Flower

Flower's High Woldian Symbol.

Ethos	"Love never claims, it ever gives." - Mahatma Gandhi
Domains	Community, Healing, Giving, Good, Charm
Prestige Classes	Troubadour
Holy Days	Wedding days, birthdays, New Year's Day, Day of the Dove in the Month of Flowers
Sacrifices	Time spent loving and serving others, Gold given in service and love to those who need it
Favored Weapon	Starknife: Flower’s followers show elegance in all they do, and combat is no exception. Clerics of Flower gain proficiency with the starknife - a beautiful weapon that requires grace to use and is fittingly reminiscent of her High Woldian symbol.

Flower is the patron of deep love in all its forms. Due to her mortal background, she is also the patron of the arts. She believes in celebrations of life and dance. She patrons musicians, storytellers, and bards of all disciplines. She believes in the ability of performance artists to teach morals and pass on the oral traditions of a culture. She is known to attend and foster performances that she enjoys.

She believes that one must work on love to make it last. Love requires equality. To love means to put that love before all other things. She believes that the man's place in the relationship is to be an equal to his mate and to share in all the responsibilities that they share.

She guides and teaches the Noble Races about true and deep love. She instructs against the building of relationships upon passion. Passion alone is childish and immature. Passion, however, does have its place in a marriage of equals who have deep love for one another. She believes in monogamy and fosters that type of morality. She believes in marriage as an institution for life. She hates marriages of convenience and believes that all people have the right to choose who they will marry and love. Love should be the sole reason for marriage. When true love governs a couples life, maturity is the result.

The God of Love

Godly Powers

Flower has the ability to recognize deep love wherever it occurs. She can force mortals to remember deep love forgotten. She can cut through all the bad memories, mistakes, faults, and bitter tears of a relationship and make it so that those involved see again the deep love which they once shared.

Flower patrons the performance arts. She can imbue a performance with her blessing, causing all who hear and see to have their lives changed for the better.

Flower was very disappointed in her mother, Caeroldra, who gave up servanthood to embrace harmful passions. So she has picked up the mantle of teaching servanthood to one’s fellow man in honor of her memory.

Appearance

Mortal Form -- In her mortal form, she appears as a beautiful blond haired, blue eyed beauty. Her figure is that of a dancer. Her outward beauty is only surpassed by the inner beauty of her soul.

Avatar Form -- In pictures, Flower wears a mask, so that only her inner beauty shows. To do otherwise would cause those seeing her to instantly give into their passions and become obsessed with the sight of her.

Divine Form -- In dreams and when appearing to her faithful, she holds the form of a Dove with blue eyes that pierce to the deepest feelings within the heart.

Worship

The worship of Devotees is anything but traditional. Everything taught is done through some sort of performance. Poems are read and plays teaching morals are performed. Stories of love are told. Many, who are not followers of Flower, attend her services for their entertainment value. Many of those leave as followers.

One unique part of the service involves the giving of alms for the poor to demonstrate love in action. Those with more give to those who have less, directly and in person. This also teaches the joy of accepting a gift gracefully, which is a hard lesson of servanthood: the lesson of letting someone serve you and accepting their help. Many times, devotees lead the congregation in acts of love by exiting the temple to spend a precious hour or two helping others before returning to their daily tasks.

Holy Symbol

A flower-shaped symbol, closely based on its High Woldian root, though the true meaning of the glyph is forgotten by most these days.

Priests' Appearance

Clerics of Flower dress in elegant robes with one small flower embroidered on it. Many wear their hair long. Most are beautiful on the outside as well as the inside, however, this is downplayed so that the Servant can exhibit his inner beauty. Powerful Clerics of Flower sometimes glow with an inner strength and beauty that overpowers their outer features.

Clerics in Society

Known as Devotees of Flower, these priests work among the Noble Races of The Wold teaching the concepts of deep love, acts of servanthood, and supporting the performance arts. Devotees can be found singing in a tavern and loving their neighbors through acts of kindness. They believe in teaching through example. They are willing to sit with an ailing nobleman and the next day help a peasant repair the holes in his barn. Many of them marry and have large families, which they raise to love and serve their fellow man.

Some Devotees serve as ambassadors for nations. Others work as mediators in the marketplace. Some find a great work to dedicate themselves to for life or for an extended period of time. Others move from place to place teaching and devoting themselves to the needs of the communities they visit. Some become adventurers heroically protecting the Noble Races from danger and hatred.

Wherever they go, they strive to teach about true love vs. passion. They strive to show that passion does not bring joy or satisfaction. They teach that the pain of loving someone deeply is better than the emptiness of passion.

History and Relationships

Flower was born after the First Massacre of Windhorn Hamlet [There were three of these massacres.] Back in those days, each year Windhorn Hamlet held a Festival to draw enough people to Windhorn to supply the Dragon Sentinel “soul power.” This “soul power” kept the dragons of Dragon Bay off of the Peninsula for another year. One year during the ceremony, when the Sentinel was at its weakest, a group of Blue Dragons burrowed underneath the Sentinel and slaughtered the everyone on the beach participating in the cremony.

Alemi was furious that this had been allowed to happen as he had tasked several gods to watch the bay each year during the ceremony when the Sentinel could not do its job. As a response, he commanded the entire pantheon to the slaughter on the beach where they would all work to cast the Resurrection spells and Gargul would return each and every one of them to life without judgment healed of all infirmities.

During this process, Caeroldra, who at that time was the God of Love and the consort of Alemi, came upon Flower's father and saw that he was handsome of face and strong of body. Caeroldra had always been somewhat obsessed with earthly beauty and the sight of this handsome man struck down in the prime of life was simply too much to bear. She had to console him -- to love him. She was so infatuated with the man that she chose to have his child. This action infuriated Alemi who put Caeroldra aside as his consort forever. This also, according to many, was the beginning in the fall of Caeroldra from the cause of good and when she began the journey to embracing passion rather than deep love.

Nine months later, Flower was born. Alemi refused to let the half god baby stay in the Lands of Rest to be raised by her mother. Instead, he sent her back to Windhorn Hamlet to be raised by a spinster who had not been able to have children of her own. This woman's name was Thisafel The Crone. Thisafel loved Flower deeply and considered her a great gift. Flower; however, spurned Thisafel for she was exceedingly ugly.

From an early age, Flower was obsessed with the movement of dance and the sounds of music. She would dance and sing with the birds in the fields. She dance with the deer in the forest leaping as they ran. When traveling entertainers would pass through the town, she learned everything they could teach her.

When she was 12, she performed for the first time in front of an audience. The setting was a small inn in Windhorn Hamlet. She combined song, dance, and storytelling adding the natural sarcasm of a young teen. She was a sensation!

Three notable personages made their presence known at this first performance. As the introductions were being made, Caeroldra herself stood and said, "Behold my beautiful daughter! May she ever remain young!"

Then a handsome handsome and powerfully build mage stood and said, "Hello, my daughter. You are cursed by your mother's supernatural beauty. Yet everyone here was listening to what you sang and said instead of how you looked. I am proud!

After the performance, a young bard remained standing long after the audience ceased their cheering and had regained their seats. He, with stars in his eyes, said, "Talented creature. I am Pursis, grandson of Ursis the Bard Sage and I declare before this audience that I will personally train and educate you in all things bardic. When she is ready, the whole Wold will have the fortune to see her perform."

And train she did. For several years she traveled with Ursis’ troupe performing in taverns, circuses, and theatres throughout The Wold. She also spent time with “grandfather Ursis.” And she grew in ability and knowledge of the performance arts and the importance of and needs for Bards in society.

However, there was a repercussion from that first night. Caeroldra’s pronouncement of, "Behold my beautiful daughter! May she ever remain young!" came true and she did not age. Her mind however, did. The end result was a bitter woman in a child's body. Friends were hard to come by. She grew to resent her gifts and called them curses. For a time this drove her to excess. However, once a person has done most everything there is to do and see everything there is to see, she began to see that the things she was doing did not bring her satisfaction or a sense of accomplishment. She became lonely and bitter.

A few months later, at a royal party, she met King Claudia. Claudia was 17 when she became King of New Elenna, turning 18 a few months after that. So she was a few years older, but they found they had some things in common and became fast friends. Both young women were in the spotlight and faced similar problems. There was one contrast, however. Whereas Flower wanted to get away from the popularity that performing brought, Claudia ached to be free of her responsibilities and go among the public as a normal person. So King Claudia remembered a magic item in the Royal Treasure Vault that allowed two people to trade bodies.

So the two young women began to occasionally exchange bodies for a time. Flower relished the order and stability of Claudia's life and Claudia adored the freedom and popularity of Flower's existence. They also learned from this experience. Flower learned the enjoyment of serving others. She felt great joy when she solved a problem for a citizen, or was able to help absolve a wrongful debt. Claudia learned social skills and a true love for the people of her nations that she was responsible for.

It was during one of these times that the Dragon, Flame, keeping an eye on things in his human form, saw Flower and Claudia handling petitions at the castle. His conniving mind began to stir with possibilities. An alliance was formed between him and the Priests of the Cult God, Raven. Flame would deliver Claudia to them to make into an avatar of Raven and they would deliver Flower into his waiting clutches so he could barter with the Bard’s Guild and the Performer’s Guild for her return. Barring success, she was going to be beautiful as an adult and he was willing to wait.

This legend is told elsewhere, however, to summarize, on that fateful day, the two teens had exchanged bodies. Flame received Claudia in Flower's body. Raven received Flower in Claudia’s body. Once The Gold Dragons figured out that the two had been switched, they began to search for Flame to return Claudia in Flower's body first. During this time, Flame raped Claudia and she became pregnant. Both teens were rescued and returned to Outcast Castle. The two teens, discovered that they could not switch back since Claudia had “three lives” within her: Her own and her two growing children. Yes she was carrying twins.

During this time “Flower in Claudia” had to rule the kingdom and she did well. She grew to love the responsibilities and the decisions of the position. Claudia had always rebelled against the position forced upon her. Flower began to change. She matured. She learned even further the joys of giving and serving others. She tried to share this with those around her, but they didn't see the transformation she was undergoing. Most thought she was simply King Claudia finally beginning to grow up and act like a King should act.

For her part, “Claudia in Flower” was behaving abnormally. She cussed, yelled at everyone, and was suffering horrible nightmares of flying over the countryside and eating people. She began to take on a red colored rash, which the priests could not heal. Her consort, Joe hand, mage prodigy and youngest member of the Godl Dragons became increasingly concerned and did much research within Start Tower concerning being pregnant with the child of a red dragon along with it happening in such a young body that was not her own.

Then came the birth day. The children were birthed successfully. Joe and Jandar, priest of Alemi and member of the Gold Dragons, took the children to the next room to clean and check the children. Flower entered and they finally switched back to their own bodies. Joe began to perform some tests with the help of Jandar, priest of Alemi and member of the Gold Dragons. The tests showed conclusively that both of the twins were innately evil, meaning that even teaching and a loving upbringing would not be successful in changing them into good people, one of which could rule the Kingdom of Elenna some day. They were monsters without souls. Joe hung his head, completely frustrated. After a short time, he broke into sobbing and tears for his consort’s children, cleared the room and grabbed the two children. He screamed at Claudia as he went: “Never forgive me for what I am about to do!”

He took them out behind the castle and with his dagger killed them, leaving them on an outdoor shrine to Alemi with the dagger. He then in his grief teleported away. When Claudia realized her children were dead, she was mortified and heartbroken. She stumbled her way to the shrine, took Joe’s dagger, and committed suicide.

Funerals were held. Time passed. And one might think this has little to do with Flower. However, this event transformed her life. She moved in with Ursis and he taught her of the deep things of life that all Bards must not only know but have experienced. Without experiencing the horrors of life, one cannot truly appreciate the joys of life. Without experiencing both ends of the spectrum, one cannot perform to comfort, to encourage, to teach. She began to realize that deep love, as she called it, even though it was often painful, was superior in every way to passion alone. Her mother Caroldra was wrong. That life was more than having fun. That the calling of the Bard was more important that she had ever imagined. And that knowledge gave her freedom.

She learned deep love for her friend Claudia even as Claudia committed suicide after her children were killed. She learned love for Joe, who was willing to do anything for Claudia. She learned the love of friends as she watched how Valdor and Mordrid cared for one another. She now had deep love in her own life. She wanted someone to serve as Joe served Claudia. Service and love were becoming intertwined in her heart and mind. Too young in appearance to have a mate, she turned her love upon everyone she met, but found she was hindered by what she called “her curse.” She still looked 12. So she went to the temple of Alemi, God of Healing and prayed to be cured of what she thought was “her mom’s curse.”. She wanted to age. She wanted it more than anything. She persisted in praying each and every day. Alemi, seeing the inner beauty as well as her giving heart granted her request advancing her appearance to that of a young woman. She was thankful and toured with Pursis giving people heart with her performances.

One night, they performed in South Harbor. That is when she, perhaps the most beautiful girl the Wold had ever seen, met the ugliest. Duke Darius of Harbor City. Sickly and old, he had a resentful heart to match. After watching him for awhile during and after the performance, she pitied him and thought, “There is my ultimate challenge.”

She begged off of the tour and took an apartment in his castle. With time, she essentially became a daughter to him and cared for him in his advancing sickness and age. She spent her whole fortune and much of his to find a cure for his disease. Her service to him and for him extended his life somewhat, but eventually he died. At the funeral, she realized that these few years had been the happiest years of her life. Once again, she was changed. Would she ever experience that feeling again?

She headed to the temple of her mother and sought solace there. However, all she found was beautiful people hanging out with other beautiful people. There was no deep love for one’s fellow man. The changes her mom had been accepting was affecting her priests and followers. The male priests sought her out simply for crude passion. In fact, it seemed to her that passion, rather than love, had become the norm for her mother and those who worshipped her. So she rebelled.

So she donned a mask to hide her beauty and left her mom’s temple. She remained chaste out of choice. Do to her mask and hard teachings, many thought her evil and adventuring bands began to hunt her and her followers. For protection she allied herself with other gods who were being hunted and maligned...or so she thought. She thus, with help became a fully formed god known as The One. Many assumed that she was pushing passion and free love. Caeroldra, now having totally given up the tenants of deep love for which she was responsible, blamed many of her passionate actions upon her upstart daughter.

When the Year of Ascension arrived, they met in a mighty confrontation. The One was cast out of the Cult gods in favor of Caeroldra who deserted the Gods of Wold. Alemi, seeing the truth of things, immediately offered Flower her mother's former position as the God of Love. Caeroldra became the God of Passion.