Canelle (cuh-NELL)

Goddess of Victory and Strength

Canelle is the goddess of victory, athletics, competition, raw physical strength, glory, running, games, athletes, and competitors. She is associated with swift horses and the hippogriff, which is both swift horse and soaring eagle. No finer beast lives to symbolize victory.
All mortal races play sports and games, and therefore all have some reverence for Canelle. However, most of her worshipers are humans, who have an obsession with sport. Anyone in need of victory, including in battle, might invoke her name. Thus, she is often mentioned in prayers along with Terak. Fighters, barbarians, rogues, and others who make their way by physical prowess tend to worship her, and it is rare to see those who follow more cerebral pursuits, such as wizards, espouse faith in Canelle.
Canelle is depicted as a very tall woman (though a little shorter than Naryne) with perfect musculature. She is usually shown wearing a steel breastplate, or garb appropriate for a sport popular with the artist’s culture— perhaps wrestling, running, jousting, or chariot racing. Indeed, she is often shown behind the reigns of a chariot with four snorting chargers rearing up, about to leap into a full gallop. In all portrayals, she has red hair and often wears some item of red clothing too, for she is the Red Sister. On her brow, she wears a wreath made of leaves—usually laurel, holly, or another thick, waxy leaf that holds its shape well. This is the symbol of athletic victory because, like such victories, crowns of leaves are impermanent, and their value is purely one of honor.
As with her sisters, Canelle is represented by a crown. Hers is a wreath of leaves. Members of her clergy wear such wreaths on their brows, or around their necks. This might be ostentatious if the cleric in question isn’t a great athlete, but most of them are. The wreath is rarely simplified, as such symbols are easy to draw, or make out of local materials, but if necessary, it can be drawn as the bottom half of a circle or a low-slung arc, with four dots representing leaves. This might be used on weapon pommels and other small items.

Divine Domains

• Confidence
• Might
• Perfection
• Zeal

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Triumph of the Individual

Canelle and Terak both revere strength and physical prowess, but where Terak puts his faith in the strength of united effort, for the preservation of society and law, Canelle believes the greatest good is accomplished through individual effort. She is wholly individualistic, often arguing with her sister Naryne that promoting law and nobility robs individuals of the ability to achieve their best. All people must be free to pursue their own path to personal perfection. If achieved, it leads to goodness, for the individual becomes self-reliant, and can find joy purely through their own efforts. Canelle finds most lawful gods arrogant, wanting to impose their laws and orders on people, encouraging them to be weak, for if you offer someone protection long enough, he loses all incentive to earn his own strength. 
When interacting with mortals, Canelle values bold physical action over cunning or calculation. She loves the competitive spirit, where athletes and other rivals spur each other to greater heights, no matter who wins. She cannot abide those who desire victory at any cost, however. Those who cheat or ruin others for their own glory earn her deepest animosity. She has little tolerance for weakness, but understands that some people cannot gain the kind of strength she loves. She despises malevolence, considering it the deepest sort of weakness, so even the slow, clumsy weak people gain her esteem when they demonstrate honor, seeking victory without weakening others, and strength of character, which gives people the power to endure hardship.

Servants

As the most self-reliant of the gods, Canelle has no servants in Heaven, and considers the need for such a sign of weakness. She does, however, rely on the archangel Camael, as other gods do, to ensure she hears prayers. Although she has no servants, she does raise horses; her limitless stables hold the greatest steeds in existence. There are legends of Canelle giving one of her celestial steeds to a particularly devout follower. While there are too many of these horses to name, they are all keenly intelligent, strong, and swifter than the wind. Canelle’s most faithful servants find themselves elevated to grooms in her stables after their death.

Divine Classification

God

Religions

• The Church of the Red Sister
• The Three Sisters

Realm

Seven Heavens

Church/Cult

The Church of the Red Sister

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Tall, Swift, Fleet-footed, Triumphant, the Victorious, the Red Sister, the Runner of Heaven, the Arm