Religion in Souragne

[Storm Knight]

Hey all, I'm new. I have been lurking for a bit but this is my first time posting. (waves)

Religion in Souragne. I know they have the voudan, but is there any organized religion or commonly worshipped deity (that isn't a loa) in the domain?

Just curious, I am going to be ST'ing a game before too long and neither my Ravenloft DM's Guide or PHB makes any mention about this, and I don't have any of the Gazetteers.

Thanks all.

[Willowhugger]

I was always of the impression that the Voudan religion WAS the organized religion of the land, or more precisely it was what everyone believed with a decidedly pagan feel. Not everyone has to be a Hougan to know that there's spirits of the Swamp and the Undead walk.

However, if you need a religion then Ezra is probably the best one since its warmed over Christianity.

[Storm Knight]

Ah, thank you for the advice!

I am actually not too knowledgeable about the whole voodoo thing going on in Souragne. Reason I ask is I am doing NoTWD soon, and the "shaman" Brucien (however, the way he is described, and the fact that he is in a church, and that he is of cleric character class makes me seem him as much more of a priest) in Marais d'Tarascon has been described as "paying equal homage to the gods of good" whether they be lawful, neutral or chaotic. I am actually a little confused to this; this could be referring to the loa, or perhaps several good Ravenloft deities. And if the PCs are to make a trip to Port d'Elhour, I want the church there to be of the same spirituality as Brucien's church.

However, I think Ezra would work well. Perhaps the church here can speak out against the evils of pagan voodoo practise, just like the Christian churches of early Lousiana probably did, to provide some interesting conflict.

[Willowhugger]

Sure you can.

Ezra works well for you then.

My best guess is to use the idea of relatively realistic real-world voodoo for this.

The people of Sourange pay homage to the "gods of good" and the church is probably filled with hundreds of statues of every god that any traveller has brought that's good. The rest of the evil spirits are merley recorded for later posterity. This is in addition to the countless spirits of animals, trees, and so forth out there.

A good thing to note about Voodoo is that its a branch of Christianity as well as paganism. African religions incorporated the Mythology (such as it is) of Christianity into their normal religions rather than disregarding their old beliefs completely.

Saints merely became another spirit to pray to in addition to Samedi the God of the Dead.

[Gemathustra]

The people of Sourange pay homage to the "gods of good" and the church is probably filled with hundreds of statues of every god that any traveller has brought that's good. The rest of the evil spirits are merely recorded for later posterity. This is in addition to the countless spirits of animals, trees, and so forth out there.

Most likely they worshipped the evil spirits, too.
In ancient times, when people prayed to evil gods or evil spirits, the idea wasn't to honor them, it was to persuade them to not engage in mischief.

[Willowhugger]

The people of Sourange pay homage to the "gods of good" and the church is probably filled with hundreds of statues of every god that any traveller has brought that's good. The rest of the evil spirits are merely recorded for later posterity. This is in addition to the countless spirits of animals, trees, and so forth out there.

Most likely they worshipped the evil spirits, too.
In ancient times, when people prayed to evil gods or evil spirits, the idea wasn't to honor them, it was to persuade them to not engage in mischief.

Touche and quite so.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Keep in mind, NotWD was written way back when RL had no native religions. If it were written today, I suspect Brucian would have been Ezra's Warden Brucian, or maybe even a Halan priestess.

[Storm Knight]

Great advice all. Did some extra research on voodoo, and after Willowhugger pointed out about the "gods of good", it seems Brucian's faith was probably connected with the Voodan faith.

However, I'm still a little confused. I Googled Port d'Elhour to learn a little more about the town and found this site:

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/1050/Port.html

Very informative on the people of the city and this is what it has to say about its religion:

9. Church: This is the church belonging to the only religion that houses any measurable worth in Port d'Elhour, The Church of the Maiden. The church teaches love and compassion and perseverance of life, her portfolio includes healing, life, agriculture, love, protection, and resurrection. The church is run by Father Martin Dechanin. His brother, Shaman Brucian, joined another religion, and when the two meet they often try to make each other convert. Martin is aided by Jaques, whom was detailed above. Martin will tell the players either a true or false rumor (50% chance of each).

In the Ravenloft core book under the section about Souragne, the "Maiden of the Swamp" is described as being the feared chief of the loa. So was the religion Shaman Brucian joined simply worshipping loa other than the Maiden? Or perhaps the info on the site is later after NotWD? (Brucian's attitude towards things could have changed after seeing the destruction that the corrupted Tarascon brothers brought upon his town.)

I dunno. I suppose these are all just minor details that I as a DM can work out and make decisions on; its ok if its not perfectly canon with Ravenloft. But it does interest me.

One last thing, what domains would Brucian have? I'm thinking water and plant since the loa seem to have a connection mainly with the swamp in this.

Okay, thats all. Thanks

[Willowhugger]

Great advice all. Did some extra research on voodoo, and after Willowhugger pointed out about the "gods of good", it seems Brucian's faith was probably connected with the Voodan faith.

However, I'm still a little confused. I Googled Port d'Elhour to learn a little more about the town and found this site:

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/1050/Port.html

Very informative on the people of the city and this is what it has to say about its religion:

9. Church: This is the church belonging to the only religion that houses any measurable worth in Port d'Elhour, The Church of the Maiden. The church teaches love and compassion and perseverance of life, her portfolio includes healing, life, agriculture, love, protection, and resurrection. The church is run by Father Martin Dechanin. His brother, Shaman Brucian, joined another religion, and when the two meet they often try to make each other convert. Martin is aided by Jaques, whom was detailed above. Martin will tell the players either a true or false rumor (50% chance of each).

In the Ravenloft core book under the section about Souragne, the "Maiden of the Swamp" is described as being the feared chief of the loa. So was the religion Shaman Brucian joined simply worshipping loa other than the Maiden? Or perhaps the info on the site is later after NotWD? (Brucian's attitude towards things could have changed after seeing the destruction that the corrupted Tarascon brothers brought upon his town.)

I dunno. I suppose these are all just minor details that I as a DM can work out and make decisions on; its ok if its not perfectly canon with Ravenloft. But it does interest me.

One last thing, what domains would Brucian have? I'm thinking water and plant since the loa seem to have a connection mainly with the swamp in this.

Okay, thats all. Thanks

My best estimation is the Maiden is the Nature Aspect while Brucien is the worshipper of the spiritual aspect.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

That site looks like it took some info from Dance of the Dead and ran with it. It's been years since I've read Dance, so I don't remember much, but there was a physical Maiden of the Swamp who aided Larissa against Misroi.

[Pacal]

To me Shaman Brucien would probably be a missionary of either the Morninglord or Ezra that is sympathetic (or at least turns a blind eye) to the voudan rituals that are so prevalent throughout Souragne. If you want to know more about voodoo read some stuff about Marie Laveau and New Orleans.

[lildog7]

Other then Night of the Walking Dead and the book Dance of the Dead are there any other books or adventures that take place within Souragne?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

It seems to me that "the Maiden" of Martin's church needn't be the same figure as the tangible, physical Maiden of the Swamp. Perhaps his church has merged Hala and/or Ezra together with the MotS, in its dogma, much as IRL voudun merged traditional African goddesses with the Virgin Mary and so forth? If so, the debates between the two brothers wouldn't really be about whose *goddess* is best, but about whose creed best expresses the nature and will of the *same* spiritual patron.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Other then Night of the Walking Dead and the book Dance of the Dead are there any other books or adventures that take place within Souragne?

There's the Sandovar adventure in CotN:Werebeasts, although it's not very good. I don't know of any others. Check the Kargatane catalogue to be sure.

[Bluebomber4evr]

There's also the Myxitizajal entry in COTN: Vampires. Though that one isn't so great, either.