Sheela Peryroyl
The distant, somewhat aloof Sheela Peryroyl (shee-lah pair-re-roil) plays an important role in the culture of Halflings, representing the balance between the tamed earth of agricultural civilization and the verdant growth of the wild. Sometimes worshiped by agrarian lightfoot halflings, the bulk of Sheela’s worshipers dwell on the lush grassy hills of southern Aldwynne. Among civilized halflings, Sheela represents balance related to the harvest, for not only does she oversee the dutiful toil of the fields, but also the joyful celebration when work is finished. Patron of song, dance, and romance, halflings send prayers to Sheela Peryroyl during courtship, galas, and weddings. Aldwynne halflings honor Sheela as the providing force of the natural world, making her a more important figure than even Yondalla in their obscure culture.
Clergy and Temples
Constructed of stone and dirt and carefully balanced rocks and living plants, Sheela’s open-roofed temples appear to be woven from the earth itself. Animals roam freely among patches of wildflowers, gardens, and weeds. Those used to the structured rooms of “civilized” regions often find the growth and life here chaotic and disconcerting, but Sheela’s clerics and druids, known collectively as Green Children, insist there are patterns in the wilderness, and that these patterns maintain a delicate balance. In the farmlands, Green Children mediate disputes between growers, sanctify marriages, free harvests from natural or unnatural blights, and protect the community from animals and beasts driven to violence by wounds or hunger. In return, they ensure that communities treat the wilderness with respect, that homesteads never encroach too far into natural habitats. The Aldwynnes consider Green Children the voice of Sheela Peryroyl, and defer to them as the guardians of culture and protectors of the wild fastness.
Green Children pray for spells at dawn. Every month, several of Sheela’s faithful convene with their counterparts in neighboring communities to organize moonlight festivals known as Gatherings. All residents of the community are expected to attend and pitch in by bringing some bounty of the most recent harvest, either taken straight from the fields in the warm months or dug from the root cellar during winter. The sites of these Gatherings rotate monthly through local halfling communities, strengthening neighborly bonds. Many of Sheela’s clerics and druids multiclass as rangers.
Dogma
Living in harmony with nature requires a careful balance between the wild and the tame, the feral and the tended. The need to preserve wild growth is equal to the need to take in the harvest. While nature can be adapted, it should be evolved, never forced; work within the framework of what already exists.
History and Relationships
Sheela counts all her pantheon as allies. All Abios' nonevil nature deities value her as a cool mind and level-headed thinker capable of disarming tense diplomatic issues with forthright honesty and warming smiles. Such qualities make her the perfect “celestial mediator” when tensions flare between such worthies as Silvanus and Waukeen. This role has transcended to the mortal realm, where even some non-halflings give honor to Sheela Peryroyl before entering a pact or important negotiation.
Divine Classification
Intermediate Deity
Species
Honorary & Occupational Titles
- Green Sister
- Watchful Mother
Children
Gender
Female
