Waukeen

Waukeen was a lesser deity of the Faerûnian pantheon known as the Merchant's Friend, Liberty's Maiden, and the Golden Lady. Her portfolio included everything related to commerce and the accumulation of wealth through free and fair trade, as well as the beneficial use of wealth to improve civilization. Those that venerated and appeased her included merchants from lowly peddlers to the wealthy owners of trading companies, investors, accountants, entrepreneurs, caravan guides, warehouse owners, philanthropists, deal-makers, moneylenders, and so on. Waukeen was also the goddess of illicit trade and the patron of many smugglers, fences, black marketeers, and "businessmen" on the shady side of commerce. Collectively, her worshipers were known as Waukeenar.

Description

Waukeen was portrayed as a slender, young woman with long, lustrous golden hair; always splendidly dressed. Some depictions included a pair of golden lions resting at her feet. Her avatar was 10 ft (3 m) tall and typically had eyes that appeared as solid gold. She wore a gown woven from strips of precious metals polished to a gleaming finish and sprinkled with all manner of gemstones. Her sash was of spun gold and her cloak was a lattice of gold coins. On her feet were boots of laced pearls with gold soles. On occasions where subtlety was more appropriate, the Golden Lady sometimes manifested as a sprouting of daffodils to give a sign of favor, hope, or inspiration. Often she would provide money in unexpected places, like a coin, face-up, to indicate the correct path at an intersection, or nuggets of gold, citrines, pyrite (also known as fool's gold—perhaps as a sign of disfavor). Slightly less subtle was a pair of golden eyes observing from a curtain of impenetrable darkness; or a large stack of gold coins that writhed like a snake, flying or wrapping itself around something or someone to which she wanted to draw attention before it shattered and scattered, often causing a scramble to collect them. All such tokens from the goddess were highly valued by Waukeenar as "divine essence of the goddess". When more interaction or aid was needed she could send creatures such as golden-colored cats, lock lurkers, golden lions, palomino horses, eagles (preferably golden ones), or extraplanar creatures such as ferrumachs and plumachs from the Outlands.

Personality

Waukeen was an active and enthusiastic deity who enjoyed the ebb and flow of goods via commerce and the rapid pace of business in a thriving marketplace full of spirited bargaining—so much so that rumors of her presence at particularly intense negotiations involving one of her worshipers became legendary. Her side always got the best bargain, but the other party usually walked away also feeling satisfied about the terms of the deal. Waukeen was driven to accomplish a goal and move on to the next one and, rather than being frustrated when the usual business practices failed to work out a solution, she was willing to try alternate methods. This manifested itself in her church sometimes allowing the ends to justify the means. Her stubbornness and dogged persistence occasionally got her in predicaments and likely led to her imprisonment during the Time of Troubles.

Abilities

Although her avatar was not seen during the Godswar, sightings before that time reported that she cast spells as both a wizard and a cleric, choosing spells from any school or sphere. Her weapon of choice was a pummeling stream of gold coins that emitted from either hand (the coins did not disappear, so they could also be given as a boon). The coin cloud acted like a +5 impact evil outsider bane nunchaku. In addition, she could either spit molten gold up to 6 ft (1.8 m) or call down a flame strike that resembled a conflagration wrapped in a rotating helix of gold coins (which did disappear afterward) on any creature within 200 ft (61 m). Rather than fly she chose to walk on air, levitating and appearing to take strides as she moved.
After her return from imprisonment in the Abyss she was known to have added rogue skills to her avatar while still being a formidable cleric and wizard. She could extend her senses seven miles (11.3 km) or perceive anything within seven miles of her temples, holy sites, worshipers, or objects, or anywhere her name or one of her titles had been spoken within the previous hour. Her awareness extended to include any business deal, contract, exchange, sale, theft, or destruction of a merchant's property that impacted at least five hundred people in scope.

Relationships

Waukeen's closest ally was Lliira, who was the trustee of Waukeen's portfolio while she made her ill-fated attempt to get back to her realm in the Outlands during the Time of Troubles. However, when Lliira started answering the prayers of Waukeen's followers during her long incarceration, many of the Waukeenar assumed their goddess was dead and switched allegiances and rededicated their temples to Lliira.After Waukeen returned to power, she was jealous and upset that so many of her faithful did not return to her service, and this slightly soured the friendship between the two goddesses.

The Golden Lady was one of the first to support Gond and his inventions over the doubts of most other deities. Shaundakul was also an ally of the Merchant's Friend as his portfolio touched hers in areas such as long-range traders, and caravans. Waukeen had no real enemies among the pantheon except Mask, the Master of All Thieves, because larceny is bad for business. She naturally had an unending hatred and thirst for revenge against the demon lord Graz'zt who broke a deal, took advantage of her weakened state, and held her captive during the Avatar Crisis.
The Church
Ornate temples to the glory of the Golden Lady were usually found in centers of commerce from Tashalar in the south, up through Amn, all around the Sea of Fallen Stars (Chessenta, Cormyr, Sembia, the Vast, Impiltur) and over to Thesk on the Golden Way.Her clerics, called Goldeyes, and other worshipers traveled the trade routes aiding merchants and caravans or worked in the opulent temples as hosts for wealthy donors, moneylenders, currency exchangers, venture capitalists, warehousers, fences (covertly, of course) and, most importantly, security guards.
Harlot's Coin Heresy This heretical schism of Waukeen's faith taught that Waukeen had gradually sold off pieces of her divinity and virtue to Graz'zt in order to finance her church. They believed that it was for failing to pay her debts to him that Graz'zt imprisoned her during the Time of Troubles. These heretics taught that Waukeen earned her freedom only because she finally paid her debt to the demon, resulting in Graz'zt owning the majority of Waukeen's godhood. The heretics therefore believed that all who worshiped Waukeen were really worshiping Graz'zt instead, and they were content with that arrangement.

Divine Realms

According to the Great Wheel cosmology model, Waukeen's home was on the neutral plane of Concordant Opposition, also known as the Outlands, in a shared realm called the Marketplace Eternal—a huge bazaar that covered many square miles/kilometers. The Marketplace Eternal was divided into four quarters and Waukeen's quarter was called the House of Barter. Somewhere in the midst of her quarter Waukeen had an opulent golden palace that contained a portal to Lliira's realm in Brightwater on the plane of Arborea. Shortly after Waukeen's return to power, the World Tree cosmology model came into favor and Brightwater was described as its own plane with the Marketplace Eternal as the center of the populated region, and Waukeen its sole owner. Surrounding the Golden Lady's demesne were four quarters, divided between Lliira, Tymora, Sune, and Sharess.
After the Spellplague, Brightwater was no more and the Marketplace Eternal moved to the plane of Eternal Sun where it sprawled around Amaunator's Palace of the Four Suns.

Titles

• Liberty's Maiden
• The Golden Lady
• Merchants Friend
• Our Lady of Gold
• The Coinmaiden

Deity Level

• Lesser Deity

Alignment

• Neutral

Symbol

• Upright coin with Waukeen's profile facing left

Portfolio

• Trade

Domains

• Knowledge
• Trickery

Worshipers

• Shopkeepers
• Merchants
• Guides
• Peddlers
• Moneychangers
• Smugglers

Favored Animal

• Eagles
• Golden Cats
• Golden Lions
• Palomino Horses

Favored Plants

• Daffodils

Favored Minerals

• Citrine
• Gold Nugget

Favored Colors

• Gold
• White