Difference between revisions of "Elar"

Revision as of 07:19, 17 September 2017

History in Avendar

Once Iandir had fashioned the Prime and its physical laws, it existed without purpose. Setting Himself to the task, Jolinn designed the mechanisms of life, and soon the primordial seas were teeming with the tiniest of creatures. It was then that a new deific influence was attracted to Avendar and its potential. She envisioned Her own permutation of what Jolinn had wrought; one which filled the sandy earth with green and brown, drinking its life from the sun. To make it manifest, She sculpted the seed of Firiel, the Tree of Life, and imbued it with divine essence. Over the course of millennia, She dutifully tended it, nourishing it with water, and the seaborne life within began to transform into a myriad of primal plants. In time, a grove of rare and wondrous things grew beneath the outstretched boughs of Firiel, untouched by the passing of ages.

This ended with the Sundering, when magical storms tore across the surface of Avendar. Even the remote grove did not go unchanged. Its rich, varied flora grew ever larger and ever stranger, ultimately yielding an unimagined race of hearty, green-skinned sapients: the ethron. Their early incarnation was less animal than plant; less humanoid than golemic. While She had not molded them as She had Firiel, She knew that these unexpected children were a reflection of Her own heart. She doted on them, plying the infant species with a sculptor's touch. Under Her watchful gaze, they grew beautiful, wise, and strong, and came to love all She had wrought with the same conviction. It was She who gave them language, and they named Her Elar, All-Mother.

In the age that followed, Elar encouraged their undeniable affinity for nature. However, knowing the folly of those who had come before, she instructed the ethron in a different manner of magic; one in which they might borrow only what was in abundance. This mysterious power allowed them to traverse the Prime without fear, and restore the forests which towered before the depredations of the alatharya. The ethron divided themselves into clans, settling into regions near and far for the centuries-long work of recreating the All-Mother's arboreal majesty. She watched from Firiel, teaching the most influential personally. However, the aelin empire had claimed the great disc of Ilodaiya as their own; humans settled themselves into the fertile coastlines and floodplains; and the srryn were driven outward in a relentless quest for dominance. Elar knew that conflict was inevitable, and with Her divine power, She bound all living forests to Her grove.

As a result, the terror of the War of Fire largely left the ethron unscathed. As sword and flame laid waste to great swaths of Avendar, Elar again provided refuge and comfort to Her children. They moved silently between Firiel and the far reaches of the Prime, avoiding much of the violence and bloodshed that devoured mortal lives. With the War's end, the ethron were sought by the aelin and human empires, both hoping they could restore their ravaged lands to fertility. Elar, in turn, tasked Her children with renewing the wartorn earth. One of Her chosen, a matriarch named Eqiril, came from the mountains to the fallen kingdom of Caal. With the blessing of the All-Mother, she saw the rise of a great forest where the kingdom once stood. This place would become Qilarn, a permanent stronghold of the ethron race.

The worship of Elar was overshadowed by the growing power of other gods and goddesses. The veneration of the Overgods, as well as the famous exploits of demigods such as Marlax, drew the attention of most of Avendar's sapients. As ethron societies became less insular, so spread their beliefs; however, this process was cut short by the coming of the War of Night. The dread power of the shuddeni, and their glorious defeat at the hands of Rystaia Lightbringer, captured the global imagination. In the modern era, Elar's worship has spread more substantially than ever. The growth of ethron involvement in world affairs, as well as the inclusion of new races into the druidic order, has given Her a foothold in many hearts. The blessings of the All-Mother wait for those who would sense Her great love, and defend the treasures of the wild.

Goals and Methods

Elar's most important consideration is maintaining the integrity of Her creation: nature. To Her, plant life is of particular value; not only is it Her cherished design, but it acts as a facilitator to animals, insects, and bipeds of all stripes. Secondarily, She intends for mortals to guide and nurture one another, forming strong bonds with both Her creation and each other. This leads to a curious paradox, in which Elar maintains an implicit separation between Herself and sapient life, but desires their collective and productive growth. This allows Her to not necessarily view the natural world as inherently superior to mortal civilizations. Instead, She maintains an optimistic view of what societies they create, and considers their failures not altogether different than a hurricane, wildfire, or locust swarm. Elar views nature's timeline in eons, allowing Her a generosity which other naturalist deities are not inclined to share.

Symbiosis is a foundational tenet to Elar. She encourages sapients to live in harmony with the natural world. While this can include a variety of naturalist lifestyles, such as nomadic kankoran packs or secluded chaja hunters, it is primarily expressed by the ethron. The forest of Qilarn represents one of the classic expressions of Elar's ideal; Eril, on the other hand, is a clear hybrid of human-style settlements and ethron sensibilities. However, Elar's symbiosis extends into the realm of magic as well. Druidic powers are a clear demonstration of how Her philosophy translates into the mystic arts. Unlike the study of the spheres, Her vision provides wider flexibility without the potential for ancient alatharyan excesses. Like Girikha, the transmission of Her beliefs is largely found in the oral tradition, typified by short parables or stylized historical tales.

Organizations and Followings

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Individual Followers

One who devotes herself to Elar embraces the power and majesty of the natural world. She sees it as the source from which mortal life springs; the rudiments of civilization can only germinate where Elar's designs have first taken root. This belief often puts her at philosophical odds with Avendar's city-centric population, many of whom are inclined to marginalize the role of nature in favor of that of magic. Here, too, does she challenge them, with Elar's clear example of healthy mystical expression serving to contrast specialized spheres. This can make her path a somewhat precarious one, as she must rely on her inherent goodness and nurturing demeanor to fend off internal and external conflicts. However, even when in danger, Elar's power guides and protects her, shielding her from the slings and arrows of cynicism and hubris.

Elar's worship is traditionally ethron, who know Her as the sculptor of their race. Her devoted are nearly always found in ethron settlements, or wandering the majestic wildlands that She has helped to create. Larger Avendarian cities have few locations or individuals devoted to Elar, focused as they are on more law-based deities such as Iandir or Rveyelhi. Within goodly circles, She is often secondary to the aggressive deities of the ch'taren, and classic, powerful forces of light, such as Jolinn. However, She and Hers are known for their quiet strength, making them powerful allies if included in larger campaigns.

Those who find favor with the All-Mother are marked with the Leaf of Firiel.

Relationships

Shrines, Sigils, and Mobs

Rooms

somewhere (vnum)

Sigils

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Mobs

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God Mark

You notice [he|she] seems particularly vivacious.

Notes, Logs, and Other Documents

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Helps

Old Elar help file

Logs