Merellien Chaebalar

Merellien Chaebalar is a goddess in the High Elven Pantheon, held as the patron goddess of justice, both in the sense of just causes and in the sense of those who deliver and seek justice. She is the Celestial Warden, born in a dalliance between Rophalin Imperitor and Feno Ilirel. Among other aspects, she represents the ability of a state to heal its society in the way that her mother, Feno, represents the ability of a healer to minister to the sick. As such a great many magistrates are among her followers, as are wardens of prisons and penitent prisoners.

Her symbol is a blazing star, and badgers are considered sacred by her church. As a lawful good deity, she grants her followers access to Healing, Law, Protection, War domains. The elven curve blade is said to be her creation, and all those who can channel her divine mastery of its forms are proficient in its use.

History

Merellien Chaebalar was born near the end of the earthly reign of Rophalin Imperitor, and for a time served as one of his magistrates, departing Ahren when the First Reign came to an end. She remains heavily interested in the state politics of the Atarlie Empire, and from time to time has lead her followers in battle personally, though always against other dieties.

Relationships

Merellien Chaebalar has a strong relationship with both of her parents, as well as with her half-sister, Navarre Yesbella. The pair have overlapping portfolios, and while they don't always see perfectly eye to eye, they agree enough in their essentials that they work together to a greater extent than almost any of the other elven divinities. Unsururpsingly, she stands athwart the evil dieties in her Pantheon, and has been known to attend the court of Lysanthir Lugalor to argue on the behalf of penitent elven souls present for his judgement.

Unsurprisingly, Merellien also has great connections among the Bastonian Pantheon. She spends a quantity of time in Heaven and has been known in particular to spar with and strategize alongside San Lucas.

Appearance

Merellien stands head and shoulders above the mortal elves, 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 very finely wrought and gilded mithril armour that has been painstakingly engraved, and a silk tabard bearing her starburst symbol.

Realm

Merellien is part of the elvish divine family, and so has a portion of the realm of The Cradle of the Wise, a bastion in the plane of the Elysium. However, due to her lawful nature she is never truly at home in Elysium and so frequently finds herself in Heaven, where she maintains a small outpost-realm known as the Evenstar Bastion.

Providence

True justice, be it the aquittal of the innocent or the sudden turn of a trial against the guilty, is seen as Merellien's purview. Her followers look to commune with her through their dreams but find no answers, and her teachings caution them to trust only what their mortal senses can perceive directly.

Servants

While she is occasionally attended by Azatas while within Elysium, Archons make up most of her servitors and man the walls of the Evenstar Bastion.

Unique Servants

Kade Corellian

A mythological hero of the ancient Atarlie, Kade lives on immortal as the Captain-General of Merellien's hosts and her Divine Herald. An imposing paladin clad in blackened armour studded with ruby, Kade's kingly bearing is as unmistakable as the sword he carries, which is said to be the first Elven Curved Sword ever forged, and originally Merellien's own.

Church

The direct worship of Merellien by the common population of the Atarlie is somewhat uncommon, as imperial law is light enough that few ever cross it. Much of her follower base comes from the ranks of the judiciary, especially those magistrates tasked with sorting out criminal rather than civil law. Wardens and other workers and ministers in imperial prisons also contribute to her ranks, as do those who have committed crimes and, through their inbuilt need for justice, have turned to making amends.

Worshippers

In addition to those described above, all manner of adventurers commonly flock to Merellien. Soldiers in wartime who believe that their cause is just often petition Merellien for protection and the strength or courage to carry out their duties; bounty-hunters seeking to bring criminals to justice turn to the First Paladin for guidance and inspiration.

Clergy

Merellien's clergy are perhaps the most militarized of all the elven gods, save those of Rophalin Imperitor himself. While pastoral clergy do exist, maintaining urban temples, a great many more of their number are actually lumped into the broader mission of Chaplains. Such chaplains serve among Imperial Legion units or within the walls of Imperial prisons, ministering to those under their care and promising that the cause of justice will be served by their adherence to the examples and strictures of Merellien. Merellien's clergy, moreso than those of any other god except perhaps Lysanthir Lugalor, are known for taking to the fields in order to ferret out and uproot undead.

Clerics and Paladins in particular make up the bulk of this chaplaincy, though not all paladins in Merellien's service are considered Chaplains of her church, and a great many more besides are more properly considered worshippers than clergy. Chaplain-Paladins make up the heads of orders of their brethren.

Temples & Shrines

Any settlement the size of a small city or larger will have at least one temple to Merellien, and such temples are as much schools as they are places of worship. They often have one or more fora for public meetings, where recent court rulings are discussed "in the round" among scholars of law, magistrates, and Merellien's clergy, along with any others in attendance who wish to use their voices.

Rare is an Atarlie Prison without a small chapel set up in Merellien's honour, where one or more Chaplains attend to the spiritual needs of the incarcerated, providing council and therapy with the intention of turning them back toward a just path.

Holy Texts

It is said that the earliest codified laws in the Atarlie Empire, the Codex Merellien, were scribed by Merellien herself as dictated by Rophalin, before being ratified by the Senate of the time. As such, the Codex itself is a holy text among her followers, though it is often supplemented with the Codex Iustitiae, a more philosophical work that defines justice in fairly broad (and often times retributive) terms. These two codices are required reading for Merellien's clergy and even the paladins in her service are expected to be quotably-familiar with the latter.

Church History

Merellien's church has a disproportionate impact on Atarlie politics, as it is strongly married to both the Atarlie populace's trust in its legal (especially criminal) systems, as well as to the ruling class's fears of just comeuppance should they wander too far toward corruption. The church's influence has a strongly moderating influence on the general elven tendency toward chaos, and together with the Church of Rophalin Imperitor, is essentially the reason the Empire has been able to remain cohesive.

Holidays

Merellien has no direct holidays; while the date of her nativity is known (three days after the summer equinox), she does not deliberately court overt displays of the worship of herself or any other personality, and so has discouraged ceremonies on her own behalf. However, there is no want for invocation, as she is invoked almost daily at the start of court proceedings or at ceremonies in penitentiaries.

Favoured Animals

Badgers, who brave all with a stolid, "dwarflike" resolve, are sacred to Merellien and her followers, who are admonished in her teachings to remain as the "Last True Bulwark of the Elves".