I have a lore question regarding Kul Tirans and religion. From what I can gather, the Kul Tirans worship a goddess called the Tidemother and are not inherently follows of The Light. So would a Kul Tiran seeking to become a Paladin need to convert to the faith of The Light to become one? Or is it possible for a Kul Tiran to be granted their powers through the Tidemother?
My whole concept for this character centers around a Kul Tiran seeking to become a paladin to combat evils such as the Heartbane Coven and Drust. So Iâm trying to determine the best way to go about roleplaying him.
There is no deep lore regarding the evolution of religious histories or schisms in WoW
But within Drustvar there remains the Order of Embers aka Inquisition that appears to be some sort of branch of some sort of the Church of Light. Human Light devotion exists there.
There is also the Thornspeakers which are Drust cult offshoots and in theory persecuted by the Inquisition theyâre never shown to interact outside of one quest and I guess theyâre cool.
It is implied but not stayed the majority religion of Kul Tiras are indeed the Tidemother Religion, which likewise doesnât have a proper reference name because I guess they forgot lmao
So a Paladin thatâs anti Drust would most easily be a member of the Order of Embers
I was aware of the Order of Embers. But they didnât strike me as a religious group. More of a anti-evil Van Helsing organization. Which lead me to the idea that this character felt something stronger was needed beyond them (the Order of Embers). Which is why he is looking to become a Paladin.
I think the Tidemother granting someone her powers would just be a shaman, like the tide priest.
Though while itâs not something we really see presented in the game, I would imagine the Kil Tiras has a healthy number of light worshipers. Heck, Iâm sure it has itâs own church of the holy light, itâs just that itâs not the main religion there. Given the fact that Kul Tiras is one of the human kingdoms they would still have a lot of contact with stuff like the church of the holy light. I think the reason why we donât see Kil Tiran paladins, or any evidence of light worship on the islands is more to give Kul Tiras itâs own unique flavor than to suggest itâs not a thing at all.
I had not stopped to consider the absence of light worshiping stuff in Kul Tiras to be a flavor thing. The game really did give me the impression that the Kul Tirians had no connection to the light.
You canât function as a Paladin unless you bind yourself to the Light directly. You might do it through faith, but I really canât see the Tidemother as a relevant road to it. Sheâs more Lovecraft than Light.
If that is the case, how do Troll Paladins manage to get their powers from Loa and what about the Tauren Sunwalkers ? donât they follow a deity of some kind? WoWâs lore on these things seems like it could use a streamlined clean up.
Zandalari Prelates got their power through the holy light of the loa Rezan. Rezanâs now dead, but a handful of Prelates that retained their faith and never let go of Rezanâs ideals still possessed their power. Lore-wise, Zandalari Troll Paladins are among these Prelates.
Tauren Sunwalkers draw their powers from their unified faith of Anâshe, the sun god of Tauren mythology. This belief allows them to draw upon the Holy Light and actual solar magic.
A Kul Tiran seeking to become a Paladin would have to join the Knights of the Silver Hand and undergo the appropriate paladin training, eventually ending their training by becoming infused with the Holy Light, which is what makes the Knights of the Silver Hand what they are.
So effectively a Kul Tiran âwouldâ in fact have to convert from the faith of the Tidemother to the Church of the Holy Light in order to become a Paladin then yes? The Tidemother possesses no powers related to the holy light then? I understand how the Tauren Sun God possesses such power, its obvious. But how did Rezan have it? So basically, being a deity doesnât guarantee the ability to grant holy power related to the light if I understand correctly.
The Sunwalkers are the easy part. in their adoration of the Sun the Tauren are following direct path to the Light. (Night Elf Paladins if they ever occur are going to require a bit more logical agility)
The Loa are a varied bunch. Itâs quite conceivable that there are Loa that can bargain for access to the Light.
Since itâs not a term we can consistently define, being a deity in and of itself guarantees nothing. So itâs a case by case basis.
You donât have to abandon the faith of the Tidemother. When it comes down to it, in order to wield the Light through conventional means (read: not forcing a Naaru to give you power like the old school TBC Blood Knights do, or drawing from the Sunwell like the modern day Blood Knights do now), you need to believe 100% that your cause is right/morally just and that you are doing without a doubt, righteous work and to have general faith in the Light. You donât need to believe solely in the Holy Light, you just need to have faith in it.
Faith in the Light also doesnât mean worship of the Light just believing that you can draw on this power source will allow you to draw upon it.
Benedictus who believed there is only power was able to draw upon the Light due to seeing it as merely a power source to draw upon.
Treating the Light as if it were some judgmental god means that believing you may not have the favor of this âgodâ will strip you of the Light.
The Cosmic Realms and Elemental Planes are Machines that detect whoever is trying to draw upon them and thus gives said power to them as long as they have enough faith in their ability to do so.
Ever since Shadowlands the Player Classes have been able to draw upon the power of the specific afterlives of their choice without being beholden to a specific covenant due to their belief in their ability to do it.
Death Knights favor Maldraxxi Death Magic.
Druids favor Ardenweald and strangely enough Maldraxxi Death Magic.
Priests favor Venthyr Death Magic bizarrely enough.
Shaman favor Maldraxxi Death Magic strangely enough.
Paladins favor Bastion Death Magic with Holy Paladins strangely adding Ardenweald Death Magic on top of that.
Rogues bizarrely favor Bastion and Ardenweald Death Magic.
Mages strangely favor Ardenweald Death Magic while Arcane Mages add Bastion Death Magic to the mix.
The point is that the Cosmic Realms will give power to any who has the faith and willpower to draw upon them regardless of morals.
The Elements of Planets on the other hand are fickle and judgmental demanding that you appease them for favor which makes sense since they are beings being asked to affect their home to your whim. They unlike the outside forces can also tell what is going on around you since they are on the same planet as you so they can detect what your morality is unlike the outside forces.
Paladins(unlike priests) are explicitly light users. Even Paladins of other faiths, such as Tauren Sunwalkers and Zandalari Prelates, funnel light magic through themselves via their faiths. So, if the Tidemother could grant light magic to KulâTiran Paladins, then they could worship her while being Paladins.
On the other hand, nothing says there canât be two faiths in a single nation. For example, Ironforge Dwarves seem to have people who worship the Light as well as those who worship the Titans.
So its a funny thing really, the Tidemother for example does not need to actually be able to grant the power of the Light; all you need is to sincerely believe she can and that belief allows you to tap into the Light, which responds to true conviction. It does not even need to be religious convictionâOne could argue Gnomes likely wield their conviction in the power of innovation and progress.
The ironic bit is if you knew this directly as a character, youâd likely loose the power it grants you as it destroys your faith, or at best will warp it into something weird. You need to actually believe in something to wield the light.
Order of Embers (as already said) would be the obvious starting point. Though they didnât seem all that class specific from memory. If you wanted to add an extra dimension you could have him having served the church in stormwind/silver hand or Argent crusade to bring specific âknightlyâ qualities to the order.
The Order of Embers is the closest we have to a paladin order so perhaps your characterâs background can draw from elements of those questlines or lore.
We have a graveyard in Drustvar dedicated to Light worshipers. The Kulâtirans who worship the Tidemother drown their dead deep into her embrace in the depths of the oceans.