Arvoreen

Arvoreen, also known as The Defender or The Wary Sword is the closest the halflings have to a war god, but he is actually the halfling pantheon's deity of defense, guardians, and watchers.

Description

The avatar of Arvoreen appeared as a handsome young muscular halfling dressed in light clothing and chain mail. His weapons of choice ranged from two short swords to a short sword and shield. He was always accompanied by a Keeper, and he sometimes appeared to go on patrol with his worshipers.

Personality

Arvoreen is strict and preaches aggressive watchfulness but only to react to aggression. He doesn't support starting conflicts unless it is done to stop evil practices. Arvoreen never attacks first and doesn't hold thieving to be dishonorable as long as it is against a foe. However, it is extremely forbidden to steal from the Hin (halflings) or their allies.

Worshippers

The faith of Arvoreen was strong in like-minded strongheart halflings and some isolationist halflings. Devotees followed procedures of military drills, training regimens, and building traps, signal beacons, and fortifications. Their temples were specially built keeps. This mix, along with the ideal that the enemies to the hin community mostly came from mixing with other cultures, made them less popular with lightfoots, who stayed away except in times of war.

The followers of Arvoreen also taught blade-work to the young, especially the deity's favored weapon, the short sword. The clergy prayed before dawn, before going on patrol. If able, they would also pray before battle with the Battle Hymn of the Keepers, an oral depiction of halfling military victory dating back centuries.

Clergy

The vestments of the priesthood were silver-colored chain mail and helmet, along with dark blue tabards with his holy symbol. They also wore an amulet of a small silver buckler. Specialist priest and worshipers Novices of the church were called "Shieldbearers" and the ranks in order of ascent were: Shieldbearer, Warder, Guardian, Defender, Protector, Magistrate, Sheriff, Marshal (full priest), and High Marshal.

Trueswords: Specialized priests skilled in fighting with short swords, engineering, and reading and writing. Keepers: Elite halfing warriors who'd fallen in battle and patrolled the Green Fields in the afterlife. Arvoreen's Warders: A militaristic branch of the religion with less spellcasting ability, who made up for this drawback with tenacity and skills.

Rituals

Ceremony of Remembrance: This took place during Feast of the Moon, where they remembered those who fell in the defense of the halfling community.

Relationships

The Defender's enemies were evil deities such as Bane, Cyric, the Deities of Fury, and the goblinoid pantheon. His closest allies were the rest of the hin pantheon, especially Yondalla, Cyrrollalee, and Urogalan, but he disapproved of the behavior of Brandobaris.

Arvoreen

Intermediate deity

Basic Information

Titles

The Defender
The Vigilant Guardian
The Wary Sword

Adjectives

Arvoreenan

Pantheons

Yondalla's Children

Serves

Yondalla

Attributes

Alignment

Lawful Good

Symbol

Two crossed short swords

Realm

Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia/Venya/Green Fields

Portfolio

Defense, War, Vigilance, Halfling Warriors, Duty

Favored Weapon

Aegisheart (short sword)

Following

Worshippers

Halflings
Fighters
Paladins
Rangers
Soldiers
Warriors

Alignments

LG, NG, LN

Domains

Law (Loyalty)
Protection (Defense, Fortifications)
Strength (Resolve)
War (Tactics)

Favored Aspects

Animals/Plants

Bloodhounds
Owls
Falcons
War dogs

Monsters

The Keepers
Archons
Guardian nagas
Hybsils
Lammasus
Silver dragons

Minerals

Amaratha

Colors

Dark blue
Silver

Manifest- ations

An aura of silver fire

Thunder like bashing shields