Belia – The Holy Blacksmith, She-who-forges-the-world, the maker
“She once blessed me with a vision of The Holy Forge. It was…divine. It reached to infinity, yet felt very close. The heat from the literal fires of creation were hers to command, the soul-forge assisting in its own way with the imprisonment of Halen. The noise, the sounds, reverberated through me , the clash of metal on metal, the creations of things not meant for this world and mortal eyes. And at the heart of all, in her radiant glory she stood there, hammer in hand, bringing forth something new and wondrous, and then she smiled at me and I knew then whatever she commanded I would do with all my heart, body and soul…
– Carious Hammerforged, High Smith-Cleric on his conversion to the worship of Belia
Pronunciation guide: Beh-lie-ah Belia is one of the so-called Gods of Neutrality . Her remit in the divine pantheons is one of creation, but not of life. Her role is the forge the world, to make what mortals see in their dreams real, to create and bring forth that which was once imagined. Like all the other divine, Belia was once mortal. Whilst not confirmed, it is thought she was the daughter of a blacksmith, or maybe the niece of one, the details on this are never made clear. This figure from her background inspired her. She would sit in the forge listening to the sound of metal being created, working on her chores and school work, for her family knew that a good education from whatever source, be it traditional schools or a more vocational style, was very important. Being some of the few humans in the area that would become known later as the Elf-Dwarf Alliance, her family stood out a bit and became well known, if mocked, in a good nature way. Her tall height and jet black hair, made her stand out more and more as she grew up. After her initial apprenticeship though, the history books, and religious text go blank. The official reason for this given is that at that point she dedicated herself to becoming the best smith and engineer she could. Some dark tales though seem to indicate something horrible happened, either to her or her family and on her ascension to divinity, all records of this were removed from the mortal realm.
Divine Domains
Forging, smithing, creation, engineering.
Holy Books & Codes
The so-called “Book of the Smith” is a series of the finest metals, each page a different metal, flat or treated in such a way to be usable. Each page is inscribed with the best methods of using the metal the page is made from, the proper techniques, chants to help pace yourself and more. Tere is a second version of her holy book, that is focused more on the engineer and fine detials side of creating things, but is rare to find that outside of the Imperial Engineers
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Belia has, as might be expected from a smithing/creating deity a hammer as part of her divine symbol, couple with a set of tongs and an anvil, this is the most common form her divine symbol takes. She encourages her followers to make and create their own versions, but as with anything, there are fashions and common trends. It is not unusual for her followers to always be working on and improving their shrine, making it better as their skills improve.
Tenets of Faith
- Do your best in your work – you will fail many times, but even one step forward is progress.
- Do not mock others if their work is of a lesser standard to yours, lest others do the same
- A makers tools are an extension of their body – any use or touch with expression permission.
- Be aware of your surroundings
- You cannot control what others will do with your creations.
- Falsehoods about time, costs, materials and skills related to a contract are forbidden – If you are not sure, they say upfront, but do not take on something if you knowingly cant do it
Holidays
With the fith months of the Halenic Calendar named after her, Belias holy day is the 6th. On this day, there are two different celebrations – Her followers can pick which one to go with or go with a general celebration, but whatever one is chosen, if it didn’t finish within the time frame, you will receive her displeasure. The thoughts and plans can be prepared for years before hand, but once the physical creation has begun you must finish it with the time frame. Anything is allowed, but it MUST be done with the time frame agreed on, otherwise it is believed you will have bad luck/your forge will go cold, and so on for the following year.
- A day project – This is one for masters or someone seeking to become qualified as one. The project, whatever it is, must be done to a usable and working condition by midnight. New smiths and makers are warned not to underestimate a project if attempting this.
- A year – This is the most common one celebrated as it gives the most time. Traditionally this project must be finished at least by 4th of the month, but a small overlap into the 5th is allowed.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
There are those who believe that the mere act of creation helps to fuel the world and empower her in the act of keeping Halen , god of magic asleep or at least unable to escape.
World Anvil Page for the item listed above can be found HERE.
My World Anvil page/game world, Easthalen, can be found HERE. It is updated often , as and when I can.
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