My question is the thread title.
In most mythology, there is such a deity, usually female.
Bastet from the Egyptian and Hera from the Greek come immediately to mind. Heck, even St. Nicholas deified into Santa Claus qualifies as a mythological deity of that portfolio.
So, which deity in FR is the deity of home and hearth? I know that Sharess is supposed to be Bastet reborn into the FR. So, is Bastet the appropriate deity? (Remember, the deity of home and hearth is also the deity of making children happy, healthy, glad, and thriving into adulthood, or at least that's a responsibility of the portfolio in my estimation.)
The only reference I can actually think of from FR lore is that Helm is the protector of children, and "Kind to children" (Neera, NWN2).
Heck, could Helm be the FR version of Santa Claus?
(If you know your history of real world lore and mythology, Santa was originally considered a "deity" of punishment as well as reward - he had a helper, "Black Pete", who would kidnap and kill unruly, disrespectful children. "Black Pete" was probably the source of the "coal in bad children's stockings" myth. Originally, that was meant to frighten unruly children as an omen that "Black Pete" was about to "get them"; that is, Black Pete was "the Boogeyman", and the earliest creators in history of our modern day Santa myth (mostly advertisers who wanted to sell CocaCola, and advertisers who wanted to sell retail goods by early 20th century department stores), created the "coal in your stocking" idea in place of the scarier, psychologically traumatizing "Black Pete" idea from European cultural history. )
Anyway, the childish part of me has always worshipped good old Santa (or Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas, or Father Christmas, or Dickens' "Ghost of Christmas Present") as a god, which led me to want to play clerics and mages (and druids) in fantasy games.
So, which deity in the FR corresponds? If the deity of home, hearth, and safe warmth for children is missing in FR, then I think that's an oversight on Ed Greenwood's part.
In most mythology, there is such a deity, usually female.
Bastet from the Egyptian and Hera from the Greek come immediately to mind. Heck, even St. Nicholas deified into Santa Claus qualifies as a mythological deity of that portfolio.
So, which deity in FR is the deity of home and hearth? I know that Sharess is supposed to be Bastet reborn into the FR. So, is Bastet the appropriate deity? (Remember, the deity of home and hearth is also the deity of making children happy, healthy, glad, and thriving into adulthood, or at least that's a responsibility of the portfolio in my estimation.)
The only reference I can actually think of from FR lore is that Helm is the protector of children, and "Kind to children" (Neera, NWN2).
Heck, could Helm be the FR version of Santa Claus?
(If you know your history of real world lore and mythology, Santa was originally considered a "deity" of punishment as well as reward - he had a helper, "Black Pete", who would kidnap and kill unruly, disrespectful children. "Black Pete" was probably the source of the "coal in bad children's stockings" myth. Originally, that was meant to frighten unruly children as an omen that "Black Pete" was about to "get them"; that is, Black Pete was "the Boogeyman", and the earliest creators in history of our modern day Santa myth (mostly advertisers who wanted to sell CocaCola, and advertisers who wanted to sell retail goods by early 20th century department stores), created the "coal in your stocking" idea in place of the scarier, psychologically traumatizing "Black Pete" idea from European cultural history. )
Anyway, the childish part of me has always worshipped good old Santa (or Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas, or Father Christmas, or Dickens' "Ghost of Christmas Present") as a god, which led me to want to play clerics and mages (and druids) in fantasy games.
So, which deity in the FR corresponds? If the deity of home, hearth, and safe warmth for children is missing in FR, then I think that's an oversight on Ed Greenwood's part.