Pelor
The cornerstone of any civilization is its ability to grow one's own food. Pelor guides those who seek to grow and cultivate the foods of their people.
As a young man, Pelor knew only the hardships of living. While the world moved forward, the basic necessities of life stayed stagnate. Food was difficult to procure and taxing on both the body and mind. Days droned on and time was lost on Pelor. Every day he wondered when things would change and if there was a better way. Pelor would spend the day in his family's farm, toiling in the dirt to provide enough for them to both eat and sell to last the winter. It was hard work and the risks of failure where to high to just quit. Still, Pelor wondered in they could make things better. What he did not know, however, was that his chance to find out would soon arise.
In the winter of his twentieth birthday, famine hit the village hard and many people died. Of those who perished were Pelor’s family themselves. First to go where his younger siblings, the grip of sickness unyielding on their poor bodies. His parents tried as hard as they could, but they were not holy men and women, and failed to save them. They grew weary and eventually starved to death wasted in grief. Pelor was the only one who survived, barely. His body was gaunt and thin, the skin around his face and ribs all but revealing his skeletal figure. As winter passed, Pelor began to formulate a plan. He could no longer afford simply toil in the dirt, but instead needed to fix the world itself.
His first goal was to create a more efficient way of farming. The soil was weak and barely provided what was needed. It was here he would begin his great experiment. While he kept a single field that would yield his food, he set aside the rest of the fields to work in. The first thing he did was to grow one of each crop in the fields and see what they yielded. By the time they grew, he took note of a few things. While wheat and corn failed to grow in large enough quantities, soy grew in abundance. Pelor did not know why, but in the next year, he tried again. This time he swapped the fields, the wheat and corn in the soybean field and the soy in the wheat fields. This caused an explosion of growth, for both crop rotations, and Pelor noted this extensively. For years, he kept this up, changing only minor things here and there. He learned of crop rotation and from this was able to save both money and time.
For years, Pelor studied the soil and crops. Each year that passed revealed more and more of the world around him. From the animals in the fields that protected the crops, to the times of year best suited for growing. His work caught the attention of many, and soon others began to follow in his work. By the time Pelor was in his mid life, he had taken agriculture to new heights, saving countless lives in the process. He wrote books and published his findings, and soon his work spread across the known world. It was not long before people began to speak of “The Great Saint.” Many villagers from all over the world would take trips to see his farm and learn from him first hand.
On the eve of his death, Pelor was visited in a dream. Moradine found him, aged and content. She spoke to him for what felt like days, showing him the effects of his work. She showed him a world in which he did not do his work. It was dark, people starving and dying of illness all over. Then she showed him what his work had brought about. His farming methods allowed farms to flourish, lessening the amount of people who needed to toil in the dirt. This allowed many to pursue different avenues, such and black smithing and alchemy. This allowed people to create new tools that built grand cities and cures for ailments that had gone untreated for so long. His work not only changed farming, but changed the very lives of the people of the world. A smile spread across his face and that night passed peacefully.
Pelor opened his eyes, expecting to find himself in the heavens, but instead found himself in a grand hall. In front of him sat Moradine, along with many of the other Grand Gods. Moradine spoke first, “Pelor, your work has brought about change across the world. Your methods have improved lives and allowed the world I created to flourish. We Gods of the Grand Pantheon have spoken amongst ourselves, and have decided to allow you to ascend. Should you accept, you will oversee the worlds farms and crops as the God of Agriculture. What do you say young Pelor, will you join us.”
Pelor jumped at the opportunity, as the world he helped to build he would get to safeguard. His ascension was grand, and the world rejoiced at the news that Pelor had found a seat upon the council of Grand Gods.
Now Pelor spends his days, watching over the farms of the world, studying new techniques to aid in the growing of crops and those who pursue agriculture.
Comments