Pantheon Elfico

[DM Artemis]

Fenmarel Mestarine

The Lone Wolf

Lesser Power of Limbo
CN
PORTFOLIO: Feral elves, outcasts, scapegoats, isolation and isolationists
ALIASES: None
DOMAIN NAME: Limbo/Fennimar
SUPERIOR: Corellon Larethian
ALLIES: Eilistraee, Gwaeron Windstrom, the Seidarine, various Animal Lords
FOES: The drow pantheon (except Eilistraee)
SYMBOL: Pair of elven eyes in the darkness
WOR.ALIGN.: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN
Fenmarel Mestarine (FEHN-muh-rehl MESS-tuh-reen) is the eternal outsider, the solitary god who holds himself aloof from his fellows. He is venerated by outcasts from elven society, many of whom have withdrawn voluntarily in response to perceived slights, as well as by elves who have been isolated from the main body of their race and who live in wild, relatively uncivilized rural groups. Although he does not actively seek the worship of mortals, Fenmarel serves as the teacher and protector of those who turn to him, one who is silent and subtle, instructing his people in survival, spying, camouflage, deception, and secrecy.
Fenmarel dislikes the company of other powers, and he avoids relationships of any sort-whether they be alliances or mutual enmities- whenever possible- The Lone Wolf is even somewhat of an outcast among the Seldarine, his nominal allies, although he supports them in their endless war with the Spider Queen and her followers. He has removed himself to Limbo voluntarily, although he has a home in Arvandor when he so chooses.
Fenmarel was once Lolth's lover, one of the first to be seduced by her power and promises, but he turned away from her before completely slipping over to the dark side, for which she has never forgiven him. Neither has Fenmarel forgiven Lolth for her breach of faith with the elven race, and thus he hates drow.
The Lone Wolf gets along well enough with Solonor Thelandira (said to be his brother) and Shevarash, both of whom join him in actively combating the plots of the Spider Queen and defending the Fair Folk against her depredations. However, Fenmarel's relations with Corellon Larethian are somewhat strained by his perception that the Protector still somehow holds the younger god at fault for succumbing to Lolth's entreaties long ago. Only the kindhearted-ness of Sehanine Moonbow draws the Lone Wolf back to Arvandor on rare occasions.
Fenmarel is eternally sullen and serious, a perfect counterbalance to fun-loving Erevan Ilesere. He has no interest in communicating with members of other pantheons or N'Tel'Quess unless absolutely necessary, and when he does speak he is usually bitter and cynical. Although he tries to avoid commitments of any sort, the Lone Wolf always abides by his word, no matter how reluctantly it is given. Fenmarel frequently dispatches his avatar to patrol the elven borders in disappearing woodlands, jungles, and similar environments, not unlike Corellon in more sizable homelands.
The Church
CLERGY: Specialty priests
CLERGY’s ALIGN: CN
TURN UNDEAD: SP No
CMND UNDEAD: SP No
All specialty priests of Fenmarel receive religion (elf) and reading/ writing (Espruar) as bonus nonweapon proficiencies.
The church of Fenmarel is regarded with a great deal of suspicion and hostility in most elven societies, for many of his followers in such areas are considered to be little better than outlaws, even if their exile is voluntary. Only in isolated tribes that actively venerate the Lone Wolf (usually to the exclusion of all other deities) are his faithful accorded respect for the practical lessons of survival that they teach. Among other races, Fenmarel and his followers are either un- known or spoken of as primitive followers of a savage god, both of whom are better left undisturbed.
The followers of the Lone Wolf can be loosely divined into two camps, neither of which constructs temples to the god. Elven outcasts, who either remove themselves or are forcibly banished from elven society, are loners by nature who rarely even seek out other members of their faith, let alone join with them in formal worship Similarly, isolated, primitive tribes of elves are unlikely to construct edifices of any sort, let alone a temple However both types of worshiper construct personal shrines to the god, the location of which is always kept secret, even from fellow worshipers. The composition of such shrines varies widely from individual to individual and from tribe to tribe,but most shrines of Fenmarel include some common elements. Typically located in a hidden hollow or niche of some sort, shrines often contain bones, teeth, or claws representing the savagery of the world as well as sticks and leaves representing the environment in which both protection and sustenance may be found. Exiles often include a personal token symbolizing the reasons for their separation from elven society.
Novices of Fenmarel are known as the Lost. Full priests of the Lone Wolf are known as the Unbowed. Fenmarel's priests create their own individual titles or forgo them altogether. Specialty priests, known as lone wolves, are comprised of green elves (53%), moon elves (22%), half elves (10%), lythan (8%), gold elves (6%), and a handful of elves of other ancestries (1%).
Fenmarel's clergy includes only specialty priests (100%). The clergy of Fenmarel has a slightly higher number of male members (56%) than female members (44%).
Dogma: The world is a harsh and unforgiving place, with uncompromising demands on those who would forge their own path. Rely not on others for protection, for betrayal comes easily, but on you own skills and those taught to you by the Lone Wolf: the skills of camouflage, deception and secrecy. Follow the way of the Lone Wolf, for his is the path of self-sufficiency.
Fear not hard work, for the fruits of your labor prove your worth to yourself.
Day-to-Day Activities : For the most part, members of Fenmarel's clergy are found only among hands of feral elves in the wilderness. Outcasts from elven society who make their way among other cultures are typically lay followers and not priests. Members of Fenmarel's clergy instruct their fellows in the skills first taught by the god, including how to spy, survive on their own, engage in deceptions and guerilla tactics, and use poisons to take down enemies with subtlety, but otherwise they have few formal responsibilities aside from ensuring their personal survival.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies : The church of Fenmarel does not celebrate widely recognized holy days. Instead, each individual or band venerates the Lone Wolf in personal worship services of their own devising. Many outcasts mark the day of their personal banishment with private contemplation, while tribes of feral elves mark anniversaries of important events in the group's oral history, many of which are correlated with astronomical events easily noted by the naked eye.
Major Centers of Worship: The Misty Vale is a largely unexplored, thickly overgrown, stiflingly hot jungle tucked between the Dun Hills, the Cliffs of Talar, and the Bandit Wastes, due east of Lapaliiya and the Shining Sea. In the courts of the High Suihk of Ormpur and the Overking of Lapaliiya, records dating back to the founding of both realms speak of a race of feral elves dwelling in the steaming forest who hunt down and kill any intruders into their ancient homeland. To the other races of the region, these legendary denizens of the Misty Vale are known as the grugach. This term's on-gin has been variously ascribed to an archaic elvish term meaning feral ones, a green elven clan name, and a word coined by a traveler from another world who saw similarities between the tales told in Lapaliiya and the most reclusive wild elves of his own land. In truth, the Fair Folk of the Misty Vale are simply a primitive and highly xenophobic clan of green elves, albeit with a significant amount of moon elven and dark elven blood, who have been isolated from the outside world for centuries. The term grugach is indeed a misnomer dating back to the visit of a sorcerer from a world known as Oerth, but the name has stuck in the popular imagination of the region.
The Misty Vale has been continuously occupied by the Fair Folk since the Second Crown War was fought approximately 13,000 years ago. First, the moon elven realm of Orishaar (located in the forests that now make up the Duskwood and the plains of the Shaar) fell swiftly to the brutal surprise attack of the dark elves of Ilythiir. Then the green elven realms of Syorpiir, Eiellur, and Theamytaar (located in the woodlands that stretched from what is today the Thomwood to the Chondalwood) fell in the five centuries that followed. The fall of Eiellur was aided in part by traitorous green elves who thought their appeasement actions could help restore the peace. After each defeat at the hands of the dark elves, the surviving populace was enslaved by the Ilythiiri. In most cases, the enslaved moon elves and green elves were absorbed into the general population by the genetically dominant dark elves within a generation or two. The betrayers of Eiellur were rewarded by the Ilythiiri with an untamed, tangled tract of jungle on a plateau overlooking the River Talar. While few survived the horrors that had been previously unleashed in the woodlands by dark elven sorcerers and still lurked therein, a small band, reduced to a barbaric way of life, managed to survive with the protection of Fenmarel and took to calling themselves the Or- Tel'Quessir or people of the woods. Over time their feral descendants were joined by escaped moon elven and green elven slaves fleeing conscription and life on the Ilythiiri slave farms, and the population grew. Although the Ilythiiri would have undoubtedly hunted the Misty Vale tribe to extinction eventually, the Descent of the Drow spared the Or-Tel'Quessir from that horrific fate.
Of all the Seldarine, the Fair Folk of the Misty Vale venerate only Fenmarel, for they turned away from the rest of the elven pantheon millennia ago out of feelings of both personal guilt and abandonment by their gods. Tales of the Lone Wolf's own betrayal by the Spider Queen have been incorporated into the ancient tales of betrayal at the hands of the hated Ilythiiri that still dominate the oral tradition of the Or-Tel'Quessir. Some myths claim that Fenmarel personally led the tribe out of bondage. Other legends claim the Lone Wolf dwelt alone among the beasts of the Misty Vale until the Or-Tel'Quessir arrived and that for many years he taught them the skills of camouflage, deception, and secrecy they would need to survive. While the feral Or-Tel'Quessir have built no temples to their god, Fenmarel's shrines are found wherever the jungle is thickest and most tangled. In turn, the Lone Wolf acts through the fearsome predators of the forest, descended from the castoffs of unholy experiments of Ilythiiri sorcerers, causing them to hunt down intruders but ignore the Fair Folk who dwell among them.
Affiliated Orders: The Fenmaren church has no affiliated knightly orders for obvious reasons. Among the Or-Tel'Quessir, every able-bodied adult of the tribe fights for the Lone Wolf.
Thus, in a sense the entire tribe acts as the militant arm of the faith.
Priestly Vestments: The ceremonial garb of Fenmaren priests in primitive bands deep in the wilderness consists of bodies plastered in mud and covered with leaves and sticks.
Among more civilized groups, Fenmaren priests garb themselves in hide armor adorned with bones, teeth, and crude drawings of wild beasts. The holy symbol of the faith is a talon or fang of a wild beast slain without any assistance by the priest who bears it.
Adventuring Garb: When adventuring, priests of Fenmarel prefer weapons and armor constructed through the use of skills taught by their god, although they employ the best armor and weapons available if need be.