Araleth Letheranil, called the Prince of Stars and the Twilight Rider, was a minor elven god of light,[1] particularly twilight and starlight. He was also considered a god of the sun, moon, and stars.[4]
Description[]
Araleth appeared as a 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall male elf with silvery hair, glowing, golden eyes, and a right shoulder bearing a dark scar. He wore white robes and was sometimes surrounded by a shimmering white aura.[4]
Personality[]
Araleth took an aggressive stance towards combating evil, and encouraged elves to combat any evil creatures. This applied especially to darkness-loving creature, the drow being a prime example, and he frowned upon the unneeded usage of darkness spells.[4][1]
Powers[]
Araleth's strikes were more effective against beings larger than the average human. He could cast continual light, sunray, or rainbow every minute as often as he desired; when using the bow form of the rainbow spell he could pick any color as often as he wished (within the normal limit of seven total). He was immune to spells that altered light and darkness, including indirectly like fire or lightning-based spells, and was immune to psionics.[1]
Possessions[]
The holy symbol of Araleth.
Araleth fought with a +5 longsword that was twice as potent against evil creatures and thrice if they originate from the lower planes.[4]
Divine Realm[]
Araleth's divine realm was the House of Glowing Stars, a dwelling beset by drifting, glowing stars on the plane of Arborea in Arvandor.[1][note 1]
Activities[]
Araleth was engaged in a never-ending war against the forces of darkness.[1]
Relationships[]
Araleth was an ally to the other members of the Seldarine, working closely with them when needed. He was particularly allied to the lunar goddess of the pantheon, Sehanine Moonbow, as well as the moon goddess of the Faerûnian pantheon Selune. He occassionally associated with the Pharaonic god Seker and the Norse god Frey due to their similar objectives.[1]
As a member of the elven pantheon, Araleth was an enemy of the goblinoid and drow deities, especially the Queen of Darkness Lolth, who personally scarred him with her poisonous fangs. The Prince of Stars was also opposed to the Nightsinger Shar and the Chained God Tharizdun.[1]
Worshipers[]
A priest of Araleth (in the middle).
Araleth's followers could be found among all non-evil elves, though those in his clergy were also non-lawful. He was specifically a favorite of elf adventurers due to his proactive encouragement to fight against evil, and his clergy worked with those of other priesthoods in their attempts to eliminate it just as Araleth cooperated with the Seldarine to do so.[4][1]
Araleth's clergy prayed at dusk, when his presence in the heavens could be felt. Beautiful objects were sacrificed to Araleth semiannually, though the clergy had few holy days save for the spring equinox, during which they sacrificed items of beauty within a circle illuminated by starshine spells.[4][1]
The Twilight Rider was to be worshiped in wide clearings, and while within the church (or during holy days), his clerics and specialty priests (known as Twylars) wore robes of white. They dressed as they pleased at all other times, though dark colors were so frowned upon that wearing them was considered a minor transgression. Aside from the clerics (who made up half the clergy) and the Twylar (who made up about a third), the rest was composed of crusaders.[4][1]
History[]
Araleth Letheranil was one of the younger deities of the Seldarine—one of the "Second Born" who came after Lolth's rebellion and exile. There were many tales of Araleth's battles against the forces of evil, with him being known for his relentless pursuit of the drow when they returned to the surface. One of his most commonly known stories, debatably his most famous one, was that of his battle with Lolth herself.[4][1]
After the drow had been banished underground they had adapted to their new environment and eventually grew strong. Meanwhile, Lolth had developed plans to destroy those above, and through her clerics organized them into an army numbering in the thousands. Realizing what was going on, Araleth warned his own clerics, who in turn assembled a host of gray, wood, and high elves to hold back her dark forces. Though this long struggle was called the War of the Elves, various humans and demihuman parties came to the aid of the elves after realizing the severity of the situation.[4][1]
The dark elf sensitivity to light put them at an extreme disadvantage, as they could only fight at night or on gloomy days incited by the clerics, forced to withdraw against the light of the sun (with opposing forces sometimes foolishly following them). Dark elf casters, realizing their weakness in this environment, had tried to find a way to venture the lit world without penalty, and just when it seemed the forces of good would prevail, all of them were called back to the battle, and suddenly, Lolth had appeared to join the fray.[4][1]
Knowing that Lolth's presence would guarantee her side's success, Araleth personally took to the battlefield as well, fighting his way through the dark elven legions to strike at Lolth and the clerics (and other magic users) surrounding her. Araleth's magic and bladework cut down powerful drow and wounded Lolth while the Spider Queen's own magic, webs and fang took their own toll in the furious combat, and before the Prince of Stars knew it she had jumped on him and bit into his shoulder, venom pumping into the wound.[4][1]
Crying out in pain, Araleth fought on and plunged his magical blade into Lolth's abdomen, nearly killing her and forcing her to retreat to the Abyss, after which he proceeded to slay a great many casters and warriors before himself having to return to Arvandor. The presence of the Prince of Stars had inspired the forces of good and destroyed much of Lolth's forces, reducing the drow to a fraction of their original number as her followers fled back to the Underdark. Araleth would use the scar as a reminder to his followers on the necessity of evil's destruction.[4][1]
Rumors and Legends[]
The first memory an elf experienced in reverie that came from another mortal life, when not attributed to Labelas Enoreth was called the Revelation, in which case Araleth was honored for its occurence.[5]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The phrasing indicates that the House of Glowing Stars is located within the joint realm of the Seldarine, Arvandor. It is not explicitly stated that Arvandor here does not refer to the first layer more generally, where that realm is located. But as that layer is usually called Olympus outside Forgotten Realms sources, it seems likely.
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Chris Perry (December 1996). “The Seldarine Revisited”. In Pierce Watters ed. Dragon #236 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 11–17, 25.
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (May 29, 2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 43. ISBN 978-0786966240.
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (2014). Player's Handbook 5th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 59–61. ISBN 978-0-7869-6560-1.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 Denise Lyn Voskuil (March 1990). “The Elfin Gods”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Dragon #155 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 20–22, 24.
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (May 29, 2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 38. ISBN 978-0786966240.