Stern Alia (Greyhawk Action)

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Lawful Neutral, Second Generation Oerdian god

Also known as Alia or the Shield Mother, Stern Alia is the demigoddess of Oeridian Culture, Law, and Motherhood. She is also the tutelary goddess of the island nation of Thalos in Western Oerik (across the Solnor Ocean), which was settled by Aerdi explorers many centuries ago. Since she is no longer worshiped in the Flanaess, the details of her portfolio have become sketchy.

Her holy symbol is an Oeridian woman's face on a round amulet, or painted on a round shield. The Shield Mother is a maternal figure, fully armed and armored. Alia is lawful neutral, but her church in Thalos tends toward good, while her church in Medegia tended toward evil.

Relationships

It has been suggested (in Bastion of Faith, the Player's Guide, and Warriors of Heaven) that Stern Alia is somehow an aspect of the Flan god known as Allitur. However, she is presented as entirely separate from Allitur in 3rd edition materials. There are also parallels between Stern Alia and Wee Jas. Still others equate her with the Flan goddess Berei, or see them as sisters and daughters of Oerth. There is a legend her father is Pholtus, a claim that creates conflict within the church of Pholtus as it challenges Pholtus' super-divine claims if he should have a daughter, especially with a pagan goddess like Oerth.

Syncretists largely ignore Stern Alia as she is not currently worshiped.

Alia is the mother of Heironeous and Hextor (and by implication the other brothers Thritherion and Erythnul), although they have unknown fathers. This clashes with the legends of Vilnius, that claims to be the father of all four of the Oerdian Noble Gods. Another son, Stratis, is mentioned in literature for the Chainmail miniatures game in Dragon #285, but he is deceased. He used to be an important god in far-off Thalos and patron deity of that country.

Cult

The clerics of Stern Alia organize local militias to fight back against threats, buying time for the professional armies.

In the Flanaess, Stern Alia's church was mostly limited to Medegia, where it has been largely destroyed due to infighting and by priests of Hextor and Pholtus. In the city of Pontylver, Alia was the patron of the Temple of the Correct and Unalterable Way. Many of the clergy there became increasingly arrogant and arbitrary over time, seeing themselves as the ultimate interpreters of the law. They embraced a heresy that said the Law was concentrated in the individual rather than the community, and for this their goddess forsook them, no longer granting them spells. The temple hierarchy managed to keep this a secret for a time; when their fellow cleric Myrrha attempted to speak out, they tried to silence her permanently. She barely escaped the city with her life. This scandal weakened the cult and paved the way for the cults of Hextor and Pholtus to take over Medegia.

In Thalos, her powerful church works hand in hand with the monarchy of that country. At the moment, paladins of the Shield Mother in Thalos are on a quest to recover the Shield of Stratis, one of the artifacts left scattered across the land when that son of the Mother of War was killed. The church would do anything to win this holy relic.

Myths and Legends

Rival Brothers Stern Alia is the mother of Hextor, Heironeous, and Stratis. To Heironeous she gave the gift of physical invulnerability, to Stratis she gave her shield, and to Hextor she gave nothing, for he had no concept of Law in her eyes. When Stratis died mysteriously, Alia began to suspect Hextor, and to this day believes that Hextor's ascension in power may be because he orchestrated his own brother's death. The goddess is preparing her church for war against Hextor for his crimes, a goal many other deities seem eager to help fulfill.

Meersalm It was the Shield Mother who gave Heironeous the gift of meersalm, coating him with it at birth, which made his skin immune to mortal weapons. She neglected to do so for his brother Hextor, which began the jealousy that eventually led Hextor to the Lords of Evil.

Savnok According to myth, Alia used to to leave her arms and armor in the care of her sons Heironeous and Hextor while she met with her many lovers. Once, before recorded history, a servant of the half-brothers, a man called Savnok, convinced his masters to allow him to guard the armory of Stern Alia while they attended to other matters. Left alone with the relics, Savnok could not resist trying on the goddess's armor. Drunk with power, he knew he could never bring himself to take it off, so he fled to the mortal realm, where he began carving a kingdom out for himself.

As long as he wore the armor, Savnok could not be harmed by any mortal weapon or energy. Stricken with guilt, Heironeous and Hextor became determined to retrieve the suit before their mother returned. He was immune to Heironeous' lightning, however, so Hextor broke into the armory again and acquired his mother's bow and arrows. Though young, still two-armed Hextor could just barely draw the bow, his arrows hit their mark, and Savnok slowly bled to death from small wounds.

Hextor advised his brother to help him replace the missing items and hide the body of Savnok beyond the edge of the cosmos, where their mother would never know about it. Heironeous agreed to the plan, feeling like he owed Hextor for solving the problem. He has felt guilty about this deception ever since.

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Weapon: Spear

Pathfinder Domains

Inquisition, Knowledge, Law, Protection?

Pathfinder Traits

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Pathfinder Obedience

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Action Domains

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External Links

• Stern Alia @greyparticle - source for this entry