Post by lynneth on Jan 10, 2016 14:31:43 GMT 1
Yup, i'm back! And this time, i'll be running through some religions and their associated powers. Some of them are divine while others are a little more questionable. So! without further adieu...
Chapter 1: Elune.
Yup, starting off with the big mama herself. There a lot of controversial and mostly baseless theories about the Moon Goddess and I hope this guide can help set things to rights for you.
Elune is known by three other names, two are Kaldorei while one is Tauren. Mother Moon, The Night Warrior and Mu'sha.
The Tauren only semi-recognise Elune as a true deity and as such, their worship is limited, secondary to the worship of the Earthmother and equal with worship of An'she, however unlike the Sunwalkers, Tauren following worship of Mu'sha are not recorded to wield her blessings, only her chosen races may do this, or those she deems fit. As a living, conscious being, Elune choses who gains her blessings and the Tauren are not one of them, or if they are, not to any notable extent. This may have connection to the Tauren worship of an Elemental Lord as the Elementals once served the Old Gods and in some cases still do. It could also provide some measure of credence to the Tauren Myth that Malorne was fleeing from the Tauren who were seemingly in the role of villains and became entangled in the stars where Elune fell in love with him.
In her guise of Mother Moon, Elune is a beacon of hope, harmony, tranquility and healing. She promotes peace and justice and bestows blessings upon her chosen to heal and protect, as well as occasionally intervening more directly to wield her full power for a task. However, Elune is a far, far cry from being a pacifist.
In her guise of The Night Warrior, Elune is a wrathful avatar of war who teaches the wart of warfare to her chosen priestesses. None can call themselves a true servant of the goddess if they have not the means to protect the peace and defend the world in which they live, which is why the Priestesses of Elune are each as mighty a warrior as they are powerful a healer. As the Night Warrior, Elune takes the valiant dead of her chosen and raises them up to ride across the night sky as stars.
Only women may serve as true priestesses of Elune, for it is said that only a Woman's heart can understand Elune's deepest mysteries as Elune herself is female.
All druids will know of and revere Elune to some degree, for while the Druidic arts came first from the Demigod Cenarius, it is Elune who is mother to him and, by extension, to the Druidic arts. Although Malorne was father to Cenarius and Lover to Elune, the curious notion of Ysera also being mother to Cenarius arose, amusing the Earthen when they heard of this for even these servants of the Titans new of and revered Elune. This set off some even more amusing theories OOC that brought both Elune and Ysera's gender into question, no end of people believing one or both to be a fertile Hermaphrodite. While some might see the appeal of that, it is entirely baseless. Ysera did mother Cenarius to an extent, but it is safe to assume this is just because Elune and Malorne are both incorporeal beings.
Now, you may have noticed another key nugget of information in that last section when I mentioned the Earthen. Yes, even the servants of the Titans knew of and revered, even outright worshipped Elune, which when combined with something found in the Temple of the Moon in suramar prior to the Sundering, makes for some very interesting possibilities. In a mural on the ceiling of the Temple, Elune is depicted as creating Azeroth with a number of other, faceless gods. The implications of this are many and rarely implausible. Elune has already accomplished things that imply she is more powerful than the Titans and perhaps even more powerful than the Old Gods such as N'zoth himself, so the notion that she lead Azeroth's creation and not the Titans, is entirely possible, if not likely.
Now, below I will repost a list of Divine Powers Elune is recorded to have bestowed upon the world. This is not the limits of her abilities, merely a list of examples of just how powerful she is.
The ability of calming races engaged in battle by singing a song of peace at night, until sunrise.
The ability to heal or grant a follower the gift of healing.
She also created a physical shield around Tyrande to prevent her from coming to harm in Azshara's palace, defending her from the likes of the jealous Lady Vashj.
Causing a rain of solid moonlight to fall when her priestesses face enemies.
Elune created the wildkin to watch over sacred sites.
She made nightsabers silver and black so they could meld into the shadows on a moonlit night.
Elune created the Gem of Elune to allow direct communication with her.
Elune provides her Chosen High Priestess with psychic visions, warning her about a possible trouble or giving hope in times of despair.
Elune appears to be capable of cleansing the deepest corruption from a living creature. Two very notable examples of this are her salvation of Avrus Illwhisper and in particular her redemption of Eranikus.
In Warcraft III, Tyrande states that she relies upon Elune's power to remain hidden during the night. This could imply that the night elf racial, [Shadowmeld], is a blessing of Elune upon the night elves.
Elune is depicted to have some power over the element of water, or at least over the tides, as seen in A Power Over the Tides.
It is believed that Elune granted the Scythe of Elune to Velinde Starsong.
Elune blessed the Ancient Guardian Omen with immortality.
She granted a vision to Zamael Lunthistle to recognize the wrong he did.
These are just some of the most prominent examples of Elune's divine interventions and give us a good impression of her limits which, apparently, are beyond mortal comprehension, or at least beyond what is currently needed. It is entirely likely that when the time comes to address the biggest villains such as Sargeras and N'zoth, Elune is going to be our legendary aid. This is also why the apparent 'defeats' of the Kaldorei in recent years should be taken with a pinch of salt, given that the Sisterhood of Elune, in particular people like Tyrande, are almost capable of taking on small armies alone by calling upon the Blessings of Elune.
Chapter 1: Elune.
Yup, starting off with the big mama herself. There a lot of controversial and mostly baseless theories about the Moon Goddess and I hope this guide can help set things to rights for you.
Elune is known by three other names, two are Kaldorei while one is Tauren. Mother Moon, The Night Warrior and Mu'sha.
The Tauren only semi-recognise Elune as a true deity and as such, their worship is limited, secondary to the worship of the Earthmother and equal with worship of An'she, however unlike the Sunwalkers, Tauren following worship of Mu'sha are not recorded to wield her blessings, only her chosen races may do this, or those she deems fit. As a living, conscious being, Elune choses who gains her blessings and the Tauren are not one of them, or if they are, not to any notable extent. This may have connection to the Tauren worship of an Elemental Lord as the Elementals once served the Old Gods and in some cases still do. It could also provide some measure of credence to the Tauren Myth that Malorne was fleeing from the Tauren who were seemingly in the role of villains and became entangled in the stars where Elune fell in love with him.
In her guise of Mother Moon, Elune is a beacon of hope, harmony, tranquility and healing. She promotes peace and justice and bestows blessings upon her chosen to heal and protect, as well as occasionally intervening more directly to wield her full power for a task. However, Elune is a far, far cry from being a pacifist.
In her guise of The Night Warrior, Elune is a wrathful avatar of war who teaches the wart of warfare to her chosen priestesses. None can call themselves a true servant of the goddess if they have not the means to protect the peace and defend the world in which they live, which is why the Priestesses of Elune are each as mighty a warrior as they are powerful a healer. As the Night Warrior, Elune takes the valiant dead of her chosen and raises them up to ride across the night sky as stars.
Only women may serve as true priestesses of Elune, for it is said that only a Woman's heart can understand Elune's deepest mysteries as Elune herself is female.
All druids will know of and revere Elune to some degree, for while the Druidic arts came first from the Demigod Cenarius, it is Elune who is mother to him and, by extension, to the Druidic arts. Although Malorne was father to Cenarius and Lover to Elune, the curious notion of Ysera also being mother to Cenarius arose, amusing the Earthen when they heard of this for even these servants of the Titans new of and revered Elune. This set off some even more amusing theories OOC that brought both Elune and Ysera's gender into question, no end of people believing one or both to be a fertile Hermaphrodite. While some might see the appeal of that, it is entirely baseless. Ysera did mother Cenarius to an extent, but it is safe to assume this is just because Elune and Malorne are both incorporeal beings.
Now, you may have noticed another key nugget of information in that last section when I mentioned the Earthen. Yes, even the servants of the Titans knew of and revered, even outright worshipped Elune, which when combined with something found in the Temple of the Moon in suramar prior to the Sundering, makes for some very interesting possibilities. In a mural on the ceiling of the Temple, Elune is depicted as creating Azeroth with a number of other, faceless gods. The implications of this are many and rarely implausible. Elune has already accomplished things that imply she is more powerful than the Titans and perhaps even more powerful than the Old Gods such as N'zoth himself, so the notion that she lead Azeroth's creation and not the Titans, is entirely possible, if not likely.
Now, below I will repost a list of Divine Powers Elune is recorded to have bestowed upon the world. This is not the limits of her abilities, merely a list of examples of just how powerful she is.
The ability of calming races engaged in battle by singing a song of peace at night, until sunrise.
The ability to heal or grant a follower the gift of healing.
She also created a physical shield around Tyrande to prevent her from coming to harm in Azshara's palace, defending her from the likes of the jealous Lady Vashj.
Causing a rain of solid moonlight to fall when her priestesses face enemies.
Elune created the wildkin to watch over sacred sites.
She made nightsabers silver and black so they could meld into the shadows on a moonlit night.
Elune created the Gem of Elune to allow direct communication with her.
Elune provides her Chosen High Priestess with psychic visions, warning her about a possible trouble or giving hope in times of despair.
Elune appears to be capable of cleansing the deepest corruption from a living creature. Two very notable examples of this are her salvation of Avrus Illwhisper and in particular her redemption of Eranikus.
In Warcraft III, Tyrande states that she relies upon Elune's power to remain hidden during the night. This could imply that the night elf racial, [Shadowmeld], is a blessing of Elune upon the night elves.
Elune is depicted to have some power over the element of water, or at least over the tides, as seen in A Power Over the Tides.
It is believed that Elune granted the Scythe of Elune to Velinde Starsong.
Elune blessed the Ancient Guardian Omen with immortality.
She granted a vision to Zamael Lunthistle to recognize the wrong he did.
These are just some of the most prominent examples of Elune's divine interventions and give us a good impression of her limits which, apparently, are beyond mortal comprehension, or at least beyond what is currently needed. It is entirely likely that when the time comes to address the biggest villains such as Sargeras and N'zoth, Elune is going to be our legendary aid. This is also why the apparent 'defeats' of the Kaldorei in recent years should be taken with a pinch of salt, given that the Sisterhood of Elune, in particular people like Tyrande, are almost capable of taking on small armies alone by calling upon the Blessings of Elune.