Waukeen

Waukeen:

Symbol: A gold coin displaying the face of the goddess facing to the sinister
Home Plane: Formerly: Outlands/The Marketplace Eternal; currently missing and presumed adrift in the Astral Plane
Alignment: TN
Portfolio: Money, trade, wealth
Domains: Knowledge Protection Travel
Worshipers: Merchants, rogues, traders, the wealthy
Aliases: N/A
Cleric Alignments: N, LN, CN, NG, NE
Favored Weapon: Nunchaku - "Cloud of Coins"

'History/Relationships: 'Waukeen (Wau-KEEN) is a relatively young deity. She appealed to the rising merchant class in the Realms, and her worshipers included shopkeepers, members of trading costers, wealthy merchants, caravan guides, itinerant peddlers, moneychangers, and smugglers - many of whom may return to her fold yet, depending on how events transpire.

Waukeen is a vibrant and vivacious deity with a will to get things done. She loves wealth not for the sake of money itself but for the comforts, conveniences, and opportunities it brings her and her followers. She likes the fast-paced bargaining and the give-and-take of the marketplace, and legend holds that she has been recognized many times by worshipers just after she and her follower had finished a spirited bargaining session over and item for sale in a town market. (She always won the best deal, but the merchant was usually well satisfied with the terms also.) Waukeen is willing to try odd methods to accomplish her goals when tried and true ones are just not working. This openness to innovation has led her to embrace many of Gond's "new-fangled gadgets" long before other deities thought them wise. However, while she is open to different methods of problem-solving, she is also stubborn about having her way and very persistent. In fact, it is a combination of these virtues and flaws that led to the dire predicament she is in now.

For over 10 years now, Waukeen has been unheard from in the Realms and thought to be destroyed or dead. When all the powers of the Realms were confined to Toril's surface, she was never spotted by mortals, and when the Godswar ended no avatar came forward to take over her portfolio. Not even Cyric and Mask, responsible for the death of Leira and Bhaal, claimed her portfolio or claimed to have killed her. Her priests were deprived of their spells, and many of her worshipers and churches turned to other faiths. Pandemonium reigned among her clergy. Finally, in 1365 DR, a prophet of Lliira appeared with a revelation that was interpreted to mean Waukeen was dead and banished from the Realms and would not return. The prophet appeared at the gates of each of the temples of Waukeen in the Realms on a series of days, transported by magic. At each stop, the prophet said that Lliira would hold the portfolio of Waukeen in trust as its regent and grant spells to the worthy. The Waukeenar temples, already battered by a loss of respect and worshipers, readily agreed, and the faith of Waukeen was smoothly folded into the worship of Lliira, with dissenting Waukeenar moving to the faiths of Tymora, Lathander, Shaundakul, and even Beshaba. Lliira gained extensive power in the move. But what really happend to Waukeen?

Waukeen was indeed confined to an avatar on the surface of Toril just as all the other powers were when the Time of Troubles began. Just like many other powers, she wanted beyond all else to return to her home realm and from there to marshal her resources to resolve (or help resolve) the turmoil in the Realms - preferably to her best advantage. Waukeen was fortunate in that the first avatar she encountered on Toril was that of Lliira. The two goddesses had previously been on good terms and saw no reason to change that state of affairs; in fact, they chose to travel together. Like many of the powers, Waukeen knew of the Celestial Staircase in Shadowdale and decided to try to climb it (much as Mystra attempted later). Once Waukeen got to the top, she intended to bribe Helm with whatever his heart's desire was to let her and Lliira pass on to the Outer Planes. However, this plan quickly proved unfeasible, since Waukeen and Lliira proceeded no more than a quarter of the way up the Celestial Staircase before being menacingly challenged by Helm. He proved to be un-bribable, a response not altogether unexpected from the god of guardians.

So, Waukeen and Lliira descended and retreated into the forest of Cormanthor to plan. Waukeen, being the goddess of trade of all kinds, both licit and illicit, hit upon another plan: She would smuggle herself off the Realms. To do this, she would have to use the network of contacts she had developed in her time as a goddess and her extensive knowledge of trade and smuggling routes from the Realms into the Outer Planes and from one plane to another. She planned to move along a circuitous course through the Lower Planes and approach her realm indirectly, so as to have the best chance of sneaking past Ao's watchdogs into her realm.

Waukeen, through a convoluted route, managed to contact Celestian, a power of long-distance and interplanar travel from another crystal sphere who owed her a favor. Celestian agreed to repay the favor by transporting Waukeen off of Toril and into the Astral Plane and shielding her temporarily from Ao, but there was one sticking point - Ao was preventing all Realms deities from leaving Toril. In order to leave the Astral Plane and enter the Outer Planes, Waukeen would have to give up being a goddess. Because of the peculiar restrictions Ao had forced upon the powers in their avatar forms, Waukeen was able to shed her mantle of divinity, reducing herself to no more than an extremely weak power, but extremely knowledgeable, mortal. She left the mantle of her divinity with Lliira for safe-keeping, since Celestian adamantly would not risk offending such a powerful being as Ao by trying to transport Lliira, a goddess he did not even know, in addition to Waukeen. Lliira promised to guard Waukeen's portfolio and godly power until she returned for it, and Celestian transported Waukeen to the Astral Plane without incident.

Once on the Astral Plane, Waukeen had arranged to be met by powerful minions of an underworld contact she had in the Abyss - Graz'zt, an abyssal lord. Graz'zt's minions appeared as promised, and Waukeen accompanied them to Azzagrat in the Abyss. There she was to pay Graz'zt well for his help by revealing the hiding places (on the Prime Material and other planes) of the amount of treasure they had agreed on would serve as payment for Graz'zt's aid. Once in Graz'zt's palace, however, Waukeen was trapped and betrayed. Graz'zt wanted to renegotiate the contract they had made, and Waukeen was to be his guest - indefinitely - so that he could benefit from her wealth of knowledge - or rather, her knowledge about wealth. Since this time (to this very day), Waukeen has been trapped in the 45th, 46th, and 47th layers of the Abyss, shuttled between the Argent Palace in Zelatar, where she is infrequently invited for tea and interrogations by Graz'zt, and the habitation of Maretta, the Lady of the Counting-House who watches over the revenues from the pacts Graz'zt has made with mortals. (Maretta lives in Samora, a city of vice whose dwellings are built with an eye toward excessive ornamentation.) Once Waukeen even escaped her escorts and fled into the Viper Forest of Zrintor, only to wander lost for a tenday before being betrayed again to Graz'zt by several tanar'ri whose fear of his wrath overcame their greed for the riches promised to them for getting Waukeen to the Outlands.

While Waukeen was gone, the Godswar was resolved, and Ao restored access to the Outer Planes from Toril and removed his peculiar restrictions on the powers' avatar forms. But Waukeen as not there to benefit from this renewed access, and her divine power rested (at least temporarily) in another being, so her form was not changed. Lliira became increasingly worried about her friend's failure to reappear, but was unable to locate her either. Divinations by Waukeen's own faithful failed to work, gave confusing readings due to the muddled state of her divine power, or mysteriously cross-connected with the Abyss and drove the diviners insane. Lliira saw Waukeen's church disintegrating before her eyes and felt the only way to preserve what was left for her friend's return was to take control of it herself before a more basely motivated power moved in to take over. She instructed her prophet as to what to say and transported him to the gates of every temple to Waukeen, as described above. The prophet was the emphasize Waukeen's uncertain status and the regency of Lliira, but the Waukeenar, already in a panic-stricken state after receiving no new spells for years, immediately heard what they thought they were going to hear and recorded that Waukeen was dead.

Dogma: Waukeen teaches that mercantile trade is the best road to enrichment. Increasing the general prosperity of all buys ever-greater civilization and happiness for intelligent folk Faerûnwide, bringing everyone close step by step to the Golden Age that Waukeen says lies ahead—if people conduct themselves rightly. It is the duty of all who believe in the Merchants' Friend to destroy no trade goods, raise no restrictions to trade, and propagate no malicious rumors that may harm trade (such as saying that grapes from Chessenta are poisoned or that Cormyrean carved furniture contains boring worms that Cormytes are trying to export to the lands of competitors). Indeed, such rumors are to be challenged when heard and refuted if possible.

Faithful of Waukeen should give money freely to beggars and businesses alike, both to demonstrate the bounty of the goddess and the wealth to be gained by service to her and to increase the free coin in everyone's hands. If everyone has more than enough coin to spend, the tendency to hide and hoard is less and the urge to buy this or that all the greater—and more things are bought, and everyone is the richer. Through riches the lives of all are made better, and the Golden Age draws nearer.

Telchar of Waukeen are charged: "Worship me, and you shall know wealth. To guard your funds is to venerate Waukeen and to share them well seeds your future success. Call on me in trade, and I will be there. The bold find gold, the careful keep it—and the timid yield it up."

Avatar/Manifestations: Waukeen usually manifests as a glowing shower of gold coins that materializes from nowhere and undulates like a serpent or orbits a chosen being or item the goddess wants attention drawn to before the light dies and the stream of coins collapses in a spray of bouncing, rolling coinage. The coins are real and can be snatched up by anyone present. Waukeenar always try to grab them if possible, seeing them as "divine essence of the goddess." She also appears as a pair of gleaming golden eyes (in dreams, often only half seen), watching from an impenetrable shadow.

Agents/Petitioners: Waukeen also acts through the appearance or presence of ferrumachs and plumachs. More commonly, she sends money where none is expected to be found (such as a face-up copper piece on a path), palomino horses, golden cats, golden lions, lock lurkers, daffodils, citrines, pyrite, gold nuggets, and eagles (especially golden ones) to show her favor and as a sign to inspire her faithful.

The Church of Waukeen: Most of the former priests of Waukeen are now Lliiracists, either fully taken with the power of the faith or worshiping Lliira as Waukeen's godly regend, though some also joined the churches of Tymora, Lathander, Beshaba, and Shaundakul. The (remaining) clergy members of Waukeen are known as Waukeenar, but most other faiths call them "coinspinners." This name comes from the fact that they are not misers, but wild spenders, displaying the bounty of the goddess to all. The church is approximately 40% clerics and 60% specialty priests. It is organized in a loosely hierarchical manner, and all temples of Waukeen in Faerûn answer to one head of the church who holds the title of Holycoin. Specialty priests of the faith are known as goldeyes because their pupils turn that blazing hue due to the touch of the goddess. Goldeyes are among the most successful prospectors and tomb-treasure finders in Faerûn.

Novices are known as Telchar among Waukeenar. In ascending order, the ranks a priest may rise through after she or he is confirmed are: Coin, Abreeant, Counter, Trabbar, Investor, Halanthi, Lender, Syndo, Manycoins, Grand Trabbar, Spender, Grand Syndar, Overgold (a general term for high clergy), and Holycoin. Temples of Waukeen are built in many architectural styles, but a preference for ornate and ornamentation is prevalent no matter whether the building is a soaring cathedral or a classical temple featuring a large portico and many columns. Decoration in Waukeen's temples covers the floors, walls, roof pillars, and ceiling if possible. The decorative elements are baroque, intricate, brightly colored, and feature as much precious metal and as many gemstones as can be logically or illogically fitted into the design.

Day-to-Day Activities: Waukeenar travel the world aiding merchants or staff temples in large cities that serve as money lending and changing houses, safe storage warehouses, and (covertly) fences for stolen goods—all in exchange for fees. Temples also provide wealthy merchants who give generous tithes to the temples sumptuous priest-guarded accommodations in town during their stays.

Waukeen's clergy members are under orders to invest in all enterprises that have any reasonable hope of succeeding if they are run by devout worshipers of the goddess and to consider other investments if approached by entrepreneurs willing to make substantial offerings to the goddess. Waukeenar are not above manipulating trade by means of rumors, buy-ups, hired border brigands, and the like, but strong public criticism of such unsubtle tactics in the past has led the church to officially deny undertaking of such things—and to order its priests to such work only with the greatest subtlety, so that no one who suspects their hands at work will be able to prove anything. Personal enrichment is the sign of a wise priest, but this must be done through arms-length investments, not openly unlawful acts.

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: The usual altar to Waukeen is a plain stone block or wooden table on which is set a blessed golden bowl. As gold coins and other riches are added to it, the bowl rises off the table, levitating due to an enchantment that becomes stronger in direct proportion to the nonorganic weight added to it. (Such a bowl can be rowed about without the mover having to take the weight of its contents and used to shift heavy stone blocks, rocks, or furniture, but no use of it is to be made that allows non clergy members of Waukeen to see it in secular operation.) All rituals to the goddess center around offerings made by worshipers into this bowl, and if a member of the faithful ever wishes to make his or her nightly prayer and is not within reach of such a bowl, a single coin must be cast into water (such as a stream or pond) and left there as the supplication is made.

The first ritual of high holiness is the Cleaving, wherein nonbelievers first entering the faith, people entering their novitiate, novices becoming priests, or priests rising in rank dedicate themselves to the goddess. This involves entering the church covered in dirt, and in this state going to the altar on one's knees, carrying or dragging (use of a sledge and body harness is allowed) one's own weight in gold. The gold is placed on the altar, the bowl is then kissed by the supplicant, and as a hymn to the goddess is sung by all, stone covers in the floor roll back to reveal a warm bath of spiced wine. As the supplicant enters it, the offering bowl levitates and pours out its contents of liquid gold (actually holy water laced with flecks of gold) into the waters. The supplicant bathes until clean but sparkling with gold as hymns to the goddess continue. Priests then come forward to allow the person to modestly be dried and clothed in new grand, gaudy garb. After this, a feast begins. The best-known ceremony of holiness is the bestowal of the Mark of the Lady, a gold chevron in the form of a giant coin of Waukeen. This is done to reward priests or faithful worshipers of the goddess who have achieved great success or distinction in their endeavors (in other words, who have enriched the church and/or their communities, not merely themselves). The Favored One ends up with the coin on a sash, and all who attend such a ceremony receive a single tiny gold coin. (Some people have three or more of the heavy, fragile, highly prized gold coins, which cost 450 gp or more due to the gold that goes into them.) Thieves are warned that Waukeenar seem to have a spell that allows them to trace such coins. On two occasions when the gift coins were stolen, clergy members unerringly followed the thieves and recovered the wealth (in one case from a very elaborate hiding place) before slaying the thieves for their temerity and sacrilegious behavior.

The church of Waukeen holds many festivals, and such holy rituals such as the Cleaving and the bestowal of the Mark are usually performed at one of them. Other features of such gatherings always include assembly at a spot where hymns are sung to the goddess (often a pond or well where faithful worshipers can throw in their coins and pray), a parade in full finery from that place to the temple (accompanied by music, and sometimes by unwanted pranksters who throw stones, eggs, and refuse at the gaudily-dressed clergy), and a solemn sermon, any holy rite scheduled, and then a fast that goes on into the wee hours. If no holy rite is scheduled to be celebrated, then one is not held and its place in the service is taken by a public Prayer to the Lady Waukeen, given by the senior priest present. The feast involves much merriment because of the freely flowing drink and is always accompanied by hired entertainment—jugglers, dancers, musicians, storytellers, contortionists, trained animals with their keepers, and hedge wizards who do sleight-of-hand tricks and minor cantrips. Each temple can add its own festivals to the roster for whatever reason, but all important communities of Waukeen-worshipers celebrate the dozen High Festivals: Cold Counting Comfort, Great Weave, Highcoin, Spheres, Sammardach (SAM-mahr-dock), Brightbuckle, Sornyn (SOR-nihn), Huldark, Spryndalstar (SPRIHN-dahl-star), Marthoon, Tehennteahan (Teh-HEN-tee-ah-han), and Orbar.

Cold Counting Comfort occurs on the 15th of Hammer and is named for the accounting that goes on in many businesses during this down time at the height of the harsh winter. Great Weave is celebrated on the 20th of Alturiak and is named for the tapestry-weaving practiced in all wealthy households throughout the winter and the textile-making to which cloth merchants devote this month. Highcoin is celebrated on the 30th of Ches. It is a grand feast when spoken accolades, accompanied by trumpet fanfares, hail the wealthy for amassing such worth and offerings are amassed for the next festival, Spheres. Spheres is held on the 10th of Tarsakh. During this festival glass spheres filled with gems and coins are paraded around a city and then lobbed into the air by catapults to fall into the city, shatter, and pill out their contents at random for the general populace to snatch up.

Sammardach occurs on the 12th of Mirtul. This observance is named for the richest benefactor of the early church, a merchant so rich that he once bought a city—now-vanished Tsabran, which stood just southeast of Airspur along the Chessentan coast, and gave it with all its properties and businesses to the Waukeenar. Brightbuckle is held on the 21st of Kythorn. The advent of good weather is marked by a parade in finery of all who wish to attend a Waukeenar church feast, of whatever faith—and Waukeen's priests give inspirational talks about the growing wealth of the lands around and show recent works of the Lady through (hired) illusion spells in hopes of encouraging new worshipers to join the faith or the priesthood.

The 3rd through the 5th of Flamerule is Sornyn, a festival marking the time for planning, the making of treaties and agreements, and the receiving of envoys from unknown lands and traditional foes. Much wine is drunk at this three-day occasion, when "my enemy is like a brother to me." Huldark is celebrated on the 17th of Elesias. It is a feast wherein the bounty of the land, which feeds and sustains us all, is celebrated, an faithful of Waukeen plant new fruit trees or vegetable plants.

Spryndalstar occurs on the 7th of Eleint. Spryndalstar recongnizes how magic and the ideas of those who work with it have enriched us all: Waukeenar sponsor mages in their endeavors and hire wizards to cast spells to awe and entertain folk in public spectacles. The 1st of Marpenoth marks Marthoon, the church's recognition of the vigilance and work of soldiers and guards in defending the wealth and the security of those who generate it. During Marthoon, such folk are feasted and given gifts of gold-and each major temple sponsors one lucky warrior into retirement by giving him or her 10 times his or her weight in common coin and a steading to enjoy it on.

Tehennteahan is held on the 10th of Uktar. It is known as the Night of Hammers and Nails and is a day-long feast in which Waukeenar salute the inventions of simple folk—smiths, crafters, and those who work with they hands and not magic—and how their works benefit us all. New innovations are demonstrated, shops are shut so that their keepers can join in the feasting, and the church buys all rights to certain inventions for a room full of gold per invention purchased. (The room has to be one in the inventor's house, and the church fills it to the rafters with gold coin.) Orbar, held on the 25th of Nightal, rounds out the yearly festivals. It is a solemn remembrance of the dark side of wealth. Prayers are said for those driven mad by gold or their miserliness, those slain by thieves and brigands, those who died trying to steal, or who met their ends adventuring or mining after gold, and like people. The public is invited to a Candle Feast wherein well-loved deceased merchants are remembered with praise, and the church reminds all in the community that it has the power to trace and hunt down thieves who steal the wealth of those who worship Waukeen—and will use it.

Major Centers of Worship: The former center of Waukeen's worship, the Goldspires, a large fortified castle-abbey whose towers are adorned with gilded conical roofs that rises high above Athkatla on its own seafront crag, is the only remaining large enclave of Waukeenar. This House of All Plenty (a term given to all major temples of Waukeen) is really a small fortified city in its own right and is said to be supported by no fewer than seven rising merchant houses of Amn, who see it as their only way to true power in the land in the face of the might of the older merchant families who rule. The Goldspires is ruled by the Holycoin Voice of the Lady Tharundar Olehm, an aged patriarch of huge size and impressive white-browed mien. He is assisted by no fewer than five ambitious, beautiful women of various ages and backgrounds, the "Five Furies": Barasta Cleeith, Daerea Ethgil, Faerthae Garblueth, Halanna Jashire, and Satiila Tebrentan. These women are all Overgold sisters who pursue a vicious game of quiet in-fighting to become Tharundar's successor as the supreme head of the church of Waukeen in Faerûn.

Affiliated Orders: The church of Waukeen has no church-affiliated knightly orders. It readily sponsors adventuring companies who can present a reasonable prospect of showing a profit and promise a 20% tithe to the church, and it often hires mercenary and adventuring companies to guard trade caravans and shipments of church trade goods overseas. Persistent rumor holds that many individual Waukeenar (if not the church itself) have long-standing connections with the Iron Throne.

Priestly Vestments: Waukeen's clergy members are among the most lavishly dressed, rivaling those of Sune, Milil, and Lathander in their rich robes. Waukeenar ritual garb is gaudy and ornate, with white silk undergarments, slashed and fluted sleeves and boots, pince-nez and lorgnettes (if the priests have any weakness of vision), various useful items dangling from silk ribbons, and tall gilded and begemmed miters. Tunics, trousers, hose, or tabards may be worn as desired (or as the season makes practical), but these are always of the finest, most costly fabrics and furs, dyed and arranged for the most vibrant display possible. The entire ensemble is covered by a gilded scarlet cloak heavy with the weight of thousands of wheels, plates, clasps, and flourishes of various precious metals.

The costume is finished off with white gloves and a gilded rod or staff, which is either magical or ornately carved and set with gems. (Many Waukeenar carry staffs of curing so as to heal wounds in return for substantial donations to the church. These staffs or curing represent the sole major magical energy left in the church at present.) High clergy usually wear coronets with their miters, and outshine many monarchs with their garb.

Adventuring Garb: Waukeenar wear the clothing of rich merchants when in the streets, and armor that is gilded, white-enameled, and painted with elaborate scenes when they ride into danger. They use chariots enchanted to make them float or ornate curtained palanquins. (Horses still pull the chariots, but the weight is much less and the ride both fast and smooth.)