Bir-Tarha (Beer-tar-Ha)
The Protector of Love
The deity of Marriage, Love, and Protection, Bir-Tarha was once two separate creatures, a djinn named Langi and a shaitan named Dunya. They worked as servants in the realms of the Elemental Lords Yai and Yea, but one day came across each other while traveling the outer reaches of the World Tree. Fascinated with each other, they began to meet in secret, and eventually fell in love. But they when they revealed their love publicly, they were shunned and accused of being spies for the others court. Disheartened, they decided to flee to the mortal realm, and after arriving performed a ceremony with the promise to always remain together. This was the worlds first act of marriage, and the event fused the two into one creature, elevating them to godhood and forming Bir-Tarha.
Divine Domains
Bir-Tarha hold purview over love and marriage, and thus grants blessings primarily though marriage ceremonies. They are also a god of protection, helping to aid newly weds and shield love ones from harm.
Clerics and other divine followers of Bir-Tarha are granted the powers of the Charm, Community, Good, Liberation, and Protection domains, as well as acesses to the Cooperation, Defense, Family, Friendship, Love, Lust, Purity, and Self-Realization subdomains.
Artifacts
Bir-Tarha's weapon is set of chain hammers known as Unbreakable Bond. It is said that the impact from its strikes can show visions of a soulmate, or curse the creature struck to never find their true love. Many state that the hammers are tied to Bir-Tarha in ways unknown, and that the hammers can't ever be destroyed or lost.
Holy Books & Codes
Bir-Tarha's holy book is known as What is Love?, a book that describes the origins of Langi and Dunya and how the fell for each other. It holds details on how to perform the marriage rites of many different cultures, as well as ways to help overcome prejudice and methods to help defend communities from harm.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Bir-Tarha's holy symbol is usually depicted as stone and wind intertwining to form a taijitu, but has many local variants, all of which involve two things coming together. A common variant is a pair of hands grasping each other lovingly.
Tenets of Faith
Bir-Tarha expects her followers to promote love, acceptance, and equality throughout the world, and thus encourages their followers to utilize nonviolent methods to achieve their goals.
The holy cod of Bir-Tarha is as follows:
I will protect those I care about with all my might. I will give people something to believe in.
Love is the greatest force in the universe, every action I take will further the amount of love to be had.
I will accept that all creatures have a right to live and to express themselves as they choose. I will only step in when that expression threatens the life, love, or expressions of others.
I will live my life honestly and openly. I will only lie to protect those under my care.
My love is sacred to me, and I will not tarnish it with lies or adultery.
I recognize that love is a two-way street. I cannot walk it alone. I must work with my partner to bring out the best of both of us.
Holidays
The followers of Bir-Tarha celebrate wedding anniversaries, as well as several major holidays.
Declaration Day: Set on the 21st of Amara, it is celebrated as the day that Langi and Dunya fled from the divine realms and traveled to the mortal realm to be together. It is a day to announce hidden things, such as one's love for another, the conception of a child, or other important news.
Fusion Day: Set on the 4th of Ura, it is the day of the wedding of Lani and Dunya, and their fusion into Bir-Tarha. It is considered extremally lucky to hold a marriage on this day (although booking any marriage priests on this day is incredibly difficult). Spouses on this day often spend the entire day together, and often use this time to renew their wedding vows.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Bir-Tarha only seeks to further the amount of love in the world, so that others may experience the same joy that they have. Thusly, they spend little time planning and working grand schemes against other gods, instead focusing their energy on granting blessings over marriage and combating the more sinister forces of the world who would defile sacred bonds.
Mental characteristics
Gender Identity
Due to being a fusion of a male and a female creature, Bir-Tarha doesn't identify with strongly with either gender, instead using "they" and "we".
Taboos
Adultry is a heinous act in the eyes of Bir-Tarha, but no act is more vile than rape to them, as if goes against everything love and a willing union stand against.
Social
Contacts & Relations
The herald of Bir-Tarha is an elemental fusion known as Ahli-Kii. A pair of positive and negative energy elementals who were stranded in the mortal world by the Sundering, they found each other, and decided to put asides their hatred for one another to attempt to find a way home. Eventually, the pair fell into a form of love, and Bir-Tarha used their power to fuse the two together and elevating them to herald status.
Her servitor race are known as Savidal Agathions, a type of agathion from the soul of two lovers. Theses agathions have twin snake-like heads, each with distinct personalities and equal control over their body. They often work as counselors between feuding mortals, and prefer to avoid direct combat.
Bir-Tarha, or more specifically, their in-tangent parts, Langi and Dunya, are members of the deific group known as the Thirteen Star-Bearers, whose likeness makes up some of the major constant constellations. Together, the two depict the third constellation, known as the Newlyweds, symbols of devotion and love.
The Collective One frightens Bir-Tarha, as its collective warps what they view unity and harmony to be, and it attracts those who might otherwise find redemption in their church.
it is believed that the sacred song known as The Llanor was played at the marriage of Langi and Dunya, and thus some followers attempt to seek out and learn certain verses of it.
As dual creatures fated together, the twin deities Shi & Ihs are viewed positively by Bir-Tarha.
Bir-Tarha is a close friends with Mip the Halfling goddess of festival's, as many marriages are festive in nature, as well as with the Tengu goddess Arunti and the nekaon goddess Bast, as they share the domains of Love and Protection respectivly.
Bir-Tarha vows to one day repair the marriage of gnomish gods Axiush and Guzmeg, despite neither of them actively seeking their help in the matter.
Bir-Tarha greatly respects Tathallion, the god of knights, for following the codes of chivalry, as it often aligns with protecting others and spreading love throughout the world.
Bir-Tarha dislikes Asmodeus, as they see his use of contracts to force others to do his bidding, and the tendency of his followers to arrange unwilling marriages as a perversion of what love should be. They absolutely despise the orcish god Rozma, and the Titans Menoti, and Teth. Rozma for the acts of brutality that his orcish followers inflict on their victims, Menoti for his attempted rape of the demigod Eve. They hate Teth for her act of forever splitting the earth and sky, preventing others of their kind from following their path of finding love between the two. Ogbane is considered her personal rival, as many women who fail in finding love turn to Ogbane to instead spread hate.
Bir-Tarha is close friends with Leoaton, the Celestial Paragon of Diplomacy, as they both prefer to talk rather than fight, as well as with Hazerial, the Paragon of Healing, as they share an interest in preventing harm.
Family Ties
While not directly descended, both Langi and Dunya are creations of the Elemental Lords Yai and Yea, and thus Bir-Tarha views them as sort of distant grandparent figures, although they have their issues with both of them. Bir-Tarha dislikes Yai's strict codes and controlling nature, believing that she doesn't allow love to bloom naturally. While they view Yea more favorably, they are disappointed with Yea's stubborn ways and lack of commitment, feeling that Yea could find more happiness if they would have a more open mind.
Bir-Tarha is the mother of Ra, the Tengu god of the sky, and Ra holds great respect for their attention to ceremonies. Unfortunately Ra takes more after his father and Yai and thus is much more strict, which is a point of contention with Bir-Tarha, who fears that Ra will not find true love in this manner.
Speech
Since Bir-Tarha is the fusion of two beings, they never refer to themselves in the first person, instead using "we" a majority of the time.
Relationships
Divine Classification
Main Pantheon Deity
Alignment
Neutral Good
Date of Birth
4th of Ura, 888 AC
Year of Birth
888
3215 Years old
Spouses
Hunginn
(spouse)
Siblings
Children
Current Residence
Fields of Bliss
Pronouns
They/Them
Gender
Other
Eyes
Pupiless
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Light Purple
Height
21' 5", but can change size at will
Quotes & Catchphrases
I Will Fight for a Place to Be Free: The saying shows a commitment to fight for the freedom to fight for acceptance, either for the love of a partner, or just for freedom from discrimination.
(May I) Take A Moment: This phrase is said in multiple ways; it is often said to outsiders to ask for permission to speak, often to bring up points and advice on abandoning toxic tendencies. When said to others in the church, it is often a remainder to someone who is upset to take a step back, remind themselves of the love of their god, and regain their composure.
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
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