Sarenrae

NG goddess of Healing, Honesty, Redemption, and the Sun

The Dawnflower

Let the healing light of the Sun burn out the darkness within you. Let your inner light be a guide for others, and a searing flame against unrepentant evil.

-The Birth of Light and Truth

Sarenrae is one of the most popular deities on Tengaria by virtue of her association with the life-giving sun and her perpetual offer to help anyone be their best, even when they have made mistakes. Most people thank her for her kind work to channel the sun’s power for everyone’s safety and livelihood, and thank her clergy for granting her healing power to all who need it. Mortals look to the Dawnflower as an example of boundless love, exquisite kindness, and true patience. They pray to her to heal the sick, lift up the downtrodden, and illuminate darkness of circumstance as well as darkness of spirit. Her followers aspire to emulate her through generosity, nurturing, truthfulness, and selfless courage. They oppose evil everywhere with words first, and when necessary, with scimitar and flame.

Sarenrae is also much revered as a symbol of renewed hope, having selflessly led the charge againt Rovagug to save Panaria from utter destruction in the mythic past. It was she who cast Rovagug into his terrible tomb within the world and set the fire of the sun within his prison to weaken the Rough Beast and prevent his escape. She has the aspect of an angel, having originated as one of the mightiest angels before establishing herself as a true deity, and she resumes this aspect of a burning avenger when she encounters evil too entrenched for even her to redeem it.

Sarenrae’s holy text is The Birth of Light and Truth. It records her struggles as an angel before mortal history began and also offers guidance on resisting evils of convenience, standing against cruelty in the world, and teaching and redeeming an evil soul. Preachers often publicly cite the text in passionate sermons when condemning cruelty and corruption, giving the faithful a reputation as fiery zealots. In places like ancient Zamora , this put many of her followers in conflict with those in power who allow or even support evils like slavery—in recent times, she has stripped her blessings from those among the faith who condoned such evils, though after the Dawnflower’s temper cooled, she has publicly offered redemption to disgraced faithful who are willing to repent.

The church of Sarenrae is devoted to healing all ills, nourishing body and spirit, and correcting evils. It is a flexible, quasi-familial organization that calls its members to go where they are needed. Most people recognize Sarenrae’s bright, soaring temples, which allow services to be performed in direct sunlight. The largest tend to incorporate Keleshite architecture, as in many areas Sarenrae’s faith spread ahead of Kelesh’s economic expansion. Sarenite services are traditionally joyous, with singing and dancing. Milestones in family building and personal growth are especially celebrated, including adoption, marriages, coming of age, and recognizing a former evildoer as rehabilitated.

Clergy are called to do many kinds of good in the world. They feed the hungry, tend the ill, heal the injured, and guide the lost. Many are trained as diplomats and advisers in the hope of maintaining peace and ensuring that governments are just and merciful. They also counsel those with torn spirits, mediate disputes, and rehabilitate those who have wronged others. Although most day-to-day work of the church is peaceful, its members practice swordplay and magic both as a form of meditative art and as preparation to strike down irredeemable evil with merciful speed.

Those who have done great wrongs but feel regret sometimes join Sarenrae’s church because the goddess offers a chance at redemption even to people who have committed terrible evils. The reflective and intimate Candlemark holiday on the winter solstice—celebrating the personal reasons that each individual follower joined the church—has special significance to these followers, as well as new practitioners and those in trying times

Relations with Other Religions

The goddess is warm and welcoming toward all non-evil deities. She is also gracious to most of the evil ones, hoping to convince them to turn to the light, and none of them doubt that she honestly wants their redemption-and even their friendship, whether or not they reciprocate that feeling. Sarenrae has a special relationship with her two lover Desna and Shelyn for whom the months are summer are named for.

Though it is rare for either of them to speak of it, her rivalry with Asmodeus is passionate, and goes far deeper than their constant battle for mortals' souls. The Dawnflower restrains her disgust for Urgathoa's actions in the interest of trying to find a way to help the other goddess become whole again. Only Rovagug and his mindless destruction are exempt from Sarenrae's generosity of spirit she still remembers the sting of his attacks as she battled to imprison him ages ago.

Sarenrae's faithful try to mirror her open armed generosity of spirit and compassion. They teach that redemption is rarely a swift process, and those who would worship her must learn to hold their tempers and patiently guide others to the path of righteousness. They deny only the followers of Rovagug the open hand of friendship, for to embrace the nihilism of complete destruction is to reject the opportunity for salvation.

Holy Books & Codes

The one book common to all churches of Sarenrae is The Birth of Light and Truth. This ancient text includes stories that date from before Sarenrae's ascension to a true goddess, describing the creatures she faced and including a long list of fiends and horrors she destroyed long before mortals learned writing. The rest of the book is more practical than historical, explaining the beliefs of the church, offering advice on dealing with sin and temptation, and providing parables of evil creatures turning to the light of the Dawnflower and living good, productive lives thereafter. The book also contains simple folk remedies for common illnesses and injuries, suggestions for dealing with undead and other evil creatures, and advice to aid those who wish to return to a virtuous path.

Most copies contain extra pages for the owner to record his own experiences or uplifting stories he hears so that he can repeat them to others, and any copy containing a firsthand anecdote from a great priest or paladin is especially prized as a family or church heirloom. It is customary for a hero of the church who performs some great deed for a person or temple to write a brief account in or at least sign a local's copy of Light and Truth (as it is commonly known) as a memento and historical record.

Holidays

Sarenrae is the patron goddess of summer, and the high summer month of Sarenith (June) is named for her. The church has several universal holidays, though regional temples may hold additional holidays to celebrate local events, such as the appearance of a saint.
Sunwrought Festival: The summer solstice celebration honors the longest day of the year. Worshipers dance, give each other small gifts, light fireworks, and sell or trade their finest crafts in a market-like gathering. Fireworks, paper streamers, and simple kites are popular amusements. Many celebrations feature a reenactment of the battle between Sarenrae and Rovagug, with the goddess represented by a young woman and the evil god represented as a large frame-and-cloth costume that can exceed 20 feet in length and require four or more people to operate.
Burning Blades: This holiday takes place on the 7th of Sarenith, although technically it is the apex of the week-long celebration of the summer solstice in the Dawnflower's name. The holiday represents the light of Sarenrae and her power to heal both physical and spiritual injuries and malaise. It is named for the dance of the burning blades, a performance in which the faithful coat ceremonial weapons in slow-burningpitch and dance with them

Aphorisms

Sarenites commonly swear by Sarenrae to promise honesty, because she is believed to curse those who lie after doing so. They also use these aphorisms:
The dawn brings new light: This phrase is often spoken to invite blessings upon a good turn in life, which might be as momentous as the birth of a child, or as small as an especially satisfying meal. As a litany, it reassures the faithful that each new day is another chance from Sarenrae to do better, and a promise that circumstances will improve (if perhaps only in the afterlife).
For the sun and the fury: Most worshippers only see this battle cry painted or carved on the cornerstones of Sarenite temples, where it is meant to scare off unrepentant evil. In battle, Sarenites utter this phrase to invoke her power against evil (especially fiends and undead) and to evoke holy fire.

Religions

• Gods of Tengaria
• Templar Order
• The Seven