Who would be the closest to a god of wine in the Forgotten Realms?
Who would be the closest to a god of wine in the Forgotten Realms?
Who would be the closest to a god of wine in the Forgotten Realms? I'd prefer to stay within existing FR lore and not import Dionysus or somesuch god from "outside."
Possible candidates:
Would it be one of those, or another I'm not thinking of?
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If by pantheon you mean human pantheon, elf pantheon, etc. then no. Any god worshipped on the world of Toril is acceptable. If you mean FR pantheon, Greyhawk pantheon, etc. then yes. Toril gods only please.
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– mdrichey
Sep 16 '18 at 23:18
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there are a handful of different "human" pantheons in FR that originate from different human cultures, just FYI - but clarification made.
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– Carcer
Sep 16 '18 at 23:26
2 Answers
2
Taking the hedonistic, Dionysus-esque approach to wine:
In the standard Faerunian pantheon, Sharess is the god of hedonism, festhalls and sensual fulfilment; drinking and throwing parties is in her wheelhouse (and is going on pretty much constantly in the festhalls dedicated to her).
In the Elven pantheon, Alobal Lorfiril is a minor deity of hedonism and revelry. His holy symbol is even a wine glass, and the FR wiki notes:
Priests of Alobal also often oversaw the production of wine...
Unfortunately Alobal is originally from setting-neutral material and isn't actually directly referenced by any Forgotten Realms source so his existence in that setting is a matter of DM discretion.
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@mdrichey "Why" is probably its own question, but I can at least confirm Sharess still seems to exist in 5e- the Volo's Waterdeep Enchiridion section of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist passingly mentions her clergy participating in "The Grand Revel" holiday.
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– CTWind
Sep 16 '18 at 23:41
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Alobal Lorfiril is NOT really a Faerunian deity (not listed in F&A, P&P, F&P, DD, etc.). FR wiki notes: "Alobal Lorfiril originates from the 'Setting Neutral' sourcebook, Races of the Wild and it is as such unclear to what extent, if any, he is worshiped within the Forgotten Realms setting."
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– ZwiQ
Sep 17 '18 at 0:20
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@ZwiQ Alobal Lorfiril is listed as part of the Seldarine in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, for what it's worth.
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– CTWind
Sep 17 '18 at 0:37
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If you open the FR wiki entry on Alobal on a mobile device you might not see this, but on a desktop there is a warning at the top stating "This has no clear connection to the Forgotten Realms." Importing Alobal to FR is not much different than importing Dionysus. D&D multiverse is huge and covers both deities, but neither are FR natives.
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– ZwiQ
Sep 17 '18 at 4:32
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@ZwiQ pretty annoyed at myself for not having noticed, to be honest (and the wiki; why is it there if it doesn't seem to have anything to do with FR?) Might have been thrown off by remembering it him from MToF.
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– Carcer
Sep 17 '18 at 7:39
Amongst the particular candidates you have listed, the one most likely is Llira. Since Ed Greenwood's very first pantheon for the FR (published in Dragon Magazine #54), Lliira has been described as the goddess of "joy, carefree feeling, contentment, release, hospitality, happiness, dance" and she is a "patron of festivals". According to the 2e Faiths and Avatars (page 97-99):
Lliirans have a well-deserved reputation as festival animals, and more than one adventuring company has found an empty till when it left the Lliran priest in charge.
Another good candidate is Sharess/Bast (of the Faerunian as well as the Mulhorandi pantheon), goddess of hedonism, excess, lust, sensual fulfillment, festhalls, cats and pleasure seekers.
Finally, there is also Saint Dionysus. He is mentioned in Faiths and Avatars as one of the many saints of the god Ilmater (page 76). He is the patron saint of wine and other alcoholic spirits.
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Does it matter which pantheon the god is from? There could be multiple candidates from different pantheons (all the ones you've mentioned are in the Faerunian pantheon, but there are a few separate cultural/racial pantheons which could have overlapping portfolios).
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– Carcer
Sep 16 '18 at 23:17