Yarila and Porevit
Among the most complicated of gods and goddesses is Porevit, the forest god of harvest, wine, and greenery, who is also the goddess Yarila during the spring planting and even sometimes invoked as the goddess Kostroma the earth mother, slain in the God Wars long ago. The mystery of how one god carries so many forms, names, and genders is best left to the druids and field priests, who prepare the sacrifices to Yarila and Porevit. Most followers think of them as two divine masks that are publicly known rather than hidden. As deities both wild and tame, both growing and harvested, all living things belong to the Green Gods, especially all plants, trees, and crops but also springs, metal tools, and the turning of the seasons.
Porevit is a tall man with green hair and a simple covering of leaves, depicted with a spear or grapes in hand, sometimes with a handful of knives. Yarila appears as a blond or white-haired elf maiden holding flowers and with one hand casting seeds or holding a planting stick; her feet are always bare. When to call on Yarila and when to call on Porevit is a mystery known only the Green Gods’ priests, as well as the peasants who rely on their blessings.
Yarila and Porevit have few sacred books; the primary one is the Coming of the Green Gods. It alternates druidic wisdom with strange revelations and proscriptions against the eating of certain animals at certain times. Most find it indecipherable.
The rites of Yarila and Porevit involve food, wine, or green wood burnt to smoke, and extend for a full day. Summer and winter solstices are especially sacred times, with symbolic human sacrifices buried in the fields at midsummer and figures made of straw set ablaze to bring back the sun at midwinter.
The greatest priest of Yarila and Porevit is the Saintmistress Rowanmantle, the Abbess of the Twinned Cathedral and confidant of the Imperatrix. The faith of Yarila and Porevit is especially strong along the border of the Arbonesse; within the elven forest, the faith takes an entirely elven turn, with stranger rites and greater magic.
The current high priest of Yarila and Porevit in Perunalia is Ogolai Kiyat, an elderly centaur who wandered in from the Rothenian Plain one winter, first to Zobeck, then to Sephaya, always happy to share a meal or perform a benediction. His profound wisdom and his unusual race seems to confirm the dual nature of his god to the pious followers he guides in worship.
More complex is their relationship to an elemental deity called the Green God, a silent two-faced figure whom elves revered through offerings of flowers and honey in summer, and blood and hair in winter. The elven records on the Green God are contradictory; he might have been Yarila and Porevit’s father. Other traditions indicate that the god was a dual divinity, but over time the two halves became separate figures now called Yarila and Porevit. The nature, existence, and meaning of this divine parthogenesis was a thorny one in elven theology, bound up with high elven ritual magic.
Porevit is a tall man with green hair and a simple covering of leaves, depicted with a spear or grapes in hand, sometimes with a handful of knives. Yarila appears as a blond or white-haired elf maiden holding flowers and with one hand casting seeds or holding a planting stick; her feet are always bare. When to call on Yarila and when to call on Porevit is a mystery known only the Green Gods’ priests, as well as the peasants who rely on their blessings.
Worshippers
Elves, the elfmarked, bearfolk, peasants, farmers, hunters, vintners, and even woodcutters are all followers of Yarila and Porevit, seeking their blessings for crops and forforests. The faith flourishes from the Grand Duchy of Dornig to Krakovar, as well as in Zobeck, the Northlands, and the Magdar Kingdom.Symbols and Books
The rites of Yarila and Porevit involve food, wine, or green wood burnt to smoke, and extend for a full day. Summer and winter solstices are especially sacred times, with symbolic human sacrifices buried in the fields at midsummer and figures made of straw set ablaze to bring back the sun at midwinter.
Shrines and Priests
Followers build shrines to Yarila and Porevit at the edge of fields or in shallow caverns, especially those containing springs or rivers. The largest stone temple of the faith is the Twinned Cathedral in Reywald in the Grand Duchy.The greatest priest of Yarila and Porevit is the Saintmistress Rowanmantle, the Abbess of the Twinned Cathedral and confidant of the Imperatrix. The faith of Yarila and Porevit is especially strong along the border of the Arbonesse; within the elven forest, the faith takes an entirely elven turn, with stranger rites and greater magic.
The current high priest of Yarila and Porevit in Perunalia is Ogolai Kiyat, an elderly centaur who wandered in from the Rothenian Plain one winter, first to Zobeck, then to Sephaya, always happy to share a meal or perform a benediction. His profound wisdom and his unusual race seems to confirm the dual nature of his god to the pious followers he guides in worship.
Masks
Yarila and Porevit are widely believed to be masks of Freyr and Freyja, Nun and Naunet in the South, and possibly for Baccho, the god of wine.More complex is their relationship to an elemental deity called the Green God, a silent two-faced figure whom elves revered through offerings of flowers and honey in summer, and blood and hair in winter. The elven records on the Green God are contradictory; he might have been Yarila and Porevit’s father. Other traditions indicate that the god was a dual divinity, but over time the two halves became separate figures now called Yarila and Porevit. The nature, existence, and meaning of this divine parthogenesis was a thorny one in elven theology, bound up with high elven ritual magic.
Other Faiths
Yarila and Porevit are on good terms with the Northern gods and with the gods of the Crossroads, and eternal enemies of the Southern gods and the Dragon gods. They sustain a special loathing of Marena, the blood goddess of Morgau, and oppose her at every turn.What Yarila and Porevit Demand
More than respect for the wild and growing things, the green gods’ mysteries demand that one frequently abstain from meat, plant as often as reap, and be fruitful, drunken, and generous on high holy days. Worshippers must provide alms if asked. Male followers of Porevit must participate in the harvest, while Yarila’s female followers must participate in the spring planting. Never fail to celebrate the solstice, and never refuse food and drink to a guest.
The Green Gods, Father Forest and Mother Field, the Fair Gods, the Keepers of Sowing and Harvest, Gods of Fertility, Forests, and Wine
Children
Domains: Earth, Healing, Plant, Water, Weather
Subdomains: Caves, Decay, Growth, Metal, Resurrection, Seasons
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Favored Weapons: Bow, sickle
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