Even if you have only two loaves of bread, trade one to your neighbor for flowers, for bread is food for the body, but flowers are food for the soul.—Excerpt from a manifesto written by a Talamite revolutionary
Marya (pronounced MAR-yah) is a pantheonic deity commonly associated with liberation, martyrdom, food, and agriculture.
Aserdian pantheon
Izar (pronounced EYE-zar) is a goddess of farmers, pastoralists, and hunter-gatherers, seen as the deity that provides all the people of the world with food to eat. She is often prayed to before a harvest or when attempting to locate a meal, especially in times of scarcity. Izar is thought to appreciate small burnt offerings of food when the forests are plentiful and the stockpiles are full, which she then collects and returns to her followers when the lean times return.
Though her aspect as a goddess of liberation is present in the Aserdian pantheon, it is far less emphasized than it is with some of her counterparts in other pantheons.
Izar has few clergy, even by the standards of other gods of the Aserdian pantheon. She is considered a household goddess, one who is prayed to by many people without the need for priests to aid in their worship.
The goddess is usually depicted as a woman with skin made of flower petals that constantly fall to the ground as she walks.
Edicts and anathema
- Edicts
- Give what you can to support others, plant flowers, help those less well-off than yourself
- Anathema
- Support or tolerate oppression, hoard resources, waste food
Chaskan pantheon
Marya (pronounced MAR-yah) is the goddess of liberation, martyrdom, food, and agriculture. Worship of Marya has traditionally been strongly focused on her aspect as a god of agriculture, and farmers in regions following the Chaskan pantheon have long prayed to Marya for a good harvest. More recently, especially in regions like Koritan, the Western Coast, and in Tamkaranu's colonies, Marya's teachings about liberation have gained many adherents. Both sides of the goddess' religion are now influential, though sometimes clerics emphasizing one school of thought find each other in search of common ground with the other.
The Bringer of Bread is the patron of revolutionaries, agitators, and those seeking greater freedom and independence for themselves and their communities. She is also the deity most widely worshiped by farmers, pastoralists, and hunter-gatherers, especially those living in regions of scarcity.
Marya's faith is especially strong today in Talam Galta, where she is seen as the patron of the Free People who rebelled against Koritanite control. Her influence also slowly grows in Tamkaranu's colonies around the western Chaska Sea.
Marya is the sister of Laverna, twin goddesses born from the same moment. Both sprung forth when the first mortal beings observed the world the gods had created and desired something else. Where Laverna represents the desire for complete personal independence, Marya instead personifies the drive for freedom and self-determination for one’s community. Despite their similarities in the beginning, the followers of each goddess have taken their faiths in quite different directions.
Legends hold that Marya looked across the world in her first moments and saw the plight of its people. Struggling to feed themselves in the aftermath of the Flood, they barely held to life, with no opportunities to enjoy the beauty around them. Marya knew she could not sit by and watch. She snuck into the caches of seeds the other gods had used to sow the first plants, and began casting them by the handful down to the world. Edible plants and flowers alike began to sprout from these seeds, transforming the once almost barren landscape into a garden. The people rejoiced but the other gods took notice as well. Marya had stolen the plants the gods had reserved for themselves, and for this she was punished, driven away from the conclave to fend for herself.
Marya still occupies the position of an outsider in the Chaskan pantheon, something her followers enthusiastically embrace. To them, there is no purpose to enjoying plenitude if others must suffer. Marya and her clergy teach that inviting hardship on yourself is a noble act when done in the service of your community. Any who would oppress the common people are enemies of her faith, but particular ire is always held for those that hoard resources while others struggle to get by.
The goddess has multiple holy texts. One of the most widely read is the A Beating Heart and Endless Dreams, a work describing the actions one should take to gain freedom from unwanted overlords. In some regions, particularly in Dalbanu, her clergy publish almanacs containing prayers to the goddess interspersed between advice on farming, recipes, calendars, and more. Maryanite clerics often distribute manifestos and pamphlets published on seed paper that can later be planted - rose seeds are especially popular for this use.
The paper of Marya's holy texts are often made in part with rose petals, giving them a distinctive appearance, texture, and aroma.
Followers of Marya eschew any formal church structure, believing that a strongly organized faith cannot meaningfully address the changing needs of its adherents. Many regional congregations organize together, but always as equals who consult each other on matters. While clerics and champions of the goddess work together frequently, they have adopted many differing ways of worshiping Marya while holding to her tenets.
Marya is usually depicted in a humanoid form, frequently dressed in the garb of a farmer or laborer. She is often shown leaving a path of rose petals behind her, a flower said to not exist in the world until she cast its seeds to the ground.
In Amshan and other regions around the Kirnashal Sea, Marya is often known as Marra and is seen as a servant of the deity Mihr.
Edicts and anathema
- Edicts
- Fight for those that cannot fight for themselves, resist oppression, give what you can to support others, be willing to suffer hardship for your cause
- Anathema
- Support or tolerate oppression, follow orders unquestioningly, hoard resources
Orcish pantheon
Ranash (pronounced rah-NOSH) is a goddess of food, hunting, animal domestication, and independence. Ranash is the goddess that sows the world with plentiful food, a view especially held to by hunter-gatherer communities. Particularly good hunts are thought to be blessed by Ranash, as are areas where resources can be found with ease. Her liberatory aspects are still present, though not in the same way as her interpretations in other pantheons, mostly directed at outsiders who would push the community away from their territory and homes.
The goddess is said to have taught mortals how to tame the animals around them, using the creatures' strengths to benefit orcish societies. Many herders worship Ranash as a result, as do those that domesticate large animals as hunting-beasts. The goddess' clergy teach the importance of self-sufficiency, and many are highly skilled survivalists equally comfortable in the most treacherous wilds as in the safety of a city. Many followers of the Orcish pantheon insist on bringing a priest of Ranash with them on hunting parties, both to bring the goddess' favor and for practical reasons, as these individuals tend to be highly skilled in such matters.
Ranash is usually depicted as a hunter armed with a large bow or lasso. She is sometimes shown astride a mount, most often some type of bison, giant cat, or other megafauna.
Edicts and anathema
- Edicts
- Give what you can to support others, be willing to suffer hardship for your cause, teach self-sufficiency
- Anathema
- Support or tolerate oppression, hoard resources, become reliant on outsiders, let an animal you have hunted suffer