Thanks Jeff! Long overdue! Life has been hectic, but now I am back into the fold! I hope these new players will enjoy a bit of weird fantasy.

Perhaps you can help with the gods part? What would you suggest as a suitable god dedicated to scholarly (not necessarily sorcerous) knowledge? The "priests" of this god are actually librarians and scholars of sort. I'd like to keep this aspect of the Freeport, as it's quite vital to the scenario.

Thanks in advance!
A.

Last edited by rabindranath72 (4/21/2016 7:43 am)

Handy Haversack wrote:

rabindranath72 wrote:

Thanks Jeff! Long overdue! Life has been hectic, but now I am back into the fold! I hope these new players will enjoy a bit of weird fantasy.

Perhaps you can help with the gods part? What would you suggest as a suitable god dedicated to scholarly (not necessarily sorcerous) knowledge? The "priests" of this god are actually librarians and scholars of sort. I'd like to keep this aspect of the Freeport, as it's quite vital to the scenario.

Thanks in advance!
A.

Hey, Antonio. Welcome to Hyperborea!

I would think the Hyperborean god Aurorus could quite easily fit this bill. "Aurorus “The Shining One”: This deity of Chaos is,associated with auroræ, stars, meteor showers, comets, sorcery, and witchcraft. Aurorus is reputed to be a formless goddess who typically manifests as a swirling, sparkling mist. The belief that Aurorus dwells within the
most shimmering of auroræ that fill the Hyperborean sky is commonly held. Three-faced effigies are carved to represent Aurorus, but these are nothing more than imagined representations. She speaks with a tripartite female voice and grants knowledge in exchange for animal and human sacrifice. Typical followers: men (esp. Hyperboreans), men of Leng, abominable snow-men."

I've used these guys as archivist-monk-priests of Aurorus: http://hyperborea.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=126
 

Thanks HH!
I have been going through all the deity writeups in the Referee's Manual, but nothing strikes me as particularly fitting; I like the knowledge side of Aurorus' cult, but the part about sacrifices doesn't really fit the vibe I am after. Also the Chaotic nature of the goddess might be hard to reconcile with the need for an ascetic life devoted to study. Food for thought I guess! Thanks!
 

Blackadder23 wrote:

It's a little boring, but maybe Apollo?  According to the Greeks, he was the god of poetry, music, and medicine, all of which I guess are "scholarly" pursuits.  Athena would be even better of course, but she isn't worshipped in Hyperborea (unless you decide she is).

Possibly even a specific cult version of Apollo - "Apollo Akademos" or something like that.

Apollo is a great suggestion, I think. I've tried to portray in a way that is similar to his mythological counterpart here in the real world: with a warrior aspect and a poet aspect. As such, I think he fits the bill well, Antonio. 

Aurorus, "The Shining One," is in fact inspired by the same "god" found in Abraham Merritt's The Moon Pool. Love Merritt's work -- I don't think it get enough attention!
 

Thanks for the suggestion! Yeah, looks like Apollo is the best fit (or one of its aspects, at least.) I am not above introducing more deities if needed, but I'd like to use as much of the cool stuff that Jeff put in the book  
I was thinking some deities from the Dreamlands might be added to the setting; seems they would be appropriate (actually I had thought of putting Freeport in the Dreamlands themselves, but many of its aspects are too exotic for what I have in mind.)

So, nobody is familiar with Freeport to suggest where I could place it?

Great thread! All the above suggestions are great, and thought inspiring.

I have planned to use Freeport to represent Zangerios as well. The cult of Hastur dwelling within the city (inspired by the writings of R.W. Chambers and various Cthulhu Mythos writers) plays right into my Hyperborea campaign (which leans more hopeless/Lovecraftian) and this piratical port. But instead changing things up to install one of the more traditional Hyperborean gods is never a bad idea.

The above doubled as a possible Carcosa game link were I to introduce planar travel at some point in the future of my own Hyperborea campaign. The Dreamlands could also be a fit at this point, and it's possible I'd use some of its darker locales, but I might mitigate the whole riding around on Zebras while chatting with cats aspect for my own game group unless they truly desired it. I doubt they would.

Last edited by Josh (6/11/2016 4:31 pm)