Damara (duh-mar-uh)
The Dawn Mother
Damara is one of the members of The Four, the group of four greater deities known as Nisme generally believed to be responsible for creating the world and bringing life and function to it. The origin of Damara - and likewise the other three greater goddesses - is unknown. Some speculate they were all born from or created by Primus to represent different aspects of the newly-created world of Ayndrinor. Damara's domain of life and fertility is diametrically opposed by the domain of Helī - death and disease - though the two are not typically depicted as hostile or belligerent.
Not much is known about any of The Four before the creation of Ayndrinor, and even the early time period is relatively clouded. One thing scholars and priests do know about Damara is their long devotion to Talia which has produced three offspring in the Light Pantheon. As the nature of The Four is not monogamous, Damara has also parented children with Helī and Gaela. No one is sure of the order the children were born, but most scholars agree the first of the Deirid was Damara's child with Helī: Olmytria, the Shepherd of the Fallen. It is believed that the next was Damara's child with Gaela: Zyntrani, the Weaver of Magic. Traditional belief holds that after the birth of these two children, Damara fell in love with Talia and produced three final offspring gods (in no specific order): Leyth, the Verdant Matron; Morgran, the Smith; and Eamon, the Great Arbiter. These three children are seen as the evidence of the long relationship between Damara and Talia, the creation of life and things from nature.
As with the other members of The Four, there are individual priests of Damara, and people can give offerings and prayers to just Damara. This happens especially in regards to fertility and progeny, though others pray to Damara for continued health and long life. The most valued offering one can give to Damara is a sprig of lavender, said to be the deity's direct creation and personal favorite flower.
Damara is said to be the original dragon, and all other dragons come from them. Their iridescent scales - though metallic in appearance - are said to represent all colors of dragons, even the chromatic. Some depictions of Damara that show their hands will illustrate one hand with red, blue, black, green, and white fingers, while the other hand has silver, gold, bronze, brass, and copper fingers. It is believed that long ago, to create the dragons as powerful forces to shape the world, Damara pulled off their own fingers and created the various types of dragons before regrowing new hands with the telltale iridescent scales.
Damara remains a powerful and widely-worshiped deity, and this is taken to near-fanatical levels by the good-aligned dragonborn of the world. Even in human, elf, dwarf, and other enclaves, they are often considered the main deity. Damara is considered the pinnacle of "goodness" by most of the world's cultures.
Divine Domains
Life
Light
Peace
Light
Peace
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Sigil: two hands cupped holding a sun
Divine Symbol: Morningstar
Tenets of Faith
- Do as little harm to other living beings as one can.
- Help foster life and growth wherever one is.
- Heal diseases and wounds to prolong life as long as possible.
- Spread the healing and positive vibes to smaller communities who need it.
- One's first thoughts should be - as often as possible - about helping others, not looking to enrich oneself.
Physical Description
Identifying Characteristics
Damara is generally described as a large mutli-colored metallic dragon. Despite being referred to as "The Dawn Mother", Damara has no defining characteristics of one gender or another and appears androgynous and beautiful. Their scales are almost iridescent with all the different colors represented. The scales of their head are almost pure bright white, made of some unknown and unknowable metal - much like the iridescent rest of their body.
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