Rontra

Grandmother, Venerable, the Earth, the Wellspring, the Earth Mother, the Foremother

Rontra (RAHN-tra) 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 Rontra 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, Rontra 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.
Rontra 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 Rontra 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 Rontra, as they are considered unnatural by her church. Any character who comes from a farming community is likely to have been raised worshiping Rontra, though most of her adventurer worshipers are rogues (who specialize in scouting), rangers, barbarians, and druids who honor the gods, not impersonal natural forces..
The worship of Rontra, Morwyn, and Anwyn are all very closely integrated, as they are three generations of the same line of women, and are often shown together: the grandmother, the mother, and the maiden. While Morwyn is the patron of pregnant women and those giving birth, it is Rontra to whom people appeal when they desire children, for the Grandmother is the giver of fertility. Similarly, while Morwyn is the patron of mothers and those raising children, it is Anwyn, the daughter, to whom they appeal for a quiet and restful home.

Divine Domains

Earth

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Rontra 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 Rontra 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 (see the church of Eliwyn). 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.
Rontra 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—Rontra 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 Rontra’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 Rontra 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.

Tenets of Faith

Nurture the World

Rontra has seen what strife and hatred can do to the land and its people. She knows only constant vigilance can make certain that the gods, as well as mortals, do not turn to destruction and death over petty squabbles.
To this end, she views herself as an advisor and nurturer of her people. She counsels her grandchildren and shows them the paths of righteousness. Together with Morwyn, she is the conscience of gods and mortals alike.
For Rontra, there is only one way, and that is the way of moral good, no matter how difficult its demands. In this, she is uncompromising and does not equivocate, nor does she believe good ends can ever justify ill means.
That said, Rontra is the most “natural” of the gods, for while she mourns the terrible events and crimes of the world, she does little to stop them. As is shown in the myth of Durgas, Rontra might warn and cajole, she might plead with the wicked to find the right path, but she rarely opposes them. As the earth, she sees all things happen for a reason and all in the world is part of a great cycle of life, even destruction and war. Rontra protects life in all its forms, through subtle means whenever she can. Legends are filled with families strangely overlooked by marauding armies because a small copse of trees obscured them, or a cave they had never noticed suddenly appeared near their home and gave them shelter from the raiders. Of all the gods, Rontra moves in the most mysterious ways, rarely showing her hand or making her intentions clear. But those who worship her and study her ways know she values all living things, from the least insect to the greatest god, as sacred and worthy of her attention. Whenever life is taken for granted or wanton destruction is spread, her agents are there, offering an alternative and attempting to convince those who destroy that the path of life holds more value.
If there is anything that Rontra does actively oppose, it is the unnatural forces that pollute her lands. The Earth Mother despises the undead and their masters. They represent unnatural life not born from the earth. Her servants seek them out, to return them to the peace of death.

Holidays

Holy Days

There are three main holy days of the Church of Rontra: the Fertility Festival, the Sowing of Seeds, and the Harvest Festival. Depending on the church and its locale, each holy day or period takes on more or less significance. 
For example, the Sowing of Seeds and the Harvest Festival are very important to farmers, while the Fertility Festival might have a greater significance in cities.

The Fertility Festival

This festival takes place on the first day of spring. This is normally an all-day affair to celebrate the end of winter, along with the hope and life promised by the coming spring. Most farming villages shut down during this day as everyone gathers in the town square to eat, play games, and attend services to honor Rontra. The young test themselves with physically rigorous activities to prove they are ready to be adults. In more “civilized” areas, the Fertility Festival is an excuse for a day of revelry.
The test of adulthood is often reduced to showing off one’s prowess with a sword or bow, or besting someone at a game of chance.

The Sowing of Seeds

The Sowing occurs at the start of the planting season. This roughly coincides with the months of March and April in a real-world calendar, depending on the climate of your campaign world. During this holy day, members of rural communities attend services at the local foundation to ask Rontra to bless the coming planting. It is customary on this day for each farmer to plant a young sapling to repay and honor Rontra for her annual gifts of crops. Devout farmers protect their trees with religious zeal, often hiding them away in secret groves.

The Harvest Festival

This weeklong affair occurs during the harvest full moon, which would roughly coincide with October on a realworld calendar. The festival gives thanks to Rontra for the gift of the harvest, and is an opportunity for farmers to celebrate the successful completion of another season.
The occasion is marked with daily worship, followed by contests that award prizes for agricultural products, such as the best pie, the biggest pumpkin, or the sweetest corn. Dancing is also popular, and many a barn is lit up and cleared to make room for the revelers. The long, hard winter is ahead, and this festival allows the people to enjoy themselves before its struggles begin. This is a favorite holy day among halfling worshipers of Rontra.
In mining communities, this festival refers to a harvest from the rocky depths, and is celebrated with displays of precious stones and metal from prized lodes.

Celestial Servitors

Rontra has four main celestial servitors: allies and friends who do her bidding when she calls.
The Shepherdess
When she needs to take shape, this servant of Rontra appears as a tall female of an appropriate race, with flowing robes and long golden hair. Her hand holds a shepherd’s crook carved out of fresh oak. When the land is being desecrated or otherwise misused, the Shepherdess makes subtle appeals to those responsible to change their ways. She is called the Shepherdess because she is the figure credited in most legends for subtly herding those in danger out of trouble. Some believe the Shepherdess is actually Morwyn, not a servant of Rontra at all. Theologians consider this foolish folklore though, for they know the Shepherdess by the name Gwainlath, said to be a great leader who served Rontra in the earliest days of the five races.
The Miner
Known to dwarves as Barik-tharn, the Miner appears as a stout dwarf with a pick made of pure light. He is the protector of the earth’s treasures, but most importantly, he warns those who are beloved of Rontra when they are in danger of delving too deep or too dangerously. When miners feel gut intuition telling them their tunnels are unsafe, they claim it is Barik-tharn whispering over their shoulders.
Saint Marlessa
Reputedly the founder of the first Rontran foundation, St. Marlessa is the ear of Rontra, walking at the Grandmother’s side and listening to the pleas of her worshipers. She only brings the most pressing petitions to the goddess herself. She is invoked as “Saint Marlessa, sister of the people” by common folk, and is often named in private prayer by Rontra’s followers.
The Serpent
The more mystical worshipers of Rontra believe the surface of the world is an enormous serpent biting its own tail, that is sometimes called Ouroboros. They believe the serpent is the chief of Rontra’s servants, and all strength and power, particularly the power of fertility, is given to mortals through it, for it holds the power of life and death.

Most legends of the serpent are not so grandiose. The more common belief is that the Serpent was created by Master Korak, who ripped off its legs to woo Thellyne. These legends hold that it came to Rontra in terrible pain and she took to her bosom. The Serpent now visits those in mortal agony and eases their pain, for Rontra cannot abide suffering.

Divine Classification

God

Religions

• Holy Orders of Rontra
• The Great Church

Alignment

Lawful Good

Church/Cult

Holy Orders of Rontra

Related Myths

• The Coming of the Druids
• The Fate of Durgas the Unmerciful