Lesser Deities of Avlis, Volume 3

Senath (Strategy) "Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there is *nothing* to do."

Senath is one of the more famous children of the god Toran, born during the Age of Peace after the Great War. As a coming-of-age gift, his father gave him domain over all that has to do with strategy. This was a very large undertaking for the young deity, and he took it very seriously, as his father knew he would.

Senath sees strategy as being divided into different aspects. There is political strategy. There is martial strategy. There is natural strategy. And there is everyday social strategy encompassed by games of skill and normal colloquial interaction.

Because of all of these areas, Senath claims a lot of followers from differing walks of life. He is thought to work through both inspiration and perseverance. A farmer gaining an idea about how to do better in his crop planting schedule, a politician working his way efficiently up the ranks, and a general who spots a flaw in his enemy's plan will all attribute thanks to Senath.

The church of Senath promotes the use of strategy in any way it can. It brings its teachings to the world through games and competitions, and the priests of Senath can often be found hosting events in various communities that promote the use of strategy. They aren't usually concerned with the betterment of a community through strategy so much as they are concerned with the adoption of strategy for its own sake, whatever the outcome or reason.

The church of Senath is not as geared towards war as that of Toran, however it does understand the need for it, and will often help with strategic matters when it can in these cases. Some of Senath's clerics are geared towards this career and take up instruction in matters of war. Others work only in political circles as advisors to nobles, though the priests rarely covet the power for themselves. Power is not the issue. Strategy is, after all.

Senath uses the blue and silver colorings of his father, yet they are accompanied by black and white.

Skern (Centaurs, Community, Natural Balances) The lesser god Skern was born during a great time of conflict. It is said that his existence came about during the Fairy War, when O'Ma and Titania were fighting in the skies. Legend holds that blood from their wounds fell down onto the ground of Avlis and mingled. The divine energies in the blood took on a life of their-own when spread upon the soil, and they became the god Skern.

The birth of Skern occurred in the middle of the fight between O'Ma and Titania. After his birth was complete, blood was still falling from the skies, and it was from this extra blood that Skern created his race of centaurs to roam Avlis.

Skern and his centaur followers embrace the precepts of nature with reference to strong community ties and balance. They have strong feelings about the futility of the conflict between Titania and O'Ma, since they attribute their existence to both deities. It is almost like a child watching their mother and father fighting constantly. Their unique perspective on the fairy conflict allows them to have a very balanced and open point of view. "If it seems like a good idea, do it..." is the saying of the followers of Skern. Common sense is their greatest asset.

Skern governs over clerical churches as well as druidic and monastic orders. These different organizations often interact favorably and they work to pursue balance in all communities, though especially in communities located in natural settings. The centaurs themselves can often be reclusive, however they are known to get concerned when balance is in jeopardy.

Verossa (Natural Destruction) Verossa is the evil goddess of natural destruction. Like the other minor gods and goddesses, she controls a smaller aspect of the world, rather than being a proponent of a large philosophy. Wherever there is natural destruction of any kind, be it lightning, floods, storms, decay, fire, rain, snow, sleet, hail, there is the power of Verossa. It is this raw destructive power that she wields which attracts many evil power-hungry priests to her fold.

Verossa can make both clerics and druids. Clerics and druids of Verossa must be chaotic evil, but all chaotic characters can appreciate the awesome destructive power of nature. Those that do will often acknowledge Verossa in a prayer before travel, mainly for the purpose of warding her off. Some primitive commoners will even sacrifice small animals to "appease" her before a journey. Travel is very important on Avlis since it is largely done on foot. So the common folk take the dangers of weather on a journey very seriously.

Verossa is not exactly the goddess of weather because she doesn't have the ability to do NICE things with it. She only has limited control over the negative effects of it, in addition to any other kinds of non-weather related natural destructive effects. However, most of her abilities all lead back to bad weather.

The concept of "natural destruction" is up for semantic debate. Verossa seems to have a strict code followed by her "official" church. Un-natural destruction, i.e. murder and senseless harm is forbidden "officially", but like in any religion there are extremists who take the law a bit far. Oddly enough these extremists, often druids, still get spells granted to them even when they take their definition of "natural destruction" a bit too far.

Vorin (Knowledge and Information) Vorin is the god who governs the free and total exchange of information. His monks and priests collect information wherever they can find it, and they either place it into libraries of their own for public use, or they take the information back to well-known storage places, like the Great Library of Mikona.

Vorin governs knowledge and information in their truest sense, and he does not much care who gets his knowledge or information. When giving out information, his followers do not take into account personal dislike, or the danger of the information falling into the wrong hands. Their job is simply to make information available to whom-ever wants it.

Most libraries serve as a temple to Vorin. Public donations and governmental aide are used to keep their establishments running, so it generally works out well for them since they don't need to only rely on their worshippers to donate money. In large cities they benefit from this fact immensely because there is much more money available for them, and they often make huge information repositories.

The priests and monks who do not serve in libraries are usually out on journies to find items for study, or books for storage. They are seen by the church of Vorin to be a valuable asset because they increase Vorins knowledge base.

Wilsash (Moon, Nightmares) On Avlis, dreams are thought closely linked to the moon and its cycles. This is true of most races and cultures.

Wilsash is the governor of these cycles. He controls the moon and the application of dreams. The exact way in which he goes about doing this is a mystery. There seems to be no pattern to the moon and the dreams one can have. Sometimes they coincide well. Sometimes they don't.

Only the mind of the god himself understands how and why they are linked. The people of the world are only able to pray to him and hope. Often they find themselves at his mercy.

The priests of Wilsash all have theories on how the god governs the moon and nightmares together, and often they fight about this, forming factions. Some declare that the moon is needed for anyone to have any dreams at all. Others disagree and say that dreams can exist without the moon, but nightmares are dependent on its phases. Whatever the case, Wilsash is silent on the matter... as silent as the moon on a windless night. Some believe that he secretly revels in his church's infighting.

All that is known for sure is that Wilsash does indeed control both nightmares and the moon. Whether they go together or not, or they are separate (much like Arcane Knowledge and Trickery), it is uncertain.

Wilsash is known to be good friends with Xenon, god of lycanthropes. The two are often seen together, and their churches seem to get along well also.