6 thoughts on “What would a god or goddess of Envy be like?”

  1. Manifestation should be the embodiment of what the onlooker most wants to be; the Wizard sees a powerful command of the arcane, the Fighter sees mastery of combat and strength.

    Be careful not to slide into the realms of greed or lust; envy is focused on the person who has the quality or thing that is the source of envy.

  2. Stefan Grambart

    I feel like it’d need to be more personal than that to have a powerful effect.

    A fighter wouldn’t just be shown a more powerful fighter. They’d be shown their greatest rival besting them, then going home to a loving wife and a beautiful child.

    Of course, envy can be a driving force, or a detrimental one. The God/dess of Envy would probably be worshipped by many, in the hopes of gaining motivational visions.

    I don’t really see how you could have servants of such a god/dess though. I personally wouldn’t. S/he’d probably inspire young artisans to greater works, and destroy the minds of the old.

    Honestly, I think s/he’d love the young and hate the old. The older you are, the wiser you tend to be. As you age, you learn more. The young envy the freedoms you have when you’re old.

  3. Really, it comes down to being on the right side of the line between desire and envy. Desire is what you WANT to be. Envy is seeing what you know you can’t have.

  4. A question to consider: is a deity a separate entity from their domain, in full mastery of it, or are they inextricably bound to and defined by it?

    I like the latter, as it suggests the deity of Envy would themself be Envious. Would they loath and scheme against other gods and goddesses out of that Envy? Take their forms and appear before their worshippers, both to tempt them to Envy and to feel for a brief, unsatisfying moment the thrill of being someone else, someone better?

    Relationship with their worshippers would be very, very close. War and The Harvest are lofty and impersonal, but Envy is intimate and spiteful. It’s the urge to both become and destroy the object of your obsession. Envy would be a constant companion to their devout, a hand across theirs guiding them to the knife, a goading whisper at the edge of consciousness: “you’re better than them.” Envy would offer this help, this encouragement, because they feel the same as their devout does.

    But at the same time as that commiseration, Envy would scheme against this worshipper. Because Envy finds something to be jealous of in everyone. Envy helps you because they want to be you, and Envy eventually betrays you because they want to kill you.

    Part of this small, scattered, jealously guarded mystery cult? Possibly being misled by Envy in the guise of your patron deity?

    _Good luck._

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