Sune

Sune is the greater goddess of beauty and passion in the Astoran pantheon. Lady Firehair, as her symbol depicts, is the goddess of beauty in all its forms; whether it be sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feels, the experience of pleasure is the touch of Sune. The Lady of Love is the goddess of all love, including the more negative aspects like obsessions, murderous passions, and the tragedies that could be born from love, but also of deeper connections, of matches destined and forbidden, as well the transformation of ugliness into beauty.

Description

When Sune appeared to the mortals of Faerûn she did so as a human female of unearthly beauty dressed in only a near-transparent gown of silk. She was known for her lustrous, impossibly long red hair, the color of which persisted regardless of any other permutations in her appearance, and which often assumed the appearance of flames. Aside from this, her physical manifestation would change from time to time. Her skin might be golden, mahogony, reddish, or ivory, and her eyes might be sky-blue, forest green, almond-shaped, or of darkest amber or honey. her eyes of shining emeralds, and ruby red plump lips. She occasionally wore ruby gemstones in her hair.

Personality

Sune is a benevolent goddess that abhors the destruction of beauty. She thrives on the tenderest of emotions and truly loves and protects her followers, reserving her deepest love for the mortals who revere her. She is also one of the most vain entities in the cosmos, enjoying attention and sincere flattery while avoiding the horrific and boorish.

The sometimes whimsical Princess of Passion alternates between deep passion and casual flirtation with others. When she is truly interested in a person or god, she wholeheartedly believes in these deep-seated feelings, but though she is one of the most passionate beings in existence, her focus lasts only a short time (as long as the subject continues to be enticing) before she loses interest and moves on.

Divine Realm

Sune shares a realm with various other goddesses, originally with just Tymora and Lliira, but later expanding the group to include Sharess and Waukeen. That realm is Brightwater, located in the outer plane of Arborea in the Great Wheel cosmology and a plane of its own in the World Axis cosmology. Brightwater is a well-settled realm devoted to beauty, among other things, all of which shine from every face and building; constant entertaining activities go on in Brightwater, and it is no less glamorous than Arvandor for its civilization.

Brightwater is structured like a Material Plane city into wards or sectors, each a divine realm, with Waukeen's in the middle and the others arranged around it, and Sune's realm is known as the Heartfire Quarter. Smaller, quieter, and much more private than most of Brightwater's other locales, the Heartfire Quarter consists of small rooms and hidden courtyards, the night air filled with the aromas of incense and candle-light. The outer reaches are lined with festhalls, matchmaker shops and inns for young couples, and every street is marked with a monument to love's triumphs.

Though devoted to the ideals of love, it is not without its dangers. Most paths are unexplored and crimes of passion are common, as are rumors (never proven) of succubi and incubi infiltrators. The only ones willing to dare the inner precincts are the stout of heart and petitioners seeking to merge with the goddess, the winding streets near the center said to destroy some forever and merge others into the realm.

The Heartfire Quarter stands juxtaposed to Lliira's Quarter of Orange Lanterns, both geographically (being separated by Sharess's realm of Rapture) and philosophically. It is deeper than Lliira's domain of constant celebrations, a realm of beauty inhabited by those wanting more than just a party. It is a place of quiet mysteries whose contemplative denizens, drawn in by Sune's secretive smile, seek something beyond material gratification and even love. It is unclear what awaits those drawn to the center of the realm, often the adventuring sort who come after the delights of the other realms dim, but it is known what they seek: serenity, bliss, perfection and true passion.

During the Spellplague, Sune moves Brightwater to Selune's realm, the Gates of the Moon. Most of the other goddesses join her in her romantic city, though Tymora has her own area within the Gates known as the Great Wheel and Waukeen's Marketplace Eternal moves to Amaunator's realm.

Worshippers

Sune's clerics sought to bring beauty to the world in many forms, all of which were pleasing to the senses. They created great works of art, became patrons for promising actors, and imported exotic luxuries like satin and fine wines. Her followers also enjoyed looking beautiful, and hearing tales of romance. The stories ranged from star-crossed love, true love overcoming all else, to following one's heart. The negative aspects of love, as would be expected, were downplayed and kept from public view in the interest of making the faith welcoming for all.

Her temples usually held social salons and displayed mirrors for use by lay parishioners. Some of them even had public baths for the local populace. Her shrines often stood on the corner of busy city streets. They would have a small ornate overhanging roof with a mirror underneath. They were used to check one's appearance while honoring Sune with prayer. Some shrines even held perfume and cosmetic items for those who could not afford such luxuries themselves.

Dogma

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Church_of_Sune

Clergy

Orders

Sisters and Brothers of the Ruby Rose: A knightly order affiliated with the Church of Sune, made up of bards, fighters, and paladins. Their primary mission was to guard Sunite temples and holy sites, and occasionally accompany clerics doing good works or questing for something important to the Lady of Love. Initiation into the order was done by standing vigil in a temple of Sune for an entire night. If the goddess showed her favor by granting a vision or some other boon, the candidate was accepted into the order.

Relationships

Sune had been romantically linked with many members of the Faerunian pantheon in the many myths of the realms; for example she was said to have been smitten with Torm for his actions during the Time of Troubles, and many deities, including Torm himself as well as Amaunator, had become smitten with her in turn. In regards to such matters, the Lady of Love was silmultaneously distant and flirtatious.

Sune was served by both Lliira and Sharess and allies with Milil, Lathander, and Selune, the latter of which was also a servant of Lady Firehair in the past before going her own way, though they were still extremely friendly and cooperative. She also gave her aid to Mystra in her struggle against Shar and the Shadow Weave, for she had earned the service of Sharess when she saved the demipower from being subsumed by Shar, and as such was considered an enemy by the Nightbringer.

By her nature, it was difficult for any being to be angry at Sune for long, and so the goddess had no true enemies. Those foes she did have included the Gods of Fury, whose functions destroyed many beautiful things both living and non-living. She helped to limited the destruction caused by the rages of their leader Talos, and was envied by the Bitch Queen Umberlee for her beauty. She also had no love for Talona goddess of disease, or Tempus, the god of battle, on similar grounds, although the latter considered her too flighty and irrelevant to be worth the conflict or even disliking.

Outside of the Realms, Sune was considered a "backwater power with delusions of grandeur" by her deific peers, such as Freya, Aphrodite and Hanali Celanil, but otherwise they got on well together - Sune of course, believing that she was the most beautiful of all of them.

History

Sune's history was mostly told in myth regarding her various romances and flirtations with other gods. Tales existed of her relationships with practically every god except Talos, Umberlee, Malar, Auril, Tempus, and Talona, whom Sune abhorred for their acts of destruction.

During the Time of Troubles, Sune rescued Sharess from death at the hands of Shar and restored the corrupted deity to her original state before Shar's influence affected her.

During the Spellplague, Sune's plane of Brightwater was destroyed, but Selûne invited Sune and her exarchs to join her in the Gates of the Moon. During this period of transition, it was revealed that many lesser powers of love in the Realms, most notably Hanali Celanil, were all aspects of Sune. Sune, along with Tyr and Lathander was one of the triumvirate of deities who declared that Cyric should be imprisoned for the apparent death of Mystra.

Sune

Greater deity

Basic Information

Titles

Firehair
Lady Firehair
The Lady of Love
Goddess of Love
Goddess of Beauty and Love
Beautiful One
The Fickle and the Beautiful
The Princess of Passion

Adjectives

Sunite

Pantheons

Astoran

Served By

Lliira

Attributes

Alignment

Chaotic Good

Symbol

The face of a red-haired, ivory-skinned beautiful woman

Realm

Olympian Glades of Arborea/Olympus/Brightwater/Heartfire Quarter

Portfolio

Beauty, Love, Passion

Favored Weapon

A silken sash (whip)

Following

Worshippers

Aesthetes
Hedonists
Romantics
Some Sun Soul monks

Alignments

LG, NG, CG, CN

Domains

Chaos (Revelry)
Charm (Captivation, Love, Lust)
Community (Family)
Glory (Hubris)
Good (-)