Which God(s) would you follow? [no spoilers]

Discussion in 'Game of Thrones (ASOIAF)' started by Aegon the Conqueror, Jul 28, 2011.

?

Choose

  1. The Seven

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  2. The Old Gods

    63.6%
  3. R'hllor

    9.1%
  4. The Drowned God

    4.5%
  5. The Many-Faced God

    22.7%
  1. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    The Old Gods

    History

    The Old Gods were first worshiped by the children of the forest. After the First Men invaded Westeros and made peace with the children, they discarded their previous faiths in favor of the children's spirits. When the Andals conquered the south of Westeros, they brought their Faith of the Seven with them. The spirits were dubbed the Old Gods and the practice of their worship became limited to the North.
    Faith

    The religion of the Old Gods has no organization, clergy, evangelical movements, or holy texts, but some traditions are passed down by their followers. Various actions, such as incest and kinslaying, are considered offensive to the gods. Weirwood trees with faces carved into them, called heart trees, are considered sacred. Prayer, oaths, and marriages are often performed in the presence of a heart tree. The faces were carved into the weirwoods by the children of the forest, but their meaning or purpose is not completely understood by humans. Once all noble houses had a godswood with a heart tree in its center, but many families that no longer follow the Old Gods have converted their godswoods into secular gardens.

    The Seven

    The Faith worships the Seven, a single deity with seven aspects or faces, each representing a different virtue. Worshippers pray to specific aspects of the Seven for help and guidance depending on their need. The aspects are:

    Father, representing judgment, he carries scales and is prayed to for justice.
    Mother, representing motherhood and nurturing, she is prayed to for fertility or compassion.
    Warrior, representing strength in battle, he is prayed to for victory.
    Maiden, representing innocence and chastity, she is usually prayed to to protect a maiden's virtue.
    Smith, representing crafts and labor, he is usually prayed to when work needs to be done.
    Crone, representing wisdom, she carries a lantern and is prayed to for guidance.
    Stranger, an exception to the other aspects, the Stranger represents death and the unknown. Worshippers rarely seek favor from the Stranger, but outcasts sometimes associate themselves with this god.

    The Faith

    The Faith of the Seven is the offical religion of the Seven Kingdoms and is heavily integrated into their laws and culture.

    Practices

    The Faith has a great many moral teachings. It frowns on gambling, preaches against bastardy, and curses things like incest and kinslaying. One of the central holy texts of the Faith is The Seven-Pointed Star, which is divided into gospel-like sections, such as the Maiden's Book, also called The Book of the Maiden. Presumably, each of the Seven has his or her own book. During trials by combat, the Seven are expected to intervene on the side of the just combatant. In order to become a knight, a squire must spend a nightlong vigil in a sept and become anointed in the name of the Seven. For this reason, there are few knights in areas where the Faith is not kept, such as the North.
    The number seven is considered holy to the Faith. It holds that there are seven hells as well as seven faces. Seven constellations in the sky are considered as sacred, and even grace is taught to have seven aspects. The number seven is used to invest rituals or objects with a holy significance. Adherents of the Faith use seven-pointed stars, crystal prisms, and rainbows as icons of the religion. Rites of worship heavily involve the use of light and crystals to represent the seven-in-one god.

    The places of worship of the Seven are called "septs", and every sept houses representational art portraying each of the seven aspects. In rural septs, they may merely be carved masks or simple charcoal drawings on a wall, while in wealthy septs, they may be statutes inlaid with precious metals and stones. Worshippers light candles before the altars of the symbolizing each of the seven aspects. Ceremonies are lead by the highest ranking male member of the clergy, and hymns are often sung. In the naming of a child, seven oils are used to anoint the infant. Weddings are conducted standing between the altars of the Father and the Mother. Rites of worship held in rich areas and during special occasions can feature embellishments such as choirs of seventy-seven septas.

    Clergy

    Septons
    Male clergy of the Faith are called "septons," and there are various orders of devotion amongst them, each concentrating their devotion on one aspect of the Seven. For example, there are septons sworn the Smith, and they wear small metal hammers on a thong around their necks. Monastic orders of septons can live in 'septries' (plural of 'septry'), self sustaining enclaves of sworn brothers who are called "Brown Brothers." Septons without a sept wander the countryside ministering to the smallfolk in exchange for food and shelter. They are sometimes disparaged as "begging brothers", and they wear a small metal bowl around their necks.

    Septas
    Female clergy called "septas", and there are various orders of devotion amongst them. There are orders of septas, called white, grey or blue septas, but it is unrevealed to which aspect of the deity each of them is devoted. There are convents of septas called 'motherhouses,' including a large one in Oldtown. Septas often serve as governesses in the households of the high nobility. A trial of a woman conducted by the Faith will have septas sitting among the seven judges. High ranking septas are counted as members of the "Most Devout", revealing that they have a voice in the selection of a High Septon.

    Silent Sisters
    A separate order of women with vows of chastity and silence, called the Silent Sisters, handles the bodies of the dead, but they are not regarded as septas. Silent Sisters are sometimes referred to as 'Wives of the Stranger.' They clad themselves in grey and keep their faces cowled except for their eyes.

    Most Devout
    The Faith is ruled by a council of the highest ranking clergy of the Faith called the Most Devout. The Most Devout are lead by the High Septon, an office elected by the Most Devout. Although the High Septon is usually elected from among the Most Devout, this is not a requirement. High Septons rennounce their names upon taking the office. They usually wear a great crown made of crystal while performing their duties. The High Septon and the Most Devout convene in the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing, a vast building of white marble with seven crystal towers. Prior to being headquartered in King's Landing, before the advent of the Targaryens, the seat of the Faith was the ornate Starry Sept in Oldtown, constructed in black marble with stained glass windows set in pointed arches.

    Faith Militant
    Militant orders of the Faith have also existed at times in its history: the Warrior's Sons, a knightly order comprised of the noble classes, and the Poor Fellows, drawn from the common folk. The Warrior's Sons would give up their lands and gold and swear their swords to the High Septon. They wore rainbow cloaks and inlaid silver armor over hair shirts.
    They bore star shaped crystals in the pommels of their swords. The Poor Fellows would carry axes and wander the roads of the realm, escorting travelers. Their badges was a seven pointed star red on white. They are known as the "Swords" and "Stars" respectively, and were brutally repressed by Maegor the Cruel.

    After the War of Conquest, the Militant Orders supported Aegon I and he tread carefully around them. However upon his death, rebellions against the rule of his sons soon began and the Militant orders supported those lords who rebelled. Maegor the Cruel put a bounty on the heads of the members of the orders, a gold dragon for any scalp of a Warrior's Son and a silver stag for the scalp of a Poor Fellow. Thousands were killed and the carnage only came to an end when Maegor died and Jaehaerys I agreed to pardon those who would lay down their swords.

    R'hllor

    Beliefs

    The followers of R'hllor worship him as the god of light, heat, and life. Shadows, being creations of light, are considered part of his realm. R'hllor's enemy is the Great Other, the god of darkness, cold, and death, whose true name is never to be spoken. R'hllor and the Great Other wage an eternal war over the fate of the world. Followers believe that Azor Ahai, the messianic figure prophesized to return in ancient books of Asshai, will tip the balance of this war. Azor Ahai is also called the Prince that was Promised, the Warrior of Light, and the Son of Fire. Prophecy holds that he will wield a flaming sword called Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and raise dragons of stone.

    Followers also believe that R'hllor will occasionally answer his followers' prayers by granting magical favors. They often gaze into flames in an effort to see visions of the future. Trials by combat are an accepted practice in the R'hllor faith; prayers before the combat ask R'hllor to give strength to the just party. "The night is dark and full of terrors", is a common phrase in prayers to R'hllor.

    Clergy

    One type of clergy of R'hllor are called "red priests" due to the loose, crimson robes they wear. In the east, children are often given to temples of R'hllor to be raised into the priesthood. Every evening, red priests light fires and sing prayers at their temples, asking R'hllor to bring back the dawn. Thoros of Myr is one red priest.
    Melisandre of Asshai is a follower of R'hllor whose association with other groups of clergy is uncertain. Like the red priests, she wears red robes.

    History

    The worship of R'hllor is an ancient tradition across the Narrow Sea, but did not gain much popularity in Westeros. Like other types of magic, the magic of R'hllor seems to have faded after the last Targaryen dragons died. While serving at his temple at Myr, Thoros did not see any visions in the flames. Seeking to spread the faith to Westeros, the red priests sent Thoros to King's Landing to convert the fire-obsessed Aerys II. Thoros was not able to perform any impressive fire magic, and Aerys ignored him.

    The Drowned God

    The Drowned God is a sea deity worshiped solely by the ironmen in Westeros. The religion of the Drowned God is old, dating back to before the Andal Invasion. The Andal invaders of the Iron Islands converted to the local religion rather than supplant it with the Seven as they did in the south of Westeros. The Drowned God religion supports the ironmen's naval, pirate culture. They believe that the Drowned God created them to rape, reave, and carve out kingdoms. The Drowned God himself is believed to have brought flame from the sea and sailed the world with fire and sword. The eternal enemy of the Drowned God is called the Storm God.

    Drowning

    Drowning and resurrection feature prominently in the prayers and rituals of the Drowned God religion. Drowning is the traditional method of execution for the Ironmen, but it is also considered a holy act, and the most faithful have no fear of it. Newborn are "drowned" shortly after birth, being submerged into or anointed with saltwater. Clergymen, called Drowned Men, are drowned a second time in earnest and brought back to life with a crude form of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Drowned Men wear roughspun robes of mottled green, grey, and blue. They carry driftwood cudgels to use in battle, and skins of saltwater to perform ritual anointment. A common prayer is, "What is dead can never die, but rises again, harder and stronger.

    The Many-Faced God

    The Guild originated in the volcanic slave mines of Valyria. Their founder came to believe that Valyria's diverse slave population all prayed to the same god of death in many different incarnations. The Guild believes that the death gods of all religions are faces of a single, Many-Faced God. In the Guild's House of Black and White, followers wear black and white robes and perform religious duties for the community, such as tending to the dead. The House contains a public shrine with idols of many death gods, including the Stranger of the Seven, but there are no formal services. Some visiting worshipers drink from a black cup that provides a painless death. A phrase associated with the cult of the Many-Faced God is "valar morghulis," translated from Valyrian as "all men must die"; a response to this is "valar dohaeris, or "all men must serve."

    According to the Guidl, the god is representative in many religions, all under different names. In Qohor, it is called the Black Goat. In Yi Ti, the Lion of Night and in the Faith of the Seven, the Stranger.

    Assassinations

    Followers of Him of Many Faces consider death to be a merciful end to suffering. For a price, the Guild will agree to kill anyone in the world, considering this contract killing to be a sacrament of their god. An elite group of followers within the Guild, called the Faceless Men, are trained to perform this task. Despite their name, Faceless Men are occasionally women. They possess magical abilities that allow them to change their appearance at will. Part of their training includes discarding their true identity and thinking of themselves as "no one". They use a variety of methods to kill their targets, including a poison called "the strangler". The cost of their services depends on the prominence and security of the target
     
  2. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Team Old Gods
     
  3. LT8

    LT8 Well-Known Member

    With The Many-Faced God a close second. The Seven are definitely for the fags
     
  4. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    I might could even get on the R'hllor bandwagon if his followers weren't faggots
     
  5. LT8

    LT8 Well-Known Member

    Yeah he's cool but greedy, and fuck them for burning weirwoods
     
  6. London Humphreys

    London Humphreys The next Julian Edelman, obviously.
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    Every single goddamn one. They all have different powers in different places. Got to cover your bases.
     
  7. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    not an option faggle
     
  8. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
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    really dont know.

    can definitely count out the drowned god because i dont want to risk death being drowned and definitely not the seven because in five books they havent shown up once.

    but they are the gods of the targaryens so who knows if they somehow show up later when dany runs shit?
     
  9. NDJOECA

    NDJOECA Well-Known Member

    Old Gods, many faced, and Rhllor are the only ones that have demonstrated any kind of power.
     
  10. Byrnes6D1

    Byrnes6D1 Well-Known Member

    The drowned god, team viking.
     
  11. rv12

    rv12 Cowabunga
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    Old Gods.
     
  12. Aaron Hernandez

    Aaron Hernandez LikeMyPostCampaign: https://bit.ly/2kKJpot
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    I'd be an atheist like tyrion. I'm like half way through the third book so I don't know if that changes.
     
  13. LT8

    LT8 Well-Known Member

    Good thing about the Old Gods is you don't have to do shit. Just go sit out in a heartswood and chill for a bit, count me in.
     
  14. Verbal Kint

    Verbal Kint Well-Known Member
    TMB OG

    R'holler. Probably because the others don't do squat.
    The Seven suck, period
    The Old Gods haven't done squat and I haven't seen anything good happen to their followers
    Drowned God is worshipped by a nutjob Greyjoy and the Greyjoys are bastards
    The Many Faced God's followers are depressing
     
  15. zeberdee

    zeberdee wheel snipe celly boys
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    when are we first introduced to the Many Faced God? I'm like 500 pages through book 3 and I can't recall hearing about him yet.
     
  16. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    keep on trucking
     
  17. Swt

    Swt Well-Known Member
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    I'd go with drowned god. Sounds better and atleast his followers acknowledge that their God is evil.
     
  18. Damion

    Damion Fan of: Firing Butch Jones
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    The Old Gods still have some power but not as strong as they were back in the day when the Children of the Forest were able to destroy the land bridge that the First Men were crossing on and then they tried to destroy the area where the Neck lies now. That's why it's a swamp.

    But I think the Old Gods are about to get a lot more powerful.....they are starting to do work
     
  19. Larry Sura

    Larry Sura Tuyuq. Fratzy
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    the seven suck. the drowned god is ballin....Aeron is a boss. the old gods are powerful. R'hllor is scary, but also awesome. i can't decide yet.
     
  20. Clown

    Clown No relation to Clown Baby
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    Rhllor because I want to make shadow babies with Melisandre
     
  21. ChileanNole

    ChileanNole Soccer Expert
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    Many-faced God
     
  22. three stacks

    three stacks hasta la victoria siempre
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    you can find me in the godswood
     
  23. Cronk

    Cronk just living the dream...
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    many faced god guy here
     
  24. ChileanNole

    ChileanNole Soccer Expert
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    valar morghulis
     
  25. three stacks

    three stacks hasta la victoria siempre
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    pretty happy no one here follows the seven
     
  26. NinjaRXA

    NinjaRXA Make Anime Great Again
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    voted old gods, i like trees. halfway through book 2 so don't know much about many faced god but the Faceless Men sound p badass
     
  27. ChileanNole

    ChileanNole Soccer Expert
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    Those two are pretty much the only acceptable answers. The other ones are gay.
     
  28. Buff_Ruffnek

    Buff_Ruffnek Ph.D Bovine Flatulence
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    "The Old Way is Our Way"
     
  29. War Grundle

    War Grundle Nole Mercy
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  30. Stone Cold Steve Austin

    Stone Cold Steve Austin Tickler Extraordinaire
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