Old Version Of Matra

The Great Mother

MATRA.jpg

Symbol: A globe of Therafim
Home Plane: Prime Material (United with essence of Therafim)
Alignment: Neutral
Portfolio: Nature, the world of Therafim
Worshipers: Fey, Druids, those who make their living from the fruits of the world, intelligent animals, beastfolk
Cleric Alignments: Any Neutral
Domains: Balance, Plant, Weather, Mysticism, Renewal
Favored Weapon: Sickle
Clergy: The clergy of Matra are known as the Verdant Votaries.
Favored Offering: Matra's favored offering is agricultural, consisting of anything from 10lbs of ginger or pepper, to 1lb of saffron. It can range from exotic spices to local produce, but no blood nor living creatures in whole or in part are to be offered.

Matra is the Mother of All. Her power and influence is felt throughout all of Therafim, and her essence sustains all that lives and breathes. She does not usually actively intervene, allowing her subtle, natural impulses to work upon the world, creating the steady, natural rhythms of the cycles of life, death and rebirth. When she chooses to appear in a tangible form, Matra appears like a tall and stately middle-aged woman with earth-brown skin and bright eyes that shift color and hue, dressed in a simple but comely homespun dress.

Dogma:
Ensure the balance of all that lives is the creed of Matra. Outsiders and undead are anathema to her, because they are not a part of Therafim, and while she may tolerate the presence of outsiders for short periods, as long as they return to their proper plane as soon as possible, she has no tolerance for undead at all, and their destruction is a holy act. Matra is very protective of her world, for it is the source from which she draws her life and power, and she only tolerates the other gods, but it is a cool tolerance. The druid code of ensuring the balance and guardianship of nature is the high mark of her religion, and living in harmony with the living world is a proper holy walk before her on the world of Therafim. Matra is a goddess of ends – as long as they are met, she does not care so much about the means.

Clergy:
Most of the clergy of Matra are druids, with all the powers and abilities associated with them. However, there are a substantial number of clerics who draw their divine power from Matra, most of them acting as intermediaries between intelligent races and the world of nature. Almost every large farming community will have at least one circle of standing stones and an altar made of unhewn rocks piled up, or a menhir or two. Matra’s temples never have doors, and are always situated in places that formed naturally, such as intricate rock formations, groves of trees, pristine waterfalls, and beautiful crystal caverns never touched by a carver’s chisel.