…is getting up there in levels to where I can soon begin the time honored tradition of standing around in major cities waiting for stuff to happen, it’s getting about time for me to actually bother building him a TRP profile, which means I have to actually lock down his backstory.
There are a couple things that I know for sure. He’s on the older and grumpier side of things. He knew Zul was a snake due in part to participating in the Pandaland campaign (you may have met him before as “Zandalari Warbringer”). He was bested in combat by some adventurer who stole his direhorn. After that, some pandaran farmer found him and nursed him back to health, and he’s just now getting back into the world.
I was thinking about what loa he’d be following. As a starting point I was looking at the ones off the list for the Zandalari racial trait, but as is wont to happen, my mind wandered a bit. Current speculation is that the more animalistic loa could be wild gods. August Celestials may, in fact, also be wild gods.
So where this is going is would there be anything stopping a troll from choosing one of the August Celestials to act as their loa? Given what we know of the mechanics behind prelates, would they be granted similar power, as long as they live by that celestial’s ideals? Am I ridiculous for thinking about that? Thoughts?
As far as I know, and you’ll have to forgive me I stopped paying attention to the finer details a couple years ago, the short answers are yeah and sure. It’s entirely plausible you’ve put more thought in already than Blizzard has, which means even if it’s unorthodox, or a stretch, you’ll still end up with a more complete concept.
That said, I defer to any real troll experts who come in following, the extent of my knowledge is mostly that magic allows for all things due to the rule of cool. If you can construct a base of loosely applicable reasoning, you’re generally golden.
I think Suyo is correct. It sounds pretty cool even IF it will stretch things a bit. I doubt anyone is going to go at you for a concept like that. Keep in mind you can also say your paladin abilities are reflavored. The ones in game are based on human paladins for the most part anyway.
In fact, I’ve REALLY wanted Pandaren Paladins for a long time. I think the four virtues of the Celestials - Wisdom, Strength, Fortitude, and Hope - are about as Paladin as it gets.
“Loa” is more of a title than anything else. Loa come from many places. Some are wild gods. Some are the Titan’s attempts to recreate old gods. Some are powerful spirits of dead ancestors. But not all wild gods, old gods, spirits of dead ancestors, and other entities are loa. Loa aren’t just any given beings worshiped or trafficked with in exchange for guidance, protection, and powers. They also tend to have some sort of cultural significance and a very real presence in their respective Troll societies. While there may be overlap, Zandalari loa are not necessarily Amani loa, which are not necessarily Gurubashi loa, so on and so forth.
I compare to being a king. Technically anyone of any background can be a king or a duke. How one becomes a king or a duke is sundry and often nebulous. And any group of people can adopt any given person is their king if they want. And to the people of some foreign land being occupied, they have their own king, and call who you serve an emperor.
Or to give a clearer example: a lot of people recognize Anduin as the King of Stormwind. Most all citizens of Stormwind recognize him as such. And they also recognize that Genn is the king of Gilneas- even though he holds no land. Can a Stormwindian decide to pledge themselves to Genn instead of Anduin and vice versa? Sure. Then there’s individuals like Turalyon, who’re powerful and capable leaders in their own rights. Is Turalyon a king? What if people pledged themselves to him the way they would to Anduin or Genn? Would be be king then? What makes a king?
It’s really more about a consensus.
But the long and short of it is, no. The August Celestials are not recognized as loa by any troll tribes I can think. But that doesn’t mean a troll can’t try to deal with them as if they were.
Especially if your character has no real concept of powerful spirits that others look to and serve in exchange for guidance/assistance/power outside of the context of loa, then they’d likely definitely use the term “loa” to describe them.
Interesting note, there’s a Zandalari sect that considers Elune a loa. They are not a member of mainstream Zandalari society, though, and they actually seem to get a lot of pushback for it.
As to whether or not he’d become a Paladin. That’s all about the strength of his convictions. The Light can use anyone as a vessel as long as they really believe hard enough. It’s just that having thousands/millions around you who were also raised in the same way and believe in it makes it easier to keep the faith.
I don’t think Trolls go out intentionally shopping for loa to champion in the way people don’t intentionally go around shopping for a new faith because they want to become a monk or soldier in a holy war.
Edit: And curiously enough, this is very similar to how the lwa work in real world Vodou/Voodoo. Some are powerful spirits. Some are ancestors. Some are Catholic saints. Some are animals, or at least very animal-like. They evolve and change over time due to various influences. There is no central dogma or authority in Vodou/Voodoo that determines who is/isn’t a lwa or how to serve. Beliefs and practices vary from place to place and are generally connected by a broad group/cultural consensus called regelmen.
I totally think so - in fact I have a Zandalari alt who ICly was one of Zul’s guys in Pandaria, but grew to feel absolutely terrible for being party to the resurrection of the greatest tyrant in Pandaren history. He was there to find his people a home, not to destroy the homes of innocents. He went awol, deserted the army, and supplicated himself before the Pandaren of Tian Monastery, where he learned to be a monk.
He now lives at the Temple of the Jade Serpent, as a devotee of Yu’lon. His dream is to bring these more peaceful and serene “loa” back into his people’s pantheon. Obviously makes him a bit of an outlier, but there it is. He even has mad Jade-Serpent Shoulderpads!
A careful reading of lore makes clear that at least some of the Loa are Wild Gods. The August Celestials are described as Wild Gods who took a special interest in Pandaren. “Loa” is just a Troll’s way of wrapping the mind around something mysterious and transcendent. “August Celestials” is just a Pandaren concept.
Given that it’s reasonable to work into what you want in several ways - without straying beyond the plumb bob of canon. We know that the August Celestials can change how they appear. There’s Xuen the White Tiger & there’s Loa such as Kimbul. It is not unreasonable to suppose that a Wild God might look one way to a Pandaren and another way to a Troll. Doesn’t really matter whether you want to say it’s the Wild God doing the switcheroo or just the way various sapient species’ cognitive pattern recognition interprets the same phenomenon. Since choosing a Loa to worship seems to rest a lot on personal choice, a sophisticated Troll might decide what someone else chooses to call a Celestial or a Wild God is their cup of tea as far as Loa go, and live their life accordingly.
It’s extremely rare to find any religion that is entirely grounded in objective evidence which has been scientifically verified. Like anything else to do with a player’s personal interpretation of what comments Blizzard has made about lore - (the entirety of which barely scratches the surface of tens of thousands of years of history and dozens of cultures on multiple worlds across an unknown number of timelines) - as long as you don’t try to force anyone else to believe what you believe or judge them too harshly for seeing things differently, then make your character live & breath & play with it to your heart’s content.
As long as you’re open-minded and playful with it, you’ll find plenty of the rest of us showing you the same consideration. Anyone that gives you are hard time for having fun in a way that doesn’t affect their fun needs to take a long break in the big blue room with the bright light.
Well, I had a big post typed up but my browser dun ate it, so TLDR version! I’m glad that nobody (insofar as I can make the assumption with this sample size) would have a problem with it, interesting and fun that someone else latched on to the concept before I did!
When I have more time talking about the nature of loa is always fun stuff.
