Intermediate Deities of Avlis, Volume 2

Dagath (Life, Death & Rebirth) Dagath was born of a union of Mikon and one of his mortal followers. Because of the unusual nature of his parentage, he was born a god but had to watch his mother grow old and die eventually. However, he realized that when this happened, her soul went somewhere else and that she was in fact not obliterated, she was just changed and living somewhere else. All mortals shared this fate, and he soon became aware that all mortals are actually immortal and capable of rebirth.

Thus he took on the mantle of Life, Death, and Rebirth. Political matters of nations and cities do not concern him as much as actual life and death itself. He oversees changes in life such as the birth of a baby, marriage, retirement, death, and even the afterlife. Sometimes his job is pleasant, and sometimes not.

Because of the wide nature of his ethos, Dagath has all kinds of worshippers ranging from saintly to vile. He is one of the only gods who's worshipers can be of any alignment. His priesthood is divided into three orders that deal with his charge: The Order of Life, The Order of Death, and The Order of Rebirth.

By and large, the Life clerics are good aligned, the death clerics are evil aligned, and the rebirth clerics are neutral aligned. They all have different ways of dealing with things, and sometimes they work together. For instance, if the Order of Life feels that a living being has been wrongfully killed, they will often enlist the Order of Death to take revenge for the killing. The Order of Rebirth is usually there to clean up the mess.

Mishlekh (Wine) Originally, it was thought that Mishlekh was a famous elven wine-maker who lived nearly two thousand years ago, and ascended to godhood through the grace of Dru'El for her service to elvenkind. However, it is now generally accepted as fact that Mishlekh was a Romini woman, whose fame grew among her own kind first, and then later spread to the elves.

Mishlekh is still highly regarded by the Romini as the goddess who perfected the secrets of wine-making, and is now charged with the task of being the guardian of vineyards and the bringer of the grape harvest. Both the Romini and Elven followers of Mishlekh have carried her worship to all surface areas of Avlis, where she is now generally thought of as the goddess of Wine and all of the aspects of wine-making.

In warmer parts of the continent, her worship is rigorous. There is a new grape crop every season, made up of different grape sub-species. Almost any vineyard or winery acts as a temple to Mishlekh, where her priests are charged with the task of producing the wine for all who would buy it. Some of these priests are travelling wine merchants, though they are often not openly introduced as holy men or women. More often than not, they do not flout their worship, and are simply happy to peddle wine to the far corners of the continent.

Generally the organization of the church follows the structure of a winery, where the newly recruited initiates are pickers and growers. Working up the loose ranks, there are managers, administrators, and on the side, merchants. The hierarchy is not strict. It is just enough to efficiently grow and distribute wine, and to spread the appreciation of it wherever they can.

The elven followers of Mishlekh often have very different fermentation techniques than their Romini counterparts, or any other later races who have taken up the manufacturing of wine under Mishlekh's guidance. These differences are celebrated, not belittled, however. Mishlekh is considered to be very tolerant of anything that is not ale.