two questions about the Faithless: 1) It’s said that those who had no patron deity end up in it. But I thought many, perhaps most Faerûnians worship many gods more or less equally; who would be their “patron”? 1/2 2) I’ve seen (non-FR canon) a several claims that true Faerûnian atheists—those who deny the existence of any gods at all—would be a vanishingly small minority. A minority, certainly, but I’m curious just how rare this is. 5% of general population? 0.5%? What’s the ballpark? 2/2
— Jeremy Powell (@jmhpowell) October 26, 2020
1)
A very small handful of sentients in the Realms truly don’t believe deities exist (less than 0.5%); they would be the “Faithless.” Most DO “believe in” all the gods, even if they profess to repudiate them. Many ‘cleave to’ one deity above others, even if slightly. 2)
That 'ever so slightly favored' deity is their patron deity, if they don't openly profess and embrace a patron (as clerics and paladins do). The Wall of Faithless is more of a bugaboo tale told by priests and spread over tavern tables than it is a Great Big Doom.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 26, 2020