Guthixianism

This page addresses information about Guthix, his religion, and his followers as it applies to World 42 roleplaying. Any valuable contributors are welcome to add, especially as new content comes out in-game.

Guthix
Guthix, pronounced Guh-thicks, is the god of Balance. Guthix lacks any form of gender (though, for convenience, most refer to it as male). While "Guthix" is not his real name, this is the name most commonly associated with him. He is neither good nor evil, but rather approaches things from an initially neutral standpoint and will act on either side of the spectrum in favor of what re-establishes equilibrium and balance. According to Guthix, "I canst speak not for other deities of this land, but from me thou receive only the self satisfaction that thy cause is true, and that balance will be served by thine decision." which at least heavily implies that he grants his worshipers no special prayers or powers in exchange for following him.

It is widely assumed that, as a very powerful ancient god, he does not need followers to worship him in order to maintain his influence over Gielinor. Guthix has claimed once that, "I exist because I must exist; if I did not, then I would be created again, for the universe requires balance in all things." Guthix has power over even the Grim Reaper, who can control the very forces of life and death itself through Gielinor and adjacent dimensions, such as Zanaris. The god symbol humans use to show their devoutness to him is a Tear of Guthix.

Brief History
At the beginning of the First Age, Guthix discovered the blank plane and, inside of it, the Stone of Jas that had been left behind by elder gods. Supplementing his power with the Stone, he formed the landscape of Gielinor, created rune magic, and and populated his new world with beings like the Myriad, gnomes, dwarves, and Humans, who he brought from another realm. By the time he was finished and the world was to his liking, other beings had also discovered the world and settled into it. Satisfied, Guthix hid the Stone of Jas, assigning it a protector, and went into a deep slumber.

All knowledge of Guthix was quickly forgotten from the history books, aside perhaps from the populations of gnomes and dwarves. According to Saradomin, none of the Gielinorian deities knew of Guthix's existence prior to Its banishing of them. Even Seren, who was present already in the First Age, did not mention Guthix to other gods.

When Guthix awoke, Saradomin and Zamorak were causing utter destruction of the lands Guthix had formed in their God Wars, along with at least twenty other deities who had entered the Gielinorian plane while he slumbered. To stop the wars, he enacted the Edicts of Guthix, which bound and prevented all gods in the realm from directly interfering with the world's events. Henceforth, most gods became transient and could only influence the world through their followers. Guthix, feeling great sorrow for the world It had shaped and loved so, descended again to slumber, but first paused to survey Gielinor's ravaged state, and wept. As far as anyone knows, he has been asleep since.

At the end of a Fifth Age, a series of events took place which resulted in the demise of Guthix at the hands of the Mahjarrat, Sliske. This marked the beginning of a new age where the gods were free to return. Guthixianism has now become more of a philosophy and way of life rather than a religion since Guthix's death, and most Guthixians are in their own form of mourning.

The Religion
"The way of Guthix" entails as much as acquiring balance, resulting in an/the Equilibrium. It holds no other goal. However, because this ideal is so flexible, the typical followers of Guthix can be divided into three groups: Modernist, Traditionalist, and Reformist. All, however, have deeply set intentions to uphold the balance of order and chaos.

Modernists
Modernists are probably the largest group of Guthixians because most characters are modernists. They believe in balance more loosely, and will tend to side with the ideals of one of the other two major gods. They acknowledge Saradomin and Zamorak as the new gods of order and chaos. It's not uncommon for these followers to also worship either Zamorak or Saradomin just as much. One of the best examples of an NPC modernist is Kara-Meir, as she chooses to follow neither Saradomin nor Zamorak, but refuses to ever intentionally side with "evil".

Traditionalists
Traditionalists are a bit more strict to the beliefs and teachings of Guthix's ideals on balance. Many characters (such as Gypsy Aris, Druids and Void Knights) may be Traditionalists. The Edicts of Guthix are scripts written by Guthix probably followed by many traditionalists. Traditionalists commonly recognise the need for the other gods, such as how Saradomin and Zamorak are both needed in order to fulfill that balance and the lack of one or the other would upset it.

Reformists
Reformists acknowledge Saradomin as the successor to Armadyl and Zamorak to Zaros. They say that Armadyl gave Saradomin the power of a god and Zamorak took it from Zaros. Armadyl hid away in his realm. Zaros was forced into his realm. They acknowledge that Armadyl and Zaros are still gods but their successors have taken their place in order and chaos.

Followers and Guthixian Creatures

 * Balance-Oriented HumansCaptain_Ethar.png
 * Druids
 * Seers
 * Void Knights
 * Fremmenik
 * Gypsies
 * Crux Eqal
 * Gnomes
 * Dwarves
 * Myriad
 * Some Fairies
 * Earthly Nymphs/Spirits200px-Guthix_raptor.png
 * Ents
 * Spirit trees
 * Raptors
 * Most Elemental Beings
 * Phoenix
 * Sheep
 * Cats
 * Most Wolves
 * Moss Giants

Common Mistakes
This category addresses traits that players, often new ones, give their Guthixian characters but that aren't actually seen in Guthixians on Gielinor. That is, a character may have these traits, but it would not be expressly due to the teachings of the Guthixian religion.
 * Guthix is not necessarily a "neutral" god. Instead, Guthixians will take whichever side is necessary to restore equilibrium.
 * Guthix is often mistaken for a god of peace and tranquility. He is heavily connected with nature and the Anima Mundi, both of which are peaceful, but he himself does not practice peace for the sake of peace - there must be war to balance it.
 * In roleplay, it isn't common for characters to shorten Guthix's name to Guth. Guthixian NPCs don't do this and, in character, it may be offensive to familiarize the god by giving him a nickname.

Other

 * Guthix is a shapeshifter. When he first arrived at the Blank Plane, he was in the form of a butterfly. When he first appeared to humans, he presented himself as a human.
 * Guthix was born a Naragi, and his own world had a God Wars; he himself managed to kill a God, Skargaroth, with his sword. This lead him to his belief of a world without the interference of gods.
 * Guthix is one of the youngest younger Gods after Zamorak.
 * Guthix was one of Gielinor's strongest Gods after the Elder Gods.
 * This was because of Skargaroth's power being transfered into him, stabbing Tuska in the eye and using the Elder Sword, Staff (of Armadyl), Horn and Stone (of Jas) during the First Age.