The Red Dragon Inn - home of the Audalis campaign setting.  Online D&D gaming, art, poerty, stories, advice, chat, and more

We currently have 4066 registered users. Our newest member is vibechecker628.
Online members:
Username Password Remember me
Not a member? Join today! | Forgot your password?
Latest Updated Forum Topics  [more...]
Q&A Threads - Shadows of the Empire Q&A (posted by breebles)Shadows of the Empire Q&A
Dungeons and Dragons - Shadows of the Empire (posted by breebles)Shadows of the Empire
Personal Creations - Audalis creations (posted by t_catt11)Audalis creations
Common Room - RDINN Feature Updates/ Suggestions/ Bugs (posted by t_catt11)RDINN Feature Updates/...
Recruitment Threads - Shadows of the Empire - Recruitment (posted by Reralae)Shadows of the Empire - R
Latest Blog Entries
Revenge of the Drunken Dice
Latest Webcomics
Loaded Dice #80: Priorities
RPG MB #15: Master of the Blade
Floyd Hobart #19: High School Reunion IV
There are currently 4 users logged into DragonChat.
Is the site menu broken for you? Click here for the fix!

You are here: Home --> Audalis --> Religion


Oriana, Greater Goddess of Love and Passion

The heart burns with need and ache setting to fire the skin and alighting the eyes. Electric as storms in a nighttime sky, high above forests of silvered leaves and a dove's call. As potent as any brew that heightens the senses and tickles fancy. Love is the longing to be and to be had. -Orlando de’Lievan, Troubadour of Passion's Embrace

Sphere of influence: Love and Passion
Colors: pearl, shades of red
Symbol: heart made of pearl inset with a teardrop ruby
Deity Aignment: Chaotic Good
Granted powers: Cast charm person once per day, +2 to reaction adjustment, reactions to the priest are one category higher*
Allowed alignments: Any good or neutral
Allowed weapons: Short sword, short bow, any blunt
Allowed armor: Leather or lighter
Relationships: Paramour of Shinara. Ally of Telamor.  Lover of Solanis
Subordinates: Satta, Armon
Other Names: Bloom of Sarhania, Lady of Hearts, Scarlet Lover, Lost Dream, Elerose by Chindari, Arna'arvandor (Stormy Heaven) by Sylvari, Caklugzaza (Fool's Hag) by Khordaldrum, Lovely Laney by Cidals


* - this power only applies if the NPC has the capacity to be attracted to the priest. I.e. if the priest is a female human, the NPC must be attracted to some degree to female humans. A strictly heterosexual human woman would be immune to this, as would a Khordaldrum of any gender, etc.

Note - clerics of Oriana must have a minimum charisma score of 12.

Under the shining eyes of Solanis, Oriana entreats as a soft light upon vibrant petals. She is the lilting song lingering the in the air. The scent of a woman upon the pillow. All that is lovely and loved is the purview of Oriana. Her worship attracts a variety of worshippers - the lady of an aspiring lord, to the mistress waiting for the lady's husband. Oriana brings the love of the heart, the care and affection between mates and fellows together. With a winning smile and soft caress, she awakes kindred affection and desire to the willing. But as open and joyous as she can be, the Lady of Hearts is also fickle and biting, engendering lust and desire in those who may not wish it, clouding the senses of the wise with ardor of the flesh.

Many of the powers within the pantheon have also felt the touch of Oriana. As they answer the call of their worshippers, they sometimes find themselves enamored to one in particular, or feel a fondness for their fellow deities. And every time, Oriana smiles and dances away within the glow and friendship of her closest ally, Shinara.

Across Audalis, shrines are found to the Lady of Hearts. Places devoted to Oriana are sites of great loves found and lost. Those who are deeply in care, declaring their heartfelt intentions seek beautiful waterfalls and secluded gardens. Some of the most beautiful of these shrines are found in lands of Alloyen, Azbed Lisel of Khordal, and the ruins of Amurun in Ertain. However, so to are sites where loves are lost, places of darkling gloom, weeping willows, and black roses. Yet always, there is a sense of love and care. And in each, a pair of lovers knows they are blessed when they find the Bloom of Sarhania.

The Sarhania is a rare rose with petals that gleam gold in the center and fade into brilliant shades of pink and red. These roses never die until the love dies. Bards tell rumors and tales of tombs of kings and queens covered in such flowers. But only one has ever truly been seen. In the logging town of Jaycern, a singular grave without a marker grows these blossoms in the spring. And as winter arrives they become silver in the center fading into violet black. Many faithful believe this is the tomb of the goddess herself when she once lived the world as a mortal.

Oriana is known to be extremely fond of Shinara, the goddess of luck and fortune.  Despite Shinara being the wife of Jusarin, it is a widely known fact that she and Oriana are on again, off again lovers.  Furthermore, Oriana is rumored to have had various affairs and dalliances with several other deities; she is known for being close to Solanis, for instance.  However, Shinara appears to hold a special place for the goddess of passion.

Dogma
The sense of the mind can never truly be understood without tempering by the heart. To feel is to become passion, to embrace the shocks of happiness and grief felt deeply from the simple glimmer of a smile or touch of a hand. Love moves worlds in the motion of sighs and laughter. It aches the heart to bitter tears. It frightens the temperament into a wandering of cause and effect. It is magical.

Avatar
Oriana appears as a youthful woman, a courtesan, and a dame. She is one moment refined and aloof with laughing eyes. The next she is a lustrous temptress smelling of spring breezes and incense. Her eyes are golden hued seas at daybreak. Her hair unfurls in a streaming of rose and midnight. She is desire in all of its form, enchanting lovers across Audalis to follow their hearts, not their heads. Her form shifts based on desire. Around her neck is a pearl and opal heart on a chain of rubies. And on her hip rests a beautiful short sword with a blade of steel on one side and ruby on the other.

For one day a year, she takes the form of a man to understand romance and entertain love in all its forms. But the rest of the year, she appears as a lady.

Fellowship
Clerics and followers of Oriana tend to use magics to enchant and entrance mortals. The way of the heart and spirit is of the greatest of understands. These magics include enchantment, divination, and transmutation. These followers use their gifts to awaken the world to desire.

The fellowships of Oriana include the following:

Troubadours of Passion: Creation is the ultimate form of expression. Through the crafting of sculpture, song, poetry, paint, and dance, the Troubadours seek to revel the world into a dance of beauty and heartache. Bards and artians, noble and peasant seek this fellowship to prove their loyalty, desire, and devotion to lovers across Audalis. To own, take part in, or witness such works brings favor upon a relationship - regardless if it is only for a night or for a lifetime. The Troubadours find themselves often entwined with followers of Telamor.

Order of Sanguine Ardor: The Order provides counseling and conviction to the fellowship of lovers. They spend the entire year devoid of pleasuring the body. In their studies and travels, they speak with the troubled of the heart. All they ask in payment is a simple smile or hug. The order includes a majority of women, though men have begun to join in recent years. They remain in shrines to the Lady of Love - usually homes with beautiful gardens, natural springs, and other natural wonders. Once a year, when Oriana takes the form of a man, she visits the shrines to bless her chosen with love, granting them an evening for passion.

Eyes of the Beloved: Although loves are won, more times than not they are lost. The Eyes seek justice for lovers who have been spurned, hurt, or killed in their passions. They speak to those who are found as victims of painful love, those who remain after raids by bandits, attacked on streets, forced into working in brothels, or withered in the courts of royalty. At times, they seek the ghosts of the fallen heroes and loves lost. For each of these, they seek a clearing of crimes, balancing the scales between the victim and aggressor. The goals and actions of the Eyes differs between each follower, becoming a personal quest between the victim, the faithful, and Oriana.


Special thanks to Lori Krell, who contrinuted greatly to the prose here, and without whom this article would have been lost!



Del.icio.us Digg Technorati Blinklist Furlreddit
Thanks to Olan Suddeth for this contribution!

 


  Partners:       Dungeons and Dragons resources, from 2nd to 4th Edition gamegrene.com | for the gamer who's sick of the typical Dungeons and Dragons Adventures, #1 resource for D&D Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition  
View/Edit Your Profile | Staff List | Contact Us
Use of the RDINN forums or chatrooms constitutes agreement with our Terms of Service.
You must enable cookies and javascript to use all features of this site.