I am confused about the Shadow and gods

[tactical371]

The Andor's Trail design outline is at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BwW ... lIp5g/edit

In it, it claims the following 3 things.

1-

Do not use wording of “god”, as in “oh my god”. There are no gods in the world of Andor’s Trail. See section on “The Shadow” below.

2-

The Shadow is not a god or a being, but rather more of a concept such as actual shadows cast by light. Some people in the world of Andor’s Trail view the Shadow as their saviour from bad things that happen.

It should be left unclear whether there actually is any divine presence that helps people that believe in the Shadow, or whether their luck comes from their own choices.

3-

Kazaul and Elythara were deities that people used to believe in before. Nowadays, the people put their trust in the rulers of Feygard or in the Shadow. The concept of the Shadow was based on the former worshippers of Kazaul, but the people that follow the Shadow do not approve of Kazaul.

Some people still worship the old gods, and their altars can be found throughout the land. There has been rumors of cults following the old gods.

I am having trouble understanding these and reconciling these three things together. For claim 1, by "there are no gods," does that mean gods do not exist? Or does that mean that gods do not interfere in the world? If gods do not exist, then how were Kazaul and Elythara deities? Or did both of them not exist?

If Kazaul does not and never existed, why do the spawn of Kazaul apparently exist? Is it a misnomer?

If the Shadow is not a god or not perceived to be a god, then why do people pray to the Shadow? It would be akin to praying to the force of gravity, right? And how exactly is the concept of the Shadow formally defined? People seem to behave as though the Shadow is a god, but that seems to contradict claims 1 and 2. And how do the priests of the Shadow get the power to confer blessings from a mere concept, rather than a god or divine power?

Thank you for your help in clarifying these things.

[sdevaney]

First I would like to point out that document is around a decade old at this point. The original author/creator also has not worked on the project for a long time so their influence has lessened over the years as others have come in and contributed their work.

Technically god and deity are synonymous; according to their basic definitions they both represent a supreme power. However, in this specific instance I think god as a term is used to represent the only supreme power, whereas deity can be used to refer to any of the forms of power and thus can be multiple in number.

People pray to many different things, whose to say this collective conscious, focus, and thought doesn't have some kind of ability to manifest in the real world? So, not god but something...

[tactical371]

Thank you. Is there anything in the decade-old document that is no longer true?

[sdevaney]

Thank you. Is there anything in the decade-old document that is no longer true?

I don't think there's anything specifically false in the doc but there is a lot of intentional grey area; things are left up to interpretation.

[rijackson741]

The Kazaul and Elythara both exist. But not necessarily (at this point) in Dhayavar. They are powerful, but that does not mean gods, which implies all powerful.

That's all I'm going to tell you

[Lam al Adie]

Well "god = all powerful" is a fairly modern human invention.
In former days and in non-monotheistic relicgions gods are attributed with quite specific powers and tasks.

[rijackson741]

Well "god = all powerful" is a fairly modern human invention.
In former days and in non-monotheistic relicgions gods are attributed with quite specific powers and tasks.

Yes, but within those powers and tasks they are all powerful.

[Canuck]

Well "god = all powerful" is a fairly modern human invention.
In former days and in non-monotheistic relicgions gods are attributed with quite specific powers and tasks.

Yes, but within those powers and tasks they are all powerful.

Not even there — outside Abrahamic religions, gods are often immortal. but rarely omnipotent in any area. Christian saints are more-or-less a way to keep polytheism going (saints have some extra power and influence over mortals, but are not omnipotent and therefore also more approachable).

I think of the Shadow as a non-personified diety. These days in our world, we choose to worship philosophical concepts like Freedom, Progress, Power, Democracy, or Science rather than natural phenomena, but the idea's the same

[tactical371]

I read the original post on this forum thread, but it looks like there was debate about possible inconsistencies with it + it was already considered out of date by 2017. Will an updated version ever be posted? Or a summary version, as suggested in 2017?

https://andorstrail.com/viewtopic.php?p=56975#p56975

[rijackson741]

All will become clear.

But first, the dev team needs to figure it out for ourselves