The Great Mother

Identity

• Titles – Great Mother, Harvest Bringer, The Provider, The Quiet Goddess
• Influence – Agriculture, Work Ethic, Fertility, Life, Time
• Appearance – She appears as a tall willowy maiden in light dresses and robes that match the changing season. Her hair is depicted as either long and flowing white (winter) or long leafy and flowery tresses in the spring, summer, and autumn

Attributions

• Symbol – Cradle, Hourglass, or Plow
• Focus – Garland or small wreath and wooden staff, sometimes accompanied by an hourglass
• Color – Green, Brown trimmed with Black, Silver or Gold
• Element – Earth and Water
• Animal – Any farm animal, usually an ox

Cult

• Center of Worship – Kyrm Or’Kændlan, City of Kændal, Kændal
• Scriptures –
• Leader – Prydyrim Gor, Kerred Tōdas II
• Priesthood – Gor Ordus Kændlan, Kændlanites
• Orders – The Dreaming Order
• Aspects – Irynil the Waster, Valànya the Giver
• Touched – Vdr. Aryladæn
• Holy Days – Aðáhda, Esðar, Serdùrrūn
• Friends – All Dekàli Cults and Orders
• Enemies – Ortor
• Sayings – “Hard work brings you the favor of your fields”; “Blessed be this food the Great Mother has given us, may it nourish us as we one day must nourish the ground that returns us life.”

Introduction

The goddess Kændlan is believed to possess a seed from the Eternal Tree which gives her power over life. The Eternal Tree is remembered as Drū Irígrim and its seed as Lanlàdrâl. Kændlan is the goddess of life and reincarnation. She is the fertility goddess, granting children to the atoned barren, and raising high crops that produce plentiful food. She is known to many as the Quiet Goddess, for in no legends is she believed to speak.

Legend

In the Quiet Before, the peoples of the Fertile Coast worshiped the earth Goddess Kanlyrra. The Goddess took many names in those days, for there where many tribes that lived between the mountains and the sea. Toward the end of the Quiet Before, many of the tribes were united under Queen Tyálara in preparation for armies moving north from the Cradle of Shar. It was during this time that the Goddess was known as Kanlyrra and all the other names were scribed upon stones which were broken and thrown into wells.

The worship of Kanlyrra revolved around series of legends of a woman that was mother to the many tribes. Her origin places her as a farmer’s daughter who was called from her home by ancient whispers which found her one night. Wandering past the fields of her father into the untamed lands of the early, young Kanlyrra was drawn to the soft song of a seed that lay within the forest. Taking the seed into her hands, she was filled with the promise and magic of Drū Irígrim, the First Tree. As she stood in the forest clearing the moons crossed the sky, the seasons turned around her, and many years passed. When she stepped from the woods the young girl was a woman in the full bloom of motherhood, her belly swollen with child. Returning home, she found people working her father’s fields who were not her family for generations had passed while she was gone.

A farmer spied her crying on the forest’s edge and invited her into his home. She was thankful for this kindness but could not find the words to thank him. Once inside, the farmer’s family tended to Kanlyrra and gave her a warm bed, food, and a chair by the fireplace to keep her warm. One night, in the weeks to follow, as her birthing seemed imminent she heard again the whispers of the seed. Walking from the house while the family slept she found herself in the middle of the farmer’s fields. There she lay upon the ground and gave birth to a Seedling which sank into the earth. In the morning, the farmer’s wife found the quiet woman gone and a clamor rose about the house as family searched for her. Exiting the home each stopped in turn to behold the bounty of their fields, ripe with vegetables and fruits of all kinds, in portions befitting a chieftain’s table.

Every year thereafter the woman appeared to farms throughout the Fertile Coast, blessing the land of those that were kind, and leaving wither and disease for those that ignored her. In some retellings of Kanlyrra’s journeys, she was cast out into the wild for her immodest state where she was torn apart by monsters that dwelt there. No matter how the story ended, every spring she would return.

The name Kanlyrra evolved to Kændlan following the conquering of the Fertile Coast by the Dekàli armies. Prior to this, a faction within the Cult left to form the Cult of Drālynn. The followers of Drālynn paid homage to the Seedlings that brought withering to those who spurned the Goddess, for they believed that the tales of her death were just as important as those of life. The Cult of Drālynn was exiled to remote corners of the region where they worshiped in seclusion until the conquering of Ildûn in 119 HK. At that time, the Cult was granted powers over the barbaric Eōyn tribes and were established as the Cult of Drāūn.

Seedlings

The children of Kændlan are known as Seedlings. Within the iconography of the Cult of Kændlan, Seedlings appear as black children with cherubic features. Seedlings are believed to be nature spirits that inhabit the soil and cause all things grown in that area to be plentiful. It should be noted that this idea may be more than a figurative explanation. If it is to believed that the seed Lanlàdrâl is from the Eternal Tree, it may hold the same power as the other seeds from the Tree. The other seeds of Drū Irígrim are believed by many to have given rise to the many races of the World of Teréth End. It is thought therefore, that the Seedlings are a new spirit race created by the Goddess.

The Cult of Kanlyrra long held that the “corrupting” Seedlings were ruled by the first of their kind, a Seedling named Drālynn. Drālynn was sometimes referred to as sexless because it was the antithesis to fertility. Early depictions of Drālynn, most of which were destroyed when the Cult left the Fertile Coast in the second century HK, showed a black figure with a farming implement planted firmly in the cracked and rocky earth. Where the tool pierced the earth, black water spilled forward into streams of skeletal fish. As the Cult evolved, this image was revised into the present image of Drāūn, Fisher of Souls.

An interesting side note regarding Seedlings regards the introduction of Sharan slaves into Kændal. During the years of the Early Empire, black children were imported at great cost to preside over farming fields throughout the Old Empire. Shrines (i.e., Kændla) were built for the children to appease the “Seedling spirits”. Once they reached adulthood, the most “effective” of these children were admitted into the Cult to train as priests.

The Cult

Historically, there has always been animosity between the Cults of Kændlan/Kanlyrra and Drāūn/Drālynn. The ancient Cult of Kændlan long held to a belief of the Blessed Ring, a view that all natural cycles (including life and death) continued endlessly. It was believed that through reincarnation, the portals of Birth, Age, Death, and Waiting were but doors on a circular path. The followers of Drāūn however felt that the domain of Death was sacred to the will of the hermaphroditic Fisher of Souls. Upon the admittance of Kændal into the Empire, the Council of Lanàdus found compromise between the Cults. Upon the death of any person marked as a member of the Cult of Kændlan (except for the Dresðar), a priest may direct their spirit back into the Blessed Ring (i.e., reincarnation), rather than setting them upon the Journey to the hereafter. Anyone unmarked at death would fall within the Claim of Drāūn. For this reason, Kændàlyr are careful to have their children marked at birth.

Kændlànyr have a puritanical work ethic, not unlike Roðyr. Their moral code discourages adultery and extramarital relations. This sometimes puts the Kændlànyr in conflict with worshipers of Amra. This conflict is most evident during the autumn markets of Fvehēr, where for centuries, men have taken their sons as a rite-of-passage to “worship at the altar of Amra”.

The Cult of Kændlan has also found no allies among the followers of Wōd. Whereas Wōd represents nature and its natural processes, Kændlan is seen as an Yrūn goddess representing Mortal governance over the forces of nature. The followers of Wōd see agriculture and gardening as destructive for it reshapes the natural land and disrupts the Order.

The Priesthood

• High Priest: Kerred Tōdas II
• Heirophant of Ænàsynàð
• Heirophant of Delédygrā
• Heirophant of Eðyrin
• Heirophant of Grâlynað
• Heirophant of Nālùrin
• Heirophant of Ōdèrygrā
• Heirophant of Prādàðygrā
• Heirophant of Tynnèwið
• Heirophant of Vordìgin

Priests typically wear long tunics with high boots and gloves. Fabrics are typically coarse with clothes of simple design.

The priesthood is organized by a complex hierarchy of priests and hierophants. There is very little advancement among the outer Temples and Shrines. Within the city centers, advancement is very structured and political. The current High Priest of Kændlan is Idyleun the First. The High Priest serves a life-term ending in a mysterious ceremony called the Korost a’Kar (Feast Without End) where the dying leader is eaten by their successor. This cannibalistic ritual is unique to the Cult of Kændlan and performed privately as a deference to the Blessed Ring. The Council of Lanàdus forbids all other practices of cannibalism within the Empire. It is interesting to note, that some of the earliest records of Kændal refer to the region as the Land of the Eaters.

Daily Activities

The clergy of Kændlan serve as spiritual and instructional leaders. Their days are spent in the company of their “flock”, answering questions and leading the faithful in daily prayers. Pryr Kændlan are notable healers and answer when the faithful are needful.

Priests of Kændlan observe a daily morning and an evening prayer, devoted to that specific day. The Dekàli Reckoning is based upon the Kændlàni organization of days, week, months, and years. In the Kændlàni calendar, each day of the year has a separate name and should be welcomed and bid farewell with specific prayers. A few priests know all the prayers by heart, but most resort to prayer books.

Holy Days and Rituals

Kændla are often stringed with ropes of flowers on Kændàlor, the first day of Spring and first day of the new year. This festival day is celebrated throughout the Old Empire. It is customary in areas with priests of Kændlan that they visit each farm on Kændàlor and give the family and the fields blessing on this holy day. The annual treks of these priest are something of a legend themselves as they attempt to reach all the surrounding faithful within a given day.

Kændàlor is celebrated by many people that do not worship the goddess Kændlan, as it falls on the first day of each new year. Most notably, the Taládan are notorious for holding grand parties, balls, and festivities on Kændàlor, to the displeasure of the Cult of Kændlan. The followers Kændlan are not opposed to festivities and celebrations, but disapprove of the lustful and decadent pursuits of many Amran faithful.

Each seasonal marker is accompanied by a Kændlan festival. There is no specific spring festival, though some consider Kændàlor to be a seasonal holiday. The summer festival Aðáhda is also referred to as the Festival of Youth.

The autumn festival Serdùrrūn is the Feasting Day. Serdùrrūn requires that all faithful bring foods for a large communal feast. A portion of each harvest is returned as burnt offerings to the Goddess during the harvest festival. Farmers who tend livestock bring one animal to a community center, where Pryr Kændlan choose a number of animals commensurate with the bounty of the season. The remaining animals are killed and cooked for the great harvest feast.

The final seasonal marker is Esðar, or Wintermeet. Esðar is the least festive and most solemn of the seasonal holidays. It is during Esðar that the faithful are reminded of the year past, and given chance to atone in this last season for that which they did that displeased the Goddess. It is believed by many of the faith, that those that do not please the Goddess, or do not atone for their failings of the year passing, perish in the cold clutches of winter. Those that die in the Kændlan faith during winter months are Dresðar, or winter-dead. The Dresðar are not reborn, having fallen from the graces and Blessed Ring of Kændlan.

Places of Worship

The main temple of the Cult of Kændal is ruined Kyrm Or’Kændlan.

A major Temple of the Cult of Kændlan is Tnir Lanlàdrâl. According to the followers of Kændlan, the Temple stands upon the location where the Goddess found a seed of the Eternal Tree (i.e., Drū Irígrim). The Temple is the third Shrine to stand on the spot. The original monument was a circle of stones erected circa 300 AR by a native people called the Eræl. This monument was later dismantled, its standing stones laid into the ground to form the floor of a larger temple circa 45 AR, some 20 years after the conquering of Kændal. As the Temple of the Seed became more well-known, it began to draw thousands upon thousands of pilgrims. To accommodate the increasing number of visitors, the temple was again dismantled and the larger, present day structure was built.

Today, Tnir Lanlàdrâl remains one of the most important destinations for Kændlànyr pilgrims. It is also one of a handful of temples and shrines to have survived Occupation unharmed. For this reason, the Tnir Lanlàdrâl is also a destination for Old Empire resurrectionists, for it is one of the few structures that has remained largely unchanged since before the Fall. The interior the temple is decorated with beautiful frescoes, masterful statuary, and elaborately vined woodwork. The only damage suffered by Tnir Lanlàdrâl was the defacing of statues and architecture for the gold leafing that used to glow from every corner, panel, and capital of the interior.

The plan of Tnir Lanlàdrâl is a cruciform design meant to represent a tree with branching limbs. At the center of the temple is an ornate crossing well wherein a staircase descends to the vaults below. Within these vaults are interred the bodies of each High Priest that has presided at Tnir Lanlàdrâl. Those that walk within the vaults stand upon the very stones that comprised the original temple. Within the nave and transept above, the dusty air is filled with a kaleidoscope of color as Arzámarádð passes beyond the stained glass clerestories depicting the birth, life, death, and rebirth of Kændlan through the year’s seasons. Pilgrims filing into the Temple through the main entrance move along the nave, visiting the east and west transept before continuing toward the sanctuary where they are greeted by four statues of the Goddess, sculpted in 684 HK by the master Erytrælys of Mardùvan.

Another Temple of Kændlan is Tnir Aryladæn. The Fvehēr temple was erected in honor of Vdr. Aryladæn who is credited with the creation of the Kændàli/High King’s calendar. The Temple itself was once viewed as a marvelous synthesis of architecture and technology, but today is a baroque tangle of abstract and ruined machinery. During the Occupation of Kændal, Tnir Aryladæn was sabotaged and many of its gears and workings removed. Accounts from before the Fall describe a grand Temple with soaring ceilings and narrow stained glass windows which filled the shadowy interior with bars of colored light. Within the Temple’s sanctuary stood a massive machine that filled the entire chamber from floor to ceiling. From this machine snaked hundreds of pipes which wound their way along the walls and ceiling of the Temple to a collection of pipe organs situated in high places around the nave. The machine was believed to be the largest clock in all of the Old Empire, crafted by Roðyr craftsmen and shipped upon an armada of barges from the Iron Coast. The organs were tooled and pitched by Pryr Amra and upon certain times of the days, weeks, months, and years they would play beautiful paeans, all mechanically orchestrated by the giant clock-machine.

Less marvelous, but technically impressive were the workings beneath Tnir Aryladæn. There, squatting within the catacombs that had once been reserved for High Priests and noblemen, sat a giant furnace with rumbling steaming cauldrons. The engine had been constructed to run the clock and pipe organs above. Wagon loads of wood were brought to the Temple each day to feed the steam engine so that the clock’s gears (some larger than an adult Yrūn) could continue to turn, and its dozens of pipe organs would be always ready to give voice to the sacred hymns.

There are more shrines (i.e., Kændla) to Kændlan than any other god or goddess throughout the Old Empire. Most farmers clear a small portion of ground and place three menhirs in reverence to the Bringer of Harvests. Some Kændla are very simple, while others can be quite elaborate.

Nomenclature: Kaendlan Dekàlic: Kændlan (deity), Kændlàni (pertaining to), Kændlànyn (follower), Kændlànyr (followers), Pryn Kændlan (priest), Pryr Kændlan (priests)