Rohkea (roʊ keɪ ʌ)

The Powerful Defender, The Inventive Maid, The Maid of Letters, The Fearless Shieldmaiden Rohkea

Goddess of courage, strategy, tactics, and the art of writing, Rohkea couldn’t be more different from her twin sister Ukkonen. While both are goddesses of battle and war, Rohkea represents the calm, ordered, thoughtful approach to combat whereas Ukkonen represents the wild abandon of bloodlust. In conflict from the beginning, Rohkea has repeatedly bested her sister more often than not.

Divine Domains

Courage, trust, strategy, tactics, writing

Holy Books & Codes

A Manual of Tactics and Strategy is a collection of excerpts from Rohkea’s many battles fought with an analysis of each one showing the lessons of tactics and strategy that can be learned from her example.

The Codex of the Written Word is a guide on proper writing, containing a history of the written word from the earliest pictograms to Rohkea’s invention of the alphabet and containing examples of numerous forms of writing.

Tome of the Fearless Shieldmaiden is a book on worship ceremonies for Rohkea and contains numerous hymns in her honor as well as liturgical essays detailing the proper format for worship and sacrifice.

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A tower

Tenets of Faith

• Do not hesitate to stand against those who oppress or attack the innocent.
• Never fail to help a friend in need.
• Defend children in particular from abuse and evil, so their unwritten future can remain bright.
• Ignorance is not malice. The misguided deserve mercy. They should be shown the error of their ways and given a fair chance to make amends.
• No law, price or justification can legitimize slavery. Work to free slaves where you find them and never enslave another being to act against its own will.
• Defend liberty, even when it challenges established community and family standards. Those who are true to themselves forge the strongest relationships with others and must be protected so long as they do no harm and do not infringe on others’ liberty in turn.
• Your weapon and your skill with that weapon have been entrusted to you by those who have mastered their craft, and both deserve to be wielded by a skilled hand. Your training should be consistent and in time imparted to others as it was passed down to you.
• Your personal conduct reflects on your family and your goddess; conscientiously maintain your reputation for their sake even on the battlefield.
• The strategy of war involves deception by nature, but the flag of peace is sacrosanct. Accept no negotiations from those who have attacked a foe under the pretense of arbitration or truce for their own gain; they have destroyed the trust that reconciliation requires.

Holidays

Battle of Harhatir; 12th of Megir―Celebrating one of Rohkea’s most famous battles, this was a draw, not a victory, but given the overwhelming forces arrayed against her many were surprised she managed to achieve a draw.
Scribe’s Day; 28th of Paun―Celebrates both Rohkea’s gift of the written word as well as all those who make their living with the pen. It is said to be the anniversary of the day Rohkea gifted the mortals with the alphabet.
Victory at Nim; 25th of Epip―The Battle at Nim was the rematch resulting from the Battle of Harhatir. This time the forces were more evenly matched and Rohkea managed to win a decisive victory.

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Rohkea enjoys the wielding of her martial skills but regrets the necessity for their practical use. She seeks to find a way to end war with good’s final victory over evil. However, she recognizes that this is not likely as she also fought for mortals to have free will to choose good or evil. So, she continues to seek new strategies and tactics to use in the unending war, to accelerate victories and thereby minimize the suffering that war causes. She also seeks for all to be gifted with the ability to read, and her churches encourage schools where literacy is freely shared with all who seek it.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Rohkea generally manifests as a tall wiry woman of human of half-elven appearance. Regardless of the race she appears as she quick and agile. However, she is also surprisingly strong for one of her apparent build.

Identifying Characteristics

In addition to numerous scars on her wrists and forearms she has a rather wicked scar that crosses her left eye, though misses the eye itself.

Apparel & Accessories

Normally she wears a long sky-blue tunic over which she wears a spangenhelm, gorget, cuirass, rerebrace, vambrace, gauntlets, cuisse, and greaves. The armor is shiny silver in color and highlighted with gold. When not wearing armor, she wears a sky-blue mantle draped over her left shoulder and wrapped around the rest of her body except for her right arm. In either outfit she wears a gold leather sandals.

Specialized Equipment

Pahadron is a greataxe, made of made of shiny silver steel with a blood-red handle. It is magical said to be sharper than any mortal blade, even able to sever the bond between body and spirit.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

The Rohkea is the thirdborn child of Utu and Eresu, and the twin sister of Ukkonen. According to legend Rohkea and Ukkonen began fighting in the womb, battling over who would be first to emerge. Rohkea won that first battle. As a child she was precocious always serious about her studies. It’s said that she learned checkers at an early age and finding the game too simple created a complex variation called chess. One area she excelled at was weapons craft, learning weapons as fast as she could be introduced to them.

As an adult, she grew dissatisfied with rote memorization of tales and facts, so she created the alphabet and writing, an art she was quick to share with the mortal creations. It was this creation that is sometimes said to have triggered the Godswar, with Asmodeous angered believing that the free dissemination of knowledge that writing created would make the mortals unruly and unrulable. Naturally when the Godswar started Rohkea sided with Utu and the other gods that wished the mortal races to have free choice.

Recognizing her keen tactical mind, Utu placed her in charge of his armies, a decision that proved wise. With sound tactics and brilliant strategy Rohkea led her forces to victory after victory made easy by the reckless leadership of her twin. This led to the ultimate battle in which utu and Asmodeus entered the battle personally. This led to the death of Io, the birth of Bahumt and Tiamat and the end of the Godswar. With the Godswar over Rohkea was ready to step down from her position of leadership over the armies of the gods. However, Utu requested that she continue in the role a task she accepted with some reluctance.

She continued her rivalry with Ukkonen even after the Godswar. At the Battle of Harhatir the two clashed a battle that led to a draw. Both were leading armies of chosen mortals in a battle to determine the fate of Elan. Ukkonen had the larger army outnumbering her twin’s forces by three to one, but through clever use of the terrain, Rohkea managed to end the battle in a draw instead of the defeat Ukkonen had expected. They met again a year and a half later at Nim, this time, the forces were more evenly matched. Again, with preparation and again shrewdly making use of the terrain, Rohkea won a decisive victory, freeing Elan from the brutal rule of an Ukkonean theocracy.

Since then neither Rohkea nor Ukkonen have intervened directly in the affairs of mortals. Rohkea has preferred to stay in the shadows, metaphorically speaking, inspiring and advising, but not acting.

Accomplishments & Achievements

In addition to being credited with the invention of writing and chess, Rohkea has a brilliant tactical mind, and seldom loses a battle. As leaders of the armies of the gods that wished mortals to have free choice, she won many victories during the Godswar against seemingly insurmountable odds. According to legend she defeated the demon lord Baphomet in single combat taking the greataxe, Ozgiken, he wielded as a trophy. The embarrassed Baphomet denies the event, and shortly after he switched to using a Aizerghaul, a magical glaive, meanwhile Rohkea changed the weapons name to Pahadron and adopted it as her own chosen weapon in place of the spear she used before.

Intellectual Characteristics

Rohkea has a razor-sharp mind and is capable of shrewd analysis of situations often planning her moves four steps ahead of her opponents and having contingencies for her contingencies. She is capable of astounding leaps of logic and devising innovative solutions to problems. She is good at dealing with people as well as tactical problems and is an extremely effective leader able to inspire loyalty and support from those subordinate to her. This coupled with her tactical ability makes her an extremely effective military leader.

Morality & Philosophy

Rohkea does the best that she can do to uphold good. She will follow her father Utu but will disobey him if she deems it necessary to achieve the greater good. She excels at seeing both sides of a situation and uses this ability to guide her actions to do what will bring about the most good. She seeks harmony in her dealings with others and usually avoids topics that will lead to heated arguments when it is possible. Because of her ability to look on all sides of a situation she sometimes has a difficult time choosing sides between other good beings. This has caused some to label her as indecisive. In truth she just exams a situation carefully before making a decision and once she has made a decision, she is certain of the rightness of her path. She does not, however, feel that every action must be planned out, and can act spontaneously when appropriate. On the other hand, she does acknowledge the need for some stricture on actions and finds those who abandon all organization as irresponsible. In short, she supports laws that benefits all, but has no issue breaking laws that are tyrannical in nature.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Rohkea, perhaps more than any other deity, is motivated by the desire to see good triumph. She has seen the destruction, and oppression that are the norm where evil holds sway and doesn’t wish that on any mortal, or immortal. It is this more than anything else, that persuaded her to keep her position as the leader of the armies of good. When she is not directly leading her forces against the forces of evil, she is usually crusading on her own for some cause or other. In the rare times she relaxes from her military work she can be found reading or writing, usually reading always interested in what the mortal scribes have to offer.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

When it comes to things she is good at, combat and leadership are at the top of the list. She excels in combat of all sorts and is always eager to learn new weapons and new ways to hone her strategic and tactical thinking. She also excels in games of strategy such as draughts and chess. She is an amazing leader capable of quickly earning the loyalty of disparate forces and merging them into a whole. If there is anything she is not so good at it is dealing with people outside of a command-and-control structure. Without a structure of hierarchy to guide her, she is somewhat uncomfortable with social situations, and tends to see people as superiors to be obeyed and subordinates to be commanded. She also has little interests outside the military life, although she has taken up weaving as a way to relax and has become quite proficient at it.

Likes & Dislikes

She loves leading her forces in battle for the cause of good and fighting to destroy the strongholds of evil. She likes weaving and reading in her off-time and devours books like a gourmet at a banquet. Her weaving is quite accomplished, and she enjoys challenging other weavers to friendly contests. She dislikes sloppiness, especially in the military sense, and cannot abide weapons and gear not kept in tip to shape. She hates evil and would see it abolished save for her belief that mortals should have the freedom to choose between good and evil.

Virtues & Personality perks

She is a competent leader with perhaps the best strategic mind in the realms. She is also a virtuoso with most weapons and is always eager and quick to pick up the use of new weapons. She is sound of mind and of body and believes that keeping both in top shape is as important as keeping weapons honed and gear cleaned and polished.

Vices & Personality flaws

When it comes to social situations, she is somewhat lost without a hierarchy to fit everything in, and in gatherings without a hierarchy she becomes increasingly ill at ease. While she does enjoy a game of chess or draughts or similar game of strategy, it is exceedingly difficult for her to find a worthy opponent and when she does play she is a vicious player and can be a sore loser and winner.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Of her many affiliations, perhaps her most famous is her enmity with her twin sister Ukkonen. The two have been striving against each other since before their birth and have only gotten worse. She is also at odds with Asbu, Azag, and their father Asmodeus. She doesn’t get along well with Meri either though the two do not interact as often. She is a staunch opponent of Mursu and the two have come to blows in the past and likely will again. She is on somewhat amicable terms with Vuori and the two have cooperated before. She is a good friend of her elder brother Mudutuand an ally oBahamut and a staunch foe of Tiamat. She is a friend of Emku and her church has often assisted in defending her schools during wars and other calamities. She is a friend of Voimakas, and the two have worked together often. Likewise, she and her nephew Laki have frequently worked together. She is on amicable terms with Metsäst and very friendly terms with Azu.

In addition to her relations with the other deities, Rohkea is served by a number of semi-divine beings.

• Allgenikka, a powerful solar, she serves as Rohkea’s general and all around right-hand. Armed with the shield and spear that Rohkea eschewed in favor of the greataxe Pahadron, she is a formidable warrior and an excellent leader.
• Foreas, is Rohkea’s shield bearer and is usually at her side appearing as a youth just verging on adulthood. A talented warrior he carries a long spear named tripiti psichisl.
• Odigos, is drives Rohkea’s chariot pulled by four horses and is a skiled warrior in his own right. A demigod of uncertain parentage Odigos usually appears as a beardless young man.
• Grafeas, is a scribe and chronicler of Rohkea’s many battles, both the triumphs and losses. He appears as a bald bearded old man always carrying a long scroll and pen.
• Aklonitos, a great cyclops who turned from the ways of his fellows to follow Rohkea before the fall of his people’s empires, he is known for his bravery and steadfastness.
• Arkouda, is a great she-bear that accompanies Rohlea on many of her adventures. The bear has the intelligence of a child and natural cunning.

Family Ties

Rohkea is the third child of Utu and Eresu, and sister to Vaalea, Mudutu, Sinnis, and most famously her twin Ukkonen. As sister to Vaalea and Mudutu she is aunt to their children Emku, Arammu, Kello, and Laki. She is also an aunt to Sinnis's children Sanoma, Osa, Narum, and Kalbu. She is half-sister to Vuori and one of the few deities who acknowledges the relationship.

Social Aptitude

As long as there is a hierarchy in place Rohkea is socially adept and quite charismatic. In the absence of a hierarchy for her to work with she becomes ill at ease and is much less sociable. She is good at giving speeches and rallying beings to her cause and can pontificate with the best of them. Despite all this she is extremely humble except when it comes to her strategic abilities for which it is said, and she believes, she has no equal. She is however not quite an extrovert preferring the company of a few choice companions to large gatherings. Regardless she is unfailingly polite and well mannered, though she doesn’t do so well in patriarchal societies where women are expected to defer to men.

Hobbies & Pets

Rohkea’s hobbies include games of strategy, when she can find a worthy opponent, weaving and reading. She weaves to relax and has become quite accomplished at it. Likewise, she reads for enjoyment, and to learn new things.

She has no pets. She would be insulted if anyone were to insinuate that Arkouda was a pet, as she considers the intelligent bear to be a comrade.

Divine Classification

Deity

Religions

• Church of Rohkea

Alignment

Neutral Good

Church/Cult

Church of Rohkea

Gender

Female

Eyes

Green and piercing

Hair

light brown, long but tied up

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

light olive complexion

Height

6 ft. 6 in.

Weight

180 lbs.