Mishakal
The All-Mother | The Raven Queen
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The All-Mother | The Raven Queen
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Life, Death, Nature, Agriculture
To most of her priesthood, like almost all deities, Mishakal is simply a voice, thoughts, or emotions that course through them when they call upon her for aid. It is said that she can take on the form of any living creature that has ever graced the world: more superstitious worshippers claim she can see and hear everything that happens in the world through any plant.
When she does manifest in corporeal form, she appears as a radiant, dark-skinned humanoid woman, wrapped in an aura of calm and compassion, clad in robes that glint with every color of the rainbow. Upon her brow is nestled an elegantly-tangled crown of blue hyacinths, dandelions, moss, and blue violets. She brings verdancy wherever she steps and to whatever she touches.
"Only love can be divided endlessly and still not diminish." "No one has ever become poor by giving." "We are all different. Don’t judge, understand instead."
Common Phrases used by Followers of Mishakal
The demon lord Orcus, her mortal enemy, jealous of the power of Mishakal and hateful of the life that she begat, created a horrifying curse known as undeath, which would trap souls between life and death- and ensnare them into his service. Unleashing this curse into the world, Orcus sought to corrupt the Feywild, and thus the Material Plane, and bend them both to his will.
Throughout history, Mishakal has inspired her priests and clerics to act in the world along two guiding principles:
Guide and defend the cycle of life and death;
Offer healing and compassion to all life.
These two tenets are very broad, reflecting the all-encompassing nature, and the wide embrace, of Mishakal in the world.
Mishakal is known as one goddess with two aspects: The All Mother and the Raven Queen.
The All-Mother
The benign All-Mother is the great grovekeeper of the world, and clerics who devote themselves to this aspect of Mishakal typically take on the Vow of Life:
Nurture new life, wherever it springs, from the smallest insect to the multitudes of people in the world;
Seek out the sick, and heal them; seek out the hurt, and bind their wounds; seek out the hopeless, and give them hope;
Offer life and love to all, no matter who they are or what they've done. Mishakal loves even the unlovable.
The Raven Queen
The Raven Queen, is the guardian the other half of the cycle: death. Clerics who swear by Mishakal the Raven Queen are typically more grim and stoic, but are still looked upon with admiration. Along with the Vow of Life, they often take on the Vow of Death:
Bring rest to those whose time has come, and guide their souls to the veil;
Bring justice against those who would end life before its appointed time;
Bring proper death to beings brought back to unlife;
Bring knowledge and hope in times of death, that the cycle brings new life.
Mortals who build temples to Mishakal envision them as places of community and design them for the practical purposes of shelter, gathering-place, makeshift hospice, and meditative space. The temples of the Sisters of the Bough follow a common design that is typically centered around a large open-air plaza with plants freely growing up columns and along walls: the plaza has no seats, but does boast a large wooden altar where worship services are held. Several archways along the walls lead to a hospice, meditation grove, and sleeping quarters for priestesses.
Fey creatures do not typically worship her in such formalized spaces, often simply keeping a shrine to her in their territories, decorated with a lei of flowers shaped like her holy symbol.
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