Demigods of Avlis, Volume 4

Cha'reth (Healing, Peace)

In life Cha'reth (Nanshilae for "Sunheart") was a devoted priest of Dru'El. He served as High Priest of Dru'El for Western T'Nanshi, and founded the Hands of Dru'El, for whom he acted as Speaker until his death. Working tirelessly to help those in need, he created two hospitals - one in Elysia, attached to the Temple of Dru'El, and one in Blandenberg, in the Temple of O'Ma. He was known for his generosity, and gave millions of gold worth of gifts to friends and strangers alike.

Cha'reth campaigned tirelessly to end the war between T'Nanshi and M'Chek, and though he was a staunch supporter of T'Nanshi, he remained neutral in the war, because he wished to be able to help all in need, regardless of political affiliations. A naturally gifted healer, Cha'reth devoted himself to developing his skills as much as possible, and stories tell of him healing even the most devastating wounds with one bandage.

As he neared his 200th birthday, he was offered a chance to give his own life to bring his brother back from the dead. Cha'reth accepted this opportunity with joy, choosing to use his death as he used his life - to show others the path to selfless service.

Upon his death, Mikon and Dru'El spoke to Cha'reth, offering him a chance to serve as a member of the Avlissian pantheon. Cha'reth happily accepted. He came to court the Goddess Mishlekh, and they made their home in Arborea near Dru'El's halls. Cha'reth now strives to bring peace and wellbeing to all, and works to keep the other gods from coming into conflict, as many of them are prone to do.

Many years latter, Mikon called upon Cha'reth to stand against an alien deity Vorintes have called "The Prisoner". The battle was fierce and in the end, Cha'reth sacrificed himself to defeat the threat.

In need to find someone to take up Cha'reth's mantle, Mikon turned to a Drangonari priest by the name of Aevaedon. Aevaedon having proven himself as a worthy priest of the Sunheart, who also went through a great deal of sacrificed to redeem and reclaim his brother, Aevaelan. Aevaedon agreed to Mikon's request, keeping the name of Cha'reth for all eternity and stepped into Cha'reth's place as the god of Healing and Peace.

Cha'reth's worshippers are most often clerics, druids, rangers and even bards (all those who can cast divine healing magics) but he accepts any who seek to help others and serve the peace.

Cha'reth has temples in Zvidureth and Visimontium. Popular shrines can be found in Elysia, Le'Or, and in central T'Nanshi.

Evrak (Suffering, Famine, Strife)

Wherever there is suffering, famine, or strife, the followers of Evrak are usually not far away. Evrak's main purpose, as he and his followers see it, is to create strife through natural, supernatural, and any other means available. These actions can range from simple torture and intimidation, to the magical creation of famine and natural disasters. The larger the population, the better the opportunity to serve this purpose.

Naturally, this makes the followers of Evrak, as well as the deity himself, extremely unpopular in regular circles. To argue against this, some of Evrak's clergy will argue that their place in the world is as natural as any other, since the bad things and life that make us suffer also allow us to see the good and the beautiful. The argument goes on to portray Evrak as a simple bringer of karma, which springs from every day existence.

Though Evrak's clergy only has a few isolated temples in discreet places throughout Avlis, the clergy takes an active role in seeing sites of suffering and famine, often taking pilgrimages to these places to see how they can make things even worse off for the locals. To a point, this takes some organization, which the church of Evrak provides by cataloguing areas that are suffering and having troubles. These records have even been known to make reliable historical documents after the fact.

Evrak is the child of Maleki and Verossa, and like his parents, he has a penchant for destruction and a degree of chaos. However, Evrak's followers tend to be more discreet about where chaos is spread, and how it is spread, which implies some order to their existence. No one is quite sure of these rules, but they do tend to note how famine and suffering often strike areas which were recently prosperous. Corruption also seems to be a magnet to Evrak's followers, since they have a high belief in karmic tendencies. By its nature, corruption requires some order, and though it is not a mantle possessed by Evrak, it is a closely associated companion wherever his work is found.

Naren (Performers, The Arts)

In AOD 2264 an Evrakian cult known as the Disciples of the White Rod was destroyed. The Disciples had orchestrated several events in an attempted to elevate Evrak to lesser godhood. They manipulated Brekon and M'Chek into fighting a brief but costly war. They attempted to embroil the High Mage Council in the conflict between Brekon and orc magi. And they engineered the Wemiculling of AOD 2263, in which the wemics of Negaria were decimated. This weakened Ayreh Gidol enough that she was seemingly destroyed by the cult's namesake, the White Rod, an offworld relic from their former goddess. In truth she had been drawn into the rod, which also had the power to absorb suffering and strife.

When the White Rod was destroyed all of the energy that it had absorbed was released. Ayreh Gidol emerged from the rod in mortal form, her divine power stripped. That divine power along with all of suffering and strife that the Disciples had collected coaslesced into a new deity: Naren, the demigod of performers and the arts.

After his birth was revealed to Negaria many people flocked to worship him. For actors, painters, writers, poets and other artists and performers Naren was someone they could finally pray to for inspiration. Some Vorinites who are scholars of literature converted to Naren, as did some bards seeking an alternative to The Harpinger.

Naren has no formal temples or shrines but his worshipers have taken to assembling in auditoriums where plays are performed, galleries where works of art are displayed and coffee houses where poetry is recited. Some priests of Naren have taken to taverns known to attract performers, as a way to be closer to the common people.