Mireldokar
Bountiful Mother, Mistress of the Hearth, Keeper of the Grain
| Status | Greater God |
| Domain | Agriculture, Nature, Community |
| Ethos | Work the land, respect the land and you shall be rewarded. |
| Typical Worshipers | Farmers, gardeners, shepherds, landowners, serfs, midwives, mothers, caretakers. |
| Head of the Church | None. |
| Demographics | 50% Grum, 40% Human, 5% Elven, 3% Dwarven, 2% Other |
| Geographic Regions | Worshiped widely throughout Ithria, but especially in the grumman nations of the central plains. |
| Allied Faiths | All of the Elder Gods. |
| Opposed Faiths | All of the Dark Lords. |
| Holy Symbol | A scythe crossed with a bundle of wheat. |
Description
Mireldokar is the goddess of agriculture from field to orchard, planting to harvest. She is also the patron goddess of family and friends, home and hearth. The cycle of farming from the soil to the table is her predominant interest. As such she is an important deity prayed to for good harvests and keeping drought and famine at bay. She is also the goddess of women, domestic matters and childbirth. As such, she is the guardian of young mothers and nursing children.
Mireldokar is seen as a loving maternal figure who cares for the faithful, their homes, their crops and their families. She is the wife of Imarus and mother to all people. Where Imarus is primarily considered with civilization, Mireldokar is concerned with how civilization interacts with the land.
Mireldokar is usually depicted as an old woman dressed in earth tones of browns and greens. She is short of stature (the grum claim her as one of their own). She walks with a knobby oaken stave and wears a satchel in which she keeps seeds of every crop plant. She has a warm smile and a kind demeanor.
Myths and Legends
When Imarus formed the Universe from the early Chaos, he found it beautiful but empty. He then fashioned the other Elder Gods and the human race to worship them. Of all the Elder Gods, Mireldokar was his favorite and he took her as his wife. She has stood by his side since the dawn of time. Despite the fact that she was created with them, Mireldokar is sometimes referred to as the "mother of the gods".
Overview of the Church
The church of Mireldokar is an important faith as it deals with the vitality of the land, the bounty of the harvests and the distribution of food... an important resource for any kingdom. In farming regions, she is the predominant deity, overshadowing even Imarus. Whole villages will worship her as their primary god. She is also held in high regard even among city dwellers. The merchant, food seller, agrarian guild, noble lord and begging peasant all realize the important of food.
In the rural regions, the church of Mireldokar is an important part of life and is often intermingled with the social aspects of village life and the local community. In the city, the church is often connected to agrarian guilds, trading companies and so forth. Temples and shrines to Mireldokar are common in small towns and villages, but are not generally found in major cities.
Geographic Placement
Mireldokar is widely worshipped across the face of Ithria and her temples and shrines can be found in most kingdoms. Even farmers and peasants in Duthelm and the Coalition honor her and pray to her for a good harvest. The faith is particularly strong in the central plains that are home to the three grumman nations.
History and Origins
Little is known of the faith of Mireldokar during the Age of Dreams. It is most likely that it was a minor nature cult in the Thullian Empire. However, the severe droughts and crop failures that occured as a result of the Sundering led to decades of food shortages and starvation that ravaged whole kingdoms. In many ways, the nations went to war over food. Records from the Great War are fragmented, but it is clear that this faith rapidly grew and expanded in the first century after the World Storm and throughout the Great War. It has continued to grow ever since. The faith has moved about the continent as migrations occurred and pilgrims carried it with them. It became the dominant religion of the central plains during the Age of Sorrow as that region's agriculture flourished and the grumman nations came into power there. It is now a dominant region in almost all farming regions across the lands.
Goals
The chief goals of the church are to protect farming communities, ensure bountiful crops and produce plentiful harvests. More broadly, this church seeks to feed the world. Ultimately, the church of Mireldokar is interested in promoting the well being of all people through food and fellowship.
Temples, Churches and Holy Sites
The faith of Mireldokar does not have grand temples. Instead, small country shrines are more common. These are simple buildings with a large hearth, a statue of Mireldokar and quite often a garden.
Worshipers
Farmers revere her, sacrificing and praying to her for sun and rain and plentiful harvests. Most towns and villages have a small shrine to her. Many farmers also maintain small shrines to her in their humble homes or out in their fields. There are no great temples to Mireldokar. Mireldokar is also the Nurturer, worshiped by mid-wives, mothers and caregivers.
Allied and Opposed Faiths
The faith of Mireldokar is strongly tied to the faith of Imarus and these two churches have a strong alliance. In the eyes of this faith, war is a terrible and unnecessary affliction on the world. When war comes, crops are burned, villages destroyed, families are torn apart and people starve. For this reason, Mireldokar often finds herself at odds with Kael and allied with Sarreth. Mireldokar is generally on good terms with the rest of the Elder Gods, even the reclusive Vorkayne.
Mireldokar is strongly opposed to all of the Dark Lords, but most especially Barulda, as he represents a perversion of nature which Mireldokar cannot abide.
Tenets
Nature is a gift from Mireldokar. It is to be cherished, nurtured and protected.
Hard work is rewarded. Laziness has no place in the community.
Fellowship is food for the soul and more plentiful than bread. Feast and be merry.
Scripture
None.
Symbols
Her symbol is a scythe crossed with a bundle of wheat. The hearth, the plow and the tilled field are also strongly associated with Mireldokar.
Rituals
Childbirth is a particularly important event in this faith as a new member is joining the community. Priests often serve as, or assist, midwives and a priest of Mireldokar is almost always present at the birth of a child. It is the tradition of this faith that a new born child is blessed by scrubbing it with oats and wheatberries. Mother and child then sleep their first night together on a bed of wheat. This makes the child strong and instills in it a love of the land and ensures the blessings of Mireldokar.
When a child is strong enough to till the ground, he is given a small plot of land and a handful of seeds. This further promotes the bond with the land.
The dead of this faith are always buried. Burials are of paramount importance to followers of Mireldokar. As she is the world, the land and the very ground beneath their feet, burial in the ground is an absolute requirement. The faithful believe that until one is buried in the ground, their spirit can not find rest and is doomed to wander. The faithful will go to extraordinary lengths to recover the bones of their loved ones for a proper burial.
Holy Days
Mireldokar has four major holy days, tied to the four seasons.
| Date | Name | Description |
| First day of Icebreak | Planting Day | Planting day is the traditional first day of sowing the crops in many regions (although some crops are planted earlier). This holy day focuses on prayer and fasting. Hard work and obligation to the community are aspects of this day. Journeys and other ventures are often initiated on Planting Day. Many children are born about this time (a consequence of the romance of Harvest Day). So it is a day to welcome new members to the community. |
| First day of Windrise | Harvest Day | Harvest day is a joyous celebration that centers around feasting with foods drawn from crops that come to maturity around the time of the festival (this varies by region). Ample food stores and the end of toiling in the summer field are two key aspects of Harvest Day. Merriment, contests, music and romance are all associated with Harvest Day. In many regions, Harvest Day is the first day of a harvest festival which can go for many days. It is a day of giving thanks to Mireldokar for the harvest. |
| First day of Magereign | Hearth Day | Hearth day is done at the beginning of winter. It is a holy day of prayer and introspection. It is a day for making plans and preparations for the long dark winter ahead. After the celebration and merriment of Harvest Day, Hearth Day is a somewhat sombre affair by comparison. The hearth of the home is the focus of this holy day. Prayers before the fire are common. |
| First day of Chilldeath | Home Day | Home Day is a day of rebirth and renewal. Optimism for the new year is the key aspect of this day. It is a day of thanks for surviving the winter. It is day of cleaning and repairs. Traditionally, Home Day is a day for setting aside arguments, putting away grudges and settling debts. It is about ending the old and starting anew. |
Artifacts
None.
Overview of the Clergy
Both men and women may serve Mireldokar as priests. They tend to live simply, dress simply and abstain from great wealth. They own only what they need to do their work. Mireldokar priests have a variety of spells. They can heal wounds, cure sickness and mend broken objects. They can find lost children, sense the coming weather, make moldy food fresh again and charm animals to follow their commands.
There are two types of priests of Mireldokar. The shrine priests live and work in the local shrine. They stay in one farming community, tending their flock of faithful. They bless crops, are celebrities at harvest festivals, visit the homes of the faithful, tend to newborns and young mothers and tend to the sick. Shrine priests tend to be older and wiser. They wear simple robes and often carry leather satchels and walk with oak staves.
There are also wandering priests of Mireldokar who are always moving from village to town to village. Wherever there is crop, vineyard or orchard, a wandering priest Mireldokar is likely to visit at least once or twice a year. Wandering priests tend to be younger. They wear light armor and carry bow and sword. The wandering priests serve as warriors and defenders of the faith. They frequently fight bandits and monsters and serve to defend farming communities and guard caravans that transport grain to cities. Wandering priests also go out of their way to find and fight undead and other “unnatural” creatures wherever they find them. Undead and other such creatures are considered an abomination of nature.
As one would expect, wandering priests tend to learn more "battle magic" than their temple counterparts. Such magic is often tied to nature such as summoning animals to fight for them, causing plants to grow and move, turning the ground beneath an enemy's feet to thick mud and so forth.
Quite often, after years of the wandering lifestyle, a wandering priest will settle down and live in one place, adopting the life of a shrine priest in a village.
This website was last updated February 29, 2024. Copyright 1990-2024 David M. Roomes.