Sylver
Argent Alicorn; Bright Mother; Dun Cow; Silverhorn
Symbol: A smooth silver horn, broken at the base
Home Plane: Bytopia
Alignment: Neutral Good
Cleric Alignments: Lawful Good, Neutral Good, Chaotic Good, Neutral
Portfolio: Fertility, motherhood, families, protection of the home and the innocent
Worshipers: Families and those wanting them, those who depend on the fertlity of soil or animals, mothers, gnomes, turos, defenders of the weak and innocent, unicorns
Domains: Community (Family, Home), Gnome, Good, Protection (Purity), Repose (Ancestors)
Favored Weapon: Longspear
Physical Description:
Sylver takes three significant forms, all of them female. The first of these, and the most famous among her worshipers, is that of a great silver unicorn, larger, more powerful, and more beautiful than any unicorn of the Prime Material Plane could ever be, though they are themselves embodiments of the beauty and purity of nature. However, her long silver horn is flawed, as it is broken off halfway up its length, the break point jagged and sharp. When angered in this form or protecting the innocent, Sylver's silver coat turns to a smooth, shining black, and her horn becomes whole, but turns the color of blood. Sylver's second form is that of a common woman of any species, often pregnant, always dressed in plain clothes, and generally easy to overlook, except for the faintly glowing silver mark in the center of her brow. When one takes a closer look at this seemingly simple woman, however, it quickly becomes obvious that she is actually astonishingly regal and beautiful in appearance, carrying herself with a supernatural grace and charisma. Finally, Sylver sometimes takes the form of a sleek, dun-colored cow with large, intelligent and expressive eyes and long silver horns, one of those horns broken off jaggedly partway down its length. It is in this last form that Sylver is most worshiped by the turos, the dwarves, and by several peasant communities among humans.
Description of Nature, Personality, and Dogma:
Gentle to those in need of nurturing, fierce to those who would threaten the weak and innocent, Sylver is the ideal mother figure, strong and beautiful as well as wise and gentle. She is the goddess of families and fertility, and also of motherhood itself, drawing much of her power from Matra's will, acting as an independent aspect of the Great Mother. Those who meet Sylver find her to be kind, sweet, and seemingly very trusting. However, though Sylver is willing to see the good in anyone, as any good mother should, she is also a realist, and not to be trifled with. If she should discover that she has been deceived, or that those with whom she deals have evil intentions, her wrath is terrible indeed.
Defending and nurturing the cradle of civilization, the family unit, is the single most important thing that concerns Sylver. What constitutes a family is open to cultural specifics, but whatever it might be to a given people, the worshipers of Sylver protect it and the innocents it is intended to rear to the death. Keeping the innocent and the weak safe and guiding and educating and strengthening them in paths of goodness are essential points of Sylver's system of belief, and so she finds ample worship among many good-aligned communities. Also a part of Sylver's worship is the nurturing of the land and the animals that live off of it. This nurturing generally takes the form of respectful, responsible farming and animal husbandry, being careful not to take more from the land than one can give back.
Clergy, Places of Worship, Important Rituals, and Servitor Races:
A great many of Sylver's clergy are actually good-aligned druids, while others of her worshipers are paladins, but all of her clergy are women. Instead of resorting to overt methods for selecting her clergy, Sylver instead gently guides her present clerics to young acolytes, or young acolytes to present clerics, so that students and mentors will be able to find each other. Those that Sylver selects are women with the tenderness and courage and intelligence to be midwives and mothers, nuturers and savage defenders of the faith. Sylver's clergy are not pacifists by any means, but they tend not to be aggressive by nature, preferring to focus their attentions on defense rather than offense. Clerics of Sylver are quickly identifiable by the silver trim on their otherwise mundane robes.
Temples to Sylver are quiet and peaceful natural clearings in wooded areas, most of which have some sort of natural rock formation or large stump or other natural surface that can serve as an altar. If an altar is not present, or the natural altar is not ideal for its purpose, then one may be brought in, or what is already there may be modified as needed, while still trying to preserve the naturalism of the setting. These holy places are most commonly used for marriages, which is one of the most important rituals that the clergy of Sylver perform, and the vast majority of marriages performed outside of major cities are done in temples of Sylver.
All unicorns immediately recognize Sylver as their goddess, and serve her and her clergy however they can, even being willing to violate their normally quite strict rule about associating only with virgins for the sake of Sylver and her worshipers.
History and Relations:
Sylver was always a great ruler of the elemental principle of earth, presiding over the living earth, abundant with life. She was raised to godhood by Nimbus, who saw the need for Sylver's self-sacrifice in their war against the Fallen Ones. It was Sylver that finally sealed the Elder Elemental Eye's power away, putting out Worm's eye by burying her horn in it. Her horn rendered Worm's power useless, forcing Worm to go into hiding to escape the wrath of the gods, but it had to remain inside the eye to keep its power sealed. For this reason, Sylver broke off her own horn, and had it along with the Elder Elemental Eye's power cast into the void, sealed beyond all mortal reckoning.
As the goddess of fertility, Sylver is closely associated with Nimbus, and they are close friends and confidants. She is quite devoted to Matra, and has a closer relationship with the Great Mother than almost any other deity in Therafim's pantheon. Sylver is also very close to Karn, the Iron Bull, and the two are regularly lovers. Velos has been known to be a lover of Sylver, but Karn is quite jealous of anyone else being with Sylver, and so this is an irregular event, and part of the reason why elves and dwarves sometimes do not get along, and why gnomes get along with both elves and dwarves. Sylver is utterly opposed to Zahir and her ways, and also strongly dislikes Bellakadina. She loathes and despises Lugscar, but is also deathly afraid of him, as he assaulted her in the past, and the offspring from his violence against her are the first gorgons. For this offense she wounded him in such a fashion that Lugscar has a very hard time producing any additional offspring (though he still can, albeit very rarely), something that he works hard to conceal from his followers, and which can result in worshipers of Lugscar going into a fury if the subject is brought up.
Favored Offerings and Justifications for Direct Intervention:
One of the most common offerings to Sylver is a small amount of a mother creature's colostrum, or the "first milk," which tends to be richer, thicker, and more filled with the essential things that a newborn needs to fortify its body against the rigors of living outside the womb. This can come from any creature, sentient or animal, that wishes to make an offering to Sylver, but it must be offered without coercion (most domestic animals do not object to being milked, and this counts as not being coerced). Offerings of bright silver and donations to or work for charitable causes to benefit orphans and families in need are also acceptable offerings.
Sylver is an approachable goddess, and is more than happy to be of assistance to mortals whenever possible. Her interest is in the protection of families, especially children and pregnant mothers, and she can be called upon to provide aid when families are in dire peril. Often this aid comes in the form of kind strangers who are inspired to be of assistance when they are needed most, but it can also come in the form of empowering mothers and fathers and siblings with more ability than they thought they had, for example giving them sufficient strength and protection from fire to lift a burning roof that has fallen on a loved one, or increased senses to notice when a loved one is about to do something dangerous. It is from Sylver's subtle assistance that many mothers are said to have eyes in the backs of their heads.
