Yeah, your author's note nicely summed up all the questions this chapter raises, so I don't have to list 'em.
Atheism in a world where Gods are objectively real? Always fun to play with. On the Discworld, atheists are very quiet about it. Heh.
One of my TTRPG campaigns I had a PC who ended up as High Priest to the God Glitnir (a God of the Forge) - appointed by the God Himself within the very Womb of Gems. Well, poor old Fenrir suffered a catastrophic event and became not only atheist, but a denier of magic (tons of fun for a high level PC who had learned the secrets of all 20 Schools of Power). Poor bastard went insane, teamed up with the dwarfs (not Tolkien dwarfs - think Norse mythology, where dwarfs are more akin to a Tolkien/D&D goblin), and...
Well, I wrote down a bunch of notes on the guy's new mindset, passed him to the Ref as an NPC and he re-emerged months later as the Campaign big-bad. To my surprise the rest of the group decided to try to save/cure Fenrir, rather than just kill him out. Sadly the Ref had a massive hard drive crash and lost his Campaign notes. The joys of teasing the literal rocket scientist over not making a backup wasn't as much fun as finishing the narrative arc would have been.
Anyways, yeah, an atheist in a fantasy world where the Gods are objectively real MUST be considered madder than a Hatter with a fresh pot of tea.
I just want to see Glacius and Paf interact with Justin.
If I'm right about the "battery" thing and you wrap this arc up in a week, then the Gods are probably about to get a new toy. There can never, ever be unforseen consequences from a God getting a device to further store and channel raw power. Nope. None at all.
It's an endless well of curious thoughts, isn't it? Also, of course, what the existence of ACTUAL gods in another dimension does to religions on Earth. Does it invalidate them, or make them MORE potent?
I don't have enough tea to do that discussion justice. The TL/DR version is, "probably depends on the religion." Polytheists - e.g. Hindus - will probably take it in stride since they already accept a full pantheon. Monotheists will likely have to deal with the shakeup and challenge to their belief system - but the ecclesiastics will still push for the supremacy of their individual sect's God (pretend there's a side note here about different sects of a religion arguing with other sects to the point where sect A thinks sect B isn't part of the same religion at all.Probably another ten paragraphs.). Atheists will likely argue that the Gods are just natural beings which happen to channel more magic than the other species, but that doesn't make them Gods, even if they ARE worshipped.
Just to sketch out some basic reactions without nuance. Individuals may differ.
If the Palinese gods are real but can't use their powers and the cultists on Mid-Earth don't believe in the gods but can use magic...I can see this going badly in all sorts of ways.
Although I kinda feel like the cultists should've thought of that: I think C.S. Lewis said something like you shouldn't call on gods you don't really believe in. Either way, this is going to be fun.
Yeah, your author's note nicely summed up all the questions this chapter raises, so I don't have to list 'em.
Atheism in a world where Gods are objectively real? Always fun to play with. On the Discworld, atheists are very quiet about it. Heh.
One of my TTRPG campaigns I had a PC who ended up as High Priest to the God Glitnir (a God of the Forge) - appointed by the God Himself within the very Womb of Gems. Well, poor old Fenrir suffered a catastrophic event and became not only atheist, but a denier of magic (tons of fun for a high level PC who had learned the secrets of all 20 Schools of Power). Poor bastard went insane, teamed up with the dwarfs (not Tolkien dwarfs - think Norse mythology, where dwarfs are more akin to a Tolkien/D&D goblin), and...
Well, I wrote down a bunch of notes on the guy's new mindset, passed him to the Ref as an NPC and he re-emerged months later as the Campaign big-bad. To my surprise the rest of the group decided to try to save/cure Fenrir, rather than just kill him out. Sadly the Ref had a massive hard drive crash and lost his Campaign notes. The joys of teasing the literal rocket scientist over not making a backup wasn't as much fun as finishing the narrative arc would have been.
Anyways, yeah, an atheist in a fantasy world where the Gods are objectively real MUST be considered madder than a Hatter with a fresh pot of tea.
I just want to see Glacius and Paf interact with Justin.
If I'm right about the "battery" thing and you wrap this arc up in a week, then the Gods are probably about to get a new toy. There can never, ever be unforseen consequences from a God getting a device to further store and channel raw power. Nope. None at all.
It's an endless well of curious thoughts, isn't it? Also, of course, what the existence of ACTUAL gods in another dimension does to religions on Earth. Does it invalidate them, or make them MORE potent?
I don't have enough tea to do that discussion justice. The TL/DR version is, "probably depends on the religion." Polytheists - e.g. Hindus - will probably take it in stride since they already accept a full pantheon. Monotheists will likely have to deal with the shakeup and challenge to their belief system - but the ecclesiastics will still push for the supremacy of their individual sect's God (pretend there's a side note here about different sects of a religion arguing with other sects to the point where sect A thinks sect B isn't part of the same religion at all.Probably another ten paragraphs.). Atheists will likely argue that the Gods are just natural beings which happen to channel more magic than the other species, but that doesn't make them Gods, even if they ARE worshipped.
Just to sketch out some basic reactions without nuance. Individuals may differ.
If the Palinese gods are real but can't use their powers and the cultists on Mid-Earth don't believe in the gods but can use magic...I can see this going badly in all sorts of ways.
Although I kinda feel like the cultists should've thought of that: I think C.S. Lewis said something like you shouldn't call on gods you don't really believe in. Either way, this is going to be fun.