Olidammara

The Laughing Rogue, the Laughing God

Olidammara is the god of Music, Revels, Wine, Rogues, Humor, and Tricks. He is often called the Laughing Rogue.
Olidammara is one of the more eccentric of the gods. The Laughing Rogue is often involved in good-natured schemes involving the other gods (less good-natured for the more evil deities), with repercussions that can make life difficult for his faithful. He has few proper priests, but is held in high regard in almost all non-evil regions of the lands.
Olidammara commonly appears as a slender young man with olive skin, merry green eyes, chestnut hair, and a rakish beard. His magical mask allows him to take any form, however. His favoured musical instrument, the Kanteel of the Oldest, can conjure illusions and real matter and shape the emotions of those who listen to its sounds as if they were moist clay.

Divine Domains

Chaos, Luck, Trickery.

Holy Books & Codes

Olidammara's religion lacks a single holy book, but instead maintains hundreds of mutually contradictory collections of parables and songs. Any attempt to codify or reconcile these texts is anathema to Olidammara's creed, which teaches that chaos should be embraced and material things have little importance or intrinsic value.

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Olidammara's holy symbol is a grinning mask. Other symbols of his faith include the kanteel (a stringed instrument also known as the kantele) and the number nine.

Tenets of Faith

Olidammara teaches his followers to avoid predictability and routine, to delight in wine, to learn music, to seek out happiness, joy, entertainment, and the company of others. Olidammara advises his faithful to appreciate both the jokes they play and the jokes played on them. He also teaches that misery, temperance, and solemnity are the greatest poisons to the soul.
Olidammara is worshiped by rogues, bards, beggars, thieves, and all lovers of life.
Olidammara's clerics often have a second occupation, such as vintners and entertainers in urban areas, or as minstrels, messengers, and jacks-of-all-trades in rural areas. They wear comfortable clothes, preferring browns, greens, and blacks. Some wear an actual mask as their holy symbol, while others merely wear a signet or amulet inscribed with a drawing of a mask.
Temple raiders of Olidammara are an elite cadre of thieves, their abilities supplemented by divine magic, who raid the temples of other faiths. Obviously, they don't advertise this.
Becoming a cleric of Olidammara seems simple at first glance; the initial training seems an unending series of celebrations and escapades. Initiates are actually being carefully observed by their superiors, however, who look for a rare combination of joy, mischief, and whimsy.
Rituals to Olidammara include the simple Ceremony of the Cork, performed whenever a wine bottle is opened. A more elaborate ceremony is the New Moon Follies, a three-act comedy performed by and for Olidammara's worshipers. Most services feature alcohol, feasts, song, and laughter.
Missions that involve stealing from the rich and embarrassing the mighty are the headiest of wines for this faith.
Prayers to Olidammara are sung rather than spoken, and they almost always rhyme. Worshipers are expected to keep improvising new ones, so there are few established liturgies in the faith.

Holidays

The entire week of Brewfest is considered a holy time by Olidammara's faithful. Other holidays include:

• The Great Escape. This is a re-enactment of Olidammara's capture by and escape from the archmage Zagig, and is celebrated on a Godsday when the weather is pleasant.
• The Feast of the Doubling Dare. Celebrated just after the new year, this holiday includes a contest in which the participants challenge each other to perform ever-wilder pranks and deeds.
• Taste of a Hundred Years. This is an annual wine-tasting event where a cask is opened that was laid down exactly a century before.

Divine Classification

God

Religions

• Hold of the Sea Princes

Alignment

Chaotic Neutral

Gender

Male

Olidammara's Symbol by Unknown