Making Treebeard, I Mean Hoaracle

Hello, everyone!

Rather than writing about my ephemeral days (which were filled with the same joys and trials that everyone has mentioned), I thought I would try to write something different! Seeing as Shikari’s latest post discussed him taking up an inactive god role, I will write about the other option an ephemeral has: creating a brand new god.

This option is no easy task, believe me; however, it is very exciting, not only for the ephemeral in question, but also for all of Havens who anxiously wait for a new godly comrade!

I originally did not plan to take Hoaracle at all – in fact, I first thought about becoming Morgfyre (however, I eventually realized that I was not evil or tentacle-y enough to play him). The role of Hoaracle actually came up by chance, pretty much like most new god roles. Estarra just finished the Book of Igaso and was letting all the gods and ephemerals preview it and I was star-struck. A tree man with a mossy beard that rumbles and grumbles? I’m totally in.

After getting the ‘okay’ from Estarra, I was caught adrift in planning every little detail of Hoaracle’s life. I remember spending hours trying to figure out his own unique philosophy (my first idea was this notion of “stillness” – drawing upon Hoaracle’s meditator role and aspects of Buddhism). It was with the help of Maylea that I created clear lines on what would be Hoaracle’s overall philosophy. Much of Hoaracle’s ideals come from books I have read on religion and ecology, and I was most influenced by the works of Matthew Fox.

However, that was not the only thing I had to do. New gods often plan out so much more, ranging from how their god will react to other gods, why they chose the organization they chose to reside in, and the tiniest details such as clothing and shrines. By far the best was figuring out the divine relationships Hoaracle had with other gods (it has left me with a lovely file detailing Hoaracle’s backstory and a sort of trajectory of possible Hoaracle-focused plotlines. Who knows, they may even pop up in the future!).

Yet, the most anxious moment for any god is their return event. Mine was actually many days long, and it was mean to be very charming and casual. For the most part, I did very little coding and actually had more freeform roleplaying with players from Serenwilde than perhaps most gods have during their return events!

While it has been a bumpy road since then, I think Hoaracle has become a welcome addition to Lusternia’s already illustrious pantheon.