What are the goals and desires of a neutral god?

[Niloptimist]

I think it is super important to understand that my presentation was not intended as apathetic - there is a great deal of room for engagement and concern, but it just might not be in this specific case. I wouldn't have Akadi consider Tiamat a rival or a force to be directly opposed. Tiamat just doesn't matter to Air in that way. That doesn't mean that Akadi doesn't care about things...just not a dragon god.

I agree that you have to walk a fine line with virtually all clerics to avoid them becoming, as you said, a wizard that heals. The character should consider and embrace the nature of their divine power source - strive to reflect or perhaps even embody the divinity and work to gain esteem in the eyes of the divinity (perhaps as represented by the mortal church, perhaps as represented by special divine attention). But there also needs to be a degree of understanding that a single cleric is like an employee of a large corporation. It takes a lot of time, dedication and work to get the attention of the C-suite, but less the Chairman of the Board (e.g. low and mid level clerics don't get much in the way of special attention...they get the automated prayer answering service).

However, those clerics - like corp employees - can also have other interests, hobbies and concerns. They can want to race giant ride-able chickens, fly around in airships and they can certainly want to fight bad dragon queens that want to destroy their way of life. And they can definitely use all of their assets to do so. If, however, they want the Chairman of the Board to care about their hobby or side-gig, it is on them to frame it in a way that makes the CoB want to come on board. That can be, I think, a great RP opportunity and you have touched on it in your response (earning attention).

Slight aside: I think there is every reason to consider having a cleric-centric adventure that tightens the bond between the divinity and the character and allows the cleric player some spotlight time. But that doesn't mean it has to be the current adventure. Have Akadi want something done - make it something that really sings with Air - and have that great "Mission from God" moment...but make sure the cleric has earned being the special errand clergy. Focusing that story makes it more special than having the Tiamat story be "bad things happening to good people", "saving the world again", and "mission from god for the Air cleric" all piled together.

You make some great points, and I think the term apathetic was bad word choice on my part. I also think you're right about there being no real enmity between Tiamat and Akadi. From what I've read about Tiamat (mostly from the forgotten realms wiki), I don't see any reason why they should be opposed (and I'm not sure any god would actually want to go to war with the primordial embodying the element of air).

You also make a good point about how any cleric is just one part of a much larger whole, or as you put it, a low-level employee. Ultimately, Akadi has many followers, and she is just one of them, a relatively recent one (from Akadi's POV) at that. However, despite our adventure thus far taking less than a tenday in-game, they just reached level three, which means she just received a ton of spells, and is growing more and more powerful. Now, I recognize that you can't necessarily always give a reason for how quickly PCs get more powerful in-game (sometimes it's best to just be handwavy in regards to abilities that should've taken years to learn), but it would be nice if I could recognize how powerful they're becoming in-game by saying that her deeds are gaining Akadi's favor, resulting in her receiving new divine abilities...

...on the other hand, as much as I want to make my player feel special, from what you said, it sounds like I might accidentally cheapen it by making Akadi choose her too quickly without much effort on her part. I dunno, I want to capitalize on the character she's chosen, to let her play it to its full potential (more than anything, I want to make my players' choices feel like they matter- and that's something I'm still learning how to do), but like you said, just because she's a cleric doesn't mean her whole story has to be about being a cleric (plus, sometimes you do need to take a break and ride some chickens, instead of dealing with the whims of your gods). I am, however, hesitant to wait. I was watching some of Matt Coleville's DMing videos, and something he said about waiting stuck with me (he was talking about waiting a long time before handing out magic items, and using them sparingly, but I think it could apply here too); he said that we tend to assume games will go on forever, when in fact they will very likely end before we know it. Eventually, the game will end or she'll die and roll a new character, so if I'm going to give her a story tied to her choice as a cleric of Akadi, it might be better to do it now.

One solution I'm mulling over is to let her know that Akadi is looking for a champion, and have priests of Akadi give her small quests (like the aforementioned pilgrimages) to prove her worth, while knowing that all throughout the forgotten realms there are other champions doing the same. This would reinforce your point that she is part of a larger whole (one employee among many), but also that there's opportunity to be more (and rise through the ranks). From there, the small tasks she completes for Akadi could then lead to bigger quests (flying fortress). I'm still not sure how I'd tie it to Tiamat beyond the flying fortress, or to the cult directly, but we'll see.

I think there's a great thing to catch here too - divinities often care a great deal about their followers, particularly their clergy. Now, they still have to earn that care - adhering to dictates of the order, promoting the portfolio, etc - but this is the basis of why divinities empower clerics to cast spells. They care enough to share some energy and trust the followers enough to allow them to chose how to use that energy.

But you as GM can always find a rationale that says "Akadi is more invested in this than normal" if you need to, for whatever reason. Maybe Tiamat's lead priest in the region has been talking at length about how she will "Rule the Skies" or something of that nature...I'm just saying it doesn't have to be something you do each time.

- M

PS: This isn't the culmination of the campaign, is it? If so and I missed that, my apologies!

I really like the idea of making it folks within the cult, rather than Tiamat herself, that gets Akadi involved. Thanks for your advice. Maybe I'll start by singling out one of the cult in Thundertree, and have them, specifically, be someone that has angered Akadi (I've been editing the encounter a bit). I'll see. I think I'll just have to keep brainstorming reasons that Akadi should care.

Whatever the case, thank you so much for your help Mordar. This is actually towards the beginning of our campaign (well, middle-ish of LMoP), and as a new DM, I really appreciate your advice.