Temple of the Change-Bringer
Avandra the Change-Bringer is the patron of merchants, adventurers, and explorers. She also adopted the gnomish races after their own pantheon was wiped out in the Dawn War. Temples to her can be found in the mercantile districts of many cities, and most gnomish households have a little shelf or niche where they can put an image of her.
Because Avandra loves people who travel and explore, her Temple maintains hundreds of lodges in remote areas where travelers can rest safely under her clerics' protection. A single night there is free including two meals, though patrons are encouraged to drop a few coins in the donation box by her altar.
In places too remote for even a lodge, the Temple has built "refuges" as safe places for travelers to stop and rest. These simple, three-sided shelters are roughly 10 feet long by 20 feet wide, made of wood, stone, brick, or adobe, and set back from the road. The main features are a shrine to Avandra in the middle of the rear wall, a few benches that are just wide enough for a medium-sized person to sleep on, and a fire pit just outside. Some also have an unlocked chest containing helpful items like kindling, clean water, and perhaps some dry rations in sealed containers. Clerics come around every couple of weeks to maintain the refuges in an area, making any needed repairs and restocking the chests.
Because Avandra loves people who travel and explore, her Temple maintains hundreds of lodges in remote areas where travelers can rest safely under her clerics' protection. A single night there is free including two meals, though patrons are encouraged to drop a few coins in the donation box by her altar.
In places too remote for even a lodge, the Temple has built "refuges" as safe places for travelers to stop and rest. These simple, three-sided shelters are roughly 10 feet long by 20 feet wide, made of wood, stone, brick, or adobe, and set back from the road. The main features are a shrine to Avandra in the middle of the rear wall, a few benches that are just wide enough for a medium-sized person to sleep on, and a fire pit just outside. Some also have an unlocked chest containing helpful items like kindling, clean water, and perhaps some dry rations in sealed containers. Clerics come around every couple of weeks to maintain the refuges in an area, making any needed repairs and restocking the chests.
Tenets of Faith
- Luck favors the bold. Your fate is your own to grasp, and to do so is to have the Change-Bringer behind you.
- Change is inevitable. The righteous can ensure that such change is for the better.Rise against tyranny.
- Fight for the freedom of yourself and others when you can, and inspire others to fight when you cannot.
Worship
The Change-Bringer has little desire for pomp and ceremony, so worship of her is largely informal. Even at organized city temples, people are encouraged to come and go at all hours, leave whatever offering they think she'll like, and say what's on their mind instead of a scripted prayer. It's common to hear people shout her praises in taverns and gambling dens as well. Nonetheless, her temples are well appointed, because they often enjoy the patronage of wealthy merchants who credit her for their success.
It's similar among gnomes, who are her biggest fans. Many gnomish houses have a small shrine to Avandra above the hearth or tucked in an alcove. They greet her like a family member as they come and go from the house, leave little gifts like sweets and small gems for her, and whisper improvised prayers before they enter their workshop or mine. Even the stone-faced deep gnomes hold on to their faith in Avandra, because they need all the luck they can get in the Underdark. Some carry a little "worry-coin", a disc of gold (or gold-plated lesser metals) with her holy symbol on one side and a small thumb-sized depression in the other. It serves as a reminder of Avandra's presence, as well as something they can rub with their fingers when they feel nervous.
It's similar among gnomes, who are her biggest fans. Many gnomish houses have a small shrine to Avandra above the hearth or tucked in an alcove. They greet her like a family member as they come and go from the house, leave little gifts like sweets and small gems for her, and whisper improvised prayers before they enter their workshop or mine. Even the stone-faced deep gnomes hold on to their faith in Avandra, because they need all the luck they can get in the Underdark. Some carry a little "worry-coin", a disc of gold (or gold-plated lesser metals) with her holy symbol on one side and a small thumb-sized depression in the other. It serves as a reminder of Avandra's presence, as well as something they can rub with their fingers when they feel nervous.
Sects
There are a few different subgroups within the Temple of Avandra.
- The mainline clerics
- The Order of the Denarius is an ancient order of knights and paladins tasked with protecting shipping and transportation routes. Named for an ancient Reman gold coin, they travel with caravans, aboard ships, and more recently on trains and airships to ensure that their cargo reaches its destination safely.
- The Order of Wayfarers are a group of clerics, monks, and rangers whose mission is to aid travelers, adventurers, and explorers. They spend much of their time on the move, often patrolling a lonely stretch of highway or wilderness to keep an eye out for travelers in need of help. They also help maintain lodges and refuges throughout the frontier.
- The Society of the Windrose is an organization of explorers and free spirits with the shared desire to promote exploration of the frontier in the name of the Change-Bringer. As with all "societies", they are a mix of ordained clergy (clerics, paladins, and monks) and assorted sailors, wanderers, cartographers, anthropologists, and pilots who have pledged to follow the tenets of Avandra and the Society. "Windrosers" are famous for the annual parties they hold at their headquarters in Laurentia. The building is decorated with all manner of trophies and mementos from its members' travels, and the stories the Windrosers tell are as much of an attraction as the people themselves -- some of them are quite famous, like current Governor of Avalon Alarica Willowbrook.
- The Society of Broken Chains is a clandestine group that works to undermine oppressive governments, free people enslaved by Corrupted cultists, and promote liberty for all thinking beings. They operate under strict vows of secrecy by necessity, to the point where very few members know what the other teams are up to at any given time, but they have an elaborate system of passwords and signals to communicate with each other. When it's time to move, they don identical enchanted masks and cloaks to hide their identities.
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