Pantheon Monday: Aloran and Senia

ALORAN and SENIA

(the Watcher, the Warden) and (the Green Mother, the Lady of Balance, Moonmaker)

Intermediate God, LN and Greater Goddess, TN

Portfolio: Guardians, watchfulness, the wood and Nature, the moon, agriculture

Aliases: None and Eminia

Domain Name: The Grove of Peace, Valingas

Superior: None

Allies: Each other, Tulia, Casoronas

Foes: Kavalian, Glyrea, Dinismayl

Symbol: A rod entwined with vines, an oak tree wrapped in vines

Worshipper Alignment: Any neutral

Aloran (AL-or-an) and Senia (SEN-ya) are natural allies in the elvish pantheon and act as the divine forces guiding druids as well. They are nature-gods through and through, Senia being credited with both the creation of the moon and with nourishing the plant life of Arunia and Aloran with the animals.

Together they care for the natural world, and their holy places are generally far removed from civilization. While Senia is worship amongst men as Eminia the Moon Maiden, Aloran has no temples in mannish lands. He is primarily an elvish god, and one who bestows his blessings on watchers and guards of all stripes.

However, when worshipped in concert (or, in Senia’s case, also singly) these gods are the heart of druidic culture. Many believe for this reason that the worship of Senia/Eminia was common to ancient mannish barbarians such as the Thegnari and Dorlandath as druidic custom appears to come from outside the cultures of the southmen.

Aloran appears as an elf with a long, flower-filled beard and stormy grey eyes. Senia choose to clothe herself in shimmering white and appears as a full-bodied elvish woman of stunning beauty with flowers dripping from her long auburn hair.

The Church

Clergy: Druids, clerics

Clergy’s Alignment: Druids (TN), Clerics (any neutral)

Turn Undead: No

Command Undead: No

The worship of nature is generally divided into two temples, each of which operate in completely different ways. The first is the joint-worship of Aloran and Senia found in cities and towns in elvish lands. These are tended by clerics and act as independent bodies.

The other, of course, is the tradition of druidic circles. Many of these exist throughout Arunia, and they are also independent entities. Each circle of druids tends a very limited geographical region, though it is not uncommon for them to send out young druids into the world to help bring order and balance.

Dogma: Protect nature. Protect the balance.

Day-to-Day Activities: Clerics generally spend their time tending to urban populations while druids are found as wise men, healers, and guardians in mannish and wood elven kingdoms. As only wood elves (of all the elvish subraces) can become druids, their presence is almost nonexistent in wind elven lands.

Priestly Vestments: Druids are encouraged to grow long beards and to wear flowers in their hair and laurels about their heads. The clerics of Aloran and Senia generally dress in simple green tunics with brown trim.