Feno Ilirel

Feno Ilirel is a goddess in the High Elven Pantheon, held as the patron goddess of the healing arts and alchemy. She is the Celestial Doctor, and a direct child of Pyria Veleptor, birthed to keep watch over the Atarlie Empire's population of elves when it was clear that they were more frail than originally realized. She is known by a variety of epithets including the Secret-Keeper, the Speaker of Illness, and the Queen of Herbs.

Her symbol is a serpent with the white wings of a dove, and both such animals are considered sacred in her church as a result. As a neutral good deity, she grants her followers access to Good, Healing, Plant, and Magic domains. While not being warlike herself, those in her church who go into battle do so with a sickle as her divine weapon.

History

Feno was born to Pyria Valeptor shortly after the creation of the elves and her older cousin, Rophalin Imperitor. She appeared in visions to philosophers among the elves, granting them the secrets of healing magics, natural medicines, and alchemy. She is credited with appearing at various times throughout Atarlie history to intervene in various disasters with her own arts.

Relationships

Feno is a daughter of a kind to Pyria Valeptor, and the mother of Merellien Chaebalar through a dalliance with Rophalin Imperitor. Quite naturally, given her capabilities and portfolio, she is a staunch enemy of Shalaevar Shamaris and unfond of Hycis Uriris. She and Immarra Hyacinth worked together to create the elven god of charity, Navarre Yesbella

Though created as a counterbalance to Lysanthir Lugolor the two get along fantastically well, and an affair of their own produced Camus Inakas.

Feno's council is often sought by San Sylvester, who considers her to be the superior alchemist.

Appearance

Feno stands head and shoulders above the mortal elves he once ruled, but otherwise appears to be a member of their kind, with a head of long, golden hair, and wise eyes that make her seem older than he otherwise looks. She wears the white robes common among healers and other philosophers, and smells strongly of medicinal herbs.

Realm

Feno is part of the elvish divine family, and so has a portion of the realm of The Cradle of the Wise, a fortified city in the plane of the Elysium. She is also believed to have access to the plane of Vita, but as with many divinities cannot handle prolonged exposure to the Fires of Creation and so rarely visits it, preferring to channel from the plane indirectly instead.

Providence

Feno is often credited with the sudden breaking of a chronic or serious illness, or the dying out of plagues. She has been said to whisper to philosophers and other followers in their dreams, providing cryptic formulae to answer some riddle or unlock some knowledge they were otherwise stuck upon.

Servants

Azatas in particular serve Feno, who will send them to her followers in times of need to act as protectors or mentors.

Unique Servants

Caduceus

An enormous emerald snake with angelic white wings, Feno's divine herald rarely appears in Ahren, but occasionally appears in visions to her followers offering plain and at times dire warnings.

Church

For most Elves, worship of Feno Ilirel, Queen of Herbs is an extension of the general spiritual life of the Atarlie Empire. Her temples also serve as places of magical and medical healing or centers of recovery. A few, though, fall under her more direct sway and worship.

Worshippers

Doctors, alchemists, and apothecaries all commonly worship the Queen of Herbs and the Mother of Medicines, as do those who minister to the health of animals and those who suffer from severe or chronic illnesses and injuries. Her worshippers often seek relief or guidance from their patron, who is generous with her gifts in exchange for their prayer and sacrifices of various incenses, some more affordable than others.

Clergy

Known as philosophers, the clergy of Feno Ilirel are more often than not medical professionals, in one sense or another. Whether developing deep understanding of natural remedies, plumbing the arcane depths of Alchemy in search for cures and restoratives, or channeling her healing power directly, Feno's pious followers are among the finest healers in all of Wisteria. Such clergy have pastoral duties of care as well as spiritual duties of observance, and the bulk of their ranks are clerics and druids.

Temples & Shrines

Any settlement the size of a small city or larger will have at least one temple to Feno Ilirel, and such temples are as much hospitals and schools of medicine as they are places of worship. They eschew the grand fora common in other Atarlie temple architecture in place of being complexes, fronted with a place of worship, comprising operating theaters, recovery wards, laboratories and libraries.

It is not uncommon in large towns to have something more akin to a Shrine dedicated to Feno, which provides a place for the recovery of the sick and a venue for the veneration of the Mother of Medicines, but rarely has the facilities to train more than one or two apprentice clergy at a time.

Holy Texts

Feno Ilirel gifted mortals a document known as the Codex Medicamentum through dictation to one of her earliest followers, Heptus Septim. This book details a basic understanding of the practice and ethics of medicine and alchemy and is considered the foundational document of both practices, though huge bodies of work exist that expand upon both disciplines.

Church History

Feno Ilirel's church is not a political power in spite of its broad reach throughout the Atarlie Empire; this is said to be down to her recognizing the primacy of her elder brother Rophalin Imperitor and so not directing her followers in directions contrary to that of the Empire as a whole.

Holidays

The Festival of Smoke is a monthly observance held throughout the Empire on the night of the new moon, when ceremonies involving the use of perfumed smokes created from a specific formula of herbs and alchemical compounds are carried out, said to prevent the spreading of miasma and so, the outbreak of plague.

Favoured Animals

Snakes, whose venom are the root of the cure for their venom, are considered sacred to Feno Ilirel, and often snakes native to the area are kept in her temples for the production of the same antivenom or similar alchemical compounds.