Question: Could we please have a list of gods who have Artistry?
Good question! While we did add Artistry to all appropriate gods on the site, there was no centralized place to look it up, so here's a quick reference list.
Apollo, Greek god of music and song, leader of the Muses and patron of musicians everywhere.
Athena, Greek goddess of crafts, patroness of all weavers, craftsmen and artists who create works that stand the test of time.
Brahma, Hindu god of creation, lord of all physical things that are made and used in the world, he who creates from pure nothingness.
Gobnhios, Celtic god of crafts and smithery, creator of his pantheon's relics and maker of the mead of immortality.
Hephaestus, Greek god of the physical arts and the creation of magical items, the smith-god who creates all the legendary weapons and relics of his pantheon.
Lugh, Celtic god of crafts and skill, master of all arts and inventor of the techniques of human building.
Obatala, Yoruba god of creation, who shapes the souls of all living things from spiritual clay.
Ogun, Yoruba god of iron and smithing, master of the art of creating weapons and inventor of the metal elements of the universe.
Ptah, Egyptian god of creation and intelligence, patron of all craftsmen and builders and inspirational spirit who motivates all human creation.
Sarasvati, Hindu goddess of creativity and the arts, patron of all artists and counterpart to Brahma's physical creation with her own mental and spiritual creation.
Svarozhich, Slavic god of the forge and creation, who sculpted the world and all things in it from primordial dung and with his father served as patron of all smiths.
In addition to these, there are several gods who probably have a good number of Artistry boons, including Dionysus (patron of the theatrical arts), Hathor (goddess of music and joy), Mokosh (patron of weaving and creator of magical garments), Ra (the primordial creator), Shiva (lord of the dance) and Xochiquetzal (patron of arts and performance, especially music). They're all connected to the same concept of creative genesis or artistic power, but either do so in a way that is better illustrated by other purviews or aren't associated with it majorly enough to grant them the benefits of having the full Avatar level.
There are numerous other small gods who aren't on the site right now who probably have Artistry as well, but their particulars will have to wait for the day they get their own pages.
Damn...nothing for the Aesir, then.
ReplyDeleteKvasir and Bragi are the Nordic Artisans. They don't have a builds-stuff dude because the Dwarves fill that mythological niche for the Norse.
DeleteYeah, Bragi's got it for sure, he's just not Legend 12. Kvasir would, but he's pretty famously dead so we don't run him as a playable parent.
DeleteHe's exactly as dead as LUGH!!
DeleteYes, but Lugh is a Legend 12 focally important god in his pantheon. The only reason Kvasir was ever important is because he died. ;)
DeleteThe word Artistry seems so awkward, though. Can I just call it Artisan like Source J mentioned?
DeleteSure, you can call it whatever you want, dude. The technical best form would probably be "Artisanry", but that's the most awkward, which is why we didn't use it. :)
DeleteHey. I mentioned that Artisan is the *wrong* kinda noun. It was someone else what floated that idea. I prefer that Purviews be called the thing-they-are instead of the person-doing-the-thing.
DeleteStupid Psychopomp. For several reasons. Someone should take the thesaurus away from the writers.
Hey while I'm on this question - Source J pointed out that the Dwarves fill the niche of "smith" for the Gods. Well the Dwarves create some amazing things, and definitely have some Artistry boons, but they're obviously not Gods, let alone Creator Gods. So how is it, mechanically, that Dwarves are able to compete with the likes of Hephaestus in creating relics for their pantheon?
DeleteIs it that they have a bigger workforce, all equally brilliant, whereas Hephaestus is alone save his own created helpers? Or is it some other wibbly wobbly fate stuff? Or is it just a fact that, compared to Hephaestus' Greco-Roman genius and perfection, the Dwarves' barbarian creations are worthless twigs?
You wouldn't give Hathor the Avatar? Because you don't think she's Legend 12, or just that her connection isn't strong enough? I thought she'd be a shoo-in. She's all about some sex, drugs and rock-n-roll.
ReplyDeleteNah, she's totally Legend 12! But while she was on our list for consideration, we ended up deciding she didn't have the Avatar. She's the patron of musicians, but she doesn't actually do any performance herself in any surviving narratives (flashing Ra that one time doesn't count), so much like other gods who are associated-but-not-Associated, we figure she has a lot of it to go with her goddess of Fun Stuff role, but not the full-on Avatar on par with someone like Apollo.
DeleteHow about a guesstimate for the japanese?
DeleteAmaterasu and Susanoo both fashioned people out of beads/swordshards, and someone used a sword to carve Japan if remember correctly?
I would say probably not Amaterasu or Susanoo - they really don't do Artistry as a career path, though that myth is compelling. Amaterasu might have a little more ground to stand on, since she's also the goddess of weaving; Susanoo is the god of taking stuff apart, not putting it together, so he's probably out.
DeleteUzume, who isn't playable right now but should be, is a good call for Artistry as goddess of music, dance and sexiness. We really need to do some thorough work on the Amatsukami before we have a good answer for you, though. :(
That is why I am voting for them and biding my time until they happen.
DeleteIt's just a shame that their purview is so weak at points, and so ridicilously easy to abuse at points :/
Yeah, fixing Tsukumo-gami will be a big part of their overhaul.
DeleteI'm guessing Xipe Totec's patronage of goldsmiths and similar craftsmen isn't enough for an association (And I suppose I'd agree there). Ditto Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca. Tezcat gave humans music (via turning into a monkey), and Quetz is a creator par excellence (particularly in his Maya incarnations), but I'm not willing to give then the Purview Avatars
ReplyDeleteI know the Incas aren't up here, but Viracocha qualifies for Artistry like whoa. He's the Brahma/Obatala version. Less about looms or forges or songs, more about creating the earth and sky just by thinking it and shaping humans together...
(... How would things like landscaping unto designing geography work under Art rules, particularly Polymath?)
... I'm tempted to say Itzamna should have Artistry, given the creation of writing/patron of scribes that crosses with the artistic nature of Mayan hieroglyphs, not to mention the creator angle similar to Viracocha/Brahma/Obatala. But I don't know.
Yeah, none of the Aztecs really jumped out as being Artistry guys, although the ones you named probably still have some boons and could bust out some neat stuff if called upon.
DeleteBig bad creator gods are hard, because sometimes they obviously used Aristry for their exploits (like seriously physically molding the whole universe, props to Svarozhich) and sometimes equally obviously did something else (like Ra masturbating things and people into existence, which is impressive but not really what Artistry does). Viracocha's definitely a good candidate, though, especially for the first race of beings that he built from stone.
...and, by the way, we didn't get the CB sorted out because they're still a trainwreck, but Nuwa totally has Artistry. Use it with abandon, Nuwa Scions.
Yeah... I think I'm coming down to feeling like Itzamna has some Artistry but not all the artistry; like Hathor, it's something he acts as the patron of but doesn't do much of himself, so it may not be one of his most important associations. But at the same time, I'm torn because creator god and invention of an entire art, etc.
For most landscaping, I would say it probably depends on what you're doing - topiary would fall under Woodworking, changing the face of mountains and earth would probably fall under Stonework, etc. I should actually probably add gardening/landscaping to the Polymath table under Woodworking; it's definitely an artform and we seem to have forgotten about it. Sorry, gardeners!
Shouldn't Ra have Health then? It just seems like as far as Creator Gods go, you either "shaped" the world and its people into existence (Ptah) or gave it life through your own divine essence (Ra) which feels more Health?
DeleteI don't know, there's probably a very good reason he doesn't have it.
We've talked about giving it to him, but we prefer to not give people associations unless they do more than one thing involving it (unless it totally blows us away). Ra does create humanity, but he's pretty thoroughly Health-useless for the rest of Egyptian mythology, so we ended up deciding he didn't have the Avatar.
DeleteSince it's something he did at the dawn of time and never again, it could have been some other Avatar/Ultimate, or even something he's lost the power to do since being defanged by Isis.