Gili

(a.k.a. Exalted Matron)

Gili, also known as the Exalted Matron, is the dwarven goddess of the spring season, fertility, healing, poetry and smithcraft.  She is seen as the mother of dwarves and is the counterpart and wife of Roinain.

Divine Domains

Life, Light, Forge

Holy Books & Codes

Her temples are modest affairs almost like roomy cottages with great hearths.  Her followers keep her writings on great quilts with fine needlework with silver thread.

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A silver well with a rising sun behind

Tenets of Faith

Keep a calm demeanor and be the voice of reason for your community.  Keep the home safe and warm during the dark times and bright and cheerful as the light rises.  Honor the matriarchs of the family and those females of the younger generation for they are the future.

Holidays

The holiday Brighde is celebrated on the 1st of Wintersleep and  is a festival of the hearth and home, and a celebration of the lengthening days and the early signs of spring. Celebrations often involve hearthfires, special foods, divination or watching for omens, candles or a bonfire if the weather permits. Fire and purification are an important part of the festival. The lighting of candles and fires represent the return of warmth and the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months. A spring cleaning is also customary.
Holy wells are visited during Brighde.   Visitors to holy wells pray for health while walking 'sunwise' around the well. They  then leave offerings, typically coins or puddings. Water from the well is used to bless the home, family members, livestock and fields.
A representation of Gili is  paraded around the community by girls and young women. Usually it is a doll-like figure known as a Gil. It is made from rushes or reeds and clad in bits of cloth, flowers and/or shells.  The girls  carry it in procession while singing a hymn to Gili. All wear white with their hair unbound as a symbol of purity and youth. They visit every house in the area, where they receive either food or more decoration for the Gil. Afterwards, they feast in a house with the Gil set in a place of honour, and put it to bed with lullabies.  When the meal is done, the local young men humbly ask for admission, made obeisance to the Gil, and join the girls in dancing and merrymaking.  In many places, only unwed girls can carry the Gil, but in some both boys and girls carry it.  Sometimes, rather than carrying a Gil, a girl impersonates Gili. Escorted by other girls, she goes house-to-house wearing 'Gili's crown' and carrying 'Gili's shield' and 'Gili's hammer', all of which are made from rushes.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Gili appears as young curvaceous dwarf maiden dressed in homespun clothing with soft brown eyes and long red hair worn in braided plaits.  She often wears a soft smile on her round face.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Gili is often welcome amongst the goodly deities of the Elerilan pantheon due to her warm and motherly nature.  She works closely with her husband Roinain at the forges in their realm of Nyamithlor.  She often likes to visit her close friends Illis and Daldra due to their own matronly natures and closeness with life and light.

Divine Classification

Deity

Alignment

Lawful Good

Current Location

Nyamithlor

Species

Dwarf

Realm

Nyamithlor

Gender

Female

Eyes

Brown

Hair

Red worn in braids

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

White

Height

4'2"

Weight

155 lbs