AuldDragon's AD&D Blog

The final deity for the project as it stands right now is the Nixie Queen, Sarula Iliene, a minor elven and faerie deity of fresh water. She is worshipped by both nixies and those elves who live in or near lakes and rivers and other fresh water sources.

As this is the final deity for now, I thought this would be a good time to talk about what my future plans are. I have no intention on stopping writing, but I do want to go through the deities complete and give them some editing passes. I do plan to compile them as well, with some additional material similar to what’s found in the Faiths & Avatars trilogy of books, and at a minimum they will be made available on my Patreon. I also have some deity and non-deity material that I will be submitting to the Wildspace Fanzine as well. In terms of what deities I plan to work on next, I’d like to start creating and expanding pantheons for races who should have full and vibrant pantheons of their own (such as loxoth, hurwaeti, grommams, dohwar, etc.) and work on some human pantheons (Greek, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, etc.). I’m not sure yet what I will focus on though. Anyway, stay tuned as I think about what’s coming next!

Sarula Iliene (PDF Version)
(The Nixie Queen, the Murmuring Lady)
Lesser Power of Arborea, CG

Portfolio:                 Lakes, streams, nixies, and water magic
Aliases:                     None
Domain Name:           Arvandor/the Brythanion
Superior:                   Rillifane Rallathil
Allies:                       Deep Sashelas, Eldath, Surminare, the Seldarine, the Seelie Court
Foes:                           The Queen of Air and Darkness, Shargaas, the drow pantheon (except Eilistraee), the orcish and goblinkin pantheons
Symbol:                     Three blue lines with three crested points each (to symbolize waves)
Wor. Align.:             LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN

The Nixie Queen Sarula Iliene (sah-RUE-lah ILL-ee-yen), like Erevan Ilesere and Rellavar Danuvien, straddles the border between the Seldarine and the Seelie Court. She represents the fresh water that flows from rains brought by Aerdrie Faenya through lakes and streams, eventually emptying into the seas of Deep Sashelas.

According to elven mythology, Sarula was born of a union between Rillifane Rallathil and a nixie of the Seelie Court named Lurelin. While she spent her youth among the boughs of Titania’s court, Sarula eventually chose to live in Arvandor with her father, favoring the peaceful nature of brooks and lakes to the flighty faerie realms. There she serves her father while maintaining her dominion over the nixies and thus symbolizing the alliance between their kind and elves. Elven mythical cycles rarely include her in the adventuring exploits of Tethrin Veraldé and the other younger members of the Seldarine; instead Sarula aids them through her control of watercourses. In one tale, for example she sent a great flood down a river to destroy a group of orcs led by Shargaas the Night Lord after Tethrin and his companions had ventured into his underdark realm to retrieve a magical crystal the Stalker Below had stolen from Corellon long ago. Appearances such as this show that while she is a calm and quiet power, she is strong and quick to act when the need arises.

The fae folk tell a different story of her origin. In their tales, the Murmuring Lady’s origins begin when the Seelie Court stopped by a pristine lake fed by an icy mountain waterfall. Enchanted by the beauty of the area, Titania and her retinue bathed in the lake and frolicked with the local nixies. Such concentrated magic and enjoyment coalesced into a woman of exquisite calm and tenderness whom the nixies immediately proclaimed as their queen. Over time she attracted many elven followers as well, and finding their nature more suited to her disposition she petitioned the Seldarine to allow her to join their number. Corellon Larethian agreed, with the stipulation that she served Rillifane by tending to the waterways that held the life-giving rains of Aerdrie to sustain the elven woodlands. Ever since, she has served both Corellon and Titania faithfully, tending to her two different flocks.

Besides serving Rillifane, Sarula maintains a close relationship with Deep Sashelas, and she is careful not to usurp his primary position for aquatic elves. Sarula is careful to keep their relationship simply friendly, wary as she is of the jealousy of Sashelas’s consort, Trishina the Waverider. Nevertheless, some aquatic elven communities that dwell in freshwater lakes have connected the two romantically in their mythologies. Sarula, like Rillifane, shares a tense relationship with Tarsellis Meunniduin because of his claim over the wilderness regions of mountains, particularly rivers. She follows the Leaflord’s guidance, however, and is content to not make an issue of it so long as the Mountain Lord reserves his interest to those regions snow elves inhabit. The Nixie Queen’s dearest friend outside of the Seldarine is Eldath the Green Goddess. The two share much in common, although Sarula is much less passive than the Quiet One. Among the Seelie Court, Sarula has the most contact with Fionghuala White Shoulder, but she prefers quietude far too much to spend much time with the likes of Damh the Horned Beast, Nathair Sgiathach the Prankster, or Squelaiche the Court Jester. Finally, she has recently established an alliance with the gentle selkie goddess Surminare over their shared love of naturally beautiful watery areas. While rare, followers of the Lady of the Hidden Grotto occasionally live in freshwater lakes and the Nixie Queen has directed her followers to seek them out for mutual aid.

Sarula Iliene rarely travels to the Prime Material Plane, preferring the use of direct manifestations or servitors to personal appearances. When the Nixie Queen does appear on the Prime, it is usually to aid nixies or elves living in harmony with freshwater lakes and rivers who are beset by existential threats, or on some urgent request by Rillifane. Her other visits are usually to explore uniquely beautiful rivers, waterfalls, or other such locations.

Sarula’s Avatar (Cleric 28, Water Elementalist 26)
Sarula appears as a short elven or nixie maiden of great beauty. In elven form, she has long auburn hair and wears a blue, flowing dress that constantly moves as if in a water current; her head is adorned with an elaborate hair ornament topped with dozens of small pearls and featuring a gauzy veil that looks like the mist of a waterfall. In nixie form, she has long green hair and wears a gown made from silvery seaweed. In either form she has silver eyes. She draws her spells from all schools and spheres save those of elemental fire.

AC 1; MV 12, Sw 18; HP 146; THAC0 2; #AT 1
Dmg 1d4+4 (dagger +4)
MR 60%; SZ M (5 feet or 4 feet tall)
Str 14, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 19, Wis 22, Cha 21
Spells P: P: 12/12/12/12/11/9/6; W: 7/7/7/7/7/6/6/6/6*
Saves PPDM 2; RSW 3; PP 5; BW 7; Sp 4
* Numbers assume one extra elemental water spell per spell level.

Special Att/Def: The Nixie Queen carries Pike’s Tooth, a small dagger +4 that deals double damage to all aquatic monsters. However, she prefers to make use of magic to resolve situations without engaging in battle. She is by no means a pacifist, however, and when angered unleashes her full power on those who have offended her.

Once per week Sarula can unleash a tsunami from any natural body of water, including those smaller than the spell normally allows; such smaller water sources reduce the power of the spell by half or more. Three times per day she can cast a wall of water, and once per day she can cast lower water, raise water, and part water. She can summon an 8-HD water elemental that serves her completely for up to 6 turns once per day, and her control of this elemental cannot be usurped.

The Murmuring Lady is immune to poison and disease, all elemental water attacks, and nonmagical weapons. No normal or giant freshwater animal will attack her, even if compelled, nor will any free-willed elemental water creature.

Other Manifestations
Sarula favors manifestations that bring calm and peace to her followers, with the most common being the sound of an unseen murmuring brook that wipes away natural and magical fear in those who venerate her, as well as granting a +4 bonus to morale checks. She also has been known to send otters, beavers, or other benign water creatures to lead a follower to a safe location, especially hidden caves behind waterfalls. She is also fond of creating walls of water to foil pursuit or otherwise protect endangered followers, as well. Finally, in extreme situations she has sent major flash floods down watercourses to wash out invading forces that directly threaten elven or sylvan lands.

The Seldarine call on agathinons, asuras, and ancient treants as their preferred servants, but Sarula is also served by aballins, asrai, beavers, bunyips, freshwater fish of all sorts, nereids, noviere eladrins, otters, swans and other waterfowl, turtles, water elementals, water fundamentals, and water mephits. She displays her pleasure through the discovery of aquamarines, lapis lazuli, water opals, water lilies, lotuses, and natural springs. Her disfavor is shown through the discovery of dried ponds and streams, desiccated remains of fish and water plants, and the sudden draining of a water source underground.

The Church
Clergy:                      Clerics, specialty priests, mystics, water elementalists
Clergy’s Align.:      CG, NG, CN, N
Turn Undead:           C: Yes, SP: No, Mys: No, WEle: No
Cmnd. Undead:         C: No, SP: No, Mys: No, WEle: No

All clerics (including multiclassed half-elven clerics), specialty priests, and mystics of Sarula receive religion (elf) and reading/writing (elvish) as bonus nonweapon proficiencies.

The clergy of the Nixie Queen is rarely found outside of elven communities that are found within or alongside large bodies of fresh water. Conversely, most nixie communities worship her along with other sylvan or aquatic powers, although true clergies are rare. Within elven realms they are seen as subordinate to the priesthood of Rillifane Rallathil; this is not the same among freshwater aquatic elves who see her as independent and equal to Deep Sashelas. The clergy is on good terms with nearby friendly sylvan and aquatic races, going out of their way to assist them in times of need. Contrary to their normal nature, they aggressively defend their lands from encroachment by sylvan and aquatic monsters that would despoil natural watercourses.

Temples dedicated to Sarula are not common; they are typically only constructed when an elven populace has a greater-than-normal devotion to the Nixie Queen and enough members of her church to warrant a center of worship. Thus, they are more likely to be found in aquatic elven towns and cities located in deep freshwater lakes as well as surface elven communities who rely heavily upon a large lake or river for their livelihood. Aquatic temples are built of stone or carved crystal, in a way that generates gentle but constant currents through the halls. Surface temples are built on top of natural springs or on the shores or lakes or rivers; fountains, fishponds, or other displays of flowing water are found throughout the structures, and water gardens are common. The rarest of temples are those constructed by groups of priests who have come together in a given area independently of the faith makeup of the local populace. These temples are often well-hidden, carved out of caves located behind waterfalls such that the entrances are impossible to see from beyond the curtain of fallen water.

Novices in the service of the Nixie Queen are called Wellsprings, while full priests of the Murmuring Lady are called Serene Flows. In ascending order of rank, the titles used by the Sarulian clergy are Spring, Beck, Brook, Burn, Creek, Pond, Stream, River, and Lake. High-ranking priests have unique individual titles. Specialty priests of Sarula are called brooktenders. Sylvan elves (31%) make up the largest share of the Murmuring Lady’s priesthood, followed by aquatic elves (22%), high elves (19%), half-elves of various ancestries (6%), grey elves (5%) and a small number of other elven races (less than 1%); among the sylvan folk, nixies (14%) obviously comprise the largest group, with only a small number of sea sprites (2%) and other sylvan races (less than 1%) found in her clergy. Specialty priests (52%) and clerics (33%) dominate the Nixie Queen’s clergy, with the remainder consisting of mystics (9%) and water elementalist wizards (6%). Females (62%) are drawn to Sarula’s priesthood in greater numbers than males (38%).

Dogma: Water brings life to sylvan lands. Protect them and their guardians in order to ensure the forests remain vibrant for elves and fae folk alike. Keep the waters free of dangers and teach others to live in harmony with the waters. Enjoy the quietude of lakes and streams, and bathe in their cool refreshing waters. Go with the flow of life and bask in the wonders that can be found within the lakes and rivers of your land.

Day-to-Day Activities: Members of Sarula’s priesthood spend most of their time tending to lakes, rivers, and streams in their lands, keeping them healthy and free of dangerous monsters. They enjoy water-based recreation such as swimming, boating, and fishing and spend their free time in these pursuits. Finally, they take it upon themselves to teach others in their community the skills necessary to survive around lakes and rivers.

Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: Followers of the Murmuring Lady observe no regular holy days; instead, they hold ceremonies when the flow of life presents a situation to be celebrated or averted. At these times, which include the death of a high priest, birth among the faithful, selection of a new leader, or an imminent natural disaster, the priests gather the faithful and declare the reason for the ceremony with solemness or joy, depending on the nature of the event. They then take a clay urn, made by a member of the congregation from clay sourced near fresh water, and fill it with sacred wine that has been blessed prior to the ceremony. The wine is then rendered into water with a purify water spell and poured into the local lake or river.

Major Centers of Worship: The small aquatic elven community of Hyaline in Lake Sember on Toril boasts the Murmuring Grotto, a natural cave in the lakebed that serves as a temple to Sarula Iliene. This temple is inhabited by 12 elven priests, as well as a group of nixies at least 20 strong, all of whom serve as spiritual guides for the community, along with a smaller clergy of Deep Sashelas.

Deep within the waters of the Nyr Dyv on the world of Oerth lies the aquatic elven city of Lavilatha, located well off shore of Elmshire in the Mid Bay region. This settlement, home to over one thousand elves and nixies, hosts the Crystalline Hall of the Murmuring Lady, the largest temple dedicated to Sarula anywhere on the Flanaess. The residents of the city avoid contact with the surface, excepting only the few non-aquatic elves who ply the waters of the Nyr Dyv. They are, however, on excellent terms with the selkies who live nearby in the shallower waters of the lake.

Affiliated Orders: The Sarulian Guardians are an order of expert swimmers of any class who patrol lakes and rivers within an elven realm in search of those who are drowning or otherwise endangered by natural hazards. The Guardians are sponsored and supported by the Nixie Queen’s church, and while many members are also priests, the order is not a part of the priesthood. The organization of the Guardians is loose, only insofar as necessary to ensure as much even coverage of a realm’s waterways as possible. Membership within the order is allowed only to those with superior swimming skills (a proficiency score of 16 or better) and the endurance nonweapon proficiency.

Priestly Vestments: Black robes with blue waves embroidered along the hem, cuffs, and collar are the standard raiment worn by members of Sarula’s temples. Adventuring, wandering, and other independent priests instead wear robes that are a stormy grey in color with green wave embroidery. No head covering is worn by any priests during their ceremonial duties. The holy symbol used by the priesthood is a freshwater pearl of unusual shape or color.

Adventuring Garb: Traveling priests of the Murmuring Lady favor light garb that is easy to travel in and either unimpeding while swimming or easily removable. If combat is expected, they prefer armor that is light and easy to move in such as leather, scale armor, or elven mail. Aquatic elves use shell armor or their own specially made scale armor. If engaging in battle to defend elven waterways or lands against outside armies, followers of Sarula often don their formal robes over armor along with armbands decorated with wave patterns. Weapons favored by the priesthood are those useful in fishing or underwater such as spears and tridents, as well as nets.

Specialty Priests (Brooktenders)
Requirements:          Wisdom 12
Prime Req.:                Wisdom
Alignment:                CG
Weapons:                   Any piercing (wholly type P) weapons, plus nets
Armor:                       Leather, ring mail, scale armor, sea elf shell armor, sea elf scale armor, or elven mail, no shields
Major Spheres:         All, animal, charm, divination, elemental (water), healing, protection
Minor Spheres:         Plant, summoning, sun, travelers
Magical Items:         Same as cleric, plus any aquatic magical items
Req. Profs:                Swimming
Bonus Profs:             Modern languages (choose two: lizard man, nixie, merrow, freshwater scrag)

• Brooktenders must be elves, half-elves, nixies, or sea sprites. While most brooktenders are sylvan elves, aquatic elves, or high elves, elves and half-elves of every subrace are called to be specialty priests in Sarula’s clergy.
• Brooktenders are not allowed to multiclass.
• Brooktenders gain a +2 bonus on saves vs. water-based magic and are immune to the cursed effects of the bowl of watery death.
• Brooktenders can identify fresh water with perfect accuracy as a druid and can detect the presence of fresh water within 30 yards, even through solid stone.
• Brooktenders can cast create water or purify water (as the 1st-level priest spells) once per day.
• At 3rd level, non-aquatic elven brooktenders can breathe fresh water (as the 3rd-level priest spell water breathing) at will. Aquatic elven brooktenders instead find their swimming movement rate increased by 3 (from 15 to 18) even while encumbered; in addition, for the purposes of swimming-related checks they function as if they have a +2 bonus to Strength and Constitution, to a maximum of 18.
• At 5th level, brooktenders can cast free action (as the 4th-level priest spell) upon themselves while immersed in fresh water once per day.
• At 7th level, brooktenders can cast wall of water (as the 3rd-level wizard spell) or water walk (as the 3rd-level priest spell) once per day.
• At 9th level, free-willed water elementals refuse to attack brroktenders unless attacked first. Controlled water elementals can attack if ordered to do so but suffer a −2 penalty to their attack and damage rolls.
• At 9th level, brooktenders can cast move water (as the 5th-level priest spell) or part water (as the 6th-level priest spell) once per day.
• At 11th level, brooktenders can become one with the water. This ability is an aquatic version of wind walk (the 7th-level priest spell); the brooktender becomes transparent and watery, granting 90% invisibility while in water and a swimming movement rate of 24. This ability lasts for one hour per level and can be used once per day.
• At 13th level, brooktenders can invoke the healing touch of the Nixie Queen upon critically wounded or dead elves. The brooktender must bring the recipient to the edge of a lake, cast a commune spell, and then take the recipient into the water. Regardless of whether nixies live there, a contingent of nixies magically appears, takes the recipient, and disappears for a period of 2-7 days. At the end of that time, the nixies bring back the recipient. If the recipient was near death from loss of hit points or missing body parts when taken, he is fully healed and regenerated. If already dead beforehand, the recipient appears alive but weak (with 20% of his original hit points). Note that the target must be brought to a lake within a week of suffering major damage or death; otherwise, the spell fails, and the nixies do not appear. This power can be invoked once per month.

Sarulian Spells
1st Level
Life Preserver (Pr 1; Abjuration, Invocation/Evocation)
Sphere:                    Elemental Water
Range:                     100 yds.
Components:           V, S
Duration:                 1 hr./level
Casting Time:          4
Area of Effect:         Special
Saving Throw:        None

This spell creates a circular buoyant ring of force that has sufficient buoyancy to keep two unarmored man-sized creatures afloat for the duration of the spell. The ring is virtually indestructible and cannot be harmed in any way short of dispel magic or disintegrate spells, or similar methods. Those kept afloat with the ring can move it at a swimming rate of 3, or 6 if all are proficient swimmers.

3rd Level
Water Cloak (Pr 3; Conjuration/Summoning)
Sphere:                    Elemental Water
Range:                     0
Components:           V, S, M
Duration:                 1 rd./level
Casting Time:          6
Area of Effect:         The caster
Saving Throw:        None

By means of this spell, the caster summons a swirling aura of water and mist to surround their body. This cloak of water acts to slightly hide the caster’s precise position, granting a +2 bonus to their Armor Class and saving throws versus targeted attacks and spells. In addition, the water in the cloak moves in such a manner that all normal missiles have a 25% chance of being deflected away and automatically miss. Finally, the water cloak offers some protection against certain types of attacks. Against fire and cold attacks, the cloak halves damage (or quarters with a successful save) from such attacks, but the cloak is instantly dispelled. Against lightning and acid attacks, the water cloak grants the caster an automatic save and is not dispelled.

The material component for this spell is a sprinkling of water.

5th Level
Move Water (Pr 5; Alteration)
Sphere:                    Elemental Water
Range:                     10 yds./level
Components:           V, S, M
Duration:                 Special
Casting Time:          Special
Area of Effect:         Special
Saving Throw:        None

This spell transfers a volume of water to another nearby location in a manner somewhat similar to the 6th-level wizard spell move earth. The volume to be affected dictates the casting time; for every 40 yard × 40 yard surface area and 10 feet of depth, 10 rounds of casting time are required. The maximum area that can be affected is 240 yards × 240 yards and 60 feet of depth, which takes four hours.

The caster must move the water slowly, with great concentration. Thus, the wizard is unlikely to trap or harm nearby creatures with the water; only those restrained from moving are in any danger of drowning. The element must be moved in natural patterns—the water can’t be moved up into the air but must flow along surfaces. As with move earth, the surface of the water is not broken by this movement, instead generating waves to move the water from place to place. As such it has no effect on boats, ships, or other objects floating on the water, nor does it harm creatures and plants living within the water.

This spell is most often used to fill ponds, pools, moats, or water containers. It can be used to smother large, slow-moving or contained fires, or to empty out flooded chambers or where water has no natural outflow; however, it does not create a void in flowing water or bodies larger than the area of affect; a portion of the water is simply diverted with this spell. If the water is not contained at the completion of the spell, it will follow the natural contours of the land and gravity, in a potentially dangerous outflow. For example, water that is flowed up to the second floor of a building will pour out of windows and down stairs immediately when the spell is completed, possibly knocking creatures down or damaging the structure. The details are determined by the DM based on the circumstances and features the water interacts with.

The material components for this spell are a small bottle of water and a miniature model of a bucket.

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