Francille the Shepard
Saint of Doorways, Transitions, Cooking, and Brewing
Titles: Saint Francille the Shephard, Grandma Guidepost, Queen of the Cauldron, The Signbearer, The Watcher Below the Door, Lady of Lock and Key, The Yearender, Witch of the Wisps, The Terminus Watcher, The Portal Crone, The Hunger
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
Alignment: Water
Elemental Lord: Arlaxod, Emperor of the Torrent
Obedience: Spend one hour cooking, brewing, or creating a unique food, drink, or consumable item made from the highest quality ingredients available to you. Once created, leave a portion of it in a doorway, portal, or boundary area in offering to Saint Francille while you consume the rest calmly peering out a window or from one area into another.
Effect: You become capable of processing anything you can fit in your mouth and swallow as if it were wholly and completely edible, though the nutrition you get from it may vary wildly(GM Discretion). You gain the use of the Knock and Arcane Lock spells as at-will SLA's, and may 1/day create an illusory veil over a Doorway, Portal, or anything that could qualify as either(GM Discretion) and hide it as if it weren't there, creating a natural camoflauge for the space it previously occupied appropriate the area nearby. This veil does not detect as magic as if it were hidden by a magic aura effect, and lasts for 24 hours once created. You may see and interact with the door normally, though while you are using it the veil is momentarily lifted.
Divine Domains
Community, Travel, Protection, Trickery, Magic
Artifacts
Due to the small and secretive nature of Francille's faith, her artifacts are not well-documented - only a small scattering of references have been recovered from the few faithful that have been unmasked referencing magical ovens and cauldrons, magic kegs, magic lanterns, magic signposts and even(most notably), a supposedly cursed item that can press a full grown adult Human into a wide variety of food items ranging from bite-sized snacks to liquid chocolate, or more.
The Artifacts of Saint Francille are therefore extremely varied, ranging from odd and esoteric curios to seemingly wholly cursed witch implements designed for strange and nefarious purposes.
Holy Books & Codes
Despite the small and secretive nature of Francille's faith, her Holy Book is relatively well-known - so much so that an estimated 90% of those who possess this book do not realize it to be a holy book.
This book, typically named Grandma's Recipes, Ancestral Guidebook or some variation on those names, is often seen as a stained cookbook, old recipe book, ancient traveler's journal, or similar memento that has clearly seen a long time in the kitchen or on the road.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Two female faces(one young woman looking left, one old woman looking right) joined in the middle
Tenets of Faith
Through Food, Joy. Food is the purest expression of love and creativity - seek new foods, create new foods, try new foods, and let no being go hungry. All things can be and benefit from food.
Behind Doors, Protection. Let the word and symbol of Saint Lucille mark the Doors and Portals of home and arch alike. Let no Door nor Portal fall into disuse, and maintain them that they may offer the proper protection.
During Transitions, Possibility. Know exactly where boundaries lie and what laws or rules they enforce, and act accordingly in the letter of them. Oversee and Guard transitions of all kinds and use them to further your own ends.
Honor the Face of God. Honor the young and the elderly and treat them with the respect they deserve. Honor all those in between with precisely what they are due.
Holidays
There is known to be some kind of Holiday of Saint Francille that stands as a great day of feasting, but its exact day either is not known or frequently changes.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Though the few who know of the faith of Francille assume their goals to be mysterious, this does not neccesarily seem to be the case - though the fact that when they are seen they are commonly seen around the faithful of other Saints supports a working hypothesis that at least one of the Divine Goals of the followers of Saint Francille to be searching for some sort of wondrous or esoteric foodstuff to offer up to their Saintess.
Whatever the other goals of Saint Francille may be, are a mystery.
Followers & Priesthood
As one of the smaller and less well-known Saints on Zheng-Kitar, the followers of Saint Francille tend to be relatively obscure and not well-known; though unlike the likes of Dasterian the Robust whose faith is simply not well known just as the Saint himself is not well-known as a divine figure, Francille herself is widely known to be a divine figure - most simply pay her passing homage above their doorways and in their kitchens(Such as "Francille bless this batch of alcohol" or "Francille bless this dinner"), making true actual followers of her faith relatively rare. When her faith does produce true and actual believers who recieve divine power from her, they are typically drawn from those who, for one reason or another, decide to pursue a deeper understanding of the divine figure known to many as Grandma Guidepost, who is typically simply given passing lip service and respect by cooks, brewers, and builders but seldom anything deeper. These new believers, having pursued a deeper understanding of her faith and her belief, typically fall into a seemingly common belief system that paints Saint Francille as a long lost member of their family, the mother or grandmother they never had, or a distant semi-familial figure who offers treasured guidance and love to them rather than a strictly "God-Follower" hierarchy. As such, her followers tend to be solitary - though only for their rarity rather than any specific tendencies. When several of her followers congregate in a given area, they tend to swiftly locate each other(Oftentimes supernaturally quickly) and form simple gatherings known as covens - though despite the ominous name, these groups are often little more than gatherings where recipes are shared, the word of Francille is spread, and doorways and similar areas are maintained and upkept. In areas with frequent teleportation or access to one of the Sapphire Steles, the followers of Francille are often not far behind as stewards or guides due to her unofficial domain of Teleportation. Otherwise, the most common places to find members of the faith is in Resteraunts, Cookhouses, and anywhere food is prepared or served - members of her faithful tend to be of all ages and ethnicities(Though Ssarin beings tend to fall into her faith more than most), though from what little has been observed her followers seem more female than male. Her followers tend not to identify themselves in clear and obvious ways and indeed often seem to disguise themselves or obfuscate their faith, though whether out of a desire for nefarious secrecy or out of a simple desire to avoid persecution(As those who are revealed to actually worship Saint Francille are often ridiculed by their peers) is not exactly known. If all else fails, many assume her followers make a common habit of wandering across the world on its roads and trails - all the better to spread the word of their Saint, to find new foods and recipes, and meet new cultures to learn from.Ethics
In truth, the Ethics of the faith of Saint Francille are almost entirely unknown - though her tenets are known to scholars of religions in certain circles across the continent, the specifics of her ethics are entirely unknown, as even when confronted followers of Saint Francille tend to softly laugh off the question and deflect it with quips such as "We just look after her, like she's looked after us." or "Oh, just keeping watch over Doors and Boundaries and such." or "Good food, mostly. She knows alot of good recipes!" being common phrases uses to deflect more pointed questions about her ethics. Because of this, opinions on Saint Francille and her faith are divided into two equal extremes that label them as either entirely harmless or entirely nefarious - either a group of mostly harmless true believers in a Saint who many believe as not being entirely deserving of "true faith"(As many on Zheng-Kitar see her as important enough to respect and pay lip service to, but not "important" enough to merit true divine followers), or as an incredibly well-disguised cult who seems to be on some sort of mission to accomplish some nefarious deed for their Goddess. From what extremely little has been observed, followers of Saint Francille are fanatically loyal to her - far in excess of the norm for most all saints on Zheng-Kitar. Aside from this loyalty, their ethics mostly seem to come down to harmless and out-of-sight things such as caring for the young and elderly, cooking and seeking out new recipes and cooking methods, and quietly creating or maintaining doors, boundaries, portals, or other similar entryways and watching over those who come and go from them. To those who have encountered them, however, a slightly different tale is told - they are spoken of by these rare few as somewhat suspicious tricksters whose uncanny knowledge of boundaries and the letters of the laws of the places they are in or inhabit make them subjects of careful scrutiny. Often watched and spied upon by these people who have encountered them before out of fear or suspicion, they are often described as quietly carving sigils, symbols, and scripture upon those doorways they watch over and even manipulating events inside the same "boundaries" to further their own mysterious ends. The most ridiculous rumors surrounding her followers from the most unbelievable sources paint them as eating anything and everything - including people, as those same unreliable sources often paint them as to blame for local disappearances, local illnesses, and anything remotely negative in the area.History
The history of Saint Francille the Shephard, while it may have existed at one point, seems to have been the unfortunate victim of the ravages of time - not even her own following seems to remember where the caring old grandmother of boundaries and doorways originated from, though neither her followers nor her detractors seem particularly interested in learning. The only clues as to her history, if indeed any exist, likely lies with the most ancient Baltairan and Ssarin peoples - for it is they who seem to hold her in the highest regard. What known fact DOES remain of her is why she is frequently depicted with both a young and beautiful appearance and a young and elderly crone-like appearance - the old woman serves as the kind visage of grandmotherly love who looks over boundaries and doorways, while the younger(but still motherly) and bewitching appearance is commonly associated with the boundaries of housework, cooking, and brewing. The old face is often spoken of as representing the past, and the young representing the future - though the whys that explain this duality has been lost to time. Likewise, from the perspective of the common folk of Zheng-Kitar, all that is known of Saint Francille is that she serves the seemingly vital role of guarding and overseeing the doors, entryways, and similar "portals" of the world while also serving the important role of being the matron saint of cooking and brewing. Likewise, she is also known to serve the lesser known and somewhat unofficial roles of ushering in the seasons and each new year, and is also seen as the matron saint of political boundaries - overseeing all boundaries both geopolitical and otherwise. So, while she is known to oversee many things, most on Zheng-Kitar see them as important and vital, but nowhere near "exciting" or "real" enough to warrant true faith or divine followers.
Divine Classification
Elemental Saint
Alignment
Children
Example Divine Oaths
Oath of the Cook: Never turn down an edible foodstuff offered to you, and endeavor to find and make a recipe for every species and culture you come across. Push the boundaries of culinary innovation and create new and wondrous edible things to call your very own.
Oath of the Emissary: Seek out the sacred offerings and offer them up to Saint Lucille to further her glory. Carve the holy name and symbol of Saint Lucille onto every signpost, above every doorway, and on every border you can find to further her name and cause.
Comments