Birgitte, the Captain

"By acting on your true feelings you serve Birgitte. Your honesty, passion, and free will - these are outcries of prayer towards her glory, and she will reward you for them. She does not choose those she favors lightly. Count this as a blessing, young one."

Castellan Garog Vailoro, c. Vine Moon 1067 T.B.

Birgitte is the goddess of emotions, freedom, awareness, love, hate, action, raw power, self-reliance, hunting, war and the past. She is not a deity to be taken lightly - many Talish both East and West believe that she enacts her will onto the world in subversive yet tangible ways, striking hearts with love and also bringing to bear maladies of the spirit. She is one of the most powerful Divines, governing the emotions of the people personally. She is no creature of mercy and does not hold back. Her believers admire this aspect of her as a sort of practicality, but detractors find it this bestowment of such feelings as grief and loss to be unnecessarily torturous.
Many individual cults ranging from all over the continent have arisen around Birgitte, some choosing to live in states of singular emotional profiles while others attempt to act on all of their whims. She is a deity of the chaos of the world, the discordant rhythm of life that can create beautiful and terrible things. This exists in balance with Mac Rialor as a deity of order. Birgitte can be a great giver or destroyer, but lore ultimately characterizes her as a woman who acts to serve the people to the best of her ability despite moments of cruelty and suffering deemed as necessary. Suspicion marks Birgitte as a being unafraid to speak her mind. Individuals in the East who speak out of turn are often said to have their tongues caught by the Captain.

Divine Domains

Emotions, Freedom, and Awareness

As the deity governing emotions and even cited to be the origin of them, Birgitte is prayed to vehemently across Talamh. While Siobhan is said to bestow acceptance upon the people, Birgitte is the means to arriving at such an end. She sows the way with hardship but as a means to care for her people, to make them strong and more aware of themselves and the world around them. Birgitte-worship encourages emotional empathy and resonance between individuals that isn't always inherently sympathetic but instead places value on perspective and mutual understanding.
As the goddess of freedom, Birgitte's followers preach personal liberty as a virtue above all others. The ability to act on one's own morals and will is critical to the worldview of her devotees. While she does not encourage harming others to achieve one's own goals, religious texts claiming a mantra of 'By any means necessary' can be found in both East and West Talamh. This has resulted in a slight push to spurn her by the League of Clans, with fears of anarchy sometimes making themselves known no matter how unfounded they may be.

Love and Hate

Love and hate are two aspects of the world not necessarily in opposition. Multiple Old-Faith texts state that they can coexist and should be in flux always as a push and pull on the world. These are not mindless things, not mere 'feelings' - they are ways of life, codes of law, and binding creeds that are followed without question. While strong romantic love between individuals can be seen as her domain, it is more often love coming from devotion, duty, and debts that is under her purview. Conversely, hate coming from past events and cultural clashes is also ascribed to her. Some even blame her for ongoing tensions between East and West Talamh, but these critics are often merely attempting to assign blame somewhere else.

Action and Raw Power

In opposition to Mac Rialor, Birgitte is a goddess of action over reaction. She is a proactive deity, with worshippers believing that they need to act on the world in order to succeed. In conjunction with this, a great deal of raw power is often required to do so. This may be merely physical but is more often characterized as emotional, spiritual, and mental willpower to push through difficult times of chaos and come out stronger.

Hunting and War

Integral to Talish life and history, Birgitte as the deity of hunting and war does not preach senseless violence. She does, however, venerate conflict for good reason. Battles should not be fought over glory in her eyes, but over devotion, need, and liberty. Individuals under the boot of others cite Birgitte as a call to arms - she is treated as a benchmark of warfare for the right reasons. Some Birgitte cults believe the death resultant from war is not justified while others believe glory awaits those who die for the right reasons. Fringe cults instill the belief that people are only as good as their usefulness, but these sects primarily remain underground.

The Past

Birgitte is not a goddess of the temporal. As Owyn is the deity of continuity, Birgitte represents an emotional reverence of and connection to the culture of yesteryear. She is no artist's goddess, but holy texts claim that understanding and respecting those who came before is necessary to appease the Captain. While progress is made every generation, the feelings of the past should not fall to the wayside lest we are doomed to once again revel in their mistakes.

Symbols, Sites, and Iconography

Given that there are so many cults venerating Birgitte, her worship is not standardized despite the many attempts of The Spire. Instead, many holy texts penned by different authors exist outlining various philosophical and religious practices related to her veneration. Some of these texts even claim to be written by the deity herself, but these claims have not been corroborated by Eastern or Western theologians alike. People from all walks of life fall into these 'Huntress Cults', from warriors to priests to humble artisans.
Birgitte's most common symbols are that of the bow and arrow and the wolf. These icons are relatively ubiquitous to her. A silver she-wolf is often a representative actor of hers, with some even believing it may be one The Thralls of Birgitte. Other images include a golden hunting horn, hawks, and badgers. Plants important to her are ones that heighten emotions or hold great symbolism such as aphrodisiacs and stimulants used recreationally or for holy ceremony.

Godstone Birgitte

Standing at the edge of the world just on the southeasternmost point of East Talamh, Godstone Birgitte looks over the Cirith and Niniach Oceans and the Barrens beyond. The Godstone is generally marked to be where these waters meet and mix, as great colonies of sea life are often found on the rookeries below the Godstone's peninsular island. Pilgrimages made to the Godstone are often done individually, with delegations from the Spire visiting irregularly in larger parties. A notable line of stewards in service of Clan Faolchain constantly mans the Godstone as its protectors and keepers.
The Godstone is tall and slender, reaching roughly 130 feet in height. It is carved of a light gray rock infused with white and silver marbling, with certain elements of the rock giving off a bluish hue. Two great statues of Birgitte stand at the Godstone's feet beside a large dais. The carving itself depicts a tall woman with a wolf laying curled up at her feet. She has long curls cascading down her back and shoulders and is wearing what seems to be simpler riding clothes rather than any great vestments. In one hand she is grasping a single arrow and in the other hand her famed bow, an infamous relic currently held by The Spire. Her arms are wrapped in bandages and leather strips while feathers are knotted into her hair. Her expression is placid despite her emotional domain, believed by some to represent a 'Divine Neutrality' state that is ideal to achieve in one's lifetime.

The Fields of Brigid

This great field of flowers can be found in the Spring Province of West Talamh. It is said to be one of the most beautiful places on the continent, instilling peace upon all who pass through it and enjoy the flowers. Some of them are incredibly large and exotic. Flowers from this region are said to have special emotional significance and possible even be tuned to global events, with the oncoming of certain blooms serving as omens of conflict or peace.

The Horn of Kruub

This great horn constructed by ancient Centaur is a site of Birgitte's worship. As many of their race count among her devoted, it is believed that their kinsmen of the past carved this horn from stone to be sounded at the time of something they refer to as 'The Last Charge', when all the Centaur of Talamh take up their arms for one final battle against the evils of the world. The horn has never been sounded before and can only be by the Autumnal Monarch. The current Autumnal King, Finvarra, nearly did during the Conquest but was dissuaded from doing so by his advisors and the Summer Queen, Titania.

Relics

As stated, some of Birgitte's holy texts are cited as being written by her. The major example of this is one known as 'The Art of the Arrow', a book aged back at least 8000 years by Western theologians. Its original author's name has been lost, so some have begun claiming that it was written by the Captain herself.
In the modern era, Birgitte's most notable relic is a longbow known as Diolta, "The Pale Arc". It is currently held in the Vault of the Spire as a historical artifact. Its last user was Finvarra, who had the weapon stolen from him during the last battle of the Conquest by the progenitor of Clan Catanach. It has laid in the Spire for a millennia unused, studied over and over again by new generations of scholars and theologians.
The Cold Iron relic of The Seven Saints most closely associated with Birgitte is the Twin Wings, a set of daggers once belonging to Saint Bengall. Their location has been lost for over 300 years.

Religious Figures

While Saint Bengall may be closest connected to Birgitte, this is typically only called upon by association. Bengall was a woman of many passions, none of the martial. Clans claiming descendants from Bengall such as Clan Lughan(organization) do not typically favor Birgitte for unknown reasons.
In the modern day, the Magi of Birgitte is one Bronwyn Eckhart. Hailing from Clan Eckhart from County Glasuaine, Bronwyn was an unexpected arrival to the Spire who quickly proved herself. Alongside her sister Maeve, Bronwyn leads covert operations for the Spire in secret. She is generally regarded as amicable but perhaps utilitarian in many of her practices. Some even claim that Bronwyn is Birgitte come again due to how closely Bronwyn matches the divine ideal for people in the eyes of many Birgitte worshippers.

Interpretative Difference

East Talamh

In the East, Birgitte has somewhat fallen out of favor for the Spire and League of Clans up until recent times. With the increase in tensions between East and West, having the goddess of war's favor has been seen as integral to any potential martial success. That being said, those against any sort of conflict between the nations have also begun praying to Birgitte for emotional guidance. In this way, she is a goddess who can serve many at once.

West Talamh

Western philosophy has a clear understanding that Birgitte can serve the will of the people in many ways at any given time. It is a common practice to believe that she can appear as multiple of the same individual or in more than one place at any given time due to the demand placed upon her. With this in mind, Birgitte-worship has not faded even since days of the Old-Faith. While cults are common dedicated to specific emotional facets of her work, it is well-established that she is an accessible and even approachable deity simply for her myriad domains and reasons of worship.

Species
The Gods of Talamh
Allegiance
The People of Talamh
Subordinates
The Thralls of Birgitte
Pronouns and Gender
She/Her/Hers
Female-presenting
Realm
The Otherworld
Domains
Emotions, Freedom, Awareness, Love, Hate, Action, Raw Power, Self-Reliance, Hunting, War, Past
Eastern Aliases
Golden-hair, The Lady of Pains, Huntress
Western Aliases
Brigid, Huntmaster, Tall-Sister
Associated Virtues
Liberty, autonomy, perceptiveness, strong love and hate, vehemence, emotional power, emotional honesty, respect, passion

Divine Icons

Colors
Gold, white, gray, light blue
Animals
Wolf, badger, hawk
Plant Life
Plants with usefulness in craft or emotional significance, aphrodisiacs and stimulants
Symbols
Bow and arrow, quiver, golden hunting horn