Disney D&D (5e)!
Tangled, part 1: worldbuilding in the Kingdom of Corona, and the goddesses Ostara and Skadi
I recently stumbled across this video [link] where ABD Illustrates turns Disney characters into dnd pcs. This idea is WAY too fun for a nerd like me to ignore, so me and my friends immediately started planning a one-shot based on the movie Tangled that we’re all very pumped about. Our plan is to dnd-ify the characters and their world, start the one-shot with the same premise as the movie, and then just see how the story unfolds in this alternate dnd universe! I’ll be dm-ing this one-shot (which will probably be more like a mini campaign, cause I’m extra) and my first chunk of worldbuilding (world-amplifying??) is under the cut--
ABD Illustrates thinks that Rapunzel would be a cleric of the light or life domains, and yes. Just yes. I’m going with the life domain because of her healing and life-giving powers, and her mom (Queen Arianna) will be a cleric of the light domain (more on that later, maybe). Rapunzel’s powers come from the magic flower that grew from a drop of the sun, which I feel means that her patron deity must be somehow related to the sun, as well as healing and life (the sun is a preeetttty significant motif in the movie lol). The tale of Rapunzel is originally German, so I want her deity to be from Germanic mythology, as well. And---for plot reasons I’ll probably explain in a later post---I want this deity to be one who could work for both the light and life domains.
I dug around a bit and eventually ran into the old Germanic goddess Ostara, the goddess of dawn and renewal and youth; the goddess of the spring equinox. I couldn’t find a ton of information about her (if you have more I’d love to hear it!!) but she once had her own month that began at the equinox and lasted for part of March and April. People lit bonfires at the dawn of the equinox to welcome her and the coming of spring after the long, harsh winter. They held feasts and festivals in her honor, and believed that water blessed by her arrival held healing properties. Really everything I found about her made Ostara sound like the perfect fit for Rapunzel’s patron goddess.
I want the goddess Ostara to have some kind of force or deity that she opposes. I couldn’t really find anything about her having enemies in Germanic mythology, but it seems like winter and darkness would be her natural enemy, right? So I’m fudging things a little and making the Norse goddess Skadi---the giantess goddess of winter and, by some accounts, shadow and death---Ostara’s natural enemy.
So now I’m kinda going off the rails and writing some of my own mythology for the Kingdom of Corona---
In our world there’s never a smooth transition between winter and spring---there’s always this weird limbo of going back and forth between warm weather and snowstorms. I think the people of Corona would interpret this as an annual battle between Skadi and Ostara over the world---each year, without fail, Ostara’s dawn of spring and life would triumph over Skadi’s dark winter, and Skadi would retreat back into the snow-covered mountains to rest until she could gain control again and begin the following winter.
It was during one of these battles that Skadi injured Ostara, and a drop of the dawn goddess’ blood fell to the earth. From it grew the flower that Mother Gothel would eventually find and use to restore her youth (as flowers are one of the actual symbols of Ostara and the restoration of youth is one of her actual powers).
I’m changing the canon a little bit here (trust me on this) so that each year the people of Corona wake up very early to watch the first sunrise after the spring equinox. Sometimes this is on the equinox itself, and sometimes it takes days for the sky to clear and reveal the dawn. But however long it takes, the people wait earnestly to welcome the coming of Ostara and spring. Upon the first sunrise they light great bonfires, sing and dance, and kick off a joyful, week-long festival in the goddess’ honor.
But one year, as they awaited the first sunrise of the spring equinox, the air of the kingdom felt heavy with worry. Their Queen was very sick, and it didn’t seem as though she or her unborn baby would survive the night...
Queen Arianna was an adventurer before she married King Frederic and became royalty. During her travels she flourished as a cleric of the light domain. Her wandering brought her to the Kingdom of Corona, where she became known for her fresh and challenging perspectives, her persistent adherence to the truth, and her fearlessness as she spoke up, time and time again, against injustice and corruption on behalf of the people of Corona.
When Arianna became sick during her pregnancy with Rapunzel, her patron deity came to her during a feverish dream with a message: Ostara, the goddess of the purifying light of dawn, told her faithful cleric of the existence of a flower that would heal her and save her unborn daughter.
And so the guards were immediately sent in search of the flower by order of the desperate King Frederic, the flower grown from Ostara’s blood saved the Queen’s life, and Rapunzel was born with the goddess’ blessings of youth, vitality, and the power to heal.
King Frederic was so relieved and overjoyed that he---knowing that his people were still worried, waiting for news of their Queen---sent up a makeshift flying lantern from the castle that was painted with Ostara’s symbol, the mark of the sun. His people saw this just as the sun itself began to rise, and they all cheered and rejoiced and lit their bonfires in celebration, because they knew this meant that Arianna was ok, that she had given birth to a healthy child, and that Ostara had blessed them and their Kingdom. There was no more snowfall that spring, and the festival continued for an entire month.
But, of course, Mother Gothel kidnapped Rapunzel soon after this. She is a powerful wizard---an enchantress, specifically, blessed by Skadi (but more on that in a later post)---and though the guards searched for weeks without rest, they were unable to find her and the baby Rapunzel.
Eventually it came time again for the spring equinox and the festival of Ostara. The kingdom’s mood fell heavy once again as they remembered the disappearance of their princess at this time the spring before. So this year, just before the first dawn of spring, before any bonfires were lit or dancing began, they all lit a flying lantern for Rapunzel, sending the lights up into the sky in hopes that the awakening goddess Ostara would see them and help their lost princess find her way back home.
*****
So that’s the beginning of my planning! There’s a bunch I didn’t include here (and still more to do beyond that *sweats*) but I think I’ll keep posting more as I go! Feel free to use these ideas for your own campaign if you want, and if you have more ideas for Tangled or for another Disney one-shot, please share them! I live for this stuff <3