Aaracokra Religion - Air Really?

Well, to be honest, Air makes a ton of sense. Aaracockra fly, love freedom and open spaces, etc. It would be downright weird if they didn’t have an affinity for Air. However I like thinking outside the box sometimes… I am sure the aaracokra would approve…

Sun- They feel the sun on their backs all the time. Arguably more often, and more closely than other race. Mystical help with dealing with it would be needed.

Silt- There is an important element that needs to be considered. It’s canonically confirmed that there are Aaracokra who live in or near the Silt Sea. Silt in the air can weigh down wings and block visibility. Of course there would be a demand for a cleric of Silt.

Rain- Water is rare and precious on Athas. Rain even more so. For an aaracokra, just flying through Rain would be a ecstatic and mystical experience. Yeah, in practical terms you don’t want to fly in the rain, but imagine how it would feel…

Those are the Paraelemental options. Let’s turn to some crazy options.

Lalali Puy- The Oba of Gulg. The sorcerer queen. The Scourge of the Aaracokra in the Cleansing Wars. Why on the brown sands of Athas would the Aaracokra worship her? Why do people sacrifice people to the Dragon? FEAR. People sometimes forget that polytheistic cultures often have deity that is feared or reviled. You would pray to them to avert their wrath. To appease them. Could that have happened here?

Daskinor - Another sorcerer king? Why him? This is the flip side of Lalali Puy. It doesn’t need to be a SK. What I am suggesting is that the aaracokra may have mistaken some other super powerful entity as a savior or shield from Lalali Puy. Something like this actually happened in Japan to a ninja clan. A clan got attacked, and they fled to another shogun… who was friends with the other. Guess who pledged themselves to whom?

Magma - This is the crazy one. Why Magma? FOOLISH CHILD. YOU HAVE NOT LIVED UNTIL YOU HAVE RISEN ON THE UPDRAFT FROM A VOLCANO!

Also, Nazca lines. They should be totally into that.

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Air-Clerics makes sense: Can Aarcockra be clerics? I can’t find my 3.5 edition and it’s dusk and I don’t want to close my curtains and turn on my lights yet.

@Ral.of.Tyr Yes. They can be clerics. It is their favored class. Air clerics are more common among them and sun clerics somewhat less. But the rules don’t appear to define any prohibition on other types of clerics.

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There’s something in one of the unfinished northern lands expansions from Athas dot org/one of the FB groups about a splinter group of Aarakocra in the White Mountains - they worship Rain but in the form of blizzards and snow. Their home is made out of ice. I like it. Rather different from standard Rain interpretations.

I suppose if you can expand rain to any kind of water based precipitation, then snow and ice make sense in that context.

What I would question is whether that fits in the theming of Dark Sun

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We should separate elements.

  1. Religion for aaracokran tribe of X
  2. Religion for silvaraak in Winter Nest

For 2 this is solved - main priest (and leader of settlement) is Traaka, air-priest,

For 1 we have open hands, but statistically, “air clerics” should have the highest numbers.

Also we can look on religions on earth. Some nations close sea see “great water” in own mythology as source of evil, and other nations see as “good place in theology”. So always interpretations can be opened.