The Protector and Provider, The Nurturing Matriarch, The Blessed One
Holy Symbol: A green shield with a cornucopia
Those who seek to live in accordance with the way of the Provider will be blessed with a cornucopia of riches. Seek peace and comfort, for a life lived with both is true wealth. Although violence should never be welcomed, the Protector's aegis will extend to those willing to fiercely defend their home and community. Lead through example, and know the activities of those you lead so that you can help shoulder their burdens when need be. Treasure your family, for your parents gave you life and your children are your future. Care for the aged and the weak, for you never know when you may be one of the strong laid low.
(You need to abide by these as clergy, not as a worshiper)
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Cleric, Commoner, Druid, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Thief, or Shaman
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Halfling
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You must not harm the innocent
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You must not use torture or cause any unnecessary injury
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If you have any rations, you must feed anyone in need if they approach you for food. Discard a ration whenever you do.
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Non-Cleric/Paladin Initiation: You must come to the defense of a Halfling in peril
(You need to abide by these as clergy, not as a worshiper)
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Level 5 spell: Animate dead
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Yondalla would never tolerate the creation of undead
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Level 5 Spell: Contagion
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Yondalla would never tolerate the spread of disease
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Level 7 spell: Sever
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Yondalla does not promote such cruel tricks
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Level 7 spell: Plague
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Yondalla would never tolerate the spread of disease, especially on such a scale
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(If you wish to become clergy of this god, take three of these as your vows—if you violate them you lose any moves, spells, and any other benefits granted by this god until you atone.)
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Family (Forbidden: speaking ill of parents and relatives, disobeying elders, allowing anyone to die alone, allowing an improper burial)
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Legend (Forbidden: not repeating a new tale you've heard to someone else)
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Care (Forbidden: allowing undue suffering where you can grant aid, refusing to heal someone in need, even if an enemy, so long as they are secured from committing evil acts )
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Comfort (Forbidden: knowingly allowing anyone to go cold, sick, or hungry)
Yondalla (pronounced yon-dah-lah) is the matriarch of not only the Halfling pantheon, but the whole race itself. With her charming personality and friendly demeanor she is an example to all Halflings, sharing with them her curiosity, loyalty and sense of mischief.
Yondalla has two aspects: the Provider and the Protector. As the Provider, she is a goddess of fertility and growing things, of birth and youth. She can make barren things fertile and increase the growing rate of plants and animals to any speed she chooses.
As Protector, Yondalla wards off evil influences and intrusions and gives Halflings the strength and determination to defend themselves. In this aspect, Yondalla most often uses her illusionist abilities to protect her worshipers.
Although Yondalla is tolerant of thieves among her people, she does not approve of them and tries to have her priests guide such errant folk to use their skills more usefully. However, appropriating an extra share for oneself from the big folk is no great sin if no real harm or damage is done. Yondalla has given plenty of gifts to her worshipers, not the least of which is her temperament. From her, the Halflings have learned to stand up for themselves, to defend their homes and families, and to seek peaceable solutions – or else turn their foes against each other and slip away unnoticed. Yondalla is a charming and persuasive power of peace, and though she can take life and health as easily as she gives it, she never seeks out opportunities to harm those who do not richly deserve it. When she is aroused to ire, however, Yondalla is a truly fearsome goddess, for all her apparent gentility and diminutive stature. Although not a power of war, Yondalla is a skilled warrior that other powers do not readily seek to challenge. If a community of Halflings is faced with extermination, Yondalla acts first through her priests and with manifestations and then by having Arvoreen dispatch his avatar.
Home Plane
Celestia
Portfolio
Family oral traditions, Halflings, bounty
Favored Weapon
Hornblade (short sword)
Myths
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The Escape of the Halflings and the Ascension of Yondalla
When Halflings were created by the experiments of emperor Derelan and his Queen-Mother Urgath, a small number of them managed to escape their containment (using the very thieving skills they were intended to have, and which they kept hidden until an opportunity arose). They created a shallow, underground network of homes in which they lived in hiding, and plotted to rescue the rest of Derelan's unwilling subjects. When they re-entered the dungeon of Derelan's palace, they were discovered by an Elf maiden named Yondmára. Instead of alerting the Palace, she helped them improve their plans and constructed a secret network of Human slaves and servants to assist in their effort. While they were planning, Yondmára taught them how to easily grow food so they could feed the growing host of Halflings they would be rescuing. On the day the rescue took place, Yondmara was discovered and imprisoned. Though she was tortured, she refused to reveal the activities of the Halflings, and instead implied that she had been conspiring with foreigners, so that Derelan would spread his forces toward the borders and leave the dungeons of the palace more poorly-guarded. Unaware of her predicament, the escaped Halflings went ahead with their plan, sneaking right past the locked chamber where Yondmára was being held, and carried out their daring rescue flawlessly.
Derelan didn't discover that the Halflings were gone until the following day, and realizing Yondmára's true intentions, he sent her to be executed publicly by the sword. Yondmára appeared in front of a jeering crowd with all of the injuries of her torture, and Derelan humiliated her mercilessly. Then, just as the headsman lifted his sword, he sneezed, falling over backwards and landing on his head. Another headsman was summoned, and this one as he lifted his sword was struck by a hailstone, knocking him unconscious. A third headsman was summoned, and this time a bolt of lightning descended upon the blade, striking him dead. Derelan insisted on continuing, but the crowds became restless and began to accuse him of invoking the disfavor of the gods. Derelan returned to the palace, and the crowd went home. In the middle of the night, Yondmára's bonds came unlocked, and the god Tymora herself came down to Orben, took Yondmára by the hand and led her into the heavens, where Ao ascended her to godhood and named her Yondalla, designating her the patron deity of Halflings.
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Chauntea heresy
Yondalla is not, in fact, a true god but rather a divine aspect of the god Chauntea.
History
Yondalla's church has been largely unobtrusive through history, prioritizing defense of Halfling communities over spreading its religion. In this it has largely succeeded, and the Halfling population of Orben has, more often than not, found peace for most of its days, in no small part due to the efforts of Yondalla and her clergy.
Relationship with other gods and churches
Yondalla had close bonds with Garl Glittergold, Corellon Larethian and Moradin. She is close friends with Tymora, and it is rumored they may even be lovers. With the passion with which she loves and admires her fellow Halfling deities, sometimes known as 'Yondalla's Children', she scorns certain evil deities, such as Bane, Cyric, and Talona.
Associated lesser deities
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Arvoreen, god of defense, war, duty, vigilance
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Brandobaris, god of stealth, adventuring, thievery
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Cyrrollalee, god of the hearth, crafts, friendship, trust
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Sheela Peryroyl, god of nature, agriculture, beauty
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Urogalan, god of the earth, death, protector of the dead
Yondalla does not discriminate against other races so much as some of the other Racial Patrons, but her worshipers are almost entirely Halflings, along with a few farmers of various races who believe the Chauntea heresy.
The church of the Protector and Provider, under all the guises by which Yondalla is known, plays a central role in Halfling society. Throughout the Realms, communities of the Small Folk are led by members of Yondalla’s clergy, and they are widely credited for their efforts in ensuring the safety and prosperity of Halflings across Orben. Among the other Human and Demihuman races, Yondalla’s priests are respected for their determined defense of Halfling communities and their defensive skill, belying their diminutive natures.
Hierarchy
Novices of Yondalla are known as the Blessed Children. Full priests of the Protector and Provider are known as Revered Councilors. In ascending order of rank, the titles used by Yondallan priests are Blessed Sister/Brother, Sacred Guardian, Revered Nurturer, Blessed Mother/Father, Eminent Prodigal, August Warden, Hallowed Provider, and Exalted Protector. Highranking priests have unique individual titles. Specialty priests are known as horn guards.
Vestments
Members of Yondalla’s clergy dress in loose-fitting green and brown robes and a saffron overcloak, keeping their heads bare. Priests typically wear their hair long, dying it golden blonde if it is not naturally that color. Yondallan priests always carry a shield, usually wooded, emblazoned with the cornucopia symbol of the goddess. The holy symbol of the faith is an animal horn of any type formed into a cornucopia, except in southern Aer Arnad where it is a wheat stalk crossing a silver tree, representing the meadows and the forests.
When expecting combat, Yondallan priests wear the best armor available and always carry a shield, again usually emblazoned with Yondalla’s cornucopia. They favor short swords, hand axes, slings, short bows, spears, small lances, hammers, and morningstars.
Rites and Duties
Yondalla is worshipped in the homes of Halflings. Halflings set aside one day a week– the fifth day of each tenday – for worship of Yondalla. Safeday, as it is known, is a day that is mostly spent in rest and play. In the morning, families gather together in the home, collectively offer up the fruits of the goddess’s bounty in homage to the Provider, and then spend several hours preparing a tenday’s feast from those offerings. During these activities, local members of the clergy of Yondalla go from house to house to lead each family in brief devotions, offer the goddess’s blessings, and share any concerns a family may have.
When the tenday’s feast is prepared, each family, sometimes joined by a local priest, joins together in eating, laughing, and the telling of tales. In the late afternoon, the Small Folk emerge from their homes and assemble in the central square. The highest-ranking priest of Yondalla (or in the absence of a priest, a pious lay representative) then leads the assembled Small Folk on a walk around the central community, symbolically joining Yondalla in her defense of the settlement. Such tours are hardly armed patrols; they usually involve contests to see who can pick the most perfect apple or the like and other gentle reminders of the god's bounty. When the promenade returns to the central square, the community-wide dinner feast begins. Extra food prepared during the morning hours is heated and served, while the community elders relate traditional tales of Halfling folklore. Such festivities can last far into the night as the community reforges their communal bonds. Unlike the religious ceremonies of other races and powers, allies and even strangers are often invited to contribute and partake in the feasting and merriment, although those unknown to the community are discretely observed just in case.
Clerics of Yondalla are concerned with all areas of Halfling life, except for thievery. (Thievery arises among Halflings, the clerics say, from a too-liberal interpretation of Yondalla’s advice about seizing opportunities.) Yondalla’s clerics officiate at weddings and funerals, bless crops and new ventures, and lay plans for community defense.
The primary mission of the priesthood of the Provider and the Protector is to pass Yondalla’s teachings on to the community at large and to knit such communities tightly together. Areas of instruction include collective and self-defense, concealment, agriculture, brewing, wine-making, gardening, and cooking. Spells granted by the goddess are used to demonstrate or enhance such activities. Communities are brought together through regular feasts, revels, and celebrations with few spiritual overtones other than a celebration of the collective purpose of the community.
Affiliated Orders
The Wayward Wardens are a loosely organized fellowship of Yondallan priests stricken with wanderlust who wish to see the world. Estranged by choice from forming a long-term relationship a single community, Wayward Wardens serve the Provider and Protector by coming to the defense of besieged or threatened halfling communities in need of additional protectors. For example, during the Tethyrian Interregnum, many Wayward Wardens lived for a time among the halflings of the Purple Hills. The addition of two score elite defenders to the halfling communities of the region did much to keep the chaos of interregnum at bay.
Temples of Yondalla are remarkably rare, despite the goddess’s widespread veneration by Halflings. The Provider and Protector is most commonly worshiped in small shrines and in the home, and her formal houses of worship are usually little more than the home of the local priest or priestess. In those few Halfling communities where churches of Yondalla do exist, they are usually carved into an earthen hillside, resembling a Halfling burrow more than anything else. Although smoothly blended with the surrounding environment, such temples serve as fortified redoubts, well stocked with arms and food to allow the Halflings of the community to hold out indefinitely against invaders. Gardens, armories, cisterns, and granaries are nestled among chapels, residential quarters for the resident priests, and bubbling springs.
For Cleric/Wizards
When you gain a level from 2–5, you may choose a single Domain. A full list of domain spells and moves is under Choosing a God in Advanced Play Guides.
When you gain a level from 6–10, you may choose a second Domain.
If you choose the primary domain for your god, you also get the Primary Domain Move of that domain and take +1 to cast spells from the domain.
Clerics/Wizards
If you are a Cleric or Wizard (and your god permits your class), choose from the following domains. You add all spells of the chosen domain to your spell list, up to level 7 (once you meet the mana requirements) or up to level 9 (if it's the primary domain and once you meet the mana requirements).
Primary Domain
Halflings (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells, this Primary Domain Move, and this level 9 spell)
Primary Domain Move
Fiesty
You gain +1 to CHA Saving Throw rolls.
Level 9 Spell
Faithful Hound | Level 9 |Ongoing
You summon a loyal dog as your mount. When riding your mount do +2 damage using a weapon with the range of close or greater. Take +1 to Run Away while riding your mount. This spell ends when you Last Gasp, or as you will it.
Secondary Domains
Agriculture (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
Death (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
Life (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
Protection (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
Thievery (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
For Non-Cleric/Wizards
When you gain a level from 2–5, you may choose a single Domain. A full list of domain spells and moves is under Choosing a God in Advanced Play Guides.
When you gain a level from 6–10, you may choose a second Domain.
If you choose the primary domain for your god, you also get the Primary Domain Move of that domain and take +1 to cast spells from the domain.
Non-Cleric/Wizards
If you are not a Cleric or Wizard, you gain access to all spells of your chosen domain up to level 3 and can cast them using the Cast a Spell Cleric move (you do not however gain any spells from the Cleric spell list). You can also gain a secondary domain move from that domain, in addition to the domain spells.
Primary Domain
Halflings (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells, this Primary Domain Move, and a Secondary Domain Move)
Primary Domain Move:
Fiesty
You gain +1 to CHA Saving Throw rolls.
Secondary Domain Moves (choose 1):
Badger's Bravery
When any fear effect is used on you (Cause Fear, Barbarian's War Cry, etc.), you don't give a shit. Take -1 ongoing instead of being controlled until the source of fear is removed or the fear effect ends.
Badger's Blood
You can recover from poisons and diseases by resting comfortably for an hour.
Secondary Domains
Agriculture (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Green Thumb
So long as you tend to them daily (with RP!), plants under your care cannot be killed except by being burned or uprooted, even if they are trampled, frozen, eaten from, infested, or become riddled with parasites; they can recover within a day.
Death (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Rest in Pieces
When you land the finishing blow on an Undead, it can’t be raised again, even if you don’t destroy the remains.
Life (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Champion of the Sun, Master of Karate
You gain the Monk move Fistmaster General. If you already have Fistmaster General you may take another Monk move instead. When you are the storyteller for the Last Gasp taken by a Standard race, you must always render them unconscious (not dead), unless they are undead. If you ever kill someone not listed above or wield a weapon other than your fists in battle you lose this move permanently.
Protection (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Man the Boundaries!
You can deputize someone to protect something or someone else in your place. Designate someone you trust; they cannot fail a roll to Defend—a 6 or lower counts as 7-9 for them. You can only deputize one person at a time; you can't deputize another Paladin or Commoner who already serves in your clergy. If the person you chose diverts from or is distracted from their duty until it is completed (or failed), they lose this bonus, and you take -1 ongoing until the duty is completed (or failed).
Thievery (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Gekko Vision
When you compare items, you can instantly tell which one is more valuable. Take +1 if you attempt to take or steal it. Take -1 on your next roll if you decline to take or steal it.