Hekla Character in The Fabulae Anthology | World Anvil
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Hekla

Creation and Destruction

Written by Endrise

Bringer of Ages Hekla (a.k.a. Goddess of Creation & Destruction)

Nature does not pick a side sweetheart. It goes through cycles and moodswings. Sometimes I feel like something should strive, other times it should perish. We're here for a good time, not a long one.
— Hekla

Embodying the cycle of creation and destruction, Hekla presents the unforgiving chaos of nature. The constant state of things falling apart and new things rising from its ashes.

With her following she brings prosperity and calamity, golden ages and dark ages. That through hardships and good times, the ideal may one day be born.

Tenets of Faith

  1. The loss of something does not mean the end of it. Things fall and rise all the time, so let go of that which is gone to build anew.
  2. Nothing should be eternal but the cycle of creation and destruction. Destroy what refuses to die and encourage what wishes to live.
  3. Build upon the failures of the past. Learn from the mistakes of those that perished, and avoid repeating them in the future.

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Hekla revels in the chaos of change and seeks to use that to strengthen the world. By casting down disasters upon the world, she weeds out the weakness so that the strong might rebuild it.

Through these cycles of destruction and creation, she brings prosperity that betters each one. In the end, she hopes to achieve perfection to the natural world.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Hekla's depictions describe her as an embodiment of the elements. Skin as dark as charcoal with hands and feet frostbitten by an everlasting cold. Her hair is that of crackling thunderclouds, while her voluptonous figure wears a dress of clashing ocean waves.

Hekla's eyes glow with a fury of a raging wildfire, while her whole body is covered with endless tattoos. Through a combination of all these elements, she is as graceful as she is terrifying.

Special abilities

As a deity, her powers allow her to manipulate the elements to bend to her whim. With it, she is a destructive powerhouse capable of levelling whole cities with a mere presence.

Her breath makes hurricanes and her footsteps earthquakes. Her saliva burns like fire and her voice crackles like thunder, all together making her a force to be reckoned with.

However, despite a destructive presence, whatever Hekla destroys returns greater than before. Burned-down forests grow back bigger and flooded fields yield larger harvests. Some legends even speak of her spit making the land more fertile than beforehand.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Myths of Helka

Birth

According to most legends by her followers, Hekla came to being when Mount Spiess erupted. Never having been a child, she came out fully matured in a fiery blaze.

Right after said birth, seeing the damage her birth caused, she spat on the land to make it recover itself. With the potent saliva, the mountain turned into a luscious forest it became today.

Sexuality

Pansexual

Social

Mannerisms

Despite her rather destructive behaviour, she is kind-hearted and optimistic. While not subtle at all, her bombastic nature and big entrances go along with her joyful and friendly nature.

Alongside that, Hekla has a tendency to be flirty with others more than once. Some of her more fabled tales even come from her hooking up with mortals from time to time.

Speech

Oh please, you're acting like you never saw a flooding before. Should've avoided building your infastructure so close to a river bank.   Look at the bright side, at least you now have some fertile lands for crops.
— Hekla

Hekla's tone likes to tease and downplay major things, often to the point her tone can sound condescending at times. Tossing in small jokes and giving everyone cute nicknames. With some more intimate partners her tone can become a little suggestive.

Areas of Concern
Natural disasters, creation of things, destruction of things, the cycle of nature
Divine Symbol
A circle entangles in vines
Domains
Destruction, Charm, Earth, Plant
Favoured Weapon
Earth Breaker

Divine Classification
Roaming Deity
Religions
Alignment
True Neutral
Honorary & Occupational Titles
The Disaster Goddess
The Natural Cycle
Bringer of Ages
Goddess of Creation & Destruction
Circumstances of Birth
Born out of a volcano
Children
Gender
Female
Eyes
Fiery Red
Hair
Long golden hair, crudely kept
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Charcoal Black
Aligned Organization


Cover image: Character Cover by Endrise

Comments

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Mar 21, 2022 17:04 by Darren McHaffie

Glad you made Hekla a female deity. a few other goddesses are both in charge of destruction and/or death, as well as birth & rebirth. Kali and Morrigan are both two I can think off.

Mar 21, 2022 19:02

My biggest inspiration was Pele for the volcano goddess, but it warped a little into making her general a natural disaster deity, and then add the element of her being a rebirth-esc deity.   Maybe there was a bit of Kali on the mind but I'm not sure where most of the inspiration came from :p

Mar 21, 2022 19:18 by Darren McHaffie

Probably came from somewhere primal. You never know.