Dancer in the Glades, Daughter of the High Forest, the Lady of the Woods
Demigod
Symbol: Golden acorn
Home Plane: House of Nature
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Woodland glades, woodland fertility, growth, the High Forest, Neverwinter Wood
Worshippers: Druids, farmers, foresters, gardeners, nuptial couples
Cleric Alignments: CG, LG, NG
Domains: Animal, Good, Plant, Renewal
Favoured Weapon: “Forest’s Friend” (Quarterstaff)
Shiallia (shee-al-lee-ah) is winsome and earthy, delighting in dancing and frolicking in the woods and playing with woodland creatures when she is not tending to their needs. She has a low, throaty voice and enjoys retorting with clever (and often crudely suggestive) rejoinders when engaged in conversation. At times she seems to behave like a satyr, but she has a more mysterious quality and unexpressed depths that a satyr would find incomprehensible. She is fiercely protective of her charges, but lets matters outside her purview go unchallenged, since they do not directly involve her, unless she is ordered to act by Mielikki or Silvanus.
The church of Shiallia is casually organized, with little in the way of a formal hierarchy. Shiallia’s followers are husbands of nature, spending their days planting and nurturing, calling upon the weather, and tending to the ill and injured. They are not purely oriented to forest creatures, though that is their focus, and they extend their philosophy and favours to non-evil humanoids who enter or live within the forest, as well. Shiallia’s clergy are sometimes known as the Silent Helpers, and tales tell how they watch over lost children and the foolish who wander through the reaches of the High Forest unaware of the dangers contained within.
Clerics and druids of Shiallia pray for their spells whenever the moon is highest in the sky, for the moon governs the reproductive cycle. Days that mark the passing of seasons are the most important of the year to followers of Shiallia. In particular, Greengrass and Highharvestide are celebrated as holidays of birth and fruition, respectively. On all holy days (including Midwinter, Midsummer and the Feast of the Moon) the faithful invite all friendly creatures to revel with them in feasting, singing and dancing. Weddings are welcomed and even solicited upon the change of seasons, and Shiallia’s followers always enliven such occasions with as much faerie charm magic and romance as they can muster, creating a fantasy atmosphere under the stars. Therefore, many non-worshippers set their wedding dates on Shiallia’s holy days in hopes of receiving her blessings and hospitality. Her clergy do not often multi-class.
Shiallia is said to be the sister of Tree Ghost (the collective spirit of the High Forest and one of the beast totems of Uthgar) and the daughter of Tapann the Undying Lord of the Korreds (satyr-like creatures). She serves Mielikki, along with Lurue and Gwaeron Windstrom, and through her, Silvanus. Shiallia is also allied with Chauntea and Eldath. She opposes those who seek to destroy the things she protects: Auril, Malar, Talona and Talos.
The only true goal of any living thing is to procreate. Nature dictates the shape of the world, for good or ill, so the only concern of the creatures that inhabit it is survival. Death is not to be feared, for it is part of the natural cycle of life, but life, particularly the birth of new life, is to be encouraged and nurtured whenever and wherever possible.
Source: Faiths and Pantheons (Page 105)