Althea
Star Mother, Heaven's Queen, The Healer
Greater Deity
Symbol: A Blue Rose
Colors: Argent and Blue
Celestial Symbol: The Evening Star "Telmentar"
Alignment: Neutral Good
Home Plane: Dome of Heaven
Portfolio: Healing, Love, Compassion, Protection, Families, Marriage
Worshipers: Physicians, Healers, Midwives, Herbalists, Artists, Aristocrats
Domains: Healing, Good, Community, Protection
Cleric Alignments: CG, LG, NG
Favored Weapon: The Crystal Staff (Quarterstaff)
Other Names: Telmentar (Myrddion), Marfa (Elves), Mithril Lady (Dwarves), The Healer, Compassionate One, Star Lady, Holy One
Third among the gods of good is Althea Telmentar the goddess of healing, consolation, compassion and love. She is nearly as beloved as Daeus and brings the virtue of Hope to the world. She inspires people to trust in triumph of good and to seek the comfort of healing. Restoration is her divine right and she seeks to aid in the healing of the soul. She also patrons true love and empathy and is a known friend of silver dragons. Althea is also the wife of Daeus and the two rule the heavens together. Few deities are as revered and as loved as Althea is. She is a goddess that seeks to heal all ills and minister to all beings, if they be good neutral or evil in origins. She believes in the ability for good to redeem its own and believes even the most depraved and evil of creatures can be rescued and nurtured into the light. She is a gentle goddess but her power is great and her gentleness should not be confused with pacifism or weakness. Her knighthood, the Sentinel Guardians, act swiftly in defense of her flock and when roused to anger, her power touches all corners of the world and so her wrath is not easily turned aside. Fortunately, Althea is a gentle goddess who is long suffering, kind and slow to anger. Althea's origins lie near the very beginning itself. She came to Daeus in the midst of his struggles with Maugrim and the glory of her light was such that Maugrim departed and envied and hated her for it. Their consummate love and relationship is an example that many righteous couples strive to follow in their marriages. Daeus and Althea are the patrons of the pantheon of light and together they have sired celestial children and deities as well. For many, their union represents the ideal union of true love among the pantheon.
Dogma
Kindness, Love, Compassion and Tolerance are the things that Althea most often teaches. She embodies the greatest of the aspects of good and attempts to bring hope to others. Her people are often great counselors and comforters in the time of need. Their wisdom is rarely spurned and they are a welcome sight, especially when times are down and one is in need of an ear willing to listen and ones heart desires truthful words that can only help strengthen you in the long run. The path that Althea walks is a very difficult one to take, especially in a world that can be so violent and filled with shadows. Her people are called to shine like beacons and to illuminate the darkness and bring people into the light.
Clergy and Temples
Althea’s clergy is strongest in civilized lands with a semblance of structured order and living. Her priests often work alongside the priests of Eduriel in the matter of helping to maintain the social good and their attempts to create structured living. Althea’s people tend to be far more liberal then Daeus’ people as well as worldly. Daeus’ people tend to the spirit but it is the duty of Althea to tend to the earthly and bodily needs of individuals. Althea’s clerics pray for their spells either in the early evening at first sign of the evening star or during early morning just before sunrise but when stars can still be seen. Even when indoors or during cloud cover, Althea’s priests always instinctively know the position of the evening star named Telmentar, and they always face it when praying.
It should come as no surprise then that the common folk love Althea’s church and clergy quite dearly and in settled lands everywhere. They can be counted on to be generous in their support of various locations and many of her clergy dedicate themselves to lifelong missions of healing and of the alleviation of suffering. They speak for the oppressed, guide the lost, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, care for orphans, and gather herbs to make medicine and give shelter to the shelterless. Everyday issues of logic, finances and their own mortal frailties prevent the church from doing more then it would like to do but they are active in the daily affairs of common folk. Her clerics walk a difficult path but their faith makes them all the stronger for it.
Those who look upon Althea and the travails of her priesthood with scorn or believe that their compassionate nature is synonymous with weakness are sorely underestimating both goddess and her followers. When it comes to political machinations and outright combat against the forces of darkness, Althea favors a behind the scene approach and her clergy are tireless in their efforts to remove things that scourge the land and cause suffering. They would favor covert action to remove a tyrant as opposed to open warfare.
Clerical Vestments
They favor loose light blue robes with gold or silver trimmings and hoods, worn over a breastplate that is often emblazoned with a rose. Many carry long quarterstaff as well as numerous scroll and potion cases for the purpose of carrying healing accouterments.
Avatars
Althea’s traditional appearance is that of a simple white, silver and pink robed woman with blue hair and a blue staff. Her hair is long and full, falling past her waist with two slender strands curling to fall infront of her shoulders. Sometimes she is hooded and she walks the world as The White Lady, in simple white robes with little by way of excessive design or color on them. Her simplistic appearance belies her great power and influence in the world. She is not given to extravagant appearances or displays but the color blue is always about her and evident on her form in some fashion or another.