Berronar Truesilver: The Revered Mother; the Mother Goddess; Matron of Home and Hearth; Mother of Safety, Truth, and Home
Symbol:Two silver rings
Home Plane: Solania/Erackinor
Alignment: LG
Portfolio: Safety, truth, home, healing, dwarven home life, records, traditional clan life, marriage, familial love, faithfulness/ loyalty, honesty, obligations, oaths, the family, protector of dwarven children
Domains: Dwarf, Protection, Family
Worshipers: Children, Dwarven defenders, dwarves, fighters, homemakers, husbands, parents, scribes, wives
Aliases: N/A
Cleric Alignments: LG, NG, LN
Favored Weapon: Wrath of Righteousness (heavy mace)
History/Relationships: Berronar Truesilver (BAlR-roe-nahr TROO-sihl-vur) is the bride of Moradin. She dwells with him at the Soul Forge beneath the mountains in Solania (fourth of the Seven Heavens, called Khynnduum in the oldest dwarven writings). The Revered Mother is the defender and protector of the home – not a passive homebody. She is seen as the patron of marriage and love, and her name is often invoked in small home rituals for protection against thieves and duplicity. Berronar is also the goddess of healing. Lawful good dwarves who value their families, clans, and the common strength and security of dwarven society revere her for her caring and loving service to the entire race. All dwarves of any alignment who seek a safe refuge or who want their loved ones or relatives kept safe offer her appeasement as well. Although Berronar’s avatar is rarely seen in the Realms, the Revered Mother works ceaselessly to preserve and protect dwarven culture and civilization. Her favorite techniques involve manifesting her powers in dwarven mortals on occasions crucial to the survival of a clan, people, or lore records. She does so either to guide and empower them to protective feats of arms or to lead them to the discovery of forgotten records, facts, and truths.
If a braid of Berronar’s beard is cut off, it regrows in a single day. At the end of that day, the lock that was cut off turns to gold (worth 10,000-40,000 gold pieces). Both the goddess herself and her avatar form in the Realms have this ability. On very rare occasions, when the most powerful priest of Berronar in a community makes humble supplication to the goddess, Berronar gives such locks of hair to mortal dwarves. This gold is given only to dwarven communities that are exceptionally poor or hard-pressed and unable to recover economically otherwise. Berronar is the powerful matron who, along with Moradin, has held the sometimes fractious dwarven pantheon united during an extended period of slow decline in the dwarven population of the Realms. She works hand-in-hand with Sharindlar, guiding dwarves into and through the lasting bonds of marriage once the Lady of Life brings them together. The Mother of Hearth and Home also works closely with Moradin, Clangeddin, and Gorm to ensure the safety of dwarven holds. Berronar views the antics of Dugmaren, Haela, and Marthammor with patient humor, foreseeing the day when they and their followers settle down and join in the traditional clan life of the Stout Folk. The Revered Mother is the tireless foe of Abbathor, viewing his all-consuming greed as the greatest threat to dwarven unity at a time when a united front may be all that keeps the Stout Folk from being overrun by ores and their kin.
The Revered Mother is a kind and caring goddess with a strong motherly love for all dwarves and their allies who value compassion, fidelity, simplicity, tradition, the home, and family. Berronar has a ready, hearty laugh and a merry disposition, but she never wavers in the face of adversity or despairs in times of great loss. She can be strict or even fierce, if the situation so warrants, but the indomitable Mother Goddess of the dwarves is ever forgiving of her children, be they mortal or divine.
Berronar settles many disagreements among the Morndinsamman, and her skills at persuasion are such that she can usually make two foes understand each other and set aside their differences. Berronar often sends an avatar to defend threatened dwarven clans, especially small ones threatened by events beyond their power.
Dogma: The Children of Moradin are shaped on the Soul Forge and ever warmed by the embrace of the Revered Mother. Tend the hearth and home, drawing strength and safety from truth, tradition, and the rule of law. Join with friends, kin, and clan in common purpose. Do not succumb to the misery of greed or the evils of strife, but always bring hope, health, and cheer to those in need. Once an oath is made, Berronar watches over its keeping – to break it is to grieve her sorely. Children must be cherished and guarded well from harm, for they are future of the race.
Avatar/Manifestations: Berronar can, at a range of one mile or less, use suggestion on any intelligent creature. Berronar employs this power to guide chosen dwarves into performing specific actions (opening certain chests, going to certain locations, and so on) that lead to the discovery of secrets she wants known again. These secrets are usually about the past glories of the dwarven civilizations.
In more pressing conditions, Berronar can empower an individual dwarf with her favor, which appears as an aura or radiance of bright silver. This direct and unsubtle form of aid is granted only in emergencies. Berronar prefers to work through lawful good dwarven fighters, using suggestion to encourage appeals to her. If such a warrior appeals to the Revered Mother for specific aid and makes an appropriately large sacrifice, there is a small chance that Berronar imbues the warrior with power.
The sacrifice should consist mainly of the dwarf’s wealth, which Berronar causes to vanish from her temple altars. She then personally distributes it to the poorest dwarves throughout the Realms. Only dwarves of exceptionally pure heart are considered for this honor, and Berronar grants it at most only once in every 10 years to the same individual.
Agents/Petitioners: Berronar is served by aasimon, archons, earth elementals, einheriar, galeb duhr, guardian nagas, hammer golems, hollyphants, incarnates (of charity, faith, and justice), ki-rin, maruts, noctrals, pers, shedu, sunflies, and t’uen’rin.
Her omens are often suggestion effects to her priests and illusions that dissolve to reveal a truth (a revealed area, an item of symbolic meaning, etc.). Certain gems, including octel, shandon, and sphene, are said by dwarves to be the hardened tears of Berronar. Rock crystal also qualifies, but only when clear within and found naturally smoothed by ice or water. The discovery of such jewels is believed to be a sign of Berronar’s favor, and no other dwarven faith – including that of Dumathoin – incorporates any of these stones in either its rituals or its sacred lore. Other signs other favor include the sudden blossoming of white flowers and the discovery of freshwater springs.
The Revered Mother indicates her displeasure by shattering the crude clay statuettes Grafted in her image that adorn the hearth mantles of most dwarven homes, by causing hearth flames to turn black in color and be extinguished, and by unleashing small, localized tremors that do little damage aside from knocking the being that has garnered the Revered Mother’s displeasure to the ground and leaving small cracks in the floor and nearby walls.
The Church of Berronar : Berronar and her followers are widely respected throughout dwarven culture as well as among other human and demi-human societies. None would question the dedication to duty, compassion, or goodness of the Revered Mother’s priests. Only among the younger dwarven Wanderers is there a hint of dissent, for some hold that the clergies of Berronar and Moradin cling too tightly to the old ways in the face of new and ever-expanding threats to the Stout Folk.
Temples of the Revered Mother may be found both above and below the surface. A temple to Berronar aboveground consists of a circle of stones, usually in a wooded area, in which small fires are kindled in a random pattern. Gems and metal sculptures are set up among them on metal poles to sparkle and reflect back the firelight during worship. Actual sparkler fireworks are used on the two main holy days to mark the ending of each unison prayer. An underground temple to Berronar is a cavern in which the priests have carefully arranged mosses, lichens, fungi, and the like brought by the hands of faithful. They keep these watered and nourished to form a lush carpet all over the floor; this covering also climbs the walls as high as possible. Luminescent fungi are favored, to give the cavern as much natural light as possible. Magical items with the power to create dancing fights are highly valued, and non-dwarven wielders of such items are sometimes even hired to illuminate such a temple by this means. Such “lighters” must come to the temple naked and blindfolded, but they are treated with the utmost care and courtesy. When the ceremony is over, they are taken safely back to the surface under guard, in such a way as to maintain their dignity but keep the location of and route to the temple hidden from them.
Novices of Berronar are known as the Daughters/Sons of Berronar. Full priests of the Revered Mother are known as Revered Sisters/Brothers. In ascending order of rank, the titles used by Berronan priests are Hearth-mistress/Headmaster, Homesteader, Lorekeeper, Faithkeeper, Fidelite, and Sacred Heart. High Old Ones have unique individual titles but are collectively known as the Keepers of the Truesilver. Specialty priests are known as faernor, a dwarvish word that can be loosely translated as those of the home. The clergy of Berronar includes gold dwarves, shield dwarves, and a handful of jungle dwarves and gray dwarves. Berronar’s clergy is composed primarily of specialty priests and clerics, plus a handful of fighter/clerics and crusaders. Female dwarves still constitute most of the priesthood.
Day-to-Day Activities: Berronar’s priests serve as the guardians and protectors of dwarven clans; they also maintain lore records and family histories. The members of Berronar’s clergy strive to further the good health and good character of all dwarves. They heal the sick and injured, attempt to treat, eradicate, and stop the spread of disease, develop antidotes to dwarfsbane and other poisons that can affect dwarves, and encourage truthfulness, obedience to law, peaceful harmony, and governance of greed and gold lust. Priests of Berronar never ignore a dwarf in need of aid, and they always help to the best of their ability. If a Revered Sister/Brother lacks magical means of curing, she or he finds someone who can heal or provide all the nonmagical care possible. The duty of a priest of Berronar is to keep every dwarf alive, whatever the cost.
In many respects, Berronar’s priests are the pillars on which dwarven society is built. Revered Sisters/Brothers are instrumental in maintaining traditional dwarven culture, in knitting together families, in educating and nurturing young dwarves, and in maintaining the orderly governance of dwarven society. While rarely holding formal positions of leadership, the senior priest of Berronar in a dwarven hold or clan usually holds a position of great influence that rivals, if not exceeds, that of the titular ruler of the hold or clan.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Priests of Berronar worship the Mother Goddess by kneeling, closing their eyes, picturing the Revered Mother, and whispering prayers that begin and end with her name. They typically do this when asking for her guidance or when they are about to heal in her name. Her guidance is often given via an inner feeling or decision.
Annual offerings of silver are made to Berronar in the form of coins, jewelry, drinking vessels, or trade-bars (a dwarven invention). White flowers sometimes adorn the offerings in token of dwarven love and affection for the Mother Goddess. Midwinter day and Midsummer night are celebrated by Berronar’s faithful as holy days of the Revered Mother, although monthly observances are common in the larger temples. More elaborate rituals to Berronar take place aboveground on Midsummer Night and underground the rest of the time. Rituals honoring Berronar typically begin with a chanted prayer and continue with an address from the Keepers of the Truesilver.
This ends in a responsive prayer led by a High Old One or chosen priest. Next comes a report of the good works and successes of the priesthood and an identification of failures and problems still to be overcome. Another responsive prayer follows, then a rising, spirit-lifting unison prayer. If a very sick dwarf or dwarves are present, unison healing then takes place.
The entire assembled clergy lays hands on the afflicted ones and calls on Berronar. Healing does not always occur, although the deadening of pain (for 1d4+l days) always does – the assembled priests take the pain upon themselves. If healing does take place, it is a manifestation of the goddess, not a cast spell. Berronar’s Touch, as this is known, has in the past cured blindness, insanity, lycanthropy, poisonings, life energy loss, bodily transformations due to parasitic or symbiotic plant life, tissue corrosion, and the like, in addition to more simple wounds and diseases.
As betrothal and married life are the province of Berronar, lawful good dwarves follow her custom of exchanging rings with those for whom they feel deep, mutual trust and love, a ceremony that is never entered into lightly. The rings are often silver, matching the Revered Mother’s symbol, and are treated by dwarven smiths to be everbright (never to tarnish), then blessed by priests of Berronar. If one of the parties participates with deceit in his or her heart, Berronar’s power makes one of the rings crumble during the blessing (or both rings, if both are false).
Major Centers of Worship: Araufaern Caurak, the Abbey of Earth-hearth, is a great subterranean fortress atop a low plateau that dominates the eastern reaches of the Firecaverns of the Deep Realm. The Firecaverns include a long, narrow rift, warmed by nearby lava flows that stretch for miles in the depths, and many side caverns linked to the rift. The Firecaverns are lit by (and named for) a distinctive fungus that grows thickly on the rift’s wall and floor and gives off a strong, steady amber hue. The abbey resembles the bottom half of a white marble pyramid capped by a gleaming, gilded dome. Earthhearth is accessed by a broad, slowly ascending ramp leading up from the cavern floor below to a great gate in the center of the abbey’s western wall. Both the abbey and the Firecaverns are ruled by High Princess Royal Rathauna Forgesilver, and the easy-going, tolerant settlement embodies the principles of Berronar’s faith. Earthhearth serves as the governmental, militant, medical, educational, cultural, and social heart of the Firecaverns.
The abbey serves as the chapter house of the Legion of Silver Helms, a military order composed predominantly of crusaders and fighter/clerics dedicated to the Revered Mother. This militia defends the great cavern complex’s borders. The Grand Hearth, as the vast central hall of the abbey is known, houses a wide variety of activities, including exhibits of dwarven craftsmanship, royal marriages, storytelling, balls, feasts, and the like.
Affiliated Orders: Berronar’s Valkyries are crusaders and fighter/clerics who operate as small bands of elite dwarven female warriors. The role of the; order is to ensure that dwarven warriors (who are predominantly male) return to their hold and clan alive afte going to war. As such, the Valkyries accompany dwarven armies to battle, but instead of immediately joining in the fray, they choose a high vantage point from which to observe. If and when small pockets of dwarven warriors are in danger of being overrun, or when a dwarf is too badly wounded to withdraw, the Valkyries charge to the rescue.
The Order of the Silver Knightingale is a loosely structured order composed primarily of physicians, medics, clerics, and specialty priests skilled in the art of healing. Silver Knightingales, most of whom are female, accompany dwarven warriors into battle but do not fight except to defend themselves. Their role is to minister to the dead and dying and minimize the number of dwarven casualties using their healing skills. In peacetime, members of the order disperse to their individual clans and holds where they continue their roles as healers.
Priestly Vestments: The ceremonial garb of members of Berronar’s clergy includes white underrobes with cloth-of-silver overtunics. The Revered Mother’s priests remain bareheaded. The holy symbol of the faith is twin, interlocking, large silver rings worn on a steel or silver chain hung around the neck. Many Revered Sisters/Brothers add twin silver rings to their vestments, one on each ring finger.
Adventuring Garb: In combat situations, Revered Sisters/Brothers favor silver chain mail with silvered (everbright- treated) helms. Many priests of the Mother Goddess are reluctant to shed blood or spread violence and thus restrict themselves to blunt, bludgeoning weapons such as maces, flails, and warhammers.
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