The Protector and Provider, The Nurturing Matriarch, The Blessed One
Greater Deity
Symbol: Shield bearing cornucopia (horn of plenty)
Home Plane: Celestia
Alignment: Lawful Good
Portfolio: Halflings, protection, fertility
Worshippers: Halflings, explorers, pioneers
Cleric Alignments: LG, NG, LN
Domains: Community, Creation, Good, Law, Protection
Favoured Weapon: “Hornblade” (Short Sword)
Relics: Cornucopia of the needful, map of unseen land
The deity of halflings, Yondalla (yon-dah-lah), appears as a strong female halfling, with a proud bearing. She dresses in green, yellow and brown, and always carries a shield. Yondalla is the creator and protector of the halfling race.
Yondalla espouses harmony within the halfling race and stalwart defence against its enemies. She urges her people to work with others but to remain true to their halfling heritage. Most halflings heed this advice, which allows them to form close-knit enclaves where halflings are welcomed, even when they have settled in areas where other creatures predominate. Yondalla also teaches that opportunities are there to be seized, which leads most halflings to be both adaptable and somewhat opportunistic. Yondalla brooks no evil among halflings, but she does not despise any halfling. Rather, she seeks to guide halflings who have lost their way back to their homes and friends.
Clerics of Yondalla are concerned with all areas of halfling life, except for thievery. (Thievery arises among halflings, the clerics say, from a too-liberal interpretation of Yondalla’s advice about seizing opportunities.) Yondalla’s clerics officiate at weddings and funerals, bless crops and new ventures, and lay plans for community defence.
Temples dedicated to Yondalla are often set amid bountiful gardens or farm fields. They always contain store-houses stuffed with food and other necessities, They also contain armouries and fortified sections where local halflings can safely ride out natural disasters or enemy attack.
Yondalla’s clerics train new followers by borrowing a wagon from a halfling caravan, then “borrowing” the would-be clerics from their families for a month or two. The cleric and her disciples then wander the back roads of the land, seeking sights that none of the pilgrims — teacher and students alike — have ever seen before.
The safety of the halfling people is Yondalla’s first concern, but she’s eager to chart new territory for halfling caravans to visit. Her followers act as guards and guides for caravans and trading companies, capture the raiders that plague the highways, and lead expeditions to unexplored lands.
Yondalla’s prayers are models of understatement. A prayer for healing might begin, “I am in such fine health, yet…” and a prayer for intercession might begin, “A minor annoyance is visited upon me…”.
Yondalla’s temples are gathering places for the halfling population, which is otherwise semi-nomadic. They’re storehouses of food, weapons and everything else needed to equip a caravan for a long journey. They’ll help a halfling in need, and her non-halfling friends as well, if they seem trustworthy.
Yondalla’s rites centre around family and community, with weddings having particularly elaborate and joyous ceremonies. When a halfling caravan pulls into a town near harvest time, it’s a sure bet that Yondalla’s worshippers plan to hold a carnival-like Pageant of the First Fruit.
Yondalla uses an 18-HD trumpet archon that resembles a halfling as her herald. Allies are hound archons, astral devas and planetars.
Source: Deities and Demigods (Page 97), Complete Divine (Page 119)