As I said, this is mostly tied to this personal take. The takeaway remains the Sand-sworn warrior and the TLDR. The rest is fluff that applies as inspired by IRL cultures of which people I owe much of the effort to.
It is overdeveloped because, after all, it went further than Sand Warrior into an attempt of the Desert religion eventually. Perhaps I will set the TLDR aside more clearly, and leave the rest collapsed.
Honestly, as a Vulpera enthusiast, this is such an inspiring take on Vulpera paladins and priesthood. I love how deep youāve dived with the concept - I donāt know what overdeveloped even entails? To me itās like, the more information and detail, the better! Gets my storytelling brain going.
I feel like this concept also gives a lot of freedom for roleplayers thanks to Vulperan caravan culture; youāre just as likely to have heard of it as you are to never having heard of it. Itās not forcing itself on anyone, is what I mean!
How do you feel about people using parts of the Duneblessed idea? As an example, maybe someone had heard of some of the tenets but not all, and developed something else than the āpureā Duneblessed concept is?
Go ahead. If anything it would make sense there are derivations, corruptions, elevations or focuses on the idea as a whole, with the vulpera being an oral tradition focused peoples.
I really really like the concept and would love to explore it through RP!
I assume you use this with yours, so if someone wanted to do the same would you prefer them to contact you about it? :>
Also love how thought through this is! And definitely agree with Dustara that the more the better.
Iāve really enjoyed engaging with the Duneblessed concept, feels great and thematic.
VULPALADINS WHEN THOUGH! SANDS BENEATH!!!
Canāt hate on a vulp that takes time and effort into giving our lore starved race some concept and lore.
More vulp lore and concepts. homebrews and head cannons that are cool and fill in the blanks where blizzard does not.
Have my full support and all my likes!
Vulpera paladinsā¦ well aināt that sumethinā.
Very thoroughly enjoyed reading that all I have to say, with all the thought thatās gone into it. I can definitely say itās something my character would have a vested interest in learning more about ICly for how much overlap there is with his own philosophy, especially in the aspect of looking more at the people as the source of faith than some sort of higher being or authority. Itās a refreshing change to how many Light-based things work, and I love how much depth there is to it all.
Giving this a little bump and my full endorsement because without some of Zakhiās ideas for vulpera - namely the lessened focus on revering the sun and potentially even more of a notion of fearing it - I donāt think I ever would have had that initial inspiration that would lead to me creating Salshe here!
This is now canon.
this is a certified vulblessed moment!
In some parts due to Light syncretism, in others due to a more singular concept of the vulpera race and their relationship with the desert and everything around them bearing uses for them to ādiscoverā beyond the very blocks of foundation around them.
I would say more but Iāll probably Bother you IC
Reading this was such a treat. I wish I knew of this way back when creating my own vulpera paladin. Even if not official this homebrew gives life in a unique way.
Iāve always wanted to have a vulpera paladin, so much so that I made my own pseudopaladin warrior vulpera myself, reading everything about the Duneblessed was a treat and Iāll DEFINITELY turn my warrior into one of them!
Using this chance to ask people to check on a fellow vulperaās homebrew [Homebrew][Vulpera] - Vulperan Druids, The Spirit Talkers
If you donāt mind I would like to contribute to your awesome idea!
Brigante, my he rest in peace, called us the Fremen of Azeroth and he wasnāt wrong
We are diehard desert survivors
And a bit like the Pandaren
I use this Monk (and by extension, Paladin)-theory about it!
The Vulpera not really ārevereā the Sand nor the Desert
Especially many sources suggest the Vulpera, like the Troll and and Sethrak seen when it was a lush land, before Sethraliss sacrifice turned it in to a wasteland with a few oasis
To them the Burrows and Oasis are the important, the Desert I think just where they have to live, but the Caravans usually park at ruins, oasis, caves/burrows, not in the open - of course they have to sometimes
The Night brings salvation from the cruel, unfogiving, scortching Sun and heat
But I think a Vulpera Paladin would be similar to a Zandalari Troll Paladin, a Prelates, a holy warriors to serve any Loa
Especially because the Vulpera have a very close connection with the Zandalari, merchants, traders and of course the whole outcats
The Monk is a bit similar I think - except that is in the game, thoā we donāt have explanation and background, but some of us came up with a working one:
Pandaren monks came about as a way of fighting against the Mogu, their slavers. The vulpera are/were in a similar position.
Slaves, survivors, under constant siege, fighting to survive.
It is no surprise they would find ways to adapt.
The Vulpera no doubt, from the various trolls who inhabit their desert, would have learned of their loa, and their power. There happens to be quite a few Loa found in the desert, who could be/been the Vulpera āCelestial Courtāā¦so to speak. The equivalent of the Pandaren ones.
Akunda, Loa of storms and new beginnings.
Eraka No Kimbul, Lord of the Beasts, and the hunting doom.
Torga, The Wise, Loa of Wisdom (the theme of wisdom are heavily ingrained in survivors)
Bwonsamdi, Loa of Death and Graves; in Volādun the main goal is to survive, and cheat death just one more dayā¦ he is ideal
The Brewmaster (Vulpera have an affinity for alchemy anyway) instead of the ox, have the Wisdom and defence of shelled Torga
The Wind Walker (Sand Stalker? Desert Wind?) have another Tiger instead of Xuen, Kimbulās wit, ferocity, tenacity, and power!
The Mistweaver? Akunda is about storms, and washing away the past, to move forward, he has an eternal spring that never runs dry! Weave together the mists of the eternal springs to help your allies forget about their pain, and press forward, to reshape their future.
Ok, I admit, IT is a strech and a headcanon about the Monks, but the beauty of the Vulpera when it comes to Lore an classes are the freedom you have with just enough support from Blizzard to be belivable!
From this, I would say the Vulpera Paladin would be the militant offshot of the Vulpera Monks, the given Loaās elite holy warriors, like the Prelates of the Zanadalari
Itās a common thing among both vulpera and Zandalari monks. Sethraliss is the loa to come to for both mistweaving and jade lightning.
This is a great concept!
I am sure we will get Vulpera Paladins sometime in the future (when Blizzard goes back to their All Classes / All Races project)
Maybe they can get more creative with their Idea of what the Vulpera worship but until then i love this idea really!
In the end itās Blizzards fault for making the Vulpera too much of a Blank Slateā¦way to much!
Keep the creativity running!
You come to contribute by outright denying the base idea this is based upon, alluded to by expression such as Hot Sands and Sands this sands that, and the fact their own folklore considers them to be born from the āmagic of the sandsā? (Lay Down My Bones, Folk and Fairytales of Azeroth)
Or when they constantly allude to the sands providing (Aisha, Kiro "The dunes have everything we need), going to where the sands take them (Kiro, NPC vulpera in the Hideaway), āNisha, thank the Sands you are safe!ā ?
This is a turn to reverence, a turn by people taking such lifestyle very seriously and you could argue there is not an explicit reference to such in game, but there is at least that sort of mysticism to it.
The same way there is not a single instance, a single instance of loa reverence from Vulpera in game, which is so easily seen as āThe Realistic Routeā and yet it fails to find any sort of stable precedent within the setting, and with it being people saying ābut they wouldāveā because they donāt understand the way that narrative is not a logical chain.
And Iāll not go to debate the idea of the Vulpera of the Jungle because they are not a race built around it, and itās going too far from the point.
I do not want to now tie vulpera to making them pandaren homologues with loa worship, because thatās not unique for them. If you want to create that link, fine, but letās not pretend that vulpera loa worshippers have any sort of precedent in game so far.
It is rude to come to someone elseās concept just to pretend you are making a contribution but also literally denying the way it is originated and works, and just wanting to make it about your own ideas from the very get go, from the very original concept.
If you have an idea, post about it elsewhere, do not come publish it here because it leaves a very bad taste in anyoneās mouth to be said āhereās my take and this is why yours doesnāt make senseā and it makes it seem like I am grasping straws when tons, tons of effort when on actually making something that coincides with many of their topics and themes, like nomadism, desert life, and sand-related folklore.
This is not a post about canon, which is the first thing I say above there, this is a post to show my ideas for a race so long neglected in all aspects spiritual and to give them something that isnāt just ātroll worship liteā or āPandaren 2ā
Thank you.