I am assuming that the "Dawn Incarnate" for each respective civilization can be seen essentially as a deity for that culture (depending on base-world/setting), but the text is fairly explicit in avoiding that language (possibly because deities reside in the Outer Planes (or deceased in the Astral) and the citadel is in the Ethereal, but the home cultures exist on the Prime). are there reasons within the text (or expanded cosmology) to accept or reject that interpretation? thanks.
The Radiant Citadel book is annoying scant on background lore, in most cases it feels very rushed and thrown together without much thought put into it, but it also does seem intentional that they are avoiding putting restrictions on the DM so that this material could be adapted to basically any campaign setting.
My take on it would be that they are NOT deities. Evidence #1. The descriptions of them sound more like sentient gemstones that hold many spirits, and then possess the collective memories of those spirits. That does not sound like a deity to me. Evidence #2. Look at that Ruby Pangolin, ain't no way something that tiny, cute, and derpy is a god. Evidence #3. In chapters where the gazetteer describes religious practices in the area, none mention people worshiping the Dawn Incarnate of their civilization, e.g. people in Godsbreath tend to worship some unspecified Covenant of local deities, with nothing mentioned at all about the Jasper Pecan Tree.
So the only correct answer here is that like basically the entire book, details on the Dawn Incarnates are only the start of an idea that is meant to be up to the DM to flesh out more fully and decide what they actually are. You could pretty easily modify the answer to be that they are in fact the physical representations of various deities, if you thought that was cooler.
In summary each group has a different faith and not all of them really have gods while some have their own specific gods. For example some are very magic focused like the Zinda, Djaynai and Janya so have what are basically divine wizards instead of priests. Many of these faiths probably also work differently inside the citadel than they do in their native regions and people in the citadel probably mix of belief systems. For example the Tleptec volcano sacrifices dont make sense in the radiant citadel which has no volcanoes but they may make sacrifices to a similar threat like the keening gloom and some of the other cultures may also join in on this superstition in hopes it keeps the citadel safe.
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I am assuming that the "Dawn Incarnate" for each respective civilization can be seen essentially as a deity for that culture (depending on base-world/setting), but the text is fairly explicit in avoiding that language (possibly because deities reside in the Outer Planes (or deceased in the Astral) and the citadel is in the Ethereal, but the home cultures exist on the Prime). are there reasons within the text (or expanded cosmology) to accept or reject that interpretation? thanks.
The Radiant Citadel book is annoying scant on background lore, in most cases it feels very rushed and thrown together without much thought put into it, but it also does seem intentional that they are avoiding putting restrictions on the DM so that this material could be adapted to basically any campaign setting.
My take on it would be that they are NOT deities. Evidence #1. The descriptions of them sound more like sentient gemstones that hold many spirits, and then possess the collective memories of those spirits. That does not sound like a deity to me. Evidence #2. Look at that Ruby Pangolin, ain't no way something that tiny, cute, and derpy is a god. Evidence #3. In chapters where the gazetteer describes religious practices in the area, none mention people worshiping the Dawn Incarnate of their civilization, e.g. people in Godsbreath tend to worship some unspecified Covenant of local deities, with nothing mentioned at all about the Jasper Pecan Tree.
So the only correct answer here is that like basically the entire book, details on the Dawn Incarnates are only the start of an idea that is meant to be up to the DM to flesh out more fully and decide what they actually are. You could pretty easily modify the answer to be that they are in fact the physical representations of various deities, if you thought that was cooler.
If you are running custom cmapaigns in radiant citadel there are more details in the dms guild supplement Journey beyond the radiant citadel
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/403298/Journeys-beyond-the-Radiant-Citadel?filters=0_0_45393_0_0_45462_0_0
There are also articles from each of the authors available on the dnd website
https://dnd.wizards.com/products/journeys-through-radiant-citadel
In summary each group has a different faith and not all of them really have gods while some have their own specific gods. For example some are very magic focused like the Zinda, Djaynai and Janya so have what are basically divine wizards instead of priests. Many of these faiths probably also work differently inside the citadel than they do in their native regions and people in the citadel probably mix of belief systems. For example the Tleptec volcano sacrifices dont make sense in the radiant citadel which has no volcanoes but they may make sacrifices to a similar threat like the keening gloom and some of the other cultures may also join in on this superstition in hopes it keeps the citadel safe.