Baal < Shem < Foswiki

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Species	Baal (fem. Baaless, n. Baal)
Classification	Inmortal Nation
Origin	Born from paradox
Lifespan	Inmortal
Habitat	Anywhere their Aspect allows
Food	Belief
Description	Baals begin with more form than deities, usually being more animalistic. When they take full form after choosing an Aspect, they will look like anything their Aspect allows or reflects.
Procreation	Baals procreate with one another to create new baals, though this is rare. They prefer not to reproduce with other Divinities, but it is possible; the child's nation will follow the birthing parent. With any other being, they produce Aeonians.
Esoterica	Baals are beings of paradox, embodied by it, which becomes ambrosia for them. This ambrosia feeds them, but the core of their power is raw Divinity, which they use via their Divine will. They can use any other esoteric energy until such time as they take on an Aspect. Once they have an Aspect, they limit themselves to a set of skills, powers, and abilities defined by that Aspect.
Special Powers	Even before they have an aspect, all baals have Divine Will, which means their thoughts and will can alter reality. Once they have an Aspect, they retain this, but it is narrowed to their Aspect.
Aspect	All baals take on an Aspect eventually, usually after a religion has been established within a culture. Once they take on this Aspect, they gain extraordinary power in everything associated with that Aspect. Aspects can be very specific ("the red band of the rainbow") or broad ("law and order"), but what is associated with an Aspect varies on the beliefs of the deity's worshipers.
Gifts	Baals may create objects at will, but those objects they create with the intention of gifting them to mortality are called Gifts, and these Gifts have specific powers imbued only via Divine Aspect.
Belief	Baals thrive off worship, though they can sustain without it, if barely. They gain ambrosia from the actions of those that belief in them, even if those actions are not actions of worship. But worshipers produce enough ambrosia to allow a baal to become powerful. Acts of worship take many forms, but common among them are sacrifice, dedication, devotion, service, supplication, prayer, and ecstasy.
Court	Unlike with many mortals, knowing or using the True Name of a baal will not give one power over the baal, but the other way around. One who knows the Name of a baal becomes their Secretary, and one who speaks it becomes their Dedicate. Baals may also Choose someone and make them their Chosen, and they may Choose someone or something to be their steed, or Vahana. They may gain a Champion (and relevant subsidiaries) from one of their worshipers if one of them passes a number of esoteric trials.
Weaknesses	Baals are weak to mortal will. They do not like blasphemy/fuligin, but it does not harm them as it does a deity. If they have no worshipers, they get weaker.
Behavior	Before they take on an Aspect, baals tend to have a loose, roughly animalistic form, and they wander and use their powers to attract worshipers. Once they find worshipers, they often work with them to develop a stable religion before committing to the Aspect. Sometimes they abandon nascent religions to find better Aspects. They tend their Aspects methodically once they have one. Because baals were once subject to genocide, they lived through two iterations of Shem hiding their national backgrounds. On Third Shem, this has ended, and they live openly, but they still distrust deities and mithrans due to the actions of the past.
Religion	Some baals worship other Divines as part of a complex system of faith. However, their main focus is to create religions in the minds of mortals, and thus become a part of that system. These systems of worship are determined by their Aspect, but they can vary from mortal to mortal or culture to culture or even community to community.
Mortal Interactions	Baals use their powers of Divine Will to reveal themselves to mortals, then work with them more actively to create religions, worlds, nations, cultures, and more.
Notables	Banner-Anbai, Brinnemeaah, Ixchicahuac, TavasziLeanyzo, Tamkin, ShijieDeMailuo, Yatana, Elanathas, Volvebatur, Vetrarmothir, Haeddiannol, TagaputolNgKadena, Maloch, Odachi, Gorgeron, Ehonon, Cuairteoir, Dryht-Cwen, KanPpianAepngFang, Udraqes, Sunya, Onitan, Loegmathr, Sedeia, PulBanaaneVaala, HollowJack, HeimonAiti, GaduhviAlisdelisgi, Giobog, DernierRecours, LoMaCahad,
Sample statistics	PRO ATH STR AWA WIL ROG Skills

Topic revision: r7 - 05 Jun 2023, SallyJaneBlack

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