Scaera is an ancient goddess of nature that was brought with the people of Vale when their ancestors first moved into the valley. A shadowy figure, mostly lost to the obscurity of the centuries and the move away from ancient gods, Scaera maintains an underground sisterhood of followers who use her wisdom and charms to better their people in secret.Worshippers of Scaera tend to be fringe elements of Vale society, unable to quite fit within the rugged confines of the rustic lifestyle most adhere to out of necesity. Sisters of Scaera tend to be dreamy, often broody and emotional, finding themselve prone to flights of fancy and wistfulness. Such characteristics mark them as lay-abouts and lakc-lollies to most, but to the Sisters it is this willingness to embrace the eb and flow of life that gives them their power over others.
This is power to be wielded responsibly, however, and to fail to do so is to invite viscious retribution from the other sisters if not from Scaera herself. Sisters of Scaera are to be ever-vigilant of those things unnatural, harmful to their kin and threatenign to their communities. Central to their rites are the hearths and cooking fires of their homes and the sacred, isolated places within the forests where the veil between the world of men and spirits is at its thinnest and they can truely commune with the ancient folk that have long since quit the world.
The Sisters or Scaera'lan as they call themselves are healers, conjurors and mediums, binding ancient lore with folkish charms and even the occasional bit of well-timed advice. A Scaera'lan is as much a councelor to her community as she is a magical binder of wounds and a warder of evil and harmful spirits. Always present, but rearely in the forefront, it is said that in the Valley of Baryn a Sister has been there for every birth and ever death, presiding over every marriage and secret union.
How such a small order of outcasts and hedge witches has become so prominant is a mystery to most but it cannot be argued that the Sisters of Scaera are a true fixture of Vale's human settlements and communities.
1 comment:
The barbarians and the Hedge Witches really don't have too many dealings. The Sisters of Scaera are community-oriented and as the Thanes are not of their community they have no vested interest one way or another.
That being said, it is not so much the same for the Thane who would perceive the Hedge Witches as another oulet for elemental power. Hedge Witches might be seen by common Thanes as away to attain magical influence without having to access the politically minded shamans of their own culture.
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