Tal'kinita is the goddess of rest, ancestry and decay. She was created by Wana as the first af the trolls and she was not allowed to create her own race. Many mortals assume Tal'kinita to be a lazy god, just like the rest of her race, the Troll . But while the aspect of rest implies a certain relaxed attitude to life, it cannot be considered lazy. Indeed, it is hard to imagine any god being lazy, but if there is a god of laziness, Vanessa would be the most likely candidate, not Tal'kinita.
Rest
The aspect of Rest is a simple but powerful concept. Nearly every mortal on Heimr desires it at some point or another, though not all mortals will turn to Tal'kinita for their rest. Those who do, however, build elaborate temples filled with pillows, soft light and the smell of incense, all designed to make those who dwell inside these temples as restful as possible. Yet there is also a darker side, the application of what is called the "Final Rest". While death comes naturally, some followers of Tal'kinita would rather kill others to grant them their Final Rest sooner, usually out of a belief that certain mortals can only rest in the afterlife.
Ancestry
Ancestry is the remembrance of one's ancestors, of those people that formed you. One of the oldest rituals concerning ancestry is the funeral ceremony performed by many Trolls . Trolls will consume the heart of their dead kin during these ceremonies because they believe they will gain the strength and wisdom of those that died through this ritual. There are also more evil forms of worship, with eradication of entire family trees and genocide being some of the most extreme forms. Yet the simplest form of Ancestry worship is that of respecting one's elders and caring for them when they can no longer care for themselves.
Decay
It is a simple fact of the world of Heimr that everything, eventually, decays. Even the most potent Primordial automata will, given enough time, decay. Often this is considered an evil thing, as many followers of Tal'kinita are tempted to accelerate this process. Yet the concept itself is not evil, for there are situations where decay needs to happen before new things can grow. Those followers of Tal'kinita dedicated to more good varieties tend to make sure decay can happen rather than making sure everything decay as fast as possible. In their view, while everything will decay, those forms of decay that help other living things are to be encouraged. For example, they will make large compost heaps that tend to crawl with bugs living off the trash. They also prefer to bury their dead. or if that is not possible, simply leaving the bodies out in the open to decay.
Good versus Evil
Tal'kinita is generally considered to be slightly evil. However, this is more due to the evil elements of her portfolio rather than any real evil alignment. All three aspects tend to involve a lot of death and killing, whereas the good ways of worship are not as obvious and tend to involve calm ceremonies more aimed at long term effects. Thus, some followers of Tal'kinita consider evil worship to be "the easy way out" and look down on these worshippers. Yet in the eyes of Tal'kinita they are equal.
Symbols
Normal ravens are commonly associated with Tal'kinita, since Valravens can often be found among them. Specific signs of decay, like wilted flowers are also used. Large, branching trees are often used to a depict family history and through that, ancestry. Large Troll temples often include several such trees. Pillows, beds, a blazing hearth are used as symbols of rest - indeed, some temples of Tal'kinita are large spaces filled with nothing but pillows, couches and beds.
Tal'kinita herself tends to be depicted as a troll female, wearing a simnple cloth robe that seems to constantly decay and grow back. She is often depicted lounging on large pillows on top of a compost heap. She is also depicted talking to groups of people, that are clearly depicted as several generations of the same lineage.
Angels of Tal'kinita
Valraven are Tal'kinita's angels. These are large - often human sized or larger - ravens with claws and light blue eyes. While younger valravens are black, older tend to slowly turn grey and later even white. Valravens fly around Heimr in search for the dying and are often seen as a sign of bad luck due to that. Yet often they merely want to ensure the last wishes of the dying are carried out, even keeping lonely people company until they die, to then send word to the dead's kin.
Daemons of Tal'kinita
As her deamons, Tal'Kinita created the ghouls. Ghouls are hunched over humanoid creatures with a head that resembles that of a hyena. Ghouls are most often found in quiet places, like deserts and mountains. They will seek out or dig up fresh corpses to consume them. However, if they cannot find any, they will ensure corpses are made - either by killing people or making others kill, though they prefer properly rotting corpses. They will tear the corpse apart, eating specific parts that it uses to enhance its own body. The leftovers will be strewn around to accelerate and spread the decay.
Zombies and Fon-Ewe
Zombies and Fon-Ewe are constructs that are often associated with Tal'kinita since most of the known rituals to create them involve ancestry. To create a zombie, a willing ancestor spirit is asked to inhabit a dead body which it can then use to do whatever their creator asks of them. The spirit can leave the body whenever it desires and can thus always refuse to perform tasks asked of it. Yet, as long as the spirit is willing, the Zombie can be made to perform more complicated tasks, only limited by the disintegrating body it inhabits.
Fon-ewe, on the other hand, are constructs made from a pile of rotting flesh that is molded into a roughly humanoid shape. A spirit - usual that of an enemy or an enemy's ancestor - is then forced to inhabit this body and forced to carry out simple tasks. These can range from "Pick up that rock and carry it to our village" to "Guard this area and destroy anyone entering it", but cannot be much more complicated. For example, "Guard this area and destroy anyone except those saying the right password" would already be too complicated, which means using them as guards is risky at best. Fon-ewe exist for a set amount of time after which the spirit will leave and usually start to hunt for those who bound it to the rotting body.
Mandate of Tal'kinita
Apart from the General mandate of the gods Tal'kinita has expressed the following wishes from her followers.
General Tal'kinita
- Do not disturb anyone's rest needlessly
- Remember your ancestors, and ensure your descendants remember them too
- Help that which is dying or dead, to decay into nothing
Good Tal'kinita
- Give those in need of rest, alive or dead, the freedom to have it
- Help those in need of wisdom, to know the wisdom of their ancestors
- Disrupt intentions to unnaturally halt the decay of things
Evil Tal'kinita
- Destroy the entire ancestral line of your enemies
- Don't give your enemies time to naturally decay but burn/eat or destroy their bodies completely instead.