Dana

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Deity dana.gif
Position Intermediate Deity
Symbol Ygdrassil upon twin fields of green
Colors Various shades of green
Celestial Symbol The Constellation 'Tree of Life'
Alignment Neutral
Home Plane The Cradle of Nature
Portfolio The Living Earth, Plants, Animals, Rangers, and Druids
Domains & Inquisitions Air, Animal, Plant, Water, Weather

Vengeance, Persistence, Spellkiller

Cleric Alignment Any Neutral
Favored Weapon Horn of Gaea (scimitar)
Other Names The Giver of Fruits, The Green Lady, Ceiwen (egalrin), Earth Mother, Ygdrassil Guardian, Queen of the Wood and Wild, The Mother of Nature, The Giver of Fruits (sildanyar), Green Gaia (khazad, halflings, gnomes)
Commonly Associated Organizations Temple of Dana, Ygdrassil Union, Wards of the Invisible Path
Some IC Hangouts Alexandrian Grid: A06: The Verdant Earth

Main Grid: H06: Fate's Spire, Hayatiento Aerie

Wilderness Pointe: Anywhere


Dana is an ancient goddess, the incarnation of nature itself and the embodiment of the natural world. She does not attempt to dominate nature but rather concerns herself with nature's natural growth, making sure that no force (good or evil) interferes and impedes with it.

Dana's moods are the seasons. Her despair is the winter, her joy is the summer and her hope is the spring. Her anger is the raging storm and her fury the hurricane. Because of this, many druids follow her and her clerics are few and far in-between. Likewise do Rangers look to her for guidance, and among races such as the sith-makar she is known by many names. In her mind she holds all the trees of the world and upon her tongue she names all flowers and fruits and the gardens of the earth are hers of the making. She exists in a balance with the others and often comes into strife and struggle. For the advancement of the needs of others often brings pain to Gaea and thus many times her peers and their followers must beware lest they arouse the wrath of the earth.

She is at times at odds with her husband, Reos, for his industrious ways often threaten the delicate balance she seeks to maintain, though there is said to be true love between them. Their daughter is the fickle and wild Ceinara, who burns with the fire of her mother's core.

She has a sort of limited partnership with Rada, who guards the Ethereal Sea. He does so that it remain in balance with the earth, that it provide nourishment, not destruction. She may also be said to have a friendship with Gilead, and the two are often worshiped in tandem, though he is more involved with the peoples of the earth than she.

Dogma

Be responsible in your usage of nature and whatever you take, seek to find a way to restore it and maintain the balance. Diligently watch for creatures whose sole purpose is to despoil nature and bring harm to it and to do so outside of the needs of the balance. They are led to understand that nature itself is neither good nor evil though there are those who may seek to advance those respective orders through nature and the natural order. Nature can sometimes be cruel and dangerous as equally as it can be nurturing and warm. Learn to work within it and accept the natural flow of things. Her followers are to live by these guidelines and many of them are druids and rangers.


Clergy and Temples

Titles
Cleric Essence
Druid Essence
Ranger Oakward or Oak's Ward*
Inquisitor ...coming soon!

* The title is a reference to the great tree Ygdrassil. Likewise, the titles of the clerics and druids refer to their tie to the essence of the world.

The followers of Dana tend not to distinguish between clerics and druids of the faith.

Scholars refer to the faith of Dana as The Green Word. Overall, Dana is a goddess who does not rely heavily on dedicated clergy and orders. Many of her followers are actually druids and rangers who operate in their own respective orders and the Green Word is more or less the unifying belief that they have in the guardianship of the natural world. Her clergy consider one another all equal and there are no ranks or political arrangements. All of them serve the greater cause of the living earth. Many times, she sends them to areas that have been badly damaged by wars to help cultivate and restore the land. Sometimes her followers work along side the followers of Navos who seek to repair arcane and planar damage that is affecting the material world. For the past few centuries, her order has been working diligently at unraveling the secrets of The Everstorm, which is one of the ultimate examples of natures gone haywire. Dana isn't overly concerned with political structure or organization. Hers is primarily an animistic faith that concentrates on the respect and reverence of nature as itself.

Clerical Vestments

Dana's servants reflect the wilderness in which they reside. Often dressed as woodsmen or hunters, they tend towards greens and simple clothing both practical and suited to the area where they work and serve Dana. Many are skilled in the use of the scimitar and similar traditional druidic weapons.


Avatars

Dana loves the world and her spirit is said to visit it often and to embody itself in the various moods and changing ways of nature. It is said that in every druid grove where stands a tree of the Ygdrassil Union, her presence is there as well. When she does deign to appear in other forms, she often takes the form of a tall golden haired woman robed in green and crowned in ivy. As her mood changes so does her garment. Her sorrow, despair and distress can cause her garments to shift to pale white and the chill of a winter storm will swirl about her now silver and brittle hair. Her wrath transformers her into blazing heat or the shaking of the earth and her joy brings the beauty of the colors of summer to her flesh and garments and a full basket of fruits and gifts in her arms.