Anata

From Zok

Lady Anata is the daughter and finest creation of Vornik. Long ago, before the rise of the first moon, Hirzek came to Pnugul and demanded that Vornik brew for him a toxin potent enough to bring even a god to his knees. Vornik initially claimed that such a venom was impossible, but the young war god was persistent and the Venomlord finally relented. The tale of his quest for a solution to the problem is not told, though it is known that he implored Zokthis and Subri for aid. The problem soon grew to obsess him, for he was after all the Venomlord. Impatient, Hirzek looked for darker and older powers to serve his purpose, but Vornik toiled on until he saw the fruition of his ultimate task. When all was complete, Lady Anata sprang forth in Pnugul, though whether she arrived there from the Void or through Vornik's design is not known. She struck her father through the heart with her harpoon, and burned the withered organ to ash before leaving the Night Forest. She fulfilled Vornik's aims, wreaking untold havoc upon the gods before Gulzek turned her own harpoon against her.

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The Kindler, The Black Lady

  • Intermediate Deity
  • Symbol:
    • Dark Flame on a light green background
    • Any object with a strong emotional tie to your loved one
  • Home Plane: Anadros, Faerie
  • Alignment: Chaotic Good
  • Portfolio: Burnt Elves, Love, Lovers, Dance
    • The Kindler: Passion, Darkness, Rage,
    • The Black Lady: Fertility, Marriage, Rebirth
  • Worshippers: Lovers, Bards, Burnt Elves, Married people, Dancers, Fey, Barbarians with a soft side
  • Cleric Alignments: NG, CG, LG, N
  • Domains: Charm
  • Favored Weapon:
    • The Kindler: Harpoon
    • The Black Lady: Goad

Dogma

Anata is the goddess of love. Created as a weapon against the other gods, she rebelled against the service of Vornik and enflamed as many gods as she could hunt down with the fires of her harpoon. In her original incarnation as the Kindler she teaches her worshippers to seek love and to help others seek love. The Kindler tends towards Anata's more Chaotic side, and she exhorts her followers to heights of rage when something impedes the expression of love. The Kindler doesn't care for racial or sexual or spiritual boundaries when wielding her harpoon, and the only chains of law she advocates are those which her worshippers place upon themselves in service of love. The Black Lady, her more mature Aspect, is a reflection of her state after Gulzek pierced her in battle with her own weapon after he himself had been struck down by it. The Black Lady is the mother of the Burnt Elves and the patron of all those who willingly bind themselves in wedlock. The opposite natures of Anata's Aspects are important to the Burnt Elves, who teach that the Kindler's fires purify the soul and allow for the growth of the Black Lady's seeds.

Clergy and Temples

The Kindler

Temples to the Kindler are common in western lands, especially among the Burnt Elves. The humans and elves of Pallon are also known to worship Gulzek's consort, but they usually prefer to revere the Black Lady. The Kindler's temples are simple affairs: massive firepits ringed with dark stone. They are usually scattered throughout the forests of the Burnt Elves, who ignite them and throw things upon the fire as offerings before dancing wildly. The Kindler's blessing is invoked during Burnt Elven weddings, which involve burning mild hallucinogens on her altar and vanishing into the woods in pairs.

The Kindler is seen as a sort of benevolent hurricane, and her clerics take care to teach the awesome power of love and the respect it deserves. They point out that Anata was originally forged as a weapon, and that if she (or the love she bestows, the lesson says) were used for such a purpose the world itself might burn. Most clerics of the Kindler work closely with clerics of the Black Lady, providing advice and aid to young lovers before giving them into the care of their goddess' other priests after their marriage. A minority of the clergy (but a majority of the young warriors of the Burnt Elves) embrace the Kindler's destructive powers, and call upon her as their patron in frenzied battle against any who would constrain or imprison a creature while its heart yet beats.

The Black Lady

The Black Lady's temples are more common in civilized lands than the Kindler's, and they're usually built of dark stone or wood in organic flowing shapes. Such temples are kept shaded during the day, and even darker at night. In Pallon, they often ally themselves with temples to the Crippled Soldier, and provide mental help and relationship advice to any who need their aid. Clerics of the Black Lady are important parts of Burnt Elf marriage ceremonies, and they've taken on a similar role in most elven (and some human) communities since Anata took on her second Aspect.

Clerics of the Black Lady tend to favor her tendencies toward renewal and rebirth, though some focus on her dark power and mystery to become excellent spies (usually on the community they serve, the better to become the perfect matchmaker). The former are popular among good-aligned druids, because they often work to restore natural environments in the areas around their temples.

Allies

Servants

Organizations

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