> If the requirement for a Great God is
> a) aspects
> b) one of the cornerstones of a large community
>
> then Great Gods can die/go away/become reduced. It is rare, and when
> they do, they usually leave traces, but it can happen.
Yes.
> I imagine that
> Vadrus was a Great God, and he's mostly gone.
Hmmm ... don't think so myself, but could be convinced otherwise.
> Also reduced from Great God
> would be Heler, who at one point had multiple aspects (ruler, sailor,
> warrior, fisherman, etc) and lead a people who were fighting the
> Vingkotlings and doing pretty well, but now is just a Big God.
Right, but from this POV I think he was a Big God who became Great, and then went back to being just Big again. He *did* have his day as King of the Hill though ... ;-)
Heler was originally Part of a Greater entity, that Shargash destroyed. It was the theist remnant that became Heler and got to be King of the Hill. For a while.
> Both
> of these gods could still be Great Gods in corners of the world, but I
> doubt it. They both seem like "also rans" to me.
Vadrus still receives a hell of a lot of collateral worship AFAIK, and his cult is a LOT more powerful than numbers of worshippers ought to indicate. Some stories indicate a link with Shargash, others a link with Orlanth.
Vadrus appears to combine the worst features of both ... ;-)
Heler ? I don't know. There are many still unpublished subcults of Heler (none officially written-up AFAIK), including a cloud mariners one, but I do not believe that Heler has Aspects among Genertelan Orlanthi, or even Manirian Coast Helerings.
The only place where such Aspects might possibly have survived (and even this possibility is dubious) would be Umathela.
But I personally would enshrine any such ancient Aspect as a separate god or goddess, albeit one related to Heler.
Any Help ?
Julian Lord
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