The Three Sisters

The Three Sisters are most often worshiped in a joint temple, called a triad. Some small shrines or chapels are dedicated to just one sister, but large temples always have three altars: one for each goddess. The clergy and holy warriors of the Three Sisters travel widely and pursue duties away from the triad. Thus, a peculiar power structure rules their faiths. The ruling cleric of a triad may follow one of the Sisters, but in her role as overseer, becomes a representative of all three goddesses.   This goddess’ three holy orders have been bound together for as long as the Three Sisters themselves, who awoke on the bank of a mythic river (theologians dispute its name and location) as siblings and boon companions from their first divine breaths. They squabble like all gods, but help each other in adventures across Creation, and in serving it through their holy purviews. The Sisters’ awakening, and their eastward journey across the world, rests at the heart of triad philosophy. It’s a spiritual mystery that inspires the triad’s shared holy order: The Unity.   Triads are homes to the three faiths of the Sisters, each of which sets its own outlook and holy orders. Most triad visitors seek blessings from just one goddess. Nevertheless, each of the Sisters represents familial unity and cooperation and their clerics never omit mention of this, even while serving individual goddesses’ altars. Triad tapestries depict 3,333 tales of the Sisters’ journey to the East. Each represents one story, so triads constantly rustle as wind and passers-by disturb the many, many flowing tapestries. The triad uses three intersecting rings as its symbol, arrayed in a triangle with one circle above the others. (At altars to individual sisters, the top circle is that of the relevant goddess; at places of collective worship, the sign is often designed to be spun in prayer, so no goddess is preeminent.)   Each ring represents one of the Sisters’ crowns: a red circle for Canelle, a black circle for Naryne, and a gold circle for Thellyne. Every altar in a triad features this symbol, inscribed alongside with the sign of the Sister the altar honors.