Balnenet

The God of Balance

Balnenet is the god of balance. While his time on this world has been short, he has garnered a large base of worshippers, predominately in the dragonborn and the druids who worship at the altars of gods. Any who value balance value Balnenet. He is seen as a mediator and an impartial adjudicator between any two disgruntled parties. When the courthouses are full, people are known to go to the temples of Balnenet in order to get his priests to settle an issue. He appears as a winged dragonborn, but each of his innumerable scales is a different color, every shade, hue, and color represented. Some of his scales even appear to be gemstones among the metallic and chromatic scales. The horns on his head are curved and gnarled, and seem to writhe about when seen out of the corner of an eye. His wings are every color imaginable, and the colors shift, forming patterns and images as they are watched. He rarely spreads them, usually only doing so when enraged or using them to show events that happened in the past by controlling their patterns. The god wears a simple tunic and trousers. Their colors are as iridescent as the god's scales. In one hand, he carries a walking stick, which is always perfectly vertical. Atop the stick is a set of judge's scales known as The World's Balance. Balnenet sees it as his job to balance the scales.
He watches over all, and has trouble trusting others to do as he says. Usually, when he gives a task of high importance, he watches over whoever he has sent to do it, and interferes, despite his efforts not to. It is for this reason that he has less angels and agents working for him, he prefers to observe events for himself when possible. There are few he trusts to do things correctly, but those he trusts he protects all the more fiercely.

Balnenet's Influence

Divine Relationships

Balnenet is a newer god, and as such, doesn't have many of the complicated relationships that come with a long history. Still, his time on this plane, and his actions have earned him both enemies and allies. The goddess of the land, Chenravo, also spends a great amount of time trying to keep mortals from killing themselves off, and they often work in tandem to achieve that goal.
The six major gods look down on Balnenet as an upstart and a god with ambitions above his station. The Overgods, Athneron and Norentha ignore him completely, acknowledging neither his help nor his hinderance to their goals, as he makes little impact.
As he is always working to keep things safe for the mortals, he sometimes upsets the plans of another god. When this happens, he is often helping to further the plans of another god, who protects him from the wrath of the other.
While the higher gods see Balnenet as ambitious, even they must admit that he sometimes does impact the world in meaningful ways. Far from appreciating this, they see him as meddlesome and infuriating when such an event occurs. Here is a new god, younger than some mortals, causing them to change their plans.

Worshipping Balnenet

Balnenet is often prayed to by both judges and those in conflict seeking a peaceful resolution. His temples and shrines dot the map, just a sprinkling now, but he is getting more and more followers each year. During Belnop, the fourth month of the year and the time of the fall equinox, many look to Balnenet to protect them from the coming winter. Many followers of Balnenet will drum up false grievances with each other over the course of the month, and some of them will allow them to get rather large. The arguments and occasional fights act as entertainment for the community. Then, on the Equinox, those who have been fighting and arguing will present themselves to an authority of Balnenet to have their grievances laid to rest. The arguments on both sides are expected to be comical, over the top, and theatrical. Many bards love using this as an opportunity to show off their skills.

Aspects of Balnenet

The gods often represent more than one facet. The gods' facets are defined by their worshippers, so that the gods suit the needs of the people. No aspect is ever gone, however, and any facet that was created in the past still lurks somewhere in the god's personality, waiting for when it is needed again, or perhaps plotting a situation that might make it relevant once more.
Balnenet is a young god, and as such only has a few facets. However, this means that his facets are much more potent than that of other gods. His facets are based around his identity as the peacekeeper and the balancer of the cosmos.

Aspect of the Judge

It is as the Judge that Balnenet is asked to help provide a balanced and impartial view to those settling disputes. In some rare cases, he will preside over the issue himself, both giving and magically enforcing his ruling to both parties. Usually however, he clears the mind of the judge, freeing them from distractions and allowing them to make unbiased and just decisions. This aspect dispenses justice swiftly; leading to prosperity and health for those who conducted themselves honorably. However, he is loath to interfere much, and prefers to allow mortal judges to dispense his justice.

Aspect of Balance

This is the most well-known and the strongest of Balnenet's aspects. This aspect works to identify threats to the balance of the world, helping if he must, but usually pointing mortals in the direction of trouble instead. The Gods' code often prevents him from meddling in affairs personally, and this leads him many times to handle things through proxies or adventuring parties.
When he does find an event, group, or individual embodying some extreme of the world plotting to upset the balance and tip the scales toward catastrophe, his reaction is swift. Such events are his duty to prevent, but not in his power to stop directly due to the God's Code. In these instances, he goes to those he trusts, and gives them the job. He knows that they will do as he has instructed, or die trying.

Aspect of the Dragonborn

Perhaps his oldest aspect, this aspect reflects Balnenet's origins. This is the aspect that has the most interaction with mortals, and the other aspects like to have this one act as the mouthpiece for the lot. This aspect looks over all dragonborn, whether they have completed their task or not, and assists them as he can. Often, helping dragonborn to complete their tasks tips the scales of balance in one way or the other. When he knows this will happen, he puts measures into place to mitigate the threat to the world. When a dragonborn has finished their task, Balnenet often helps them find a new path to tread, recruiting them as he can.

Aspect of the Mentor

This aspect of Balnenet is the one who responds when leaders ask for help in making a decision. This aspect can see a short distance into the possible futures, and uses that knowledge to help provide the best advice he can to leaders. He doesn't judge who asks for help or why they have come to him, and he will offer counsel to anyone from a leader of an adventuring party to a leader of nations.

Divine Classification

God

Religions

• Hearth of the Balanced
• The Balancing Weight
• The Scaled Doctrines

Gender

Male

Eyes

White, shining with an inner light

Hair

none

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Scales, each one a different color, some of them gemstones

Height

As tall as he wants to be

Weight

As heavy as he wants to be

Balnenet's Champions

Alignment: Almost always neutral, rarely true neutral
Suggested Classes: Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Monk
Suggested Cleric Domains: Balance, Knowledge, Order, Peace, Prophesy
Suggested Backgrounds: Hermit, Noble, Sage
Most champions of Balnenet are individuals who seek to better the world by protecting it from extremes. These people might actively seek out beings of power working to upset the balance and disrupt their plans. Others focus on settling disputes. People on this path might seek out settlements with no (or poor) conflict resolution systems.

Balnenet's Favor

Balnenet's champions work as adjudicators and mentors to others, and find many opportunities to balance the world. He trusts very few, but those he does trust often personify a trait he cares about deeply. How did you initially attract the god's attention? The Balnenet's Favor table offers a few suggestions.

d6	Circumstance
1	You found a way to peaceably settle a dispute that otherwise would have left many dead
2	One of your parents is a just judge, and passed their virtue on to you
3	You were born under a full, half, and new moon
4	You solved a problem that would have destroyed a community if left unchecked
5	You looked to Balnenet for a new path after you completed a task you were charged with
6	You have no idea why Balnenet showed interest in you, and you might sometimes wish He hadn't

Devotion to Balnenet

Following Balnenet is not only learning to balance the world around you, but also finding balance within yourself. As a follower of Balnenet, consider rolling on the Balnenet's Ideals table as alternatives to those suggested for your background.
Balnenet's Ideals

d6	Ideal
1	Devotion. My devotion to my god is more important to me than what he stands for. (Any)
2	Justice. The wrongs of this world must be righted before they end lives. (Good)
3	Balance. Everything in the world must be prevented from reaching extremes (Neutral)
4	Power. People coming to me to solve their issues presents me with interesting opportunities. (Evil)
5	Order. Balance does not happen in a void. It must be strictly structured. (Lawful)
6	Entertainment. People often take life too seriously. If true balance is to be reached, people have to cut loose every once in a while. (Chaotic)

Earning and Losing Piety

You increase your piety score to Balnenet when you expand the god's influence in the world in a concrete way through acts such as these:

• Solving a conflict that would have escalated into a large loss of life
• Advising a leader on the path forward that will lead to a better balance
• Directly confronting an embodiment of an extreme, and defeating it, removing the threat they posed to the balance you work to uphold.
• Disrupting the plans of those who seek to upset the balance of the world

Your piety score to Balnenet decreases if you diminish Balnenet's influence in the world, contradict his ideals, or make him look weak and cowardly through acts such as these:

• Supporting an embodiment of an extreme in achieving their goals.
• Embodying an extreme yourself
• Causing a disruption of the balance that results in the deaths of many others that could have been avoided
• Giving advice to a leader that puts them on a path that leads to danger or that upsets the balance.

Balnenet’s Devotee

Piety 3+ Balnenet Trait
As a devotee of Balnenet, you have accomplished a few tasks to restore the balance. You can cast Divine Favor with this trait a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

Balnenet’s Votary

Piety 10+ Balnenet Trait
You can cast Protection from Poison with this trait, requiring no material components. Once you cast the spell in this way, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
In addition, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed.

Balnenet’s Disciple

Piety 25+ Balnenet Trait
As you continue to uphold the balance, so too does Balnenet continue to reward you. As a bonus action, when you hit a creature not native to your current plane with an attack, you may roll an additional 1d6. You deal radiant damage to the creature equal to your roll to the creature in addition to your attack, then gain temporary hit points equal to the radiant damage you dealt to the creature.
You can use this bonus action a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Champion of Balance

Piety 50+ Balnenet Trait
You can increase your Constitution or Wisdom score by 2 and also increase your maximum for that score by 2.