Elain

Intermediate Deity

At A Glance
Alias:The Beastmaster, Pack Hunter, Wolflord Symbol: A huge three-headed white dire wolf Home Plane: The Beastlands Alignment: CN Portfolio: Animals, the wild hunt, nature Worshippers: Rangers, druids, primal elves, wolfkin halflings Cleric Alignments: CE, CG, CN Domains: Animal, Chaos, Strength, Travel Favored Weapon: Cudgel/Club

History
Elain, when he appears, takes the form of a massive white three-headed dire wolf of Huge size. He disdains human form; indeed, he disdains most of humanity and other humanoid races, since they destroy the wilderness, uproot his children, and refuse to understand the balance of nature. The sole exceptions to his derision are his followers and others who respect their place in the natural world, such as elaidar or wolfkin. His avatar can be quite active in the Material plane, often leading wild animals and his followers in a hunt against those that desecrate the wilderness. He is mated to Kukka, who helps temper his rage, and they dwell together in the Beastlands.

Dogma
Elain's dogma is very simple: civilization is a lie, a weak construct of those that could not survive in the wild. Nature is all-important, and maintaining the balance of it paramount. Elain commands his followers to live in the wild, among the wild, and he frowns on those that take too much to city life. He is accepting of people needing to kill animals to survive, but those that hunt and kill for mere sport or vanity are evil, in his eyes, and should be dealt with swiftly. Love and respect nature, for she is far mightier than any of you, and punishes those who transgress against her.

Clergy and Temples
Elain's clergy are organized in a similar manner to druidic circles. Indeed, the clerics and druids of Elain's clergy mingle together, leading to mixed ritual practices. Elain keeps no temples within the cities, instead preferring groves and shrines in the wilderness. Often his clerics and druids will multiclass as rangers or barbarians, and many of them have animal companions to accompany them in the wild. Elain's followers often mingle freely with the clerics of Kukka and Skogen, and they stay aloof of the Imperial pantheon, finding that to be a false construction of civilized life, an illusion to keep from coping with the reality of the wild.

Within the cities, however, there is a small but growing mystery cult of Elain, dedicated to the uprising of creatures within the city to overthrow the masses of humanoids living within the walls. Commanding rats, cats, dogs, and other 'urban' animals, these radical followers of Elain often carry out missions of sabotage and havoc in the merchant quarters of cities. Many take a particular glee in tormenting the followers of Kauppias, seeing his expansion of civilized trade an affront to the natural order.