| The Hearthkeeper | |||||||||||||||||
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The myths recount that the Hearthkeeper came into being with the first spark from the first fire ignited to warm the first home. From then on, this presence strove to keep homes warm and provide shelter from the cold and dark. It is unknown if the Hearthkeeper on Celesia is the same as that primordial one from the myths, or one of many across every world that naturally arise when its inhabitants form communities and settlements. Regardless, this Hearthkeeper has persisted since the dawn of civilisation on Celesia.
The Hearthkeeper is the protector of the homestead. Home is where people feel safe, where they grow. With the nature of a home being what it is, it was only natural that the Hearthkeeper became the patron of family. This aspect of the Hearthkeeper grew to encompass the notion of community, for the first communities started out as ever extending family.
The Hearthkeeper came to encompass farming and agriculture as part of their portfolio thanks in large part as to how vital that development was in the forming of permanent settlements and the communities that formed around them.
Although deities are beyond biological limitations and may assume any or no gender as they wish, the Hearthkeeper is near consistently portrayed as a matronly figure due in large part the pivotal role women across all peoples play in the raising of families, although there are cultures where the fatherly role or the protection of the home is more emphasised, and the Hearthkeeper's portrayal is reflected as such. There are even some cultures that portray the Hearthkeeper as both simultaneously.
However, common across all forms of the Hearthkeeper's portrayal is their kind patient, and protective nature, especially over children.
The badger is a common totemic animal within the Hearthkeeper's faith.
Relations with Other Faiths
(relationships with other deities)
Roles Within the Faith
While the Hearthkeeper's faith have a wide variety of layfolk, midwives and farmers stand out as the most notable.
A Priest's Role
Priests of the Hearthkeeper are generally one of the main pillars of a community, especially smaller or more isolated ones. They provide much needed guidance and support to families, mediate disputes, conduct marriages, and help deliver newborns.
Heathkeeper priests are vital to farming communities. With their knowledge, power, and divine influence, they help farmers produce bountiful harvests, and succor during times of drought and pestilence.
Religious Orders
(church composition)
(church customs)
(church goals and methods)
Temples and Shrines
(description of typical temple and shrine features)