamp like Dagobah or is it more like a marsh with a seasonal tides.
I have a concern with your statement that Discord won’t react to our god choosing chaos magic, does this means that the sisters won’t react to our godling being a god of death ? Cause I need to know if they are going to be a problem on the future, if they are maybe we should find the elements of harmony before equestia finds them.
9907331
That would require Starswirl and company creating them first.
I would suggest 1. Mono (A) all domains. I really don't like sharing power with another god. Difference embodiment of aspect mean conflicts of interest once external threats and opportunities diminish.
This is no reason we can't focus on some domains over others and relinquish domains later down the line.
If we go B. Dual then I suggest we grab domains of Heart,Mind &Material. We take control of the progress of the fledgling nation and secure dominance of the future. My immediate answer is A, Reincarnation. But my vote goes to C, there is no need to be hasty and make a choice that we may just regret in the future. Finding new options and suitable combinations is preferable.
We should shift the perception of fire from a curse to salvation. Fire was a massive game changer for civilization. It should be view the same way the Greeks viewed fire, progress and power. Is this the map you are using?
4.bp.blogspot.com/-uj5l0C_W9Ps/Vh9gxWnaXKI/AAAAAAAAA98/kYLCGxpkHmI/s1600/eq_map.jpg
If we moved to the swamp lands of the Undiscovered West, then I think we should explore/expand the boarder to the natural mountain ranges to the north and south, taking control of the delta/ mouth of the river would be ideal. Thinking of future trade with Equestria, able to project power deep in the continent with river access when we start a navy. With it secure, expansion in to the rest of the peninsula will be uncontested if their is no other intelligent group of creatures there. We are basically playing a game of civilization, lets give ourselves the best geography to work with. The Undiscovered West reminds me of Iran, weirdly enough.