Cult of Shallya

Goddess of Mercy and Healing

Shallya is the Goddess of Healing, Mercy, and Compassion. She is the daughter of Verena and Morr, and the sister of Myrmidia. Shallya is normally portrayed as a young, beautiful maiden whose eyes are perpetually welling with tears as she weeps for the world’s pain. It is said Shallya’s compassion knows no bounds, and in some myths — such as the stories of Ranald tricking her into granting him immortality, or Manaan trapping her at the bottom of the sea — she seems trusting to the point of foolishness. However, her cultists maintain her mercy is available to all, without judgment. True foolishness consists of presuming to judge who is worthy of Shallya’s grace and who is not.

Worshippers

Most Old Worlders think of Shallya’s cult as composed of healers and physicians, but her worshippers also include many who work to help alleviate suffering of other kinds: charitable souls who help the poor; workers in orphanages, asylums, and refuges; and even brave folk who go in search of lost and missing people on behalf of their loved ones. The cult is ruled by the far-reaching Order of the Bleeding Heart, which maintains all the temples, hospices, mercyhouses, and other holy sites. The significantly smaller Order of the Chalice tasks its mendicants to cleanse the Fly Lord’s influence, tackling the worst diseases and plagues wherever they may fester. Shallya’s cultists all wear white robes, often hooded, with a bleeding heart symbol embroidered on the left breast.

Holy Sites

The high temple of all Shallya’s cult is in Couronne, Bretonnia, built over a famous healing spring. Locals claim the magical waters were once poured there from the same chalice Shallya used to grant Ranald immortality, which they claim is the holy grail of the Lady, the patron Goddess of Bretonnia. Whatever the truth, it is a popular destination for pilgrims, many of whom travel there to be healed from intractable disease. Elsewhere, every town or city of any size has a temple to Shallya, and most smaller settlements have at least a shrine dedicated to her. Temples of Shallya normally consist of a courtyard with a temple on one side and an infirmary on the other, all constructed in southern styles. Larger temples have smaller subsidiary chapels, commonly endowed by local families, and are often connected to hospitals. Shrines are usually simple, often with the dove or heart of Shallya carved into stone, or with small fountains gushing eternal tears from simple statues.

Penances

Penances set by Shallya always involve helping the sick, poor, or downtrodden. A cultist might be sent to a village struck by a plague to tend the sick until the disease has passed. Shallya often tasks her servants to help the wounded at war, or patrol popular pilgrimage routes for those unable to complete their journeys due to ill health.

Strictures

• Always render assistance without judgement, based only on a person’s need.
• Never kill except in self-defence or when facing followers of the Fly lord
• Hunt down servants of the Fly lord wherever they may fester.
• Shallya’s work is never done, so turn not to self-indulgence.
• Never take up arms; a walking stick and courage will suffice.

Blessings of Shallya
Blessing of Breath
Blessing of Conscience
Blessing of Healing
Blessing of Protection
Blessing of Recuperation
Blessing of Tenacity

Type

Activist, Charity

Capital

Couronne

Successor Organizations

• Order of the Bleeding Heart
• Order of the Chalice
• Order of the Tears of Piety

Leader

Anja Gustavson

Leader Title

Grande Matriarch

Divines

• Veronica Dapple

Location

Altdorf

Official Languages

• Bretonnian
• Reikspiel

Related Species

• Human

Related Ethnicities

• Bretonnian