Aerdrie Faenya
(a.k.a. The winged Mother, Lady of Air and Wind, Queen of the Avariel, She of the Azure Plumage, Bringer of Rain and Storms)
Aerdrie Faenya (AIR-dree FAH-ane-yuh) is the elven goddess of the air, weather, and birds. As the bringer of rain, she is the closest the Fair Folk have to a fertility goddess. At one time, the Winged Mother's followers were composed largely of the avariel, much like Deep Sashela was and is worshiped primarily by sea elves. However, unlike their aquatic kin, the winged Elves were nearly wiped out by the Dragons before the First Flowering, and what was beieved to be the last of their race in Faerûn flew westward before the start of The Crown Wars. Today, gold, moon, and wild Elves who desire certain weather conditions make the most frequent sacrafices to Aerdrie. Her small church is also popular with Elves who possesss flying mounts, such as asperii, Dragons, giant eagles, griffons, hippogriffs, and pegasi. The Lady of Air and Wind is revered by all nonevil birds, particularly aarakocra and other sentient avians, but their numbers are small and declining as well. She is also called on by other Elves oppressed by overly lawful creatures.
Aerdrie is both an aspect of Angharradh and one of the three elven goddesses--the other two being Hanali Celanil and Sehanine Moonbow -- who collectively form the Triune Goddess. This duality tightly binds Aerdrie with the two other senior elven goddesses, and the three collectively serve alongside Corellon Larethian in leading the Seldarine. Aerdrie maintains close relations only with those powers of air who share a love of birds and freedom as deeply held as she.
Aerdrie is the elven expression of freedom and impulse, and she dislikes being tied down to any one place for too long. Her realm is so close to the philosophical border between The Olympian Glades of Arborea and The Heroic Domains of Ysgard that it moves back and forth, sometimes part of Arvandor and sometimes part of Alfheim. Aerdrie delights in the sound of wind instruments and in creating unpredictable atmospheric conditions, but her primary joy is simply feeling the air rush past her with the ground far below.
The Winged Mother is a somewhat distant goddess who rarely involves herself in elven culture, and she is far more chaotic than the rest of The Seldarine. Of all the elven races, only Aerdrie takes a keen interest in the avariel, and few of them remain in the Realms.
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