Alanor (3.5e Deity)

	Greater Deity
Symbol:	TBD
Home Plane:	Divine Alliance Headquarters
Alignment:	Lawful Good
Portfolio:	Near Omnipotent
Clergy Alignments:	Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral
Domains:	Community, Glory, Good, Healing, Law, Liberation, Nobility, Protection, Repose, Strength, Travel, War
Favored Weapon:	Longsword

Table: Other Information

Titles	God of Virtue, The Protector, The Liberator
Aliases	The Protecting Light
Area(s) Of Interest	Morality, Ethics, Mortals
Followers	Followers of the Divine Alliance, Clerics, Fighters, Monks, Paladins
Campaign Setting	Teon
Region(s) of Interest	Kaltamorn
Pantheon	The Deities of Lora
Association	The Divine Alliance
Allies:	Euna, Xarlen
Enemies:	TBD

Appearance

On the rare occasion that Alanor chooses to appear he usually looks like a moderately tall, tan-skinned humanoid with dark hair with piercing golden eyes. Almost every single time he has been seen Alanor was wearing his trademark golden armor. When asked about why he wears armor he merely replied "I dunno, I just like the way it looks" and people decided not to push the issue. Being omnipotent or at least very close (sources vary) Alanor can, of course, choose to look however he wants but he seems to frequent a humanoid form if and when he does show up.

When in his presence one simply has the knowledge that he is Alanor and a sense about what he stands for. Physically though, he just looks like a guy with golden eyes in a suit of ostentatious armor.

Personality

When he chooses to be relatable, Alanor is a very easygoing and understanding person. He's even known to be a little bit of a prankster from time to time. But one thing has remained true for centuries: Alanor loves puns and stories. Probably the best way to befriend him, should you actually encounter him, is to either tell him a good joke or make a pun.

That said, Alanor is also capable of being very serious and is known to be a very charismatic and skilled leader when the time comes. In fact, forming the Divine Alliance was his idea in the first place.

Dogma

Alanor and his followers are generally focused on what is the most moral decision under the given circumstances instead of comparing all situations, however diverse, to a single inflexible set of standards. They are more interested in the practical and feasibly moral solution rather than an absolutely perfect solution. In a way, they are "practical good". While they may admit that a perfect solution may exist for a problem, they are not ones to obsess over it. Perfection for them is divergent, not convergent. Followers of Alanor are concerned with finding an optimal balance between the theory and the application of morality and ethics while trying to remain flexible and adaptable to a changing world and society. They do have a moral code but they are not known for being rigid, inflexible, or narrow minded about interpreting it. One could say that the religion of Alanor lies somewhere between the following philosophies:

• Utilitarianism
• Pragmatism
• Rationalism

Now most lawful good types of people tend to follow Alanor. And while there are radicals every now and then, most times followers of Alanor believe that the spirit of the law is more important than the exact letter of the law. For them learning the rules is just as important as truly understanding them. Which is why followers tend to be understanding of situations where the rules and guidelines do not perfectly illustrate a solution. Being a follower of Alanor means that you try to be the best person you can be, admit your mistakes, and try to help others do the same without being so obsessed with your own viewpoints on the world that you ruin it for others. Or in short: being a good person is important but don't be a jerk about it.

Do:

• Love others and yourself.
• Respect others and yourself.
• Learn from others and yourself.
• Listen to others and yourself.
• Help others and yourself.
• Live healthily and happily.

Do Not:

• Murder others or yourself.
• Disrespect others or yourself.
• Lie to others or yourself.
• Steal from others or yourself.
• Violate others or yourself.
• Live unhealthily or unhappily.
• Ignore others or yourself.

Bear in Mind:

• The rules are not absolute, they sometimes must be bent to reach the best solution possible or mortally attainable. Having said that, try to stay as true to them as possible.
• Violations of the rules become more and more of a moral concern when they become a pattern / habit. Distribute justice with mercy and understanding to isolated incidents and/or ones beyond the control of those involved.
• Do not hate yourself for violating the rules, just try to do better in the future.

Interpretation:

The aforementioned rules were left purposefully open-ended and vague so that they could be adapted to a changing society and world and applied to a wide variety of situations. Alanor's followers are well aware and understanding of the fact that one cannot exhibit absolutely every aspect of morality flawlessly and that once in a while a person may be forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. Life is complicated and confusing, they don't expect people to get it right all the time but they do believe it's important to at least try in earnest.

Scenarios:

To help characterize both Alanor and his followers, here are some scenarios and what each kind of person would say/do.

Scenario 1: A good friend of yours is wearing a new hat that they paid a lot of money for. You think that it looks terrible but they don't. They ask you for your opinion on it. What do you do?

• Cleric: "If they're not too sensitive then just be honest with them. But if you don't think they could handle negative feedback then just be diplomatic and spare their feelings. After all, it's just a hat. It's not really worth stressing out over."
• Alanor: "Go with your gut. They're your friend because they care about who you are. So show that you care who they are in this situation."

Scenario 2: You find an unmarked bag of gold on the street and no one else seems to have noticed it yet. What do you do?

• Cleric: "Assuming that gray ether isn't at play here, someone's probably missing it. And with that much cash, it's probably something sketchy. While you could profit from the situation you might end up attracting trouble. I mean what kind of person carries around a bag of gold? Either someone really confident or really foolish. Both of which could probably be a dangerous type of person. That or it's a trap of some kind. Either way this is a very suspicious situation and you should be careful. If it was a smaller amount you could probably get away with just taking half or something. But when it's that much, it's just too fishy."
• Alanor: "There's a bag of gold laying around on a street. An un-marked one no less. Right away, that's weird. If it was marked then it would be for something official. But it's not which means someone is trying to downplay the money they have. Gray ether tends to operate in abandoned places and cities/towns usually aren't abandoned. That belongs to someone who either is rich, or was rich. And since they're trying to downplay that, they're probably up to no good. Either way, they're gonna try to track that down. And unless you have crazy-good skills, they're probably gonna find you. Either turn it into the guards or bee-line away from it. Because cash like that attracts trouble."

Scenario 3: There is a house on fire and two people are trapped inside. One is a baby and the other is an old person. You are only capable of saving one, but you are still capable of saving a person. What do you do?

• Cleric: "Dying trying to save someone isn't suicide. The only wrong choice would be not to try and save either of them."
• Alanor: "Wow, that sucks. Well don't waste time overthinking it, save whichever one you think you can."

Clergy and Temples

The Organized Religion of Alanor (O.R.A.) is maintained not by donations or by federal funding, but directly by Alanor himself. Indeed Alanor literally makes food and supplies for his followers and makes the temples himself using his power. He keeps a close relationship with anyone who wants to be a member of the clergy but is known for being careful about who he picks to

Temples

Temples to Alanor are built to hold a lot of people at once and are usually made of stone. They're not usually very elaborate buildings, usually taking on a more minimalist appearance. But they are quite large and for good reason. The weekly services.

Weekly Services

Most people gather at temples of Alanor at least once a week partially for the service but mostly because the clergy use a special altar that helps them cast a spell on everyone in the sanctuary. It turns out that a large part of the service is an actual ritual that affects the congregation as if they were subject to the spells: Greater Restoration, Heal, Neutralize Poison, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Curse, Remove Disease, and Remove Paralysis all at once (Caster level 30). Some of the effects of the spells are, of course, redundant but the point is emphasize how potent this ritual is. The sensation of which is said to be absolutely amazing and breath-taking. Some people actually pass out in their seats from how good it feels. Hence why some people choose to lay down for the service on the pillows and cushions that are provided. This is a free service and probably one of the biggest reasons why Alanor is as popular as he is.

Clergy

Members of the O.R.A. are allowed to marry, own land, drink alcohol, and have children. But the catch is that Alanor personally checks in on them regularly and will review their behavior. While he isn't an uncaring, or unsympathetic deity he isn't one to tolerate someone shirking on their duties. If you make a vow to serve him, he'll make sure that you do just that. That said, he does grant his clergy a large degree of freedom. Mostly because he trusts them. But woe unto those who betray that trust.

Roles / Lifestyles:

Here are some basic descriptions of how each type of clergy member lives.

• Acolyte: Help the priest and/or priestesses with the daily workings in the temple.
• Cleric: Go out and use the power Alanor is lending to you to help people as best as you can.
• Monk: Fill in for what the other roles find themselves unable to do.
• Paladin: Same as clerics except you're also kind of a mascot.
• Priest / Priestess: Try to educate and guide the people.

Attire:

Alanor personally couldn't care less about what his followers wear. He's made this known to the public on several occasions. But generally the clergy tend to wear white robes with Alanor's symbol displayed on it. The less formal clergy members tend to wear just a sash or stole.

Pantheon

Alanor was the one who convinced Euna and Xarlen to join together and form the Divine Alliance in the first place. According to historical records, and accounts of interviews with each deity that were compiled, the conversations went something like this:

• Alanor & Euna

Alanor: "Hey Eunie, wanna hang out?"

Euna: "k sure"

• Alanor & Xarlen

Alanor: "Hey dude, want to join my club?"

Xarlen: "Will Euna be there?"

Alanor: "Yup."

Xarlen: "I'm in."

• Xarlen and Euna

Xarlen: "Hey did you get Alanor's invite?"

Euna: "yup"

Xarlen: "Are you going to join?"

Euna: "yup"

Xarlen: "Me too."

Euna: "k"

And the rest is history.

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