Talona

Talona was the goddess of poison and disease in the Faerûnian pantheon. Where the Lady of Poison walked, death and disaster followed, and she was blamed for all manner of ailments, ranging from common sicknesses and devastating diseases to brackish wells and failing crops, Worship of the Mother of All Plagues waxed and waned in an unending cycle; the Mistress of Disease would unleash waves of death-bringing blights, after which came mass entreaties for respite before that cycle's great plagues went into remission, her power slowly declined, and spurred by feelings of vulnerability. she began the cycle anew.

Talona appeared as a gaunt, 10‑foot (3‑meter) human female with long, unkempt hair and reaching, elongated fingers. Her depictions in religious texts portrayed her as a withered crone with a scarred, tattooed face. The bodies of her avatars seemed like they had been beautiful and voluptuous at one point, but their frames and charms had been ravaged by the march of time, horrific diseases, and starvation. Even so, Talona's dancing movements were said to be alluring, and her lips were nonetheless inviting and gentle.

Talona was also sometimes depicted as a beautiful and innocent woman.

Divine Domains

Talona's realm was known as the Palace of Poison Tears. Under the Great Wheel cosmology, it was located in the jungle-covered orbs of Cathrys, Carceri's second layer, known for its poisonous vegetation.

Under the World Tree cosmology, this realm was located in the Barrens of Doom and Despair.

Tenets of Faith

Worshipers

Her priests, known collectively as Talontar, typically wore ragged gray-green robes. Though they would wash these vestiments, they would never repair them. Older and high-ranking members of her priesthood tended to either ritually scar or tattoo their bodies all over. When embarking on a battle or dangerous adventure, a follower of Talona would often don armor of a black and purple hue that was adorned with a variety of spurs, horns, and spikes.

Her followers often sold various poisons, antidotes, and medicines. When not doing so they were known to travel across Faerûn, seeking out new diseases or afflictions while also spreading rumors about Talona in hopes of boosting her reputation.

Talontar devoted much of their lives to building up an immunity to various diseases and poisons, by means of both inoculation and magic. Because of this often treated those afflicted with diseased or buried their bodies. They also tended to be hired by paranoid members of high society, such as wealthy merchants or rulers, to test their food for any poison.

Orders

The Plague Rats: an elite group of assassins, thieves, and wererats that operated throughout the North and the Western Heartlands.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

In −33 DR,[25] a demipower named Kiputytto, sister of Loviatar, tried to challenge Talona for her portfolio. The conflict that ensued devastated the nation of Asram with terrible plagues, forcing its citizens to provide Talona devotional power in hopes that she would lessen the plague's effects. Talona ultimately won the conflict and shortly afterwards murdered Kiputytto. In the years that followed, texts would be written that referred to the latter deity as an alias of hers, further cementing Kiputytto's defeat.

During the Time of Troubles, a formula to the concoction known as the Chaos Curse was indirectly given to the evil wizard Aballister Bonaduce by an avatar of Talona.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Talona was a strange goddess in terms of personality. She had been compared by sages to a greedy and petulant child, switching between the juvenile desire for attention at any cost to the aloofness of a discarded paramour. Curiously for a deity so closely tied to death, she had no personal taste for violence.

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