Hala

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Hala is worshiped by the Church of Hala. Among those knowledgeable of and not hostile toward the faith, Hala is seen as a benevolent goddess of healing and goodly magic.[1]

Alignment

Neutral Good[2], True Neutral[3][4]

Holy Symbol

Thirteen serpents organized into a ring, each eating the other's tail in succession[5][6]

Favored Weapon

Dagger[5][6]

Spell-domains

Healing, Magic, Plant[3][4], Weave (Hala is the only deity to grant this domain)[7]

History

According to Halan tradition in the Tales of the Ages, it was a collective of nine deities that brought the world into creation from Chaos' mists. However, the other gods then stood back and left mortal kind to make their own decisions. Hala alone of the Nine Gods saw how mortals lacked insight to make the right decisions, so she came back to alleviate the world's burdens.[5][6][8] To a cadre of 13 men and women[9], she instructed the secrets of the Weave.[5][6][10] This myth strange resembles a benign version of the Tepestani story of the witch Hallah, whom malevolently usurped the power of magic from the gods; the resemblance of these tales and names is a contributor to the demonization of Hala by the Tepestani Inquisition.[11]

Hala established the first covens after the differential knowledge she gave to her disciples caused fighting among the genders with envy over the other's gifts, almost escalating to physical violence. Hala granted her followers more insight to help them overcome their pride and the weakness of mortal flesh. She revealed that every male also had a feminine part of him and every female had some masculine part of her. The first coven was established to foster cooperation between witches and warlocks in that they may gain more magic power and insight by working togetheer. This legend has a flaw in that modern covens can be organized strictly by gender.[12] However, it is true that the coven, at least in the eyes of the Church of Hala, is seen as serving to instill senses of community in witches and warlocks and to prevent individuals from falling into the corruption they would be prone to alone.[13]

Hala's faith is noted by Van Richten and Mother Marena to be several hundreds of years older than the Church of Ezra[14], although given the Demiplane of Dread's short history, it is uncertain how much of her church's existence comes from outside the Land of Mists or is even false history. Some historians posit that Ezra was a servant of the Church of Hala prior to her own divine ascension.[14]

Noncanon Information

Hala is venerated by the people of Liffe as one of the Thousand Gods.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Gazetteer V p. 64
  2. ↑ Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 244
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ravenloft Third Edition p. 54
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ravenloft Player's Handbook p. 69
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Ravenloft Third Edition p. 52
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Ravenloft Player's Handbook p. 66"
  7. ↑ Gazetteer V p. 134
  8. ↑ Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 239-240
  9. ↑ Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 257 states that it was 13 men and women total, whereas Ravenloft Third Edition (p. 52) and the Ravenloft Player's Handbook p. 54 specify it was 13 women and 13 men (26 total)
  10. ↑ Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 239-240
  11. ↑ Gazetteer V p. 64
  12. ↑ [[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 257-258
  13. ↑ Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 245-247
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 247
  15. ↑ Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 35
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