The Lady of Taldàna

Identity

• Titles – Goddess of Love, Lady of Taldàna
• Influence – Love, Beauty, Poetry, Music, Art
• Appearance – Amra is most often depicted as beautiful nude Yrūni female with long hair. Idols and images of the Goddess often have Amàrænðra eyes and butterfly wing mandala, though Amra herself is not considered winged. Portrayals of the Goddess typically resemble the current High Priestess.

Attributions

• Symbol – A flower or ivory chalice
• Focus – Any item of exceptional beauty whether fashioned or naturally occurring. Holy items and vestments often include Amàrænðra.
• Color – Pink, Gold, and White
• Element – …
• Animal – Flying creatures; Birds, Butterflies

Cult

• Center of Worship – City of Taldàna, Taldàna
• Scriptures –
• Leader – Prydyrim Gor, High Priestess Elésea the Ninth of Taldàna
• Priesthood – Gor Ordus Amra, Pryr Amra
• Orders – Order of the Sacred Stream
• Aspects – Dalāsya the Beautiful, Tyçal the Desirous
• Touched – …
• Holy Days – …
• Friends – All Dekàli Cults and Orders, possibly excepting the followers of Zyrr
• Enemies – Ezmìri Resistance, Ortor
• Sayings – “Her Love is stronger than a thousand swords.”, “Each flower that blooms is praise to Her.”

Introduction

On the seawall of Taldàna stood a giant statue of Amra. Its skyward thrust bronze arms held glowed with the warm light of its burning torch held aloft for distant ships. So high was this torch held that ships thought lost in the stormy Mar Dekàli could see the distant star from a hundred miles distant. Those who followed the light to the tranquil harbor where struck dumb by the beauty of the colossus, crafted in the likeness of Amra, the goddess. More than one man dove to his death from ship-side to swim nearer to the statue, to remember only after sinking beneath the waves that swimming was not a skill they’d ever known.

The ruins of the City of Taldàna are wonderful to behold. Unlike the other temples of the Empire, the Temple of Amra was the city itself. Every facet of the streets and building were built to some greater artistic plan. Even in its ruin, the streets of marble and flowering ivy, radiate the wonder of a place and time long past. In many ways, Taldàna has not changed from the days of the Empire. Musicians still play in the amphitheaters, though the stone seats are overturned and the columns lie about like fallen trees. The many fountained squares and circles of the city still issue water, though their basins are cracked and the statues that used to welcome all visitors, stand maimed or are missing. Despite the ruin, all is kept clean, manicured, pristine. Maintaining this city, is a labor of worship.

The Amran cult is an ancient faith, devoted in many ways to the Goddess of Love. Her followers can be found in every walk of life, and among all trades. One of her names or titles are mentioned in most marriage services regardless of following. Among the most diverse of the Dekàli deities, more than seven Orders remain loyal to her callings; serving her and her Aspects in a variety of means. There are crusaders, knights, priests, prostitutes, and lords tangled about her fingers. Despite the many incarnations of her following, she has never been revered as a fertility goddess (rf. Kændlan).

There is not one accepted image of the goddess Amra. The artists of Taldàna revel in this freedom, and portray her in countless different ways. Some claim that the goddess appears in a form that is most pleasing to each person. Outside the region, most depictions of the goddess follow the form of the Colossus of Taldàna, a beautiful and naked young woman with flowing hair and long slender limbs. In these renditions, she is often depicted within a shining radiance. Many statues of the goddess are erected at springs and waterfalls through the Empire, in homage to the totems of Muram.

History

The Cult of Amra is believed to have its origins among the Iksàris people. The Iksàris engaged in spirit worship, the remains of which can still found in the form of stone totems scattered throughout the region. One spirit in particular was named Muram, the sea spirit. Totems of Muram were placed at sacred coastal overlooks and at the source of streams. The early Alùrin people that settled the area after the Iksàris associated these locations and totems with inspiration. In a death’s bed confession, the early artist Ordçor, claimed that the totems were vessels for an ancient muse named Amura who had guided his hand to create works of beauty. Furthermore, Ordçor claimed that he had forsworn physical love in exchange for that which he and his muse shared. He worried upon his dying that she would be forgotten and her totems worn away by time. News of this spread quickly through the region. People seeking the stones made similar claims, adding that the spirit was that of a beautiful woman who appeared to those that sought her. By 80 AR, hundreds of shrines to Amùra had been built throughout the Alùrin. The most famous of these was the Temple of Wyme’er (i.e., the Temple of the Stone) built around the largest of the totem stones.

The Cult of Amura flourished under the Alùrin Kings. Her position in the Alùrin pantheon supplanted that of Lura, wife of Lorg the God of Storms. More temples and shrines were devoted to Amùra than Lorg by the end of the 2nd century HK. Following the conquering of Alùrin by the Dekàlyr in 219 HK, nine priests were taken to Lanàdus for the Ritual of Letting. News of the ritual reached the region by the Summer of 220 HK. The Council of Shalvàsal was convened and the Cult of Amra was formed under High Priest Teáda the Spared.

Legend

There are a great many stories of how people claim to have been affected by the Goddess.

The Cult

The overarching message of the Cult of Amra is to love everyone and everything. There is also a duty to find beauty in all things, or to create beauty where none is found.

The Priesthood

• High Priestess: Elésea IX
• High Priestess of Alùrin: Yarálya Ayùdan
• High Priestess of Elárwið:
• High Priest of Ezmir:
• High Priestess of Gorgynað:
• High Priest of Westwall:

All Amran clergy, priests and faithful are hedonists of the highest order. Their decadent lifestyles and addictions are the source of much disgust in the temples of Irāyn (the Frugal). Amryr believe that to feel pleasure is to feel the presence of the goddess touching your soul (or whatever else). For this reason, very few Amryr make suitable adventurers. A popular example tells of Terrun Sàðereh, an Amran priest that lived in 5th century Taldàna. A blight had settled in a northern valley of the Tor’n Evalshat, and Saðéreh received instruction through his prayers to rid the countryside of the ugliness that had settled there. Saðéreh organized a small mercenary army, conscripted a team of forty servants to: carry his litter, play soft music, bear the feathered fans, maintain the kitchen wagons (which were not permitted to cease preparations even while moving), and others to hold large painted panels in an unbroken wall around his entourage. In this manner, Saðéreh ventured into the northern mountains. Once the valley was reached, the Ort armies that had settled in the area attacked the mercenary company and slaughtered the servants. Saðéreh became enraged and summoned upon the power of the Shining Lady to comfort and empower him. Stepping from the capsized litter and across the bodies of his servants, the Ort horde was struck dumb by the presence that surrounded him. Saðéreh walked among the dumbstruck creatures and placed a hand on each foul forehead. One by one the Ort were relieved of their passionate hatreds. With the last creature transformed, Saðéreh died. It is told by the Pryr Amra, that the Ort, with love in their hearts, left the vale and returned to their homelands where they were slaughtered by their own vile kind. Though very few Amryr have the resources for this kind of excess, the story serves to show what lengths Amryr might go to preserve their requisite pleasure.

Daily Activities

Priests and followers of Amra are pacific but may raise arms to destroy that which offends them. Pryn Dalàsya never raise arms, seeking instead to find other ways to accomplish their goals. Pryn Tyçal have no compunctions with wielding weapons as long as there is some pleasure to be found in the weapon’s use. Tyçàlyr are fond of whips, and are the only of Amran priests which may wield a weapon with anything more than familiar proficiency.

Crusaders do appear from time to time in the service of Amra, bearing arms and righting grievous wrongs in the world. These are rare and often not recognized by the Temple of Amra until their deeds are done, and the crusader fades from history, so that the priests can rewrite the tale with less violent prose.

The responsibilities of the clergy of Amra are varied. A day in the life of a priest of Dalàsya is very different than that of a follower of Tyçal. Whereas a Pryn Dalàsya may spend his life creating some masterpiece of art, or counseling the affairs of local commoners, a Pryn Tyçal master or mistress may be a sex priest, concubine, or courtesan. All fall within the scope of Amra though she and her faithful are often loathe to admit that Tyçal remains her aspect.

The activities of the clergy is faction dependent. Clerics may move from city to city preaching Amran words, (which are often mistaken for Tyçal’s) and trying to spread the faith in that manner. Monks prefer to cloister themselves, and study the wonders of love and art through their introspection, meditations, and expressions. Mystics may wander (much like clerics) foretelling miracles of the Lady, and perhaps performing one or more for the laity. Specialty priests, as in many cults, have the most instrumental use of entering areas where the Lady’s grasp may be tenuous, discovering the source of this weakness, and seeking to remove it. Unlike representatives of other cults however, the Pryr Amra rarely use weapons, or damaging spells. They are pacifists, but are not unable to deal with trying situations. Specialty priests of Amra accept as their duty to the goddess, that their lives are not meant to be lived in uninterrupted pleasure, and that their sacrifices also further the goddess’s faith. For this reason, specialty priests of Amra are viewed with respect and pity for their sacrifices.

Holy Days and Rituals

Burial

The body of military commanders are wrapped in preserving linens and borne by carriage to the Taldàna. His body entered Taldàna at night in a cloak draped coffin, without fanfare or service. It is customary in Taldàna that soldiers’ deaths are not commemorated, for the Lady cries when her children turn to war. Commanding officers are brought to the Citadel where they are lain in a private chapel for three days. On the first two days the body is washed with oils and brushed with herbs. A heavy magical (and likely hallucinogenic) incense (nūçrū) that burns in the chapel for this time gives the body the appearance of life; the chest appears to rise and fall, the skin remains supple. The effect of the nūçrū makes the dead appear sleeping. On the third of these days, the High Lady will visit him and kiss his forehead, forgiving him for the actions that brought him to death. Following these preparations, the body is returned to the family who provide for his burial.

Burial in the region of Taldàna is a simple affair, for most. It is customary to bury the dead in holes ten feet deep (or deeper). The body is carried in a coffin or on a litter by relatives and friends to the graveside. At the graveside there is a small religious service, the last part of which involves the removal of the body from the coffin or litter. The body is lowered into the grave by the slow unwrapping of the white cloth of that family (that it was bound in previously) onto a straw mat or bed. When the body has been lain in the ground, each of the visitors drops a flower or piece of artwork into the grave. Finally, a fine beaded cloth blanket is laid atop the interred body, followed by a low table which seals the hole. The grave is then filled with dirt. When the next of the family dies, the grave is opened and the next person’s bed is arranged on the table of the person before. Tables have been made to a prescribed size of 4 foot by 7 foot for hundreds of years. Most are no more than one-and-a-half feet to two feet tall with four to six legs. Wealthy families often commission very detailed tables of fine inlaid wood. Bodies and tables are piled in this manner until the top of the uppermost table would be about two feet from the surface. Due to the nature of this traditional Taládan burial, old graves look very distinctive. When the grave dirt settles, it settles under the tables from the sides, leaving oblong craters with raised centers.

East-facing gravestones mark the burial of each person in each “vault”, so it is not uncommon to see three or more names on a single stone or wooden slab. It is customary to inscribe all names and dates in the Dekàli fashion, so over the course of one or two generations, most Taldànyr forget who is buried in each vault. Surnames of course, remain recognizable. Very wealthy persons may afford stone vaults or mausoleums, though these are rare. In Evermith, the wealthy families there construct stone crypts. Inside the crypts are filed columns of stone tables with their feet facing the visitor, the name of each of dead is inscribed (in Dekàlic) on the name of the table above it.

When a priest or famous artist or celebrity dies, that person is usually prepared and placed on a special altar on the peninsula at Amra’s feet. Here, everyone that was touched by that person in life is expected to make the journey to the ruined colossus, pay homage to the deceased and thank Amra for introducing this talent into their lives and enriching the world through them. When this occurs, long processions of people visit the bier over the course of three days. This is the only time that commoners may experience the sensation of the nūçrū.

Field burials are different. The bodies of common soldiers are not returned to their homes. After a battle (whether with Ortor or Saránðyr) the bodies of the fallen are collected and buried. There is understandably a sub-culture within the military of Taldàna that is at odds with the Temple’s words. When a soldier dies in battle, they are place into the ground with armor, weapons and one wildflower. A small military ceremony is given for each soldier by his surviving comrades and a priest. When the priest’s words are done, the soldiers give a final blessing and farewell of their own:

“Because the Lady looks away / We soldiers gather here to pray,
“We who make the Goddess cry / Who make our families fret and wait
“We who leave our homes behind / Who leave children and loves alone
“We who fight and damn-ed be / Send one more home to family
“And should the earth swallow us soon / We ask our friends pray for us too.”

Though this traditional lament is not approved by the Temple, no priests have sought to ban its use. The Soldiers’ Lament however, is never spoken among civilized ears as it is thought to cast aspersions on the Goddess.

Spells

• Black and Withered Vine (skarádra Vīsìktrū)

Places of Worship

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

• Temple of Mereð
• Temple of the Stone
• Temple of Tyçàlas

Nomenclature: Amra Dekàlic: Amra (god), Amri (pertaining to), Amryn (follower), Amryr (followers), Pryn Amra (priest), Pryr Amra (priests)