Xia Leng

Xia Leng is a war deity of the Petrenean Pantheon, dominant throughout the Shimmering Shores, particularly in the northwest highlands where the region abuts the Lordless Lands. Xia Leng is considered an ascended divinity, who is unique among Petrenean gods in disclosing their full reincarnated line of ascension, and goes by the name they held in one of their lives as a result. She and her followers espouse a belief in warfare as a natural consequence of the existence of sentience and in the concept of a just and honourable pursuit of the same.

Xia Leng is a Lawful Neutral diety, who grants access to the domains of Law, Protection, Strength, and War. Her symbol is a rampant horse encircled. Her signature weapon is the glaive, and many of her disciples are proficient in its use. Horses, who selflessly bear their riders in battle often to their own demise, are sacred to her church.

History

Xia Leng teaches that her first sentient incarnation - the earliest she remembers, anyway - was as a general in the service of the nomadic tribes that inhabited what are now the highlands of the Shimmering Shores long before the founding of Petrenea. She lead forces in combat against marauders from other clans in the region, and laid seige to several cities, creating a small empire on the behalf of her chief which lasted for several generations. Through a succession of other reincarnations - as varied creatures - she eventually lived in her last mortal form before ascension - a great Imperial Dragon. Her ascension was made possible by direct teaching by the Awakened One. Her writings from her mortal life along with her later teachings post-awakening make up the collective teaching of her church.

Relationships

Unsurprisingly, Xia Leng is on good terms with the Awakened One, whose teachings helped shape her life and unlocked both her memories of past lives and allowed her to Awaken herself into divinity. Warlike and defensive, she has a mixed relationship with San Heather; though the two exist on the same plane, Xia Leng does not strictly trust that San Heather's goals are as stated, and is concerned about any god that needs to build so grand an army as the gods of the Bastonian Pantheon are attempting to do.

Though unconnected in life, it was teachings handed down through Xia Leng's church that allowed Xuthakug Three-Eyes to experience awakening and ascension for himself. Since then, Xia Leng has taken an interest in the orcish god of discipline, and while the two do not always see eye to eye, they occasionally train together in Xuthakug's realm in Bardo.

Appearance

Xia Leng will appear in any of the forms she has remembered having - the two most common being her mortal form as a human, a powerful dark-haired woman with cunning eyes and a knowing smirk; and her last mortal form, a colossal Sovereign Imperial Dragon. Regardless of form, she always has a large pearl in her forehead, not unlike a crown-mark.

Realm

Through the nature of the universe, Xia Leng's realm is, by necessity, on Axioma, a territory known as the Turning Wheel of the Dragon where she trains her followers and entertains guests from other divinities.

Providence

Xia's providence comes in the turning of the tide of battle toward the justified side, be it the execution of a careful plan to the letter or the sudden and timely appearance of cavalry in spite of the odds. Xia will appear to her followers in many of her forms in cryptic dreams, giving portents and omens with regard to future or present conflicts.

Servants

Xia Leng is served by a race native to Axioma and attracted by her teachings known as the Apkallu. Like Xia Leng and her one-time teacher, the Awakened One, the Apkallu rarely intervene directly but instead nudge and push her followers in the correct direction.

Unique Servants

The Thundering Hooves

The herald of Xia Leng, and betimes her personal servant, is a creature known as The Thundering Hooves, a jet-black heavy war-horse with firey eyes and humanoid intelligence, including the power of speech. The Thundering Hooves will appear with or without its rider, speaking in her voice and with the distant sound of war-drums, as the need arises.

Church

Xia Leng teaches that it is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener on the battlefield. To that end, followers of Xia Leng tend toward military occupations, or at least militarism. There is little distinction between her order and a military order, save that the church's diaspora is not centered in any one particular polity, and so occasionally can find itself pitted against itself by the machinations of politics between the Shimmering Shore s city-states.

Worshippers

Many in the Shimmering Shores who are career warriors worship her, as do those whose occupations lead them to having authority over such warriors. Additionally, those living in particularly chaotic lands - such as the rural areas of the region - sometimes follow her and her teachings of readiness and physical mastery, in the hopes that her fortune will smile upon them should they ever find themselves in a violent situation.

Clergy

Xia Leng's clergy - be they cleric, monk, paladin, oracle, or otherwise - universally and unerringly comport themselves in a martial manner, using titles such as Brother-Captain or Sister-General. There is no distinction between a monastic and priestly clerical class - the distinctions between cleric, paladin, oracle, and monk are seen more as areas of speciality. Xia Leng's clerics are usually officers in the militaries of the city they serve, or, more rarely, leaders of bands of mercenary warriors who serve ideals rather than currency.

It is common among her clerics, especially in battle, to wear a sashimono with her standard.

Temples & Shrines

Though influenced heavily by the local architectural style, Xia Leng's temples are almost always fortified, sometimes to the point of being castles in their own right. In addition to containing libraries for study and halls for direct worship of Xia Leng (usually involving offerings of metal and incense), such places often feature courtyard training-grounds where all manner of combat arts are studied.

Some of her rural temples occupy high ground and those who occupy such temples will frequently sortie out to deal with outsider threats that threaten the local population.

Holy Texts

Xia Leng is known to have authored an essay in mortal life known as the Art of War, though modern editions of this document are usually presented alongside the commentary of her contemporaries and prominent followers.

Church History

Xia Leng's church came about long after the collapse of the empire she helped found. As a result, her church has never been fully unified, though orders from her Church helped deal with and are currently still dealing with the instability of the Shimmering Shore since the Great Collapse.

Holidays

Xia Leng does not teach particular holidays. Her followers will observe whatever festivals are current in their locale, and usually make observances of the holy days in the Awakened One's religion.

Favoured Animals

Horses are held as sacred and in high esteem by Xia Leng's followers, many of whom use horses in their style of combat, or otherwise rely on horses on the battlefield. Horses raised within the order are bred to exacting standards and held with exceptional levels of care, knowing that one day these otherwise innocent and peaceful creatures will be pressed into battle and danger by the sentients who need their services.