Lurue

[DM Artemis]

The Unicorn, the Unicorn Queen, the Queen of Talking Beasts and Intelligent Monsters

Demipower of the Prime Material Plane, CG
PORTFOLIO: Talking beasts and intelligent nonhumanoid creatures
ALIASES: Silverymoon, Lurae, Yathaghera the Winged Queen
DOMAIN NAME: Toril/Faerûn
SUPERIOR: Mielikki
ALLIES: Chauntea, Gwaeron Windstrom, Mielikki, Nobanion, Shiallia, Selûne, Silvanus
FOES: Malar
SYMBOL: Unicorn head against the background of a silver crescent moon or a white unicorn rampant against a silver crescent moon
WOR. ALIGN.: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN
Lurue (Luh-RUE) the Unicorn, also known as "Silverymoon," is the goddess of talking beasts and good intelligent monsters. She is venerated by many sentient beasts who have inherited or magically acquired the ability to speak human and demihuman languages. While some entire species, such as unicorns, pegasi, and talking owls, venerate her as Queen, many of her worshipers are outcasts from their own kind due to their unique abilities.
Worship of the Lion and the Unicorn, as Nobanion and Lurue are often called, is frequently lumped into the catch-all category of "beast cult." These two deities, however, differ from the tribal totem great spirits of the Uthgardt and the Ice Hunters of the North, as those spirits are not divinities in their own right, serving rather as conduits for the actions of Uthgar or Ulutiu, respectively. Lurue is a deity in her own right, and always has been to the knowledge of her faithful. However, her primary group of worshipers is not human, or even humanoid, and most of them do not maintain written histories or even many oral traditions. Their religion is a personal and direct faith, and until Lurue began attracting human worshipers, her nature and the ways of her religion went unattended, unrecorded, and essentially unnoticed.
Lurue is said to be the daughter of Selûne, Lady of Silver and goddess of the moon. Some say she is also related to one of the Earthmother's children, Kamerynn the Unicorn, of the Moonshae Isles. Travelers from other crystal spheres have attempted to link her to Eachthighern, a male deity of unicorns and pegasi who is not worshiped on Toril, but she reacts only with puzzlement to mention of his name and claims no relationship to him. Lurue is revered by the elves as Yathaghera, the Winged Queen, the nominal ruler of the pegasi and unicorns of Evermeet. Lurue serves as Mielikki's ally, friend, and steed when the Lady of Forests needs her services. Lurue and Nobanion have a long-standing alliance and deep friendship that has stood for many centuries. Lurue detests the dark deity Malar, and battles with his avatar or his servants at any opportunity. Some indications seem to show she is preparing a realm on Karasuthra in the Beastlands in the Outer Planes to be relatively close to Nobanion.
The Queen of Talking Beasts and Intelligence Creatures is often taken with wanderlust. She can be whimsical but is infinitely loyal once she takes someone into her trust, and she never abandons her worshipers in times of need. When faced with no other option but combat, Lurue is a dedicated and intractable foe, but she prefers light banter, clever riddles, new discoveries, and the joyous exploration of life.
Lurue's greatest sorrow is the existence of the black unicorns created by the Red Wizards of Thay. These malevolent creatures are the offspring of true unicorns tainted with the blood of feuds. Lurue blames Malar for secretly assisting the Red Wizards in their magical research, and she seeks a method of redeeming their corrupted souls.
Other Manifestations
Lurue often manifests at night as a silvery nimbus around Selûne visible to a few lucky individuals. Such individuals are said to receive Lurue's blessing, a +1 bonus on all saving throws until the following dawn.
The Unicorn Queen sometimes appears on the horizon as a ghostly silver unicorn leading the Silver Herd—12 unicorn stallions of maximum hit points—in a spirited run. If a devout worshiper of the Queen of Talking Beasts and Intelligent Creatures is under attack, the herd bears down on the attackers in a thunderous stampede led by their ghostly queen. This ghostly charge is usually enough to scare off most antagonists, but if not the unicorn stallions attack until their opponents are driven off. If any of the unicorn stallions is slain, he immediately evaporates into morning dew. If the entire Silver Herd is vanquished, Lurue's avatar calls the other nature deities to her aid, solidifies, and attacks without mercy.
Silverymoon is served by courage, hope, temperance, and wisdom minor incarnates, unicorns, faerie dragons, firestars, ki-rin, pegasi, pseudodragons, talking owls, giant lynxes, tressyms, and a wide variety of sentient, talking beasts. She is said to love flowers, from romantic white and red roses to simple daisies, and to have a persistent sweet tooth with a special fondness for mint and for honey wine.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, specialty priests, crusaders, mystics
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: NG, CG, CN
TURN UNDEAD: C: Yes, SP: No, Cru: No, Mys: No
CMND. UNDEAD: C: No, SP: No, Cru: No, Mys: No
All clerics, specialty priests, crusaders, and mystics of Lurue receive religion (Faerûnian), land-based riding (horses), and land-based riding (unicorns) as bonus nonweapon proficiencies. All of Lurue's priests must be female and may be human, half-elf, or elf.
Lurue is well-loved by the goodly races throughout the North and wherever else she is known. Sightings of any unicorn are considered lucky, and the appearance of the Unicorn Queen is a blessed event. Dour guardians of order and discipline view her as flightly and mischievous, but most sentient creatures admire her free spirit and unrestrained, rollicking joy.
Lurue is worshiped in sylvan glades and moonlit glens wherever unicorns tread. She has no temples dedicated in her name, choosing instead to be worshiped at sacred natural sites and holy groves. The banks of the Unicorn Run, the river which winds through the southern reaches of the High Forest, are representative of her holy sites. Unicorns are known to cavort and gambol along th Unicorn Run's banks, and they are an example of woodland nature in its purest and most unspoiled incarnation.
Priestesses of Lurue have no formal hierarchy of titles. Junior clergy are known as Sisters of the Moonlit Sky, and senior clergy are known as Sisters of the Silver Moon. Those priestesses lucky enough to have ever ridden a unicorn are forever after known as Ladycorns. The clergy comprises clerics, crusaders, mystics, and specialty priests, known as silvermaids. The breakdown of classes within the clergy is approximately 40%, 10%, 5%, and 45%, with little differentiation between the types in the respect they accord each other or their responsibilities.
Lurue has many beasts in her clergy as well. Most unicorns could be considered lay priests of Silverymoon, as might quite a few pegasi. Lurue grants any unicorn who worships her to cast one beneficial priestly spell of any sphere or level per day.
Dogma: The Unicorn is a symbol of hope, joy, salvation, and protection for the needy, forlorn, and forsaken. Life is to be relished and lived with laughter. Quests are to be taken on a dare and gifts are to be made on a whim. Impossible dreams are to be pursued for the sheer wonder of the possibility of their completion. Everyone, no matter how unique, is to be praised for their strengths and comforted in their weaknesses. Evil melts quickest in the face of a rapier wit and unshackled joy. Search for the unicorn and in the pursuit find happiness.
Day-to-Day Activities: Priestesses of Lurue spend their days providing aid and comfort to the needy, lending support to dreamers so that they can achieve their aspirations, and rescuing all who need aid from whatever assails them. Few stick to a single duty for any length of time, though they are very good about seeing a single particular task through to the end, and most are periodically struck with wanderlust. Many of Lurue's clergy are adventurers who travel about the Realms seeking wrongs to right and finding a good balance of merriment, new experiences, and self-improvement in such a profession.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Lurue's twin holy days are Midsummer's eve and the Feast of the Moon. The former holiday is celebrated in a night-long festival of revelry, wild antics, and much hullabaloo. Such events are marked by wild rides through the countryside and sky, numerous theatrical skits, humorous oratories, mock duels, grand songs in which everyone joins in, and romantic declarations. Many unicorns take a mate for life on this night.
The Feast of the Moon is a quiet ceremony marking the onset of winter and serving as a time for remembering those who have passed away and now "dance with the unicorns." Many great works of art and epic song are unveiled during th Feast of the Moon to quiet applause, particularly in the city of Silverymoon, which celebrates its founding on this day.
Major Centers of Worship: Lurue's worship is scattered throughout the North, but her namesake, the city of Silverymoon, serves as the spiritual heart of her faith. The city is built along the banks of the River Rauvin at a site sacred to both Lurue and Mielikki. According to legend, these shallows were the site where Mielikki first encountered Lurue ages ago. The Unicorn Queen appeared on a shaft of moonlight, the newly foaled child of Selûne, while the Lady of Forests was quenching her thirst. Mielikki befriended the unicorn filly and taught her to run through the forests of the North chasing the moon, but the site remained holy to Lurue. Thereafter Lurue was seen on occasion in the vicinity of the Silver Ford as a glowing unicorn whose appearance was considered lucky.
The pair of goddesses returned centuries later disguised as a female ranger and her steed. They fell in love with the Moonsilver Inn and Silverymoon Town, which had been built on the site, since the inhabitants chose not to plunder the forests and destroy, but rather build in harmony with the land. The goddesses blessed the inn with their power, promising safety to all who kept goodness in their hearts.
Today, Lurue has no specific shrine or glade within the city. Rather every copse in the city is considered sacred to Lurue, and her avatar has been spotted in nearly every coppice, at least according to legend. Lurue's priestesses in Silverymoon commonly worship the Unicorn Queen in Mielikki's Glade or the Silverglen, sacred to Silvanus, but they may be found throughout the city ministering to the less fortunate. Almost all of the city's inhabitants venerate the Unicorn Queen as the sacred protector of their city and all they hold dear about it.
Lurue occasionally appears in a sacred grove that can only be found at night, located in the hills northeast of Leilon. It is known as the Place of the Unicorn. Wizards of the Sword Coast believe that it lies in another dimension, reached only by a moongate (a magical gate that operates only in moonlight). The Place is sacred to the Unicorn Queen and consists of a stand of trees whose leaves are brilliant blue, surrounding a bluegrass meadow. Beings who rest therein are healed of all diseases, poisons, curses, and insanity; unicorns (only) are healed of physical damage. Beings who have no faith or are wavering in their beliefs often see Lurue herself in the trees, and their reaction may reshape their lives.
Affiliated Orders: The Knights of the Unicorn began as a romantic, whimsical group of high-born adventurers from Baldur's Gate who roamed across the Sword Coast North seeking excitement and adventure wherever they wandered. Relatively early in their career, the Knights explored the legendary elven castle of El'lahana Raikeil at the heart of the Moonwood. During their explorations, the band confronted and overcame a series of puzzles with aplomb seasoned with a dash of whimsy. As they overcame each riddle, the image of a silver unicorn shadowing their progress slowly solidified. When they reached their goal, the long lost Crown of Joy and Tears, the Knights each in turn placed it on their brows and found themselves cavorting with elves and unicorns along the banks of a silver stream. When all had partaken of the crown's delights, the band returned the crown to its setting and took their lave of the elven castle in search of new adventures.
As the company strode through the gates into the moonlight, the leader of the knights, Javalar Roaringhorn, declared, "May none again find the Crown of Joy and Tears unless they enter with the heart of a child and the laugh of a dryad or wish to regain that which they have lost." Enchanted by the sense of whimsy and romance displayed by the Knights, an avatar of Lurue appeared to the adventurers outside the castle accompanied by the Silver Herd. The Unicorn Queen and her noble retinue took the Knights for the most exhilarating ride of their lives the length and breadth of the Moonwood that night. After their encounter with Silverymoon, the Knights chose their now-legendary name and pledged themselves in the service of Lurue. The Unicorn Queen found favor with their laughter and has gifted them ever since with an unending series of adventures to be had and wrongs to be righted.
Shoftly after the Time of Troubles, the Knights had the opportunity to ferret out a group of bandits that operated along the Sword Coast. When the time came for the final assault on the bandit stronghold, the Knights gathered a small corps of mercenary infantry, including a number of rangers and rogues. After the successful raid, the Knights kept much of the band together (perhaps 50 people), most of whom worshiped or at least revered Lurue. The group operated as a mercenary company for a while doing good deeds, but eventually began to fragment as wanderlust, the desire to pursue individual goals, and the whimsical nature of the original Knights began to reassert itself. During an expedition into Shilmista, Forest of Shadows, the Knights caught sight of Lurue's avatar once again and gave chase. The Unicorn Queen led them on a merry ride for one enchanted eve until she vanisehd by racing up a shaft of moonlight. The winded Knights vowed to "chase the Unicorn until they could see the moonlight in her eyes."
Immediately thereafter, the senior knights reorganized the group into a loose collection of affiliated adventuring bands known as the Order of the Unicorn. Reaffirming their dedication to Lurue, each company of Knights wanders the realms "chasing the Unicorn." On the way, they right any wrongs they discover and spread the tale of the chase. Each company of Knights is led by one of the original members or their henchmen, and Knights shift from company to company as needed or desired. Companies of Knights have begun to extend the range of the original group and have been seen as far afield as Tethyr, Myth Drannor, and Starmantle. Senior members include Javalar Roaringhorn (CG hm F19), Iallanara Moondust (CG hf P[Lurue]18), Plomdar the Bombastic (CG hm Enc18), Balanta Whiteshield (CG hf F16), Ventar Halfhuman (CG hem R15), Penegala Sashenstar (NG hf B14), and Jolboss "Stoutguts" Twylar (CG hm F14, of impressive girth and pompous manner).
Priestly Vestments: When priestesses dedicate themselves to Lurue, their irises change color to a deep shade of blue or purple. Priestesses of Lurue garb themselves in simple white robes of cotton, linen, or silk woven with threads of pure silver, often in form of Lurue's symbol. Most wear their hair long and free, dyed silver or bleached white. (Some say this is not artifice, but another manifestation of their holy calling.)
Adventuring Garb: Lurue's clergy garb themselves in relatively light armor, typically gleaming silver chain mail (or elven chain mail, for those so lucky) and a shield polished mirror-bright, and wield a lance and a long sword when expecting combat. The Lady Knights of the Silver Moon, as they are often called, rival Silverymoon's fabled defenders in martial skill and argent luster.