Jannath

JANNATH The Great Mother, the Grain Goddess, the Golden Goddess, She Who Shapes All, the Forest Mother, Guardian of the Wilds and Deeps, Earthmother, Keeper of the Wild

Symbol: A sheaf of golden wheat on a green field

Home Plane:Eronia/Great Mother’s Garden

Alignment: Neutral Good

Portfolio:Wild nature, forests, wild animals, the sea and sea creatures, agriculture, cultivation, farmers, gardeners, the fundamental elements, summer

Worshippers:Though she has a diverse collection of followers, Jannath is worshipped by peasants, servants, druids, gardeners, and any others who earn pay from working on farmland.

Favored Weapon:Shock of grain ((Scythe))

Cleric Alignment:LG, NG, CG

NWN Domain: Animal, Good, Plant, Protection, Renewal

History Relationships:The hand of Jannath (JANN-nuth) was on every place where things grew, whether they were animals, crops, forests, or people. She was not a goddess-given to spectacle or pageant, but rather called her followers to small acts of devotion. She was immensely popular among gardeners, farmers, and common folk of many nations. Through her blessing, Toril was fruitful and wildlife healthy and plentiful. She was wise and quiet, though not passive, and wasn’t given to hasty action.

Dogma: Jannath’s faith was one of nurture, growth, and the protection of the natural order. Agricultural homilies and folk wisdom dotted her teachings. Growing and reaping, the eternal cycle, was a common thread in Jannath’s faith. Destruction for its own sake, or leveling without rebuilding, was anathema to the church. Jannathan priests were charged to nurture, tend, and plant whenever and wherever possible; protect trees and plants, and save their seeds so that what was destroyed could be replaced; tend to animals, both wild and domestic; see to the fertility of the earth, but let the human womb see to its own, and to eschew the use of fire when possible.

Day-to-Day Activities: Priests of Jannath were charged to learn and pass on to others, both fellow clergy and laity-all they could of horticulture, herb lore, plant types, plant diseases, animal husbandry, and wildlife lore. They encouraged all civilized folk to enrich the land by replanting, composting, and irrigation, not merely to graze or dig it bare for what it could yield and then pass on. They replanted trees wherever they went, rooted out weeds that strangled and choked crop plants, tilled plants back into the soil, cared for sick and injured creatures, and worked to prevent the spread of disease. They strove to let no day pass in which they didn’t help a living thing flourish. They sometimes hired nonbelievers to help them burn diseased plants or the corpses of plague-ridden livestock to prevent the spread of sickness. They kept careful watch over such blazes since uncontrolled blazes could wreak such destruction on the earth. They were not forbidden to use fire but were especially careful in their use of it. Jannath encouraged her faithful to make offerings of food to strangers and those in need, freely sharing the bounty of the land. It was also said that money given to one of her temples returned to the giver tenfold. Worshipers were supposed to plant at least one seed or small plant-cutting a ten-day, tend it faithfully for as long as possible and see that their own wastes were always tilled back into the soil to feed later life. Any extra seeds yielded by plantings was taken to a temple of the goddess for distribution to the less fortunate. Worshipers were also cautioned never to take lightly the burden of caring for an animal to which they had made a commitment, such as a pet, mount, or domesticated animal.

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Jannath for continued life and close with a prayer to the mountains, from whence (Jannathans believe) the Great Mother sent her power. Prayer to the Great Mother was made whenever things were planted or born but otherwise occurred when worshipers were moved to do so by the beauty of nature around them, which they were always encouraged to notice. Prayer to the Golden Goddess was best made on the freshly tilled ground, farmland, or a garden, or failing that, at least at a well or watering place. Jannath listened best to those who enriched the ground, so before prayer, many priests buried wastes, disposed of the litter of civilization, or planted seeds. Few ceremonies of worship fell at set times. Passing one’s wed- ding night in a freshly tilled field was held by Jannathans to ensure fertility in marriage. Greengrass was a fertility festival, wherein uninhibited behavior and consumption of food and drink was encouraged. The much more solemn High Prayers of the Harvest celebrated the bounty Jannath had given a community and were held at different times in each community to coincide with the actual harvest of crops, rather than precisely on Higharvestide.

Affiliated Orders: An affiliated order of militant rangers, called the Timberland Resistance Brigade, was one of the most feared groups within 100 miles of the monastery. (The Timberland Resistance Brigade didn’t call itself that; its members called themselves Jannath’s Defenders.) They were feared in Grog and Imbrue as “murderers who wantonly massacred entrepreneurs.” In fact, the government of Fluvion once put a price on the head of every member of the Timberland Resistance Brigade. They were staunch defenders of the wild, but not evil, contrary to what the Fluvion government loudly proclaimed. Another order supposedly affiliated with the worship of Jannath, though not with the monastery on the Glorifier, was a sect of druids that were often termed gray druids, though they preferred the name they chose themselves: Nature’s Reprisal. These druids, specialists in polymorph spells of all kinds, were also believed to be wizards. Tales of Nature’s Reprisal claimed its members altered the form of their opponents into trees, brush, grass, or harmless herbivorous herd animals. Groundcover’s monks didn’t claim to be in league with Nature’s Reprisal and believed the group was actually in allegiance with Moander. The Moanderites neither claimed the group nor denied its affiliation with their god.

Priestly Vestments: Priests of high rank of all types in the service of Jannath tended to favor off-white or maize-colored ceremonial robes trimmed in deep forest green and used staves smoothed by much handling but otherwise natural in appearance. Some such staves were enchanted to purify or promote the growth of what they touched.

Adventuring Garb: Jarmath’s priests dressed simply and without pretense most of the time. They favored earth tones of green and brown. The most commonly encountered garb was simple brown robes, with high rank denoted only by a belt laced with gold thread or some other similar, precious decoration.