Numenar
Description
Numenar is the patron god of Gnomes, and self proclaimed ruler of Celestia. Numenar is composed of three gods, referred to as The Divine Trio: The Lord, The Child, and The Sacred Blessing. These members of the Trio are separate entities from eachother, but are still are still Numenar. The Lord is not The Child, The Child is not The Sacred Blessing, and The Sacred Blessing is not The Lord, but each and all are Numenar. Much like a coin which has two sides, it can be heads or tails, but is always the coin. Numenar The Lord is said to be the rightful ruler of Orentia, its gods, and the other planes. He rules from Paradiso, which he declares to be the once and future throne of Celestia. When he took his throne, he laid out a code of a dozen commandments for his servants and followers to obey. These commandments form the foundation of Numenar's worship. While few other gods recognize the legitimacy of this claim, The Lord, The Orcish gods, and INSERT agree in their predictions of a coming apocalypse, referred to by Numenarians as The Reckoning. When The Reckoning comes The Lord has declared that Numenar will gather all those souls, living or dead, who were loyal subjects of The Lord and bring them to Paradiso where they will be protected from the ruination of the world. Then, the world will be remade into a paradise in which The Lord has taken his rightful place as ruler and his subjects will inherit the world. Numenar The Child was first born onto the mortal plane as a Gnome hundreds of years ago, begat by Numenar to two shepherds. She is frequently referred to by her birth name: Merideth. She spread the power and worship of Numenar throughout her life before she was betrayed by one of her followers. At the last moment, her betrayer refosed to kill her, but she fell on his sword to save him. The king who ordered her death buried her body beneath the stones of his castle, and after several days she rose from her crypt and ascended to the celestial plane. Upon her ascenscion she promised that she would forgive any mortal who asked it of her, and this promise of redemption has become the basis of her worship. Numenar The Sacred Blessing is the manifestation of Numenar's will. While The Lord rules from Celestia and The Child acted as Numenar's representative on Orentia, The Sacred Blessing is the medium by which Numenar acts upon the world. It can be concieved as an invisible, surrounding force representing Numenar's ever-present love, power, and judgement. When Numenar enacts divine miracles upon Orentia, it is The Sacred Blessing that acts. Every Auratian church, prayer, and symbol of Numenar is suffused with The Sacred Blessing, and in regards to Numenar it is the source of all things divine in the mortal realm.Appearance
Each member of The Divine Trio is distinct in appearance and voice, though their proper depiction is, as with many things about Numenar, a point of contention between Auratian and Reformationist worshipers. Numenar The Lord appears as an aged, paternal Gnome with golden eyes. He stands around a dozen feet high, and wears grand robes of white and gold. His hair is white and grey, his skin is pale, and he has a large, bushy beard. He wears a stern expression and around his head sits a triangular halo of light. Numenar sits atop the Throne of Heaven in his realm of Paradiso in Celestia, and never leaves Celestia to appear on the mortal plane or any other. Instead, when Numenar The Lord makes his will manifest in Orentia, it is either through angels who carry out his will or in the form of fire or light. Numenar The Child once lived as a mortal Gnomish woman on Orentia, and her appearance reflects this. She is a handsome, meek looking Gnomish woman who is three feet and three inches tall. She has long, brown hair that matches her dark brown eyes. She is barefoot and wears a kind smile and simple robes of red and brown. She wears a halo of light about her head and bears the Sacred Wound, an open stab wound above her left breast where her heart was pierced by the Sword of Leviticus. It is always visible, either because her robes is pulled down just far enough to reveal it, or because its blood has soaked through her garments. Numenar The Sacred Blessing is an abstract manifestation of Numenar's power, beauty, and love. As such, The Sacred Blessing does not speak or take a humanoid form and instead appears as a symbol or visual metaphor. The sacred blessing frequently takes the form of white birds like doves, swans, or pellicans, and has also been seen taking the form of fish, horses, and dogs. The Sacred Blessing may also appear as an abstract image, such as a cloud More often however, The Sacred Blessing manifests visually in light surrounding the object of its blessings or the divine miracles it creates. Many clerics of Numenar study the recorded physical manifestations of The Sacred Blessing in order to recognize it by its when it manifests.Personality
Each member of The Divine Trio is distinct in their consciousness, and while they cooperate and act as the single entity Numenar, they do not share their thoughts or experiences as some other gods with multiple aspects do. Numenar The Lord is stern and inflexible, and is a demanding, almost paternal figure. He acts as absolute ruler of Orentia (though his influence is mostly centered on Gnomekind due to the influence of other gods in other spheres) and his commands are absolute. He flatly rewards those who obey him, and punishes those that do not by any degree. He intercedes in mortal affairs only to enforce his rule and smite transgressors of his commandments. He appreciates righteous deeds and codes of law, and disdains those who disrespect authority. He is frustrated by mortals who knowingly disobey him, and relies on his daughter The Child in matters of mercy and understanding. Numenar The Child is gentle and kind. Her life as a mortal granted her tremendous empathy for and kinship with Gnomes and other mortal beings. She is often compared to a shepherd and her worshipers her flock. She is compassionate in the extreme, willing to absolve even the most evil of people who come to her asking for a second or third or hundredth chance. She regularly returns to the mortal plane to heal the sick and feed the hungry, always looking for an opportunity to aid the weak and downtrodden. She is proud of those who repent their mistakes and work to be better, and loves communities who work together to support eachother. She has little patience for the greedy and dishonest and leaves them to suffer the wrath of her father. Numenar The Sacred Blessing is generous and abiding. It envelops the virtuous servants of Numenar and fills them with his grace and power. It is the source of all Numenar's divine miracles and blessings.It is not independent from Numenar as The Lord and The Child are, and is best described as Numenar's will made manifest. It does not speak, and so cannot be said to have much of a personality. It is known however that it values and rewards charity, hospitality, and generosity, and acts of such virtues are frequently rewarded with its blessing.Worship
Worship of Numenar is near universal among Gnomes in Grand Peutia and beyond. As a god with absolute power over all of his subjects and theoretical authority over all other gods and domains, there are few things Numenar is not prayed to for or worshiped because of. Prayers to Numenar are frequently addressed to the member of The Divine Trio that is most relevant. Among Auratian worshipers, these prayers are given to an Auratian cleric or priest who then prays on their behalf to ensure that the prayer is heard by Numenar. The Auratian Church is central to the worship of Numenar. It is a massive, powerful theocratic organization in Peutia that takes its authority directly from Numenar himself - putting them on theologically equal footing with the Queen of Grand Peutia herself. The church controls religious worship across Grand Peutia and pushes the worship of Numenar above all other gods. Its members are a noble class highly educated in theology and are respected wherever they go for being a supposed direct line to Numenar himself. Its political power is on par with that of the crown, and it frequently wrestles with the royal court for control of the nation. Recently a schism has been made in the worship of Numenar as a large contingent of faithful calling themselves Reformationists, frustrated by what they saw as corruption and abuses of power in the Auratian Church, have decried the church's control over worship of Numenar and argue that through The Child's sacrifice the prayers of the common folk are just as likely to reach The Lord as an Auratian cleric's. This Reformationist movement grew in Peutia until it was declared heresy by the Auratian Church and violently suppressed by The Crown and its military. The Great Plagues saw a massive loss of face for the Auratian Church however, and Reformationist communities have quietly re-emerged along the edges of The Church's control ripe to be encouraged or manipulated by those seeking to disrupt the power of the Peutian Monarchy. Numenar himself sees no need to resolve this schism, as both sides continue to worship him and the consequenses of the divide are primarily political. Clerics of Numenar typically dedicate themselves to him through a member of The Divine Trio. Clerics of Numenar The Lord may serve as soldiers, barristers, or guards. They teach the value of obedience towards a higher power, and emphasize strict adherence to The Lord's commandments. Clerics of Numenar The Child often dress in the same humble manner as Merideth. They preach ideals of redemption, compassion, and rebirth and always carry healer's kits wherever they go. Clerics of Numenar The Sacred Blessing work at all levels of society organizing charity of all kinds. Their vestments use more pure white than other Numenarian clerics, and they carry parcels of money and food that they give to needy individuals they come across.The Lord: Gnomes, Power, Obedience
The Child: Gnomes, Healing, Redemption
The Sacred Blessing: Gnomes, Blessings, Generosity Domains
The Lord: Order
The Child: Life
The Sacred Blessing: Peace Favored Weapon Longsword
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