Elven Pantheon
The gods of the elves are scattered and failing, turning to darkness, their temples often quarried for stone to build more practical structures, their priests few and widely ignored. Some like Kamrusepa, the goddess of dawn, are known only among a few scattered tribes in the Forest Kingdoms of Lados, their teachings all but lost; others like Sarastra still hold great power in the Shadowfell. Though most are much lessened from their glory days, their power was once great, and their remaining adherents are often extremely powerful, with command of magic, sword, and diplomacy. In recent years, their shrines seem to have grown slightly in power, and at a few the faithful gather in small numbers on the holiest days. The pantheon remains a thin and watery version of what was once an enormous faith, though Yarila and Porevit and Holda remain strong in Naledi. Baccho, once thought entirely dead, has regrown a bit like leaves from the grape vine in spring.
Alignment: Chaotic neutral
Domains: Knowledge, Travel
Prime Deity: Oros
Symbol: An amphora with a roaring lion head
Favored Weapon: Shortbow
Comparable To: Tykee in Lados; Azuran in the Draconian Pantheon; Oneiros in the High Houses.
Baccho was once the Prince of Courtesies and Master of the Elves, their patron and paragon. When the elves of the East were conquered by the Atlantean armies, like other elven deities he retreated from the world. His followers left behind fell into a long despair, filled with bouts of madness and drunkenness and bitter wrath. His temples fell into disuse or were reconsecrated to Ninkash or Charun or other gods. Baccho’s echo is still felt, his poetic hymns and joyous image carved in old elven halls and buildings, but his priests are vanishingly few and often not notably different from beggars and starving poets. A few of his order remember the heights of elven ritual magic, but this could be mere speculation or wishful dreaming—something Baccho’s followers have always been prone to. Baccholon’s few yet vivid worshippers include debauched followings among certain noble houses, young poets, vintners, seers, and shapeshifters. Oddly enough, he has a small following among the dwarves, ravenfolk, satyrs, and bearfolk, especially among bear-shifters, wolf-reavers, and doom croakers, who consider him a patron martyr for shifters and seers. Baccholon’s sacred books are many and contradictory. Charges of heresy and false prophecy divide his followers into competing groups. His symbol is an amphora of blue-green faience, and sometimes a roaring lion. Baccholon’s shrines were once ubiquitous, with the greatest being the (now-ruined) Shrine of Purple Revels in Hirschberg. Wine shops and vintners keep small statues of him, as do some courtiers in the Arbonesse and poets in Salzbach, Perunalia, and Valera. The Golden Temple of Baccho in Valera is now the city’s wool and cloth market, though its crypts still clasp the remains of generations of high priests of the Laughing Prince. Baccholon finds the followers of Ninkash crude and unworthy. He also seems to have a great dislike for “Mother Holda,” whom he finds suffocating, and “Father Valeresh,” whom he finds too pushy. Baccholon’s charm is great, but so is his disdain for everyone who does not acknowledge his glory. Baccho demands that his followers make art, and celebrate life to the fullest. Leave no stone unturned and unpainted. Rage, love, and make your mark on all things. Embrace the dragon and the lamb; both are your children.
Alignment: Neutral good
Domains: Law, Seasons, Tempest
Prime Deity: Thera
Symbol: A tree with one bare side and one full-leafed side
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
Comparable To: Ceres(Foerdewaith) in Lados; Kishar in the Atlantean Pantheon; Sif in the Northlands Pantheon; Ceres (Seven Cities) in the Seven Cities of Elaysm; Benten in the Emerald Empire; Lenore in the High Houses.
The mother goddess of the elves rules the seasons, the hearth, and the harvest. All the world was hers, and her children, Yarila and Porevit, kept watch over the world’s animals and growing things. As a goddess of home and seasons, her followers created elven cloth and cloaks; this tradition faded with the fading worship of elven gods, but her followers still expertly weave astonishingly colorful, silky garments, often shot through with threads of gold and mithral. Wind, wave, and thunder are hers to command, as are light and dark. Holda’s demeanor is always gentle, but her standards for craft, creation, and children are all very high. Her followers find great sin in sloth and idleness. Holda’s worshippers are quiet but powerful, embodying the opposite of Baccholon’s revelries and Valeresh’s boasts and honor. They tend to be older men and women in positions of quiet power: guild leaders, mayors, large landholders, ley line wielders, and scholars of steady temperament. While they rarely make a fuss, when they do, the words of followers of Holda are always accorded great weight. The only sacred book of Holda’s faith is the Book of Seasons, which some believe exists in many versions. Certainly no two of them are exactly alike, and many trace out ley lines and describe elements of everyday life and elements of great magical power, ley wells and roads sometimes long turned to dust. Her symbol is a tree bare on one side, and in full leaf and flower on the other. Holda’s temples are built on or directly next to ley wells or springs, the places where trickles of ley line energy first appear. The followers of Holda and Sarastra are almost always at odds, except when the elves and their subjects are threatened. Followers of Yarila and Porevit generally defer to Mother Holda. Holda teaches her worshippers to defend their home, and give comfort to the weak and the desperate. Shelter children, watch the seasons, and know when the time has come to join the ancestors. Respect your elders and keep your word always, especially to those smaller and younger than you.
Alignment: Neutral evil
Domains: Arcana, Death, Trickery
Prime Deity: Alizaxis
Symbol: A stylized star inside a triangle
Favored Weapon: Rapier
Comparable To: Narrah in the Foerdewaith Pantheon in Lados; Hecate in the Seven Cities; Onnotangu/Hitomi/Obsidian Dragon in the Emerald Empire; Yue in the High Houses.
Sarastra rules the Shadowfell, the source of darkness and raw arcane energies. Her goals are oblique and mysterious, often cruel and heartless, and this is reflected in her favorite followers, the shadow fey who make her realm home. She plots out of boredom and malice, and her mastery of the arcane and her control of deceptions and misdirection both make her dangerous. She has a perfect memory for the slightest insult, and some of her revenges take centuries to complete. Sarastra resembles an impossibly beautiful shadow fey woman wearing an indigo dress covered with diamonds and a diadem of mithral and glowing starstones. Her cloak seems part of the night. In the Realm of Shadow her avatar presides directly over the Courts of the Shadow Fey. Her attention is dangerous but can bring great reward to those who please her—a difficult prospect given her mercurial moods. She creates complex rules and protocols for her court, and she changes them with every whim. She recruits many pawns to use against her enemies. Shadow fey and elves are Sarastra’s primary followers, although her devotees include human and tiefling arcanists. Pockets of Sarastran worship also exist in Friula, the Maritime Republic of Triolo, and the Free City of Endhome. Her worship is banned in many areas, particularly among those who favor rival gods of magic such as Khors, Hecate, or Thoth-Hermes. Sarastra’s symbol is a stylized star inside a triangle. Her most holy book is titled The Mistress of Air and Darkness, a book of confusing tales that worshippers use to attempt to decipher her desires. Sarastra’s shrines are common in elven lands and shared with other shadow gods. They are dark structures illuminated by glinting silver offerings. Sarastran shrines feature an entry room partly open to the sky, the moon window or moon gate. An elven pair currently leads her greatest temple in Torar at the River Court of the Arbonesse: Laurin Marcen (CN female elf cleric) and Genessa (NG female elf bard). The two have expanded her worship in the Arbonesse and the Naledi Empire, somewhat to the discomfit of its rulers. Sarastra counts many deities as rivals or enemies. She has clashed with Charun and Wotan. Her relationship with Thoth-Hermes is more complex, but they are generally rivals. She also competes with other fey deities, such as Yarila and Porevit, for attention from the elves. Sarastra’s primary ally is the Hunter, in his aspect as the Moonlit King. They are lovers, passionate though often estranged. Sarastra demands her followers walk the world and understand its magic. Celebrate beauty, mystery and magic. Enchantment, illusion, and deceit are worthy weapons; learn them. Let no thing of beauty perish thoughtlessly. Follow your passions, without regard for how you might be judged. Ignore the laws of men. Sacrifice blood and magic to the goddess by night, and reap your rewards each day.
Alignment: Neutral good
Domains: Forge, Light, War
Prime Deity: Fatima
Symbol: A rose-gold-tipped elven bow
Favored Weapon: Longbow
Comparable To: Mitra in Lados; Mithra in the Atlantean pantheon; Khors in Endhome; Aten in the Scorched Lands.
Swift and sure in battle, devoted to justice in peace, Valeresh is the elven king of the gods, his husband long dead and mourned. This wound to his heart explains his stern mien and his ruthless destruction of creatures of evil, darkness, madness, and foul magic. When the elves ruled a great realm, his following was vast. However, his priesthood led the Great Retreat, so almost nothing remains of the liturgy, temples, and sacred rites of Valeresh except a handful of extremely powerful enchanted weapons. Long ago, elven soldiers, officers, nobles, and merchants worshipped Valeresh as the embodiment of their empire and the keeper of peace. Now, only a handful of elves in the Naledi Empire and a small contingent of humans in the Seven Cities remember him and keep the feast days. The god essentially departed Torar with the Great Retreat. Valeresh had two sacred tomes: the Book of the Silent Sword and the Arrow of Truth. The first was a treatise on stoic and honorable life, while the second spoke in parables and stories about how to rule and maintain the Valeran Empire of the elves, with fair attention given to such matters as raising archer levies, supplying sufficient arrows to a battlefield, and matters of taxation, granaries, and justice. Few copies of either work remain; the books were decorated with elaborate gem-studded covers, and their pages so richly illuminated and embellished that they were among the first treasures plundered when their empire fell. His symbol is a fine elven bow tipped with red and gold. The greatest temple of Valeresh is the Cathedral of Bright Honor on a hill just outside Valera, the city named for his glorious reign among the mortal world. It is a stark and empty place where only the emperor and his closest advisers gather, seeking some guidance from the ancient power. From time to time, a golden light appears on its altar and speaks in Elvish to those present. Valeresh was always on great terms with Holda and Yarila, though the two female goddesses were each jealous of their time with the Archer God. Baccholon was Valeresh’s fool and also the only god who could tell Valeresh when he was deeply wrong. Followers of Valeresh are taught to fight evil and defend the elves. Protect the innocent, and strike down a foe swiftly and without cruelty.
Alignment: Chaotic good
Domains: Grave, Life, Nature
Prime Deity: Gaia
Symbol: Two entwined tree branches supporting a bowl or basin
Favored Weapon: Sickle
Comparable To: Telophus in Lados; Tarhun in the Atlantean pantheon; Freyr & Freyja in the Northlands; Masaru in the High Houses.
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 blonde 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. Elves, gaians, peasants, farmers, hunters, vintners, and even woodcutters are all followers of Yarila and Porevit, seeking their blessings for crops and for forests. The faith flourishes from the Naledi Empire to Krakovar, as well as in Endhome and the Northlands. 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. 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 elven Empire. The greatest priest of Yarila and Porevit is the Saintmistress Rowanmantle, the Abbess of the Twinned Cathedral and confidant of the Imperator. 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 Endhome, 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. Yarila and Porevit are on good terms with the Northern gods and with the gods of the Crossroads City, 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. 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.
Baccho
Baccholon; God of Poetry; Lord of Wine; Master of Revels, Golden Words, and Charming Courtesies; King of Lust and Chaos; Warden of Shadow Roads; Lion Lord of Shapeshifters; Keeper of Prophecies; God of the Third Eye; Patron of the Nymphs and Satyrs
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Chaotic neutral
Domains: Knowledge, Travel
Prime Deity: Oros
Symbol: An amphora with a roaring lion head
Favored Weapon: Shortbow
Comparable To: Tykee in Lados; Azuran in the Draconian Pantheon; Oneiros in the High Houses.
Baccho was once the Prince of Courtesies and Master of the Elves, their patron and paragon. When the elves of the East were conquered by the Atlantean armies, like other elven deities he retreated from the world. His followers left behind fell into a long despair, filled with bouts of madness and drunkenness and bitter wrath. His temples fell into disuse or were reconsecrated to Ninkash or Charun or other gods. Baccho’s echo is still felt, his poetic hymns and joyous image carved in old elven halls and buildings, but his priests are vanishingly few and often not notably different from beggars and starving poets. A few of his order remember the heights of elven ritual magic, but this could be mere speculation or wishful dreaming—something Baccho’s followers have always been prone to. Baccholon’s few yet vivid worshippers include debauched followings among certain noble houses, young poets, vintners, seers, and shapeshifters. Oddly enough, he has a small following among the dwarves, ravenfolk, satyrs, and bearfolk, especially among bear-shifters, wolf-reavers, and doom croakers, who consider him a patron martyr for shifters and seers. Baccholon’s sacred books are many and contradictory. Charges of heresy and false prophecy divide his followers into competing groups. His symbol is an amphora of blue-green faience, and sometimes a roaring lion. Baccholon’s shrines were once ubiquitous, with the greatest being the (now-ruined) Shrine of Purple Revels in Hirschberg. Wine shops and vintners keep small statues of him, as do some courtiers in the Arbonesse and poets in Salzbach, Perunalia, and Valera. The Golden Temple of Baccho in Valera is now the city’s wool and cloth market, though its crypts still clasp the remains of generations of high priests of the Laughing Prince. Baccholon finds the followers of Ninkash crude and unworthy. He also seems to have a great dislike for “Mother Holda,” whom he finds suffocating, and “Father Valeresh,” whom he finds too pushy. Baccholon’s charm is great, but so is his disdain for everyone who does not acknowledge his glory. Baccho demands that his followers make art, and celebrate life to the fullest. Leave no stone unturned and unpainted. Rage, love, and make your mark on all things. Embrace the dragon and the lamb; both are your children.
Holda
Goddess of Hearth and Seasons; Queen of the Arbonesse; Mother of Yarila and Porevit; Keeper of Summer and Winter; Goddess of Reaping and Spinning; Keeper of the True Springs; Harvest Goddess
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Neutral good
Domains: Law, Seasons, Tempest
Prime Deity: Thera
Symbol: A tree with one bare side and one full-leafed side
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
Comparable To: Ceres(Foerdewaith) in Lados; Kishar in the Atlantean Pantheon; Sif in the Northlands Pantheon; Ceres (Seven Cities) in the Seven Cities of Elaysm; Benten in the Emerald Empire; Lenore in the High Houses.
The mother goddess of the elves rules the seasons, the hearth, and the harvest. All the world was hers, and her children, Yarila and Porevit, kept watch over the world’s animals and growing things. As a goddess of home and seasons, her followers created elven cloth and cloaks; this tradition faded with the fading worship of elven gods, but her followers still expertly weave astonishingly colorful, silky garments, often shot through with threads of gold and mithral. Wind, wave, and thunder are hers to command, as are light and dark. Holda’s demeanor is always gentle, but her standards for craft, creation, and children are all very high. Her followers find great sin in sloth and idleness. Holda’s worshippers are quiet but powerful, embodying the opposite of Baccholon’s revelries and Valeresh’s boasts and honor. They tend to be older men and women in positions of quiet power: guild leaders, mayors, large landholders, ley line wielders, and scholars of steady temperament. While they rarely make a fuss, when they do, the words of followers of Holda are always accorded great weight. The only sacred book of Holda’s faith is the Book of Seasons, which some believe exists in many versions. Certainly no two of them are exactly alike, and many trace out ley lines and describe elements of everyday life and elements of great magical power, ley wells and roads sometimes long turned to dust. Her symbol is a tree bare on one side, and in full leaf and flower on the other. Holda’s temples are built on or directly next to ley wells or springs, the places where trickles of ley line energy first appear. The followers of Holda and Sarastra are almost always at odds, except when the elves and their subjects are threatened. Followers of Yarila and Porevit generally defer to Mother Holda. Holda teaches her worshippers to defend their home, and give comfort to the weak and the desperate. Shelter children, watch the seasons, and know when the time has come to join the ancestors. Respect your elders and keep your word always, especially to those smaller and younger than you.
Sarastra
Her Celestial Majesty Sarastra Aestruum; Queen of Night and Magic; Duchess of the Heavens; Countess of Thorn; Mistress of Air and Darkness; Lady of the Summer Palace and Bride of Shadow; Patron of the Shadow Fey
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Neutral evil
Domains: Arcana, Death, Trickery
Prime Deity: Alizaxis
Symbol: A stylized star inside a triangle
Favored Weapon: Rapier
Comparable To: Narrah in the Foerdewaith Pantheon in Lados; Hecate in the Seven Cities; Onnotangu/Hitomi/Obsidian Dragon in the Emerald Empire; Yue in the High Houses.
Sarastra rules the Shadowfell, the source of darkness and raw arcane energies. Her goals are oblique and mysterious, often cruel and heartless, and this is reflected in her favorite followers, the shadow fey who make her realm home. She plots out of boredom and malice, and her mastery of the arcane and her control of deceptions and misdirection both make her dangerous. She has a perfect memory for the slightest insult, and some of her revenges take centuries to complete. Sarastra resembles an impossibly beautiful shadow fey woman wearing an indigo dress covered with diamonds and a diadem of mithral and glowing starstones. Her cloak seems part of the night. In the Realm of Shadow her avatar presides directly over the Courts of the Shadow Fey. Her attention is dangerous but can bring great reward to those who please her—a difficult prospect given her mercurial moods. She creates complex rules and protocols for her court, and she changes them with every whim. She recruits many pawns to use against her enemies. Shadow fey and elves are Sarastra’s primary followers, although her devotees include human and tiefling arcanists. Pockets of Sarastran worship also exist in Friula, the Maritime Republic of Triolo, and the Free City of Endhome. Her worship is banned in many areas, particularly among those who favor rival gods of magic such as Khors, Hecate, or Thoth-Hermes. Sarastra’s symbol is a stylized star inside a triangle. Her most holy book is titled The Mistress of Air and Darkness, a book of confusing tales that worshippers use to attempt to decipher her desires. Sarastra’s shrines are common in elven lands and shared with other shadow gods. They are dark structures illuminated by glinting silver offerings. Sarastran shrines feature an entry room partly open to the sky, the moon window or moon gate. An elven pair currently leads her greatest temple in Torar at the River Court of the Arbonesse: Laurin Marcen (CN female elf cleric) and Genessa (NG female elf bard). The two have expanded her worship in the Arbonesse and the Naledi Empire, somewhat to the discomfit of its rulers. Sarastra counts many deities as rivals or enemies. She has clashed with Charun and Wotan. Her relationship with Thoth-Hermes is more complex, but they are generally rivals. She also competes with other fey deities, such as Yarila and Porevit, for attention from the elves. Sarastra’s primary ally is the Hunter, in his aspect as the Moonlit King. They are lovers, passionate though often estranged. Sarastra demands her followers walk the world and understand its magic. Celebrate beauty, mystery and magic. Enchantment, illusion, and deceit are worthy weapons; learn them. Let no thing of beauty perish thoughtlessly. Follow your passions, without regard for how you might be judged. Ignore the laws of men. Sacrifice blood and magic to the goddess by night, and reap your rewards each day.
Valeresh
Supreme Archer; Lord of the Battlefield; Master of Sword and Arrow; Swift Destroyer and God of Battle; Patron of the Elves
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Neutral good
Domains: Forge, Light, War
Prime Deity: Fatima
Symbol: A rose-gold-tipped elven bow
Favored Weapon: Longbow
Comparable To: Mitra in Lados; Mithra in the Atlantean pantheon; Khors in Endhome; Aten in the Scorched Lands.
Swift and sure in battle, devoted to justice in peace, Valeresh is the elven king of the gods, his husband long dead and mourned. This wound to his heart explains his stern mien and his ruthless destruction of creatures of evil, darkness, madness, and foul magic. When the elves ruled a great realm, his following was vast. However, his priesthood led the Great Retreat, so almost nothing remains of the liturgy, temples, and sacred rites of Valeresh except a handful of extremely powerful enchanted weapons. Long ago, elven soldiers, officers, nobles, and merchants worshipped Valeresh as the embodiment of their empire and the keeper of peace. Now, only a handful of elves in the Naledi Empire and a small contingent of humans in the Seven Cities remember him and keep the feast days. The god essentially departed Torar with the Great Retreat. Valeresh had two sacred tomes: the Book of the Silent Sword and the Arrow of Truth. The first was a treatise on stoic and honorable life, while the second spoke in parables and stories about how to rule and maintain the Valeran Empire of the elves, with fair attention given to such matters as raising archer levies, supplying sufficient arrows to a battlefield, and matters of taxation, granaries, and justice. Few copies of either work remain; the books were decorated with elaborate gem-studded covers, and their pages so richly illuminated and embellished that they were among the first treasures plundered when their empire fell. His symbol is a fine elven bow tipped with red and gold. The greatest temple of Valeresh is the Cathedral of Bright Honor on a hill just outside Valera, the city named for his glorious reign among the mortal world. It is a stark and empty place where only the emperor and his closest advisers gather, seeking some guidance from the ancient power. From time to time, a golden light appears on its altar and speaks in Elvish to those present. Valeresh was always on great terms with Holda and Yarila, though the two female goddesses were each jealous of their time with the Archer God. Baccholon was Valeresh’s fool and also the only god who could tell Valeresh when he was deeply wrong. Followers of Valeresh are taught to fight evil and defend the elves. Protect the innocent, and strike down a foe swiftly and without cruelty.
Yarila & Porevit
The Green Gods; Father Forest and Mother Field; the Fair Gods; the Keepers of Sowing and Harvest; Gods of Fertility, Forests, and Wine
Status: Lesser GodAlignment: Chaotic good
Domains: Grave, Life, Nature
Prime Deity: Gaia
Symbol: Two entwined tree branches supporting a bowl or basin
Favored Weapon: Sickle
Comparable To: Telophus in Lados; Tarhun in the Atlantean pantheon; Freyr & Freyja in the Northlands; Masaru in the High Houses.
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 blonde 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. Elves, gaians, peasants, farmers, hunters, vintners, and even woodcutters are all followers of Yarila and Porevit, seeking their blessings for crops and for forests. The faith flourishes from the Naledi Empire to Krakovar, as well as in Endhome and the Northlands. 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. 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 elven Empire. The greatest priest of Yarila and Porevit is the Saintmistress Rowanmantle, the Abbess of the Twinned Cathedral and confidant of the Imperator. 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 Endhome, 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. Yarila and Porevit are on good terms with the Northern gods and with the gods of the Crossroads City, 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. 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.
Structure
Valeresh leads the elven pantheon, at least in name. In strength, Holda or Sarastra would claim the lead.
Founding Date
600,000 A.E.
Type
Religious, Pantheon
Deities
Location
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