Awen

Awen (AH-wen) is the lawful good goddess of the earth, plants, farms, dirt, gems, metals, farmers, miners, and all others who revere the earth. She seeks the greatest good for the greatest number of her children through an ordered and structured society. Grandmother Awen says, “You do not cast your seeds to the wind and hope they grow; you must plan, and plan well.” Associated not only with the earth above, upon which all things grow and live, but also with the places beneath the earth, Awen stands for the fertility of the land, as well as the people that inhabit it. She is the grandmother of all people and of the gods themselves, having grown the great tree Eliwyn in her soil. She is therefore the patron of grandmothers and old women. She is known as the Foremother, as she offers the gods and mortal races the loving embrace of their ancestral mother. Awen is often linked with the animals of the deep places and caves of the earth, including moles, voles, wolves, and cave bears. Of all the animals of the earth, though, she is most closely associated with rabbits and hares, which live in warm homes in the earth. They are gentle and fertile creatures, just as Awen is gentle and stands for the fertility of all the creatures and plants of the earth, and they desire nothing but peace, yet they will not hesitate to protect their young, even against impossible odds. Among mystical creatures, she is often associated with treants, which some say are her children, but were born of the blood of druids. She is most closely tied to the divine and gentle celestial animal spirits called pookas that sometimes aid humans in need. They usually appear as monkeys or rabbits, and stand at the good counterparts to rakshasas. Awen has been depicted in icons as an elderly woman of the race worshiping her. Whatever the race, she has grey hair, approaching silver, and in her face, thousands of wrinkles lie like the furrows of the earth and the farm. She is usually depicted in robes of flowing white, though when she is prayed to for fertility, she is shown in robes of red. Her feet are always unshod, to remain ever in contact with the earth. Her eyes are black as coal with flecks of gold, silver, and iron. In ancient times—and some of these icons and primitive statues remain—Awen was shown as a heavyset woman with five exposed breasts. These represented the five mortal races; further, they represented fertility and life, signifying that mortals suckle at her breasts and take life-giving sustenance from the earth. The symbolic representations of Awen’s church vary slightly, with different regions using different symbols to honor the earth. Those who revere the strength of the soil and its life-giving power represent Grandmother Awen with a bundle of corn, or another crop appropriate for the locale. Miners use the symbol of a sparkling diamond, shining as if lit by a bright light, to represent the treasures of the earth. All groups recognize the simple shorthand of a single majestic mountain on a field of white, however, and if there is a “universal” symbol of her church, this is it, rendered simply as a tall triangle. Awen is worshiped by farmers and others who work the soil, who pray that their fields will yield a rich harvest. Miners honor her for her gifts of precious metals and wondrous gems. Women pray to her when they desire children, because it was within the bosom of Awen that the great tree Eliwyn grew and gave birth to the wondrous diversity of life in the land. Her worship is popular among all five races, though for different reasons—the elves love her natural splendor, the dwarves love her deep and rich caves, the gnomes love their homelands in her hills, and the halflings love her rich soil for farming. Humans love her for all these reasons and more, depending on their culture. Half-orcs rarely worship Awen, as they are considered unnatural by her church. Any character who comes from a farming community is likely to have been raised worshiping Awen, though most of her adventurer worshipers are rogues (who specialize in scouting), rangers, barbarians, and druids who honor the gods, not impersonal natural forces..

Divine Domains

Earth, Plants, Farms, Dirt, Gems, Metals, Farmers, Miners

Divine Classification

Goddess