Danu, the passionate female god of fire. She is strongly associated with primordial magic, both due to her teachings and that her race, the fae, are the most active users. She is the mother of the first gods and gave birth to all primary gods, including herself. This makes her the mother of Januri , Ratish , Talor and Gataur . Gataur is also her husband. People pray to her for magic, expression and fertility. She is generally mystical and literally burns with rage when mad. Her angels are griffins. Her demons, Fire elementals, are known for destroying entire villages when summoned. Danu is the creator of the fae , and later of the elves .
Fire
Fire is Danu her element. Mages specialized in fire based spells, cold travelers huddling around a camp-fire, or farmers hoping a bush fire won't reach their crops might all pray to Danu. Fire also has a cleansing task within most religions involving Danu.
Magic
When her race, the fae learned to wield primordial magic, Danu became responsible for it. Now when mages pray for favourable outcomes of their rituals, favourable ripplings of the primordial flow or simply the concentration needed to finish the sometimes hellishly complicated task of creating new spells, they pray to Danu. A common prayer amongst parents expecting a child is asking Danu to bless the child with "the spark", the initial conditions needed for the child to learn magic.
Expression
Artists of any form sometimes pray to Danu to ask her help expressing themselves. As the goddess of expression she is sometimes erroneously labelled as the goddess of art, but expression is broader than just art and almost all deities enjoy art in one form or another. A person writing a speech or preparing for a political debate might also ask Danu her help in prayer to better express their emotions.
Fertility
Potential parents in general pray to Danu, the first mother, for children. It is also common to ask Danu to ward off stillborns, cripples and abominations as many scholars believe that it is the ripples in the primordial flow that causes such things, something Danu is also responsible for. Keepers of livestock might also pray to Danu to favour their stock with many offspring.
Evil vurses Good
As one of the more emotional deities, Danu is a goddess of extremes. Motherly warmth and the fierce protection of children can turn to hateful destructive vengeance when the children are lost for example. Although there are a few dedicated evil cults of Danu and a few good cults to combat them, most churches of Danu recognize that their true followers almost ignore the clear lines Ratish defined as good and evil instead acting more on emotion and instinct when making moral choices. Loss is often a trigger and catalyst for evil actions to follow, where happiness and gain causes the opposite.
No discussion about the good and evil side of Danu is complete however without mentioning the fact that the few directly evil cults of Danu use fire for almost anything. It is their weapon of choice, they brand their victims and sometimes members with fire, they use it during torture, cleansing rituals, penance rituals, as a symbol and as a way to scry by looking into the flames for answers to name just a few uses.
Symbols
Candles, bonfires, torches and other forms of fire are often used in rituals to Danu as well as the colours red and yellow symbolizing the element. The Pavo animal also symbolizes many of the virtues of Danu, just as most art pieces. Soprano singing and violin play capture the fiery and emotional nature of the Goddess.
Danu is usually depicted as a mature but not old fae woman; sometimes pregnant. She often has flames instead of hair and usually dresses in a dress of Pavo feathers. Sometimes she holds an instrument used to create art, like a paintbrush or sculpting tools. Another common symbol is her bathing or standing in a river of many coloured waters directing the flow of the multi-coloured water; symbolizing her control of the primordial flow.
Some nicknames of Danu include "The first mother", "The all mother", "Mother of the gods", "Everflame", "Goddes of art" and simply "inspiration".
Angels Of Danu
Griffins are the angels of Danu. These creatures have the heads, and wings of an eagle, and the body of a lion. There are legends of Griffins saving children and bringing them home to their mothers, and many mages guilds are named after famous angels of Danu. Some theology scholars state that the stronger griffins have the ability to breath fire.
Deamons Of Danu
Fire elementals are creatures who's entire body and soul are made of fire. They serve as Danu's deamons, bringing her rage down on the world. Almost all forest fires are caused by rampaging fire elementals. Some scholars state that fire elementals come down into the world in the form of lightning strikes that spark such fires. Fire elementals are one of the hardest deamons to talk to diplomatically as their very presence causes destruction and they almost always seem enraged.
Realm
Main article: Divine realm of Danu .
Danu's realm is a metropolis, rising up from a endless ocean of flowing magma. It is filled to the brim with magical artwork and grand theatres. Her deamons reside in the magma flow and her angels in the gardens of the city.
Mandate of Danu
Apart from the General mandate of the gods Danu has expressed the following wishes from her followers.
General Danu
- Children come first
Good Danu
- It takes village to raise a child
Evil Danu
- Your children come first
- Set things on fire