# Alwen ##### AWL-wehn >[!infobox]+ >#### Alwen >![[Placeholder.png|text|324]] >#### Deity > >##### Details >| | >| :---------------- | :------ | >|**Evangelical**|No >| **Areas of Concern** |Agriculture<br>Community<br>Craftsmanship<br>Family<br>Hearth<br>Labor<br>Livestock<br> | >| **Worshippers** |Halflings | >|**Demonym**|Trinitarian, Aruven| >| **Sigil** |Sickle and Sheaf of Wheat | >|**Epithets**|Keeper of the Meek<br>Host of the Halfings >| **Sacred Colors** |Green and Brown | > >##### Statistics > >| | >| :---------------- | :------ | >|**Alignment**|Neutral Good >|**Domains**|Community, Good, Healing >|**Subdomains**|?? >| **Favored Weapon** |Hammer, sickle or other farm implements| > Alwen is the tutelary god of common halflings. He watches over the labors, farmers, crafters and other halflings that earn their livelihoods with their hands and their sweat. He is the god of the family, home, hearth and community. Halflings of the Undersanctuary worship the gods as a trinity, but believe that each halfling belongs to a specific caste, and that one's caste determines which of the three gods mostly closely dictates their fate and fortune. As most of these halflings are of Alurven caste, Alwen is a central figure in halfling faith. But even those of other castes, or followers of [[Laleeri]] (who rejects the distinctions of caste) have homes, families and a community, and understand the importance of Alwen's blessings. ## Dogma Arwen's teachings revolve around the values of humility, loyalty, hard work, cooperation and charity. No matter how menial one's task, it is a source of pride to do it well. No matter how meager one's place is within a community, that place is meaningful an important. No matter how successful one member of a community is, they owe that success to the rest of their community, and ought to help out those less fortunate than they. ## History ### In The Beginning... In the days before recorded history, the gods ruled over the world of Temnia. Powerful and aloof, the gods incessantly fought and schemed against each other, pitting their mortal armies in bloody conflicts that cost countless lives. Every mortal race had been swept up in the divine struggle save one: the _miekol_. The peaceful miekol folk had escaped the notice of the gods and the mighty mortal races those gods commanded. They lived pastoral lives in the unseen corners of the ancient world.  Three of the Gods of this primordial age grew weary of the warfare and destruction. Alwen and his brothers Warre and Siriven tired of seeing the life created, fostered and then snuffed out without a second thought. They abandon the wars, and sought lives of peaceful solitude. They travelled to the edges of world, and discovered the miekol. Alwen and his brothers were immediately enchanted by the smallfolk, their peaceful lives and their humble ways. They resolved to live among miekol, and protect them from harm. For countless generations the three brothers lived among the miekol. They became sages rulers, took lovers, consorts and wives, and fathered generations of children and grandchildren. Eventually, the miekol were a race that were half-mortal, and half-divine. The halflings who descended from the line of Alwen were the caste of Alurven.  At the end of the age of divinity, the gods of the ancient world were compelled to leave the mortal realm. Alwen refused this call at first, preferring to live among his halflings. The divine arbiter [[Aydem]] came to the brothers and provided them with an ultimatum: They could forsake their divinity and remain among the halflings as mortals for one last lifetime, or they could return to the divine realm and watch over their kin for all of eternity. Alwen longed to remain, but he knew that in the long years after he died, his people would still need care and guidance. And so, Alwen departed for the divine realm. He left his halflings with three gifts and a promise: His gifts were the blessings of love, life and labor. His promise was that those who embraced these blessings would return to Alwen in the divine realm when their time in the mortal world was done. ### The Fall of the Great Kingdoms For a time, the lineages of Alwen, Warre and Siriven thrived, and under their leadership so did the halfling people. But the gods of other races lacked the kindness of the Halfling gods. The gods of the tallfolk had created them as conquerors and ravagers. They set monsters upon the world to test their people, and had spent generations upon generations battling each other in a constant struggle for domination. The halfings grew complacent in their lives of comfort and plenty, and some began to question the necessity of their roles in life. The laborer envied the luxury of the sage, and resented his toil. The sage envied the vigor of the warrior, and resented his studies. The warrior envied the laborer's freedom and resented his duty. Each longed to be that which they were not made for, and eventually they lay down their burdens to take up another's role. Societies were ruled by the mob, rather than the wise. They were protected by warriors who lacked true courage or honor. Their society was built upon the wasted labor of dilatants and tinkerers. As halfling society eroded, the barbaric tribes found the halfling homeland and invaded. The halfling defense of their home was doomed to fail, for not only was their stature and strength less than their foes, but what wisdom and strength was within them was misdirected and ill-spent. The halfings were forced to flee their homes, and seek sanctuary beneath the earth. ### Life Below Unable to defend their homeland, unwanted by the people of other lands, and unsuited to taking a different land for their own, the great sages led their people beneath the [[Warrenal Mountains]]. The halflings, having seen the error of their disordered society, resolved to make a new home in the Image of their Gods. For the blessings of the gods were not handed out freely upon an idle request. They had to be achieved through dedication and effort. The Great Sage Teeon revealed the first blessing of the undersanctuary, a piece of the sun brought beneath the mountains to shine down upon the halflings. The Great Sage [[Magilo]] revealed the second blessing of the undersanctuary, buy turning the hard stone of the undersanctuary into fertile ground upon which crops could grow. The Great Sage [[Lerin]] revealed the third blessing of the undersanctuary, the great lake Tonkel, and the river that feeds it. If the halflings stick together, and keep to their place within society, the halflings have everything they need to thrive and prosper once more. It would not be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. ## Church of the Joy of Labor Alwen's church is referred to as the "Church of the Joy of Labor." The priests of the church teach the virtues or meekness, hard work, charity and diligence. They also serve as fonts of knowledge around a variety of practical common skills. They bless fields during the planting and harvest, act as midwives, help tend to sick livestock, provide guidance to smiths and tanners, and are the most capable engineers and architects of the Alurven caste.  Temples of Alwen are easily mistaken for common farmsteads. They are humble wood or stone buildings with a small plot of arable land and a collection of livestock. The clergy who maintain the temples are more often than not busy working the land themselves. The fruit of this labor is freely available to any who come to them in need. Should any have need of a place to shelter and have nowhere else to go, the temple of Alwen is always open. The Church does not maintain an army, as the protection of the halfling people is the duty of the Warven and Shriven castes, but the use of common farm implements in self defense is taught to those with the inclination towards it.  ## Church of the Smallfolk The followers of [[Laleeri]] venerate her story and her teachings, but understand that she is divinely inspired figure. Laleerians worship Alwen as part of a divine trinity, the Father, Son and Sage (or Mother, Maiden and Wisdom) with Alwen taking the role of Father/Mother. ### Holy Texts The holy text of Alwen is _Alwen's Almanac_, a collection of proverbs and parables outlining traditional halfling values, as well as practical wisdom regarding the maintenance of homesteads, raising of crops and livestock and other domestic concerns.  ## Worshippers The faithful of Alwen pride themselves on their craftsmanship, practical knowledge, and their sense of community. They are swift to help those in need, but contemptuous of the lazy. They are typically distrustful of new ideas, believing that society flourishes when everyone knows and accepts their place. Iconoclasts and rebels are people of low moral character who are too lazy, cowardly or dumb to embrace their proper role, and destined to be ultimately dissatisfied with their choices. Alwen worshipers disdain decadence, are distrustful of secular magics, and have little patience for "empty knowledge," which is most academic fields that they deem impractical. If you can't put your knowledge to work, then it's sheer idleness or fancy. ### Signs of Faith Many Alwen worshipers will work a sickle and furrow design into tools they work with on a regular basis. Sometimes this is a simple crescent and horizontal lines carved to the haft of a scythe or rake, while some will have immaculately detailed renditions stamped into the metalwork of a hammer or blade.  ### Taboo Like most halflings, the worshipers of Alwen will not eat mushrooms. The practice is likely symbolic of the halfling desire to turn the undersanctuary into land as bright and vibrant as the world above.  Alwen worshipers will typically refrain from "poisoning the heart," with smoke or inhaled drugs. They also shy away from powerful odors, though which scents they find to be poisonous to the heart (and which aren't) can seem strange to an outlander.  ### Clergy Priests and druids are common among the Alwen clergy, oracles, wu jen and healers are rarer. Prayers are typically performed at the dawn of the day. Group services are usually held at mid-day at the week's end. Such services are a chance for the people to come together as a community, and for halflings of all castes to enjoy the bounty of their combined efforts.  ## Other Worshipers and Faiths ### Halflings of the Undersanctuary Trinitarians worship the Halfling gods as a single divine force, but those of the Warven and Shriven castes view Alwen as the god for "common" halflings. It is necessary, and appropriate, for all halflings benefit from the blessings of Alwen, but direct worship is not appropriate for someone of their station. Alwen is still venerated for domestic affairs such as marriages, banquets, home-cooked meals, blessings of new-built homes and the like. ### Other Halflings Worshippers of Laleeri still venerate the Trinitarian gods, but do so through the example of Laleeri herself. She is not divine herself, but possessed of the blessings of the divine three. She exemplifies Alwen's love, Warre's strength and Siriven's cunning. Many of the rites, holidays and teachings of Laleeri's worship are based on Trinitarian traditions. ### Non-Halflings The halfling gods are not evangelical, and apart from halfling enclaves or itinerate families, most are unfamiliar with the "folk-religion of the halflings." Outsiders tend to see Alwen as a god of harvest and plenty. Since what few traditional holidays are outwardly celebrated are dedicated to Alwen, some mistake him for a god of revelry or excess.