View source for Hala

{{canon}}
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]].<ref>[[Gazetteer V]] p. 64</ref>

==[[Alignment]]==
{{questionably-canon-small}}[[Neutral Good]]<ref name="Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 244">[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III]] p. 244</ref>, [[True Neutral]]<ref name="R3E p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref>

==[[Holy Symbol]]==
Thirteen [[snake|serpent]]s organized into a ring, each eating the other's tail in succession<ref name="R3E p. 52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 52</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 66">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 66"</ref>

==Favored Weapon==
[[Dagger]]<ref name="R3E p. 52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 52</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 66">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 66"</ref>

==[[Spell-domains]]==
[[Healing Domain|Healing]], [[Magic Domain|Magic]], [[Plant Domain|Plant]]<ref name="R3E p. 54">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 54</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 69">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 69</ref>, [[Weave Domain|Weave]] (Hala is the only deity to grant this domain)<ref>[[Gazetteer V]] p. 134</ref>

==History==
According to Halan tradition in the [[Tales of the Ages]], it was a collective of nine [[deity|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.<ref name="R3E p. 52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 52</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 66">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 66"</ref><ref>[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III]] p. 239-240</ref> To a cadre of 13 men and women<ref>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)</ref>, she instructed the secrets of [[the Weave]].<ref name="R3E p. 52">[[Ravenloft Third Edition]] p. 52</ref><ref name="RLPHB p. 66">[[Ravenloft Player's Handbook]] p. 66"</ref><ref>[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III]] p. 239-240</ref> 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]].<ref>[[Gazetteer V]] p. 64</ref>

Hala established the first [[coven]]s 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.<ref>[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 257-258</ref> 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.<ref>[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III]] p. 245-247</ref>

Hala's faith is noted by [[Van Richten]] and [[Mother Marena]] to be several hundreds of years older than the [[Church of Ezra]]<ref name="Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 247">[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III]] p. 247</ref>, {{spec|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 [[historian]]s posit that [[Ezra (Deity)|Ezra]] was a servant of the Church of Hala prior to her own divine ascension.<ref name="Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III p. 247">[[Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III]] p. 247</ref>

==Noncanon Information==
{{netbook}}
Hala is venerated by the people of [[Liffe]] as one of [[the Thousand Gods]].<ref name="Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 35">[[Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer]] p. 35</ref>

{{ref}}

[[category:The Thousand Gods]]
[[category:Character]][[category:NPC]][[Category:deity]]
[[category:Healing_Domain]]
[[category:Magic_Domain]]
[[category:Plant_Domain]]
[[category:Weave_Domain]]
[[category:Church of Hala]]
[[category:female]]
[[category:Witchcraft]]
[[category:Neutral Good]]
[[category:Neutral]]
[[category:True Neutral]]
[[category:Healing Deity]]