What do the gods look like?

[Onionsoilder]

As far as I know, there is only one god with actual graphics, which is Mulcarn/Auric. Quite a monstrosity, but I don't feel that he is par for the course. Agares is given several descriptions, often talking about his black and gold wings and armor. I tend to imagine him somewhat similar to Sphener, only different colors and quite a bit larger. What about the others, though?

Nemed was the father of humanity, so I imagine him looking quite like a normal human, not even with wings. Based on the Empyrean, I feel that Lugus looks like a young man, wearing flowing golden robes. I think of Nantosuetala as pixieish in form, but not size. Sirona looks somewhat like Ethene, though more wise and gentle then ever her. Not quite sure how to place Amathon, though I have a feeling Junil looks like a giant suit of armor - think Judge from FFTA.

I don't know nearly as much about the neutral gods. Kilmorph, being who she is, I often see wearing a full set of gold/mithril platemail adorned with gems. Since she is down-to-earth, I also see brown hair and a soft face, though it can be fierce if you anger her. Never really thought about Danalin or Tali. Clueless about Arawn or Oghma. Cernunnos obviously looks like Hyborem, only greener(I also think og him without wings), and I see Dagda as a male Lady Justice.

Now for the evil onces.... If we take from example, it is possible that all of the fallen gods have become twisted into monsterous forms, somewhat like Auric. They also could have retained their humanism forms. Either way, I think that Aeron still looks very human, with a large muscles and a perfect form. Camulos has wings and a vicious blade, wearing heavily scratched and battered platemain with the skins of fallen enemies hanging from his waste and shoulder. Mammon strikes me as a old man wearing dark orange hooded robes with gold/black embriderments. Cerediwen is a mystery, like always. I think Bhall has become twisted, like her Orcs, and Esus looks more like a shroud than anything else.

 

[deanej]

Actually, Ceridwen is one of the most well-known in terms of appearance. See Tebryn's pedia entry.

The crow was gone. In its place, floating weightless just above the ground was a beautiful woman wearing purple robes. The robes floated about her in a maze of folds that hid her and offered tantalizing glimpses of her perfect pale skin. Half of an obsidian mask covered the left side of her face. On the right her lips were full and red, her eyes matched the deep purple of her robes.[PARAGRAPH:1]"To long have you dwelled in these lands."[PARAGRAPH:1]The fire collapsed back into the rune. I felt the power slip from me and I gasped and fell to my knees in an effort to keep hold of it. But it was pulled from me and I was weak again. I screamed, it was as cruel as anything I had suffered here.[PARAGRAPH:1]"Give it back." I threatened, realizing that I didn't have a weapon.[PARAGRAPH:1]Her eyes narrowed dangerously. Her body twisted and she expanded, or the world shrank, until she filled the sky and her robes surrounded me.[PARAGRAPH:1]"I am Ceridwen" she said and the ground rumbled with her voice, "and I can drop you into worlds far worse than this one. If you wish to be free you will worship me, for I am the only one who can break your chains."[PARAGRAPH:1]And I fell to the ground and worshipped her.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I tend to think that the appearance of the gods may vary greatly, based both on the god's wishes and their beholders' preconceptions. Lugus likely looks quite monstrous to a vampire, but beautiful to his priests. Most likely only see his as the Sun itself. I expect that Mulcarn's monstrous appearance may not have been taken on until he invaded Erebus. Back when he was a minor god who was technically evil but seen as benign enough for his worship to be tolerated in all good lands I imagine he looked more human. Before the release of AoI I always pictured him as sort of a grumpy Santa Claus.


Cernunnos looks a lot like Hyborem, or at least he did before he was made a god. I suspect that his wings may have been more bird-like than bat-like (originally neither he nor Hyborem were supposed to have wings, but I think the Beltaine Cycle describes him as flying so it was probably changed) and that he was green and brown instead of red and black, but they otherwise looked the same. (Most angels are described as marble in color, but I think he is an exception.)


If I recall the opening sideshow of the Age of Ice scenario has pictures of both Sucellus and Nantosuelta. I haven't played that in a long time, usually turned off the slide show when I did, and am not on my computer to check, but I believe that Nantosuelta looked like a perfectly human brunette woman probably in her 30s. Sucellus looked half man and half deer, sort of like a Centaur with antlers. In the pedia however he at first seems to be manifested through vines. His appearance likely changed greatly when he was resurrected and changed from Nature to Life. His fellow gods see him as looking more like Nemed than the old Sucellus. As the Phoenix is his symbol, he may now have wings. there are rams holy to him now too though, so he may have horns. In his old post-resurrection appearance in the lore he seems to be moving through Erebus as an invisible, disembodied spirit.



I think the 7 of Demons in the Somnium cards may be supposed to be Agares. The most notable part of him now though is that he seems to always be rapidly aging. Every moment you look at him it seems like he has changed from an infant to old man to a corpse.


One angel of Arawn (who was actually serving Laroth) is described as blue and looking like a child, grown man, and withering corpse all at once (without the sense of changing that Agares has). I imagine Arawn may be similar. The color of death is grey though, so he probably is mostly grey in color too.


I imagine Junil as an old but very well preserved man. (He is called the Eldest of the gods, and seems to think that he as the oldest brother should be in charge when their father The One is away.) I see his with white or grey hair, cut short and very neatly. He would be clean-shaven, fairly tanned, and with very few wrinkles. I see him as tall, muscular, and very lean. He would be wearing some sort of uniform or armor, likely close fitting and well trimmed.


Sirona is seen my all the other gods as a sweet little sister. I tend to picture her with smooth, cream colored skin, dark hair, and blue eyes. I think of her as looking between 9 and 16 years old, but with eyes that show the wisdom of great age. (For the first couple years I pictured her as a younger version of my first love. Now I picture her as looking more like a girl from my church that I've been thinking of asking out. As such she sometimes look Korean to me now.)


I picture the unfallen Bhall as a freckled, redheaded woman in her late teens or 20s. She would be beautiful have an athletic but voluptuous build, and probably fiery wings.


I picture Kilmorph as a 50 to 60 year old, modestly overweight woman. She would be quite plain, not ugly but in no way sexually attractive. She would probably be the most wrinkled of the gods, with both laugh lines and anger lines. I don't see her as being particularly adorned, for while she may offer great wishes she is a very practical goddess.


Tali would probably look like a teenage boy somewhat crazy eyes and very messy, possibly multicolored hair. He would always look disheveled, if he could possibly be made to stay still enough for anyone to get a good look at him.

Danalin would look like an older man, but unlike the other gods who look like old men he would have an extremely kind and gentle look. His wrinkles would probably mostly be laugh lines. His eyes would look a lot like Sirona's, but a bit more tired. He would be neither muscular, thin, nor fat. He views Tali and Sirona as one would his favorite grandchild.


Amathon would likely look like a boy, about Cardith Lorda's apparent age (10). He may have insect-like wings and be adorned with flowers.

 

[Diamondeye]

Cthulhu in plush makes a fine overlord.

 

[Opera]

I want this plush

 

[Tasunke]

This reminds me of white-wolf's demon, and Human and Armageddon forms.

In this case, it seems FFH gods take on their Armageddon forms whenever they invade erebus ... so when Mulcarn Invaded, when Bhall fell, they were in their "giant monster of doom" mode.

 

[Ekolite]

Wall of text

Interesting ideas there MC although I disagree with some though, especially Amaothon. Afterall, he's the God of Fertility right? A child is hardly appropriate . I see him as a young man with an artistic streak. Tall, brown hair, not particularly muscular but attractive. Green or amber eyes. Probably he would tend towards absent mindedness, the kind of person who's always starting a new project but rarely sees things through to the end. I don't see him as winged but he could probably fly if he felt like it.

Ultimately though I think the Gods can look more or less what ever they like. I think Amaothon would often appear as a Centaur for example.

 

[Kyzarc Fotjage]

and high?

I generally pictured Kilmorph in the same way I pictured nanny ogg, kindof a scary thought though...

 

[Darksaber1]

and high?

I generally pictured Kilmorph in the same way I pictured nanny ogg, kindof a scary thought though...

Althought probably with a...less rotten fruit-like face. And more teeth.

 

[Kyzarc Fotjage]

hm, kilmorph singing the hedgehog song

 

[Darksaber1]

hm, kilmorph singing the hedgehog song

............

 

[Avahz Darkwood]

You have been warned!!! One of the many versions...

 

[citizenalex]

dude, what about Agares? I imagine him as a goth on a bad meth binge, sores and all.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Agares - "An angel was sitting in the shadow of the peak. He was old, powerfully built and wore a gold crown decorated with opals.
...
As the angel spoke he stood up and his gold wings unfurled. Gower had seen Sucellus as the heart of the forest many times and this angel shared a majestic quality with the god of nature."




Agares stood bathed in black and gold flames, he was beautiful and horrible. His lance was raised above his head and his 6 wings fully unfurled and blocking Cernunnos's sight of his son.
...
Agares looked down at the horn marks in his black and gold breastplate. It was as great a hit as the he had ever received, but he was a god and would not fall to an archangels attack.

 

[Ignus]

I sort of imagine Junil as a Vhailor with a slightly more decorative armor and axe. (Vhailor is in planescape: Torment) (best rpg of all time) (look for vhailor HERE )

Note: Vhailor is a spirit who stays alive because there is justice to preserv ( he thinks mercy is a weakness) (he OWNS in planescape torment, he actually can solo the final boss! )

 

[BasilAbdef]

I sort of imagine Junil as a Vhailor with a slightly more decorative armor and axe. (Vhailor is in planescape: Torment) (best rpg of all time) (look for vhailor HERE )

Note: Vhailor is a spirit who stays alive because there is justice to preserv ( he thinks mercy is a weakness) (he OWNS in planescape torment, he actually can solo the final boss! )

He's also a complete pain in the ass with whom to converse. Come to think of it, I'm not a big fan of your namesake either; Nordom all the way!

 

[talonschild]

Hate to thread-necro, but I was wondering about these and starting a new thread just seemed... wrong. Anyhow, whilst practicing drawing I hit upon the idea of depicting the 21 gods. Pretty much everything I had in mind is in line with MC's thoughts (the girl serving as a model for Sirona is even half-asian), but I we haven't touched on them all.

So, put up for review:

Aeron - you know the descriptions of Butler from the Artemis Fowl books? The Man Mountain, utterly bald, deep voice, generally humungous and scary? This, but more so. Like, seven and a half feet tall (relative to the other gods).

Nanosuelta - I had originally thought the goddess of Wisdom and Selflessness an - elderly? old? aged? Those, but without the undercurrent of "enfeebled" - woman, and the goddess of Faith and Enchantment adolescent, but the aged woman being seen as a younger sister seemed incongruous (and the aforementioned model looks more like a Sirona than a Nanosuelta), yet I liked the old woman/girl as the female Good duo, so I switched them.

Oghma - For some reason, I picture him as Arabic and, again, bald, wearing the same sort of clothes as Sir Michael Gambon's Dumbledore.

Kilmorph - I'd thought her as ~45.

Arawn - tricky. I'm thinking rail-thin and tired. Age indeterminate.

Mulcarn - I'm abandoning canon for the grumpy Santa.

Esus - Tall, thin, dark, and perpetually half-smiling. Black clothes, either silk or leather.

Mammon, Dagda, Camulos - help?

 

[fdrpi]

That sounds like a great idea talonschild!

One thing I'd like to say is maybe to add fantastical elements to them. The gods do not necessarily look exactly like humans (think Mulcarn and Agares).

 

[talonschild]

Interesting. On some thread or other I remember some Wild Mass Guessing (albeit I think MC said it, so how wild can it be?) that redemption of the evil gods required them to give up their precept, and then that furthermore that had been what the One intended - the Twenty-One to create and then to join creation. In fact that only Nemed did so was a great disappointment.

So I thought that the One would have created them all to be humanform. As noted above, I reject the game's Mulcarn (that reminded me of the Protoss-Zerg hybrid, for those of you familiar with Starcraft II), because it doesn't fit my take on MC's take on Kael's continuity. Even Sucellus and Danalin, because the elves and Aifons only arose later. Those particularly adventurous could try to draw the Twenty-One Archangels - the 21, I think, never clued in to the plan and let their imaginations run rather more wildly.

 

[Ari Rahikkala]

Mammon

I like to think that Mammon walks around his vault actually looking fairly ugly and overweight. Just to inspire his souls to think "hey, if that guy has made it, I bet I have a shot too". He'd probably be one of the gods more prone to taking different shapes as the situation calls, though (unlike, say, Kilmorph, who I bet has looked the same ever since she first came into existence).

Dagda

This one's tough. On the one hand he cares a lot about humanity (or at least he never stopped his archangel from caring) so you'd think he'd have a very average human shape. On the other hand, his precept is really important to how all of the gods work (as well as the only unopposed precept and in many ways *the* contral one) so I could imagine him as a very abstract force that appears to even other gods in various different metaphorical forms. Maybe he splits the difference and looks like a perfectly average human?

Comedy option: Judge Judy

Camulos

This one's easy: Just think of Charles Manson and you've got it. He's not powerful as such, he's just dangerously unpredictable and you kind of want to stay away from him because you don't know when he might lash out.