Hephernaan and the worshiping of all deities

Erunir

When Hephernaan is presented in BGEE:SoD he claims to worship all deities (or many deities I don't remember exactly).
I was searching a bit around the forgotten realms lore if this thing exists in other contexts: a priest/cleric that worship a pantheon of deities and is given the power by all of them. On a first search i couldn't find anything alike. Have I missed something? I suppose that the idea behind Hephernaan was kind of new, and I like the concept behind this aspect.

If i remember correctly, and this is the real question, when Hephernaan is presented as a worshipper of multiple deities he used a precise word to describe himself. There is no accurate plot of Sod on the internet nor accurate background of Hephernaan on the internet and I couldn't find anything. Am I maybe making some confusion? i should play again the game to check it but in this period I totally don't have time for this.

Any help it is very appreciated!

TheArtisan

I don't know how much you're aware of the SoD plot, but there are NPCs who when asked find his claim suspect. That's all I'll say.

Erunir

i completed the game and I know its true nature of demon, of course!

The fact is that I'm interested in what he claimed to be, and i was searching the forgotten realms lore about that.

OlvynChuru

Well, here's the description of the Every God Ring from Icewind Dale 2, which might be relevant:



Apparently worshipping every god is rather problematic.

Zaxares

There is even a class (called the Ur-Priest) from 3.X edition who reject any and all divinity, believing that deities are parasites and usurpers who must be cast down, and yet they too receive spells from some unknown source. It might be that the prayers of the Ur-Priest come from simple faith (since in D&D, it might not necessarily matter WHO actually receives that faith), or perhaps some other being (like an Archdevil or Demon Lord) is granting their spells.

Erunir

Thank you very much for your very useful answers!

Yes of course worshipping more than one god is sometime a bit treaky... but i think it make sense when we talk about just a group of deities that have something in common, or that make a treaty to accomplish something of common interest. An avatar in that situation could be useful, blessed by the alliegiance and sent for a mission.

Thank you for the Ur-priste class, i will check on it soon!

If what Hephernaan said was true, it could have brought to a very interesting alternative story in my opinion.

masteraleph

It's worth keeping in mind that traditionally, in Forgotten Realms (especially when 2e was being written, but also into 3e), one's afterlife is heavily based on which deity one worshipped. If you worship multiple gods, there's a good chance you'll be judged as either Faithless, and mortared into the Wall of the Faithless for eternity, or False, betraying your god, and being punished for all eternity. The one god of the Dead who tried to change this- Kelemvor- was judged by his peers, because mortals began trusting his judgment more than their own deity's promises and there were masses of Faithless and False (I don't recall whether the judgment happens before or after BG1/BG2- Kelemvor has taken the mantle of god of the Dead by BG2, but I don't recall how far along things are). He ended up recanting his goals, denying his past humanity, and started punishing the False and walling up the Faithless again.

I should note that there probably is some leeway, as gods do have different portfolios, but you kind of have to have a primary god that you worship and then not really stray outside of that god's allies.

Zaxares

Yes, the Forgotten Realms setting is different from most other settings in that you MUST worship a deity. If you do not, when you die, the God of the Dead (currently Kelemvor, although I think he might have been replaced in 5E? Not sure) judges you as "Faithless", and you are sentenced to be placed in the Wall of the Faithless until you are no more. This is a major departure from other settings, where if you do not worship a deity, then after death your soul automatically travels to the Outer Plane that most closely matches your alignment.

It's worth noting that even in the FR though, there are ways to escape such a fate. For instance, baatezu often prowl among the waiting petitioners, looking for False or Faithless. They tell these souls of the fate that awaits them, but they can escape it by signing their soul over to the Archdevil they serve. If any accept their offer, they are transported to the Nine Hells for "processing", but after which they are able to work their way up the fiendish chain of command as best they can. Presumably other outsiders may have similar schemes to pull wayward souls over to their sides.