Religions: Braialla

Religion: Braialla

There's a LOT of this info that hasn't been officially released or given the green light for release yet. I'll answer you what I can, though. Also - look through the archives at Shadowbania: I've posted here and there, and also Gradishar did a big interview with me where I rambled about divinities at length.

Volliandra and Saedron, the Moon Goddesses, are Braialla's sisters, and yes, they were "always" there - when Aerynth was first created (or found, if you follow the Elvish view) by the AF and His companions, Saedron and Volliandra were asleep on their respective moons, just as Braialla slept on Aerynth.

The Huntsman discipline tells how Kenaryn managed to discover Saedron and awaken her (although the creation of Grollokur the Devourer will probably come later, like when Saedron went mad). When Saedron awoke, she sang a wondrous song that awakened Volliandra, her twin. Later Malog took Volliandra as his wife, though the two sired no race of children (at least, none that we know of).

Volliandra was the Lady of Dreams, while Saedron is the Goddess of Magic and Destiny. Volliandra was incinerated by the Dragon, and Saedron felt her twin's death agonies: the change drove her mad. I figure Grallokur was born of her pain, rage, and sorrow. Now Saedron has two faces: the Enchantress (fate, magic, and destiny) and the Crone (night, fear, and nightmares).
The crone is a really nasty Baba Yaga like entity.

Lots of Magi venerate Saedron, or hope to learn arcane secrets from her. The only problem is, you never know which face you'll get when you deal with her...

The Elves have fond memories of the moon Goddesses. Volliandra taught them music. Saedron taught them magic. They don't deal with Saedron too much anymore (it's kind of dangerous), but will still occasionally petition her for power or secrets, or gladly follow up on any mystical hints the Goddess might drop to them.

As for Volliandra, she's DEAD. Some say that Khalikryst, the Sun Goddess of the Irekei, is Volliandra reborn in a new form, destructive and malignant. Others disagree.

In some old board posts I've hinted that Saedron actually inspired Phaedra to lead the Amazons south, and that the Furies seem to have a special relationship with both of Saedron's personalities.

Anyway, that's all the news that's fit to print about the Moon Goddesses.

As for the beast lords: actually, they are beings of vast, cosmic power, almost totally removed from the conventional hierarchy of Gods, demons, and archons. They represent archetypal forms of animals, and some are obviously much mightier than others. The Elves first discovered them in the early days of the Deathless Empire, and decided to worship them instead of the All-Father.
The Centaurs wouldn't have it, of course, and went to war to avenge the AF's name. Eventually, the All-Father himself got involved, and broke the Beast Lord avatars, diminishing their power.

That's the Taming - the Elves remember it as it's described in the Legend of Shadowbane (the Age of Days chapter). Humanity hadn't been born yet, however. Humans as a whole don't really know what went down, they just know that the AF laid the smack down on the Beast Lords: thus we have lots of Human myths of a Great Taming before Time that plays out the way you described it in paragraph 2 of your e-mail. Now that the All-Father has gone and might be dead, the Beast Lords may see something of a resurgence. Who could stop them this time?

The Chaos Lords. Known officially as Dark Lords, they reside in the primal Chaos. As powerful as minor Gods, they've had a vendetta against the All-Father, his friends, and His broods ever since the AF and his companions killed Kolaur and stole his mighty spear. They're legion: your standard DnD/Michael Moorcock model demon lords. They want to destroy the All-Father's works and torment His children. They're all to happy to answer the call of any Mage who offers to deal with them. The Elves got pretty good at demonology, and learned ways to bend the schemes of the Dark lords (or at least, of their servants) to their own ends. Only the depraved, the insane, or the hopelessly stupid would ever worship such beings: look what they did to Aerynth the last time they came through!

Veshteroth is the only one, to my knowledge, that we've yet named. More will be forthcoming. It's possible that a Dark lord or two might've gotten trapped somewhere on (or under) Aerynth when the Chaos Gate closed, and they've been hiding ever since, waiting to make their move. Nasty, very nasty indeed...

I hope this helps! More will be coming, I promise.

M

Original Post by Vorgen