Beory (bay-OH-ree)

The Oerth Mother

Oerth, Nature, Rain

Greater Goddess, Neutral

Aliases: Geshtai (Bakluni)
Home: Plane of Concordant Opposition
Domain Name: The Wildlands
Origin: Flannish
Superior: None
Allies: Rao, Pelor, Corellon, Moradin, Boccob
Enemies: Tharizdun, the Elder Elemental God, Nerull
Symbol: Green disk marked with a circle or a rotund woman figurine
Core/Common Worshippers: Flan, druids
Worshipper’s Alignment: Neutral
Beory is commonly depicted as a rotund, middle-aged, motherly woman with brown hair and weathered skin. However, the Goddess of nature, rain, and the very Oerth itself is seen as a process rather than a being by learned folk, and she is considered very distant by the common folk. The worldly doings of humans, demihumans, and their kindred are of almost no concern to Beory. Only events which affect the integrity of Oerth as an entity concern her.
Depending on the teller, Beory is either the wife of Obad-hai (The Shalm), or his mother. She represents the feminine side of nature, the nurturer, the caregiver, the giver of life. She presides over all aspects of nature, the forests, the meadows, the mountains, and the seas. Disasters, both natural and unnatural, are grievous events to Beory and she mourns the loss of all who have fallen victim to these disasters, though she may do nothing to prevent them.
Beory formed the Oerth in the eternal darkness of Tharizdun. Other deities began to populate the world with their children; dragons, elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, and men. Pelor, the sun god, saw the beauty of Oerth and desired to shine his light onto the world, driving Tharizdun away, but Tharizdun did not stop his machinations and attempted to make slaves of Beory’s children, the Flan. Beory and her allies, Pelor, Corellon Larethian of the elves, Yondalla of the halflings, Garl Glittergold of the gnomes, Nerull the Reaper, Incabulos The Bringer of Plagues, Wee Jas the Suloise death goddess, Kord the Brawler, and Moradin of the dwarves combined their might to entrap Tharizdun and imprison him in the heart of the sun, oh so the stories say.
Other tales say that Beory had two husbands - the brothers Pelor - The Radiant Force (Sun, Light/Day) and Nerull - The Reaper (Death, Dark/Night). Although she desired to take Pelor as her husband, because he rescued her from the Eternal Darkness, Beory could not wed him without inciting the jealousy of his brother Nerull. To prevent the two from killing each other, she married both, hoping to achieve a peaceful balance between the brothers. Her only stipulation was that she would not bear children for Nerull. The brothers agreed and thus Beory began her eternal wedding dance, dividing her time between Pelor and Nerull. To the Flannae this represents the eternal cycle of night and day.
After a time, Beory and Pelor begat Rao, Berei, Allitur, Zodal, Obad-hai - The Shalm, and all living plants and animals of Oerth, including the Flan peoples. Using trickery, Nerull sired two daughters by Beory, Luna (The Mistress, The Great Moon) and Celene (The Handmaiden, the smaller, bluish moon).
But it was not only Tharizdun who was after her children. The Elder Elemental God also tried to corrupt her children and turn them towards the worship of the darker elemental powers, completely against Beory’s desires. Beory, using the Staff of Galithere, turned the Elder Elemental God into stone, then shattered him into a thousand pieces and scattered the pieces across the Oerth.
Regardless of the myths surrounding Beory, she is the mother of the world. She is not a goddess who demands garish temples or wooden churches. She prefers to be acknowledged wherever her followers can, be it a shrine in a forest, or even a shrine dedicated to her in a city.

The Church

The followers of Beory do not build churches or tend to have services in buildings. They prefer to hold whatever services they may have outdoors, preferably in a grove or a forest. They pay their respects by giving offerings to Beory and pray in supplication to her.
The worship and teachings of Beory are the central pillar of The Old Faith.
In addition, while the druids of Beory are loosely organized, they do maintain many of the power positionswithin the druidic circles, including many Great Druids and Hierophants. (Druids of Obad-hai also control many power positions within the druidic circles, and this angers many followers of other druidic deities, as they feel they are not being heard and being shut out of the decision making process.)

Dogma

The Order of the Oerth Mother druids are a sect that can be found in any location, in the fields, in the forests, or in the mountains. These druids are concerned with life and care for the world and the creatures in it. They do not get militant like some other orders do.
The basic tenets of the Old Faith of Beory are as follows:

• Use, do not destroy
• Live in harmony with nature
• If wood is needed from the forests, make sure new trees are seeded or planted to ensure the forests are sustained
• Hunt for survival, not for sport
• Do not poison the Oerth

Followers of Beory view nature as a balancing force that will, in the end, take care of itself. Disasters, while Beory and her followers mourn the loss of life that come swith such disasters, view these as necessary cycles, part of the birth, life, death, rebirth cycle. Naturally occuring forest fires, for example, are a cleansing cycle that nature is cleansing the old and making way for the new. Fires created by magic or arson, or even magic that disrupts the natural weather patterns are to be combatted and those perpretrating such acts should be opposed when those responsible are known.
Beory's druids do more than just watch over nature. They watch over the people who live in the countryside and feed themselves on farms, or are hunters, or rely on the land to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves. They do their best to guide these people in the ways of living in harmony with nature and not pillage the land.
Druids of Beory tend to be on very good terms with the various elven nations, forest gnomes, and halflings as well as the fairy creatures who dwell in the wildlands.

Beory's Priests

Druid, Shaman, Ranger
Beory has very few actual priests; the "clergy" consists primarily of druids (though they do not have the Charisma requirement of other druids).
Druids of Beory are contemplative communers with nature, using their skills to avoid any change of the natural balance. They are conservative, cautious folk, loath to take incisive actions. Many are solitary, and the druidship has little organization, but this does not mean they are not important to the overall leadership of the druids of Oerth. The majority of the druids of Beory are female.

Requirements to become a druid

Ability Scores: Wis 16
Alignment: Neutral
Weapons: as druid
Armor: leather
Raiments: green, brown, or gray plain robe;
Spheres: Animal, Charm*, Divination, Elemental (all*), Guardian*, Healing, Plant, Protection*, Summoning*, Sun, Weather;
*Minor Access
Powers: as druids
Turn Undead: No
Command Undead: No
All druids, shamans, and rangers of Beory are immune to all poisons found in plants and mushrooms.
Elemental spells cannot be drawn from the fire sphere, but may be drawn from all other elements.
Bonus Non-weapon Proficiencies: Herbalism
Beory's followers come from folks of all races who have a deep love for the land and appreciation of natural ways and balances, even if they are unable to become druids themselves. They realize that all forces form the natural balances and ongoing cycles of the world. Even the elves recognize the importance of the nature deities who are outside their own pantheon.
The percentage breakdown of druids to shamans to rangers is about 80%, 15%, and 5%. The rangers who follow Beory tend to be neutral good in alignment, and do not not necessarily look at the balancing forces of nature, but the forces are designed for the good of the world as a whole.

Day to Day Activities

The duties of Beory's druids are many and varied. Their primary concern is the welfare of Oerth. Often they will travel through their lands trying to attune themselves to nature. By doing this, it alerts them to any potential threats to the natural world. The druids have eyes and ears everywhere, in the plants, the animals, and in the fairy creatures of the world. In this way, the druids are able to discover things like the threat of unnatural or deliberate fires threatening the forests, weather patterns that seem odd, and even armies moving through the land. Beory's druids are the stewards of the land, dedicated to taking care of it so all life can flourish.
The other duty of the druids (as well as shamans) is to watch over Beory's chosen, the Flan. Often a mid level druid will take residence in a small community to watch over the faithful, and guide them in the best ways to sustain liveability of the Oerth.

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies

Holy Days are the Spring Equinox and the Winter Solstice.

Major Centers of Worship

There are no major areas where the worship of Beory is concentrated. The druids and worshippers are spread throughout all of the Flanaess, even within cities, but the Order has no formal church organization.

Affiliated Orders

There are no knightly organizations associated with the Old Faith.

Priestly Vestments

Adventuring Garb

Additional Spells

1st Level - Precipitation (Istishia - Faiths & Avatars)
3rd level - Cloudburst (Istishia - Faiths & Avatars)