Velos

Velos
Elffather; The Great Stag

Symbol: A blue stag's head
Home Plane: Arborea
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Cleric Alignments: Chaotic Good, Neutral Good
Portfolio: Plant life, elves, woodlands
Worshipers: Elves, forest-dwelling beastfolk, fae, treants, gnomes, rangers, druids
Domains: Darkness (Night), Elf, Good, Nobility, Plant, Protection
Favored Weapon: Longbow or longsword

Physical Description:
Like many gods, Velos takes many forms, though he has a few that are special to him. His most natural form is that of a tall elven lord of beautiful and commanding visage with a pair of silver stag's antlers projecting from his head, pale blue skin, and flowing white hair. Velos also takes the form of a great and shining silver stag, and is known at times to wear a female shape much like that of his more typical elven male form, but with six shining points of light on her forehead instead of antlers.

Description of Nature, Personality, and Dogma:
A great and powerful titan deity, Velos is nevertheless one of those that is more interested in his followers than in his personal power. Velos takes his greatest joy from the growth and life of forests, and feels most powerful and alive while immersed in the circle of life and death that fills these living lands. Trees are sacred things to Velos, and while he accepts that some must fall at times, he discourages his followers from killing living trees whenever possible. He encourages his worshipers to appreciate beauty, especially natural beauty, to guard against danger, and to be self-reliant. His most sacred places are special groves of trees, living wood altars in the small clearings in the deep woods, and the most ancient and massive of trees found in wild forests.

Clergy, Places of Worship, Important Rituals, and Servitor Races:
The clergy of Velos are selected from a very young age (a relative term, when speaking of his more long-lived worshipers). From birth, a future cleric of Velos is identified by a visit from Velos to the parents or guardians of the future cleric in the form of a shining silver stag, though this visit can be either in a dream or in person. This stag visits the future cleric in similar fashion the moment the acolyte is ready to become a full-fledged cleric. Very often clerics of the Great Stag will be touched by Velos with his foremost antler prongs against their foreheads, which leaves six tiny but distinct silver marks that will remain with the cleric throughout life.

Study in the art of the sword and the bow are holy acts for Velos' worshipers, as signs of their determination to survive and thrive in a harsh world against all foes and challenges, and all his worshipers are expected to do some training in the use of these weapons before going to sleep. Elves take this to its logical extreme, and this is the source of their martial training from very close to birth. Worshipers of Velos also celebrate the Day of Bright Leaves. This is a day at the very end of winter, when the first budding leaves appear on trees. On this day Velos' worshipers have often wild celebrations to commemorate survival through another harsh winter and the escape from Fenrath' jaws once again. During these celebrations, anyone who is not actively hostile to the celebrants is allowed to join in the fun, and this is often a day of diplomacy, the reconciliation of old grudges and feuds, and the beginning of new relationships (incidentally, this is also the day around which the majority of half-elves are conceived).

Velos is served by most Chaotic Good outsiders, including the guardinals, and especially by those native to Arborea. He is also served by white stags, large and magical versions of common stags, which act as his messengers, and also, through him, as guides for great heroes.

History and Relations:
One of the titans that sided with the gods, and was thereafter elevated to fully divine status, Velos is a creature of primal energy and passion, raised to his present level of power by Bahamut himself. He has a long history with other titanic beings, and also with several forces of elemental might. Fenrath and Velos have a long and strange history together, which alternates between rivalry, bitter hatred, reconciliation and alliance, friendship, and, occasionally, love. This is often reflected in the relationship between elves and wolfen, and the existence of the cantol is an open demonstration of the degree of complication in this relationship. Gun and Velos maintain friendly relations, and the two frequently seek to find a state of balance between forests and grasslands without either overpowering the other. Jyn and Dan Dao are close friends of Velos, and the three are often friendly rivals in athletic prowess. Lugscar is a bitter and hated enemy of Velos for Lugscar's constant attempts to steal Velos' lands and slay his worshipers, the Blind Rager's rapacious nature quite at odds with Velos' sense of natural balance. Salamander is also an enemy of Velos, who fears the Unquenchable One, and Velos has formed an alliance with Phoenix to gain protection from the danger of Salamander. Bellakadina was once a lover of Velos, but betrayed him in a most terrible fashion, allowing her to seduce away the people that would become the drow, and now they are the most bitter of enemies.

Favored Offerings and Justifications for Direct Intervention:
Among the offerings that draw Velos' attention most are the freely-offered blood of a unicorn (which does not necessarily have to end the life of said unicorn) and the crystallized tears of his priestesses, which can be gained only through an arduous and rather costly ritual. Aside from these more exotic offerings, Velos also appreciates offerings of the pinions of birds and the shed antlers of stags dipped in silver.

As Velos generally teaches his worshipers self-reliance, he tends not to interfere directly in their lives. However, in the case of significant and relatively widespread threats to woodlands and to the creatures that live in them, Velos' attention can be gained, and he is likely to directly intervene. The threat of extinction for a woodland-dwelling species also draws his attention, first by acting through his clergy, and then with increasing severity as needed. Velos is also known to send white stags as messengers of the gods, to lead great heroes to those places where they will be able to best fulfill their destinies.