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    Canonfire :: View topic - Ranet, Suel Goddess of Fire and Creation
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    Ranet, Suel Goddess of Fire and Creation
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    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Aug 09, 2001
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    Thu Jul 04, 2013 12:18 pm  
    Ranet, Suel Goddess of Fire and Creation

    I'm building on Ranet's original profile, which my players are discovering. I thought I'd start a thread here to discuss it. Not sure if this is found elsewhere, and I apologize if it is. I have only barely started on this, so any help will be appreciated.

    I am modeling her on Pele, the Hawaiian fire goddess.

    Here are some images I think capture what I am envisioning:





    and maybe...



    as it shows a more contemporary "white" version, which follows nicely on the coloration of the Suel themselves. Still, these are examples of the imagery I want to express the idea of Ranet. I have also toyed with a fire serpent idea too.

    Anyway, I'm just starting this. I would also like to come up with a true portfolio, which has very different domains than she would later have. I need to find a 2nd ed version of her to start with though. Well, I don't need to, but I'd like to. :)

    Also, if anyone knows, where did all the info about Pyremius taking her portfolio from her come from? I don't really follow that. The idea of a somewhat forgotten goddess sounds better to me.
    GreySage

    Joined: Sep 09, 2009
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    Thu Jul 04, 2013 2:33 pm  

    I guess the word hot comes to mind, especially referring to the first picture. Wink

    Pyremius is fully outlined in the supplement, The Scarlet Brotherhood. I believe it mentions how he stole Ranet's portfolio.

    -Lanthorn
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    Thu Jul 04, 2013 2:36 pm  

    Great, thanks. I'll go there next!

    Yeah, I used the first picture for the statue of Ranet in her temple. It was a 10' tall volcano, carved out of some kind of volcanic rock, with the goddess rising out of it like that. The players really liked it!
    Black Hand of Oblivion

    Joined: Feb 16, 2003
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    Thu Jul 04, 2013 8:15 pm  

    You might also look on Ranet as a sort of female Prometheus. Gift of fire to mortals leads to the creation of many things (metallurgy, etc.). Other gods are more about embracing the destructive aspects of fire. Other ideas are the heat in the bodies of the living, whereas the dead are cold, so she could be a healing/resurrection deity (another part of the Creation aspect), but not specifically an anti-undead deity. Fire and Creation is an interesting combination of Spheres to say the least.
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    Adept Greytalker

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    Fri Jul 05, 2013 1:41 am  

    Here is my two-penneth about Ranet and how I've tackled her IMC.

    I made Ranet a goddess of the hearth similar in many ways to the Roman goddess Hestia. It was her gift of flame that brought warmth to a home, cooked food and burnt the offerings to the gods. In this latter respect she was also seen as a kind of messenger between the gods and mortals. Bringing the messages held within the sacrificial flames to them. The final aspect of Ranet was as a protectress of dead souls, her sacred torch guiding the souls of the dead to the afterlife (I've toyed with bringing Osprem into the occasion as originally a goddess of rivers, springs, waterways and barges whose sacred barge carried the souls of the dead with Ranet bearing her torch upon the bow to guide the way). It was also Ranet who kept Fortubo's forge-fire burning.

    I made Ranet the lover/companion of Dalt who I cast (in his pre-exodus days) as the guardian of the gateway to the afterlife that Ranet would guide the souls to.

    Before Ranet's death Wee Jas was not a goddess of death but of magic and law.

    When Pyremius poisoned Ranet to seize control of her portfolio of fire Dalt turned his back on the Suel pantheon in disgust at their turning a blind eye to his lover's demise and embarked on a journey that lasted long enough to see him forgotten by many of the Suel peoples.

    Not only Pyremius did well out of Ranet's demise and Dalt's exodus. Wee Jas assumed a tentative grip on the portfolio of death, a boon that causes some to speculate she may have been involved in the scheme somehow. The vast loss of life through magic during the Twin Cataclyms allowed Wee Jas to secure her grip on the domain of death.

    I can't decide what alignment to make her - I feel she is a good goddess and either Lawful or Neutral but I can't decide!
    Adept Greytalker

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    Fri Jul 05, 2013 6:49 am  

    Just remembered something - I think that there is a suggested / possible connection between Ranet and various snake cults / statues of snake bodied Suel women.

    It's only implied but it's a nice connection that could be incorporated maybe?
    GreySage

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    Sat Jul 06, 2013 7:41 am  

    Would that be Beltar???

    -Lanthorn
    Black Hand of Oblivion

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    Sat Jul 06, 2013 2:41 pm  

    Or Pyremius. He is the god of fire and poison after all.

    With Fire and Creation aspects, Ranet could be more like Vesta.

    More information here (though it seems mostly guesswork; best go to the sources): http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ranet
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    Mon Jul 08, 2013 11:55 pm  

    The snake connection definitely wasn't Pyremius - I think it was specifically a goddess. Actually I think there was a thread I started about it in the general forum which might be relevant to this one. Here we go;

    http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=5322&highlight=ranet

    The suggestions for the snake goddess idols seem to be Wee Jas, Beltar (who can assume the form of a marilith or dragon so good poosibility there) and Ranet.

    The Ranet / snake connection comes from "I6 - Dwellers of the Forbidden City" where a lost temple of Ranet is described there being defended by the giant snake-queen.
    Black Hand of Oblivion

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    Tue Jul 09, 2013 4:26 am  

    And the quote is:

    Quote:
    1. Under the city stretches the ancient primitive sewer system. In it now live monsters and colonies of creatures of all sorts. But, most common are the jungle-ghouls and the last human descendants of the yuan ti ancestors. The ghouls and humans wage a constant war of attacks, sallies, counter-attacks, and sieges through the underground tunnels. More cunning than normal ghouls and led by small demonic leaders, the jungle ghouls attempt to transform the humans into twisted slime beasts with their cancerous touch. The humans are nearly blind from the centuries of underground existence and rely on their other heightened senses to survive. They hate those who bring light, worshiping the kindly god of darkness who drives away the demons of light. It is rumored that somewhere in the tunnels is the fabulous lost temple of Ranet. The temple is there, and is guarded by the giant snake-queen.


    So, the temple is not a "snake temple", just guarded by "the snake-queen". Think about what kind of adventure this is (pulp style), and where it takes place.

    A giant snake-queen?! In Hepmonoland?! Well, I guess it could have escaped from a zoo or something... Laughing

    If it were a temple or Nreull guarded by some mutant "giant snake queen" uanti- and here dethcult, could Nerull then be snake god just because the temple was guarded by "the giant snake-queen"? No, he would still be a death god, just one that happen to worshiped by deranged yuan ti in Hepmonaland.

    Yuan ti?! In Hepmonalnad?! I guess they could have escaped from zoo or something...(not very likely though). Laughing

    And besides, what sort of "snake-queen" would guard a lost temple?

    Perhaps this one?

    http://0.tqn.com/d/horror/1/0/O/A/0/-/FromDusk05.jpg

    Or one of these?

    http://best-wallpaper.net/wallpaper/1920x1200/1110/Green-Snake-and-White-Snake-girl_1920x1200.jpg

    Or maybe just this one?

    http://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9223-Naga.jpg

    While I prefer the Salma one to be sure Happy, it probably is a naga, either an evil naga (spirit or dark) that is guarding the temple to keep those who might want to revive it from doing so, or a good one that is guarding it from the evil that is around and about. Or it could just be a freakishly ginormous mutant of a giant snake that everyone just refers to as "the snake queen".

    Doesn't make Ranet a "snake god" though, so I am not all that keen on that supposition. The Suel "snake god" really is Llerg by the way. He likes snakes, as well as bears and crocogators.

    "Clerics and druids devoted to the service of Llerg adorn themselves in bear skins, alligator hides, and snake skins when conducting worship ceremonies."

    ...and

    "A few druids worship Llerg, but these are druids who have little or no concern for plants and who will rarely, if ever, pray for spells involving plants or wood. These are druids who are concerned about the protection of carnivorous animals above all else not protection from fair combat, but from slaughter for sport or for their hides. No animal, even a conjured or summoned one, will attack a cleric or druid in the service of Llerg."

    Yes, they do wear the skins of snakes, but as a sign of respect for their strength, as they value these animals and protect them from needless slaughter.
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    Tue Jul 09, 2013 4:38 am  

    Despite all that there still are references to a Suloise Snake Goddess in "Ivid the Undying" and "From the Ashes".

    I'm not saying Ranet is this snake goddess I'm just offering up as a possibility to incorporate this element within her description based on a couple shreds of fluff if someone so desired.
    Black Hand of Oblivion

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    Tue Jul 09, 2013 4:58 am  

    If Ranet is a good deity, lamia are not likely to worship her though. They seem more like something that would follow Beltar, who can take on the form of a marilith, for a nice little demonic "snake cult" link perhaps. Her symbol is "great fangs about to bite", and lamias (who are led by snake-bodied lamia matriarchs) and Beltar are both chaotic evil as well.
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