Religions: Beast Lords

Religion: Beast Lords

For all those Backstory fans out there, Meridian shined the light on the rather neglected Beast Lords.

Meridian: Like so many other things, religions in the World of Shadowbane have yet to get their time in the Sun, their fifteen minutes of polish. When they do, you can bet that the Beast Lords will finally get all of the attention they deserve.

Until that happens, we're left digesting the Racial Lore and World History. Fortunately, Meridian enjoys explaining things!

Fortunado: I am curious though about the Beast Lords. Why is the ability to shapeshift limited only to those with human blood (humans, half-giants, aelfborn, shades)? At one time the Elves worshipped the Beast Lords, during the Great Betrayal... learned about Jackal and discovered powers such as Summoning from the Beast Lords by uttering True Names. Have the Beast Lords rejected the Elves and considered them unworthy of their power since the Time of Taming?

Meridian: As regards Elves, Beast lords, and shapeshifting: Elves are a bit odd when it comes to religion. They don't tend to abase themselves to Gods of any kind - as mentioned in their Lore, they consider themselves poor cousins of Gods, and want to grow up to be Gods themselves someday. Rather than bend the knee to a God, they always approach them in terms of "what can you do for me?" That's one reason they tend to be so polytheistic - think of the Roman attitude toward Gods. Their favor can be a useful tool to achieve one's goals, but who really cares about faith, devotion, and cosmology? The Beast Lords were an easily accessible source of tremendous power, hence very likeable to the Elves. In time, they could be again - since the Turning, who's going to enforce the exile laid down on them when Sillestor and company were defeated? The All-Father's dead, right? Now if only so many ancient Lore and Summoning grimoires hadn't been lost or destroyed...

Also, Elves tend to get pretty hung up on their physical perfection - even if they could gain the ability to change into a "lesser" animal form, why would you want to? It's so... gauche! The Beast Taint, to most Elves, is just one more reason why Humans are flawed and inherently inferior. For those familiar with the relatively recent updates to the Elven Lore section on the website, there is mention of a Beast Lord for the first time, Jackal the Trickster. It is pretty much accepted that the Green Mother, Braialla, is the mother of Elves, but who is their father? Originally the Elves of the Twilight Kingdom believed it was the All-Father, but a theory later surfaced that Jackal shapeshifted to look like the All-Father and that HE is the Elves' true parent. Meridian took a second to expand on Jackal's importance.

Meridian: About that whole Jackal thing - remember that that's just what some Elves *say* happened. According to the Holy Church of the All-Father (which the Elves founded after the Taming), the whole Jackal thing is a falsehood, a deliberate heresy. Few Elves today believe that, as most have left the fold of the Holy Church. Just goes to show how inferior the other races are. Elves started the whole thing with the Church, but they're one step ahead. They've moved on, while the lesser peoples are still members of an ancient institution, quarreling over whether or not their daddy is dead :)

That's not all though... You might be familiar with the following Beast Lords:
? Wolf - most cunning/clever.
? Bear - mightiest and noblest.
? Serpent - wisest and most wicked.
? Rat - wily, prince of the dark.
? Boar - a wimpy carebear! Just read here!
? Panther - the stealthy huntress.
? Jackal - the Trickster, shapeshifter.
But is Meridian holding back?

Meridian: I haven't really developed that many more, but a Raven sure sounds like a good choice. Given the mythological baggage associated with those birds, from Culchulain to Poe, I figure Raven is a shoe in. Finally, here is an excerpt from Shadowbane's World History: "Long ago, when the world was freshly made and day was not yet born, after the All-Father had broken the might of the Beast Lords, he named all the things of the world, the Stones and Trees and Animals, to gain power and dominion over all of them. But his wisdom was not complete. So the All-Father wandered far into the frozen wastes of the North, and sought out Jordmangundir, the Serpent, the wisest of the Beast Lords.

At the base of a great Ash Tree the All-Father found the Serpent. Well did the foul snake remember the bite of the All-Father's spear, and cowed before him. "Teach me, cowed beast, the last secret of the Making and Unmaking," the All-Father demanded. "You will know it," hissed the Serpent, "but the learning will take you to the very edge of death, and no knowledge is without its price." The All-Father stood firm. " I am not afraid, Beast Lord," he said, his voice like thunder, "I will pay your price." And so the Serpent lashed out and bit the left hand of the All-Father." Where does this figure into everything concerning the Beast Lords? Well here's a theory from yours truly that Meridian took the time to entertain...

Fortunado: When the Serpent bit the Father and said there would be a price, I cross-referenced this with the description of the Werebear. At one point it said that every man has a Beast within him, and that the All-Father is unaware of this fact. Could it be that the price the Serpent mentioned was that a portion of the Beast's soul would be imbued in every one of the Father's creations? The Giants and the Humans inherited the blood of the Beast Lords from that snake bite?

Meridian: Could the Beast Taint be the Serpent's price? It sure could. It's a subtle hint, which is why its more likely to be true. There are some other possibilities (some of which we haven't even mentioned yet), and of course I can't confirm, but I will say this: good guess.

Meridian: Anyway, those are some of my thoughts... more material will come, never fear!

There you have it fans. Let's connect the dots...

The Serpent gave his power to the All-Father, but at what "price"? One that would take him "to the very edge of death". There's a Beast inside everyone with human blood, and the Father doesn't know it! The Elves consider this a flaw and a weakness in humans. The Elves never indulged the Beast Taint, so the Beast Lords were left to prey on the humans instead, nurturing the animal within them behind the All Father's back!

The Serpent warned the Father of death, and look what happened? King Cambruin was slain! Many believe this King was the All Father, or perhaps an avatar of some kind. Cambruin's death coincided with the world fracturing to pieces. What's noteworthy about this? The power the Father gambled for with his life was the power of "making and unmaking" (runes). First he made the world, and in the end it was unmade :)

Just a thought, but maybe the Beast Lords are somehow behind everything. The All Father bullied and dominated them twice in history. They must want revenge, and the All Father unwittingly gave it to them in return for power. Only humans would worship a foolish guy like that!

Original post by Fortunado