Morwyn
Goddess of Healing and Wisdom
Morwyn (MORE-win) is the lawful good goddess of healing, wisdom, peace, forgiveness, mothers, childbirth, and mercy. From her come charitable instincts and acts of contrition, mercy, and redemption. She is the Queen of Heaven, and her name is therefor usually invoked first in the list of the gods.
She is associated with the lamb, for she would have all people be as gentle as lambs. She is also sometimes associated with dogs, for long ago she turned wicked men into dogs rather than smite them, and it is said that all dogs are still grateful to her for this. So it is that dogs often make excellent shepherds of lambs, as it is the only way they can manage to repay Morwyn's kindness. In the sky she is likened to the white dove. As she is the peaceful lady in white among the gods, the dove is the peaceful white bird of the heavens. Finally, she is associated with the winged serpents—the couatl—creatures of the greatest beauty, wisdom, and virtue.
Morwyn is shown as a tall woman with long black hair and brown, olive, or deeply tanned skin. Attired in flowing white robes, she shines like a star. There is often a silver circlet on her brow, with a single gem in its center. She has a motherly nobility in all representations, for she was the first ever to bear life in her womb. Usually, she is shown with a warm smile, though sometimes she has the regal bearing of a queen. She nearly always bears a deep resemblance to Rontra, and seems to be a younger version of the Grandmother.
All five mortal races revere Morwyn. The people who hold her in the highest esteem are mothers, healers, and those in desperate need of succor or forgiveness. However, as the Queen of Heaven and goddess of wisdom, she is also revered by those who lead, though they are not noble. Mayors of towns, for instance, or town council members, say prayers to Morwyn for guidance, for she was not the strongest of the gods, nor the most powerful, yet she was given the reins of leadership and held them well. Most folk, though, see Morwyn as a reminder of how much better they could or should be, and take her teachings to be for saints, not common people.
Divine Domains
Life
Holy Books & Codes
The life of a Morwynite is understandably difficult. People disappoint them all the time, and their hopes are often shattered by the petty wickedness of common folk. In their most trying times, the Morwynites utter the following invocation:
"Holy Mother, heed my prayer.
Lend me your wisdom,
So that I might see clearly;
Give me your patience,
That I might bear what I see."
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Although she is often represented by a white lamb, two simpler symbols are more commonly used to represent the goddess. There is no division in the church surrounding the use of them; it is merely a matter of personal preference. One is a wreath of white blossoms. This can be figurative or real, with some priests wearing painted symbols of white wreaths, while others adorn themselves in actual garlands of cherry blossoms. Wreaths have been worn of old by peacemakers, and those negotiating under truce. The other is a crystal tear, meant to remember the tears shed by Morwyn over the corpses of her brothers long ago. This is a very practical symbol, and the one most clergymen most often wear around their necks. Also, it is the simplified form one uses when it must be made in haste, or etched on small surfaces. The symbol is sometimes extended to three teardrops formed into a triangle, with one drop on top and two below.
Tenets of Faith
"When I was young and righteous, it seems to me that the world was a place of abundant goodness, and I asked, 'Why do men do evil?' But I am old now, and I have no time to wonder at this anymore. Now I see that evil is everywhere, its path perilously easy to walk. At my age, I wonder why men ever do good, for what rewards do good deeds offer? They are few, and many years in the delivering. No, I will let the young cry out in the streets about the wickedness men do. I will leave it to the righteous to shake evil from men's souls with hard words and harder steel. I choose to spend my remaining days tending to hearts that are safe for goodness, for good is not easy to find, and harder still to embrace."The healing halls of Morwyn are homes to those of truly decent and merciful dispositions. Their residents are neither politically motivated nor cunning plotters who hoard secrets. The faithful of Morwyn are exactly what they appear to be: the most loving, kind people in the world. They value hope and joy over victory and dogmatism. They purge themselves of pride and self-importance, and live to protect, serve, aid, teach, and heal a wounded world. In this they try to live out the mystery of Morwyn, who purged herself of the power of fire, given to all the gods, to heal her family. It is easy to see why the Morwynites grow scarce. Most people do not attend their services or join their numbers because they feel they simply are not up to a lifetime of service and personal perfection. For those who are members of the healing halls, either as congregants, clergy, holy warriors, or white hands, the principles of the faith surround a four-word maxim: Charitable, Merciful, Gentle, and Wise. Following this maxim, the Morwynites lend aid to all people and seek out those who are good, or who might be good if lent a hand, to help them spread the four virtues.— The Final Ruminations of Supreme Matriarch Ana Codhwyn
Charitable
If it is in your power to aid another, why would you not? In her grace, Morwyn has given a limitless bounty to the children of the earth. If we can aid others, what could dissuade us? Morwyn gave up her fire, the very power of the soul, so the other gods might live; what might the faithful give that could match this, the ultimate act of charity? For this reason, the Morwynites do not demand money for their healing unless there is a good reason (see Wisdom) and they gravitate toward areas where the needy congregate. This doctrine stymies the church's recruitment efforts, as there is nothing to be gained for oneself by joining, except a sense of peace. One does not attend a healing hall to make political connections or business deals.Merciful
If you are wronged, you must forgive. If you have an enemy in your power who is redeemable, you must seek to redeem him, even though your heart tells you it is folly. Redemption is always better than punishment, and sometimes the mere example of mercy is enough to redeem even the hardest of hearts. For this reason, Morwynites never kill people of one of the five mortal races if they can avoid it. Instead, they work tirelessly to redeem the person in question, offering them chance after chance to better themselves.Gentle
War is never the first resort or second resort, and not even the third resort. Morwynites believe violence against kin—meaning the mortal races—should be avoided at all costs unless self-defense requires it. Morwynites are not pacifists; they take up arms against evil races, undead, dangerous beasts, and fiends. However, against the redeemable (which they tend to define as any person of one of the five mortal races, though individual Morwynites may believe in redemption for other beings—or rarely, that a group within one of the mortal races can't be redeemed), Morwynites do not raise hands in anger. They fight only if attacked.Wisdom
It should be obvious that the first three parts of the Morwynite maxim could result in a group of people who are easily exploited, but Morwyn is the goddess of wisdom and her followers are no fools. They are not being taken advantage of when they give freely. For example, a Sister of Beneficence might regularly heal a man who has money, but pretends he does not, and who does not donate to the church. She does not do so naively, and eventually makes it clear to the man, when he least expects it, she knows exactly what he is up to. It is this doctrine that keeps the faithful from doing things that are clearly foolish. A Morwynite shopkeeper does not give up his shop simple because someone else needs it, but believes he does the most good by owning a successful business and donating his surplus to the healing halls. While the Morwynites are thought foolish by those who would exploit them, they in fact hold to the hope they can save such people through good deeds.Holidays
The Morwynites have two primary holy weeks. Every spring the Morwynites celebrate the rebirth of Eliwyn, Tinel, Terak, and Zheenkeef in what is called The Five Tears. The celebration takes 5 days, and is marked with fasting in the daytime, and celebratory feasting at night.
The other holy period takes place in the mid-winter and is called the Week of Gifts. All Morwynites remember the many gifts given the mortal races by the gods. They show their gratitude by giving gifts to those in their community who need them the most. It is a week in which the poor are fed and clothed, and the homeless are given homes. On the final night of the week, friends and family members give one another gifts. On that final night, they have a great dinner, in which they recite prayers of thanksgiving, and discuss the history and gifts of the gods.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Morwyn's motives are pure, and can only be described as truly good. She loves all mortals, and desires to see them thrive and do well, but she holds a special place in her heart for the kind and gentle. She is a guardian of the downcast, but even more, a guardian of those who spend their lives caring for the downcast. While her husband Terak protects the weak and frail, Morwyn seeks to create a world in which they do not need protection. Her all-consuming purpose is to move the world toward goodness, and see the hearts of mortals shift toward decency over desire, peace over power.
Because of this, she doesn't spend a great deal of time concerning herself directly with those who are weak and cannot care for themselves, or those who live in isolation doing no harm. Rather, she spends her energy guiding the powerful of all races toward caring for the injured and indigent. Her chosen people are healers, municipal leaders, mothers—people who have day-to-day power over lives and who, if evil, might work the most long-term mischief.
Morwyn believes the Nameless One created the universe so that it will constantly progress toward perfection. It is inevitable, in her view, that goodness will prevail. The question is how much pain, darkness, and misery the gods and mortals must wade through before this perfect state is achieved. She believes that in every epoch, good and evil come into great conflict, and eventually good will prevail so mightily it will thrust the universe into perfection. Morwyn works to move events toward that state; she fears there might be several more disastrous conflicts before it will come to pass. The world might go through another decimation of its races (as the div have been decimated and banished), that gods might die—or even that the entire order of the gods will fail, to be replaced by another. Morwyn believes if good is weak in the world, these cycles will be more devastating, as the Nameless One's creation shudders toward perfection.
Among the gods, Morwyn is called queen and elder, but rarely wields this authority, particularly because she has decreed that no one god rules over the others. She seeks to move the gods' hearts toward good, and agreed to things like the Compact because she knows she cannot command the chaotic gods. Rather, she hopes the Compact and other acts of the gods will draw them together against evil. She does not suffer from pride in these matters, and uses any honorable method to bring the gods and the mortal races to the path of virtue.
Divine Classification
God of the Tree
Religions
Children
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