Berram

Aliases: Old Strawface, Bendárrállim, Lord Land

Aspects: Agriculture, the Land
Cleric Domain: Life, Nature

Berram is a fairy tale, a deity, a conman and the humble servant of greater beings, all at once. His origins are questionable at best, but some of his followers speculate that he first appeared as a mere Elf. As one of the first Elves experimenting with arcane magic, it is said that he was an enormously powerful druid and that he used his abilities to achieve immortality. Others say it was Berram who taught the Humans, who lived unknowingly under the Elven yoke, how to work the land. Ever since, he has subsisted on the worship of the farmers of men.

Being a self-made deity is a harsh life as oblivion and death are always closer than expected. As generations of men came and went, Berram became one of their most consistent and enduring fairy tale protagonists, but without active worship, he had little power. When the Common Church appeared and rapidly took over most of the Human kingdoms, toting three ancient goddesses who were older than the world itself as their only deities, Berram took his chance. Deities that old were beyond relying on the power of worship, so Berram disguised himself as an aspect of one of the three goddesses. Together with eight other aspects, who had similar ideas, Berram chose to nominally serve the Ladies Three.

Although a servant of Valla, Lady Life, according to the Common Church, Berram does little more than feed off her worship. Empowered by all that faith, he still does little more than whatever he feels like doing.

Dogma

• If You're Not A Wolf, Do Not Act Like It: The idea of humility is ingrained deeply into each of Berram's followers. Do not bite off more than you can chew, or you will suffer the consequences. Know your place in the food chain and in society. A sheep is not a lion and a peasant not a knight. Sheep who fashion themselves usually get eaten, peasants pretending to be a knight generally end up dead.
• Tend To The Land, And It Will Grow: Whatever befalls you, you should always fall back on your land. It fed your ancestors and it will feed your children. Nothing good comes from travelling too much without a land to call your own. There is an ancient power that resides with in the land, beyond even Old Strawface. If you care for your land, it will care for you, even in times of need.
• Honour Old Traditions And Wisdoms: There is a reason they are old. Grain was good enough for history's first farmer and it is good enough for you. The stories by the campfire, the wise words of your grandfather, they stayed where other religions came and went. It is not a sin to pray to one of those new gods now and then, to occassionally make a sacrifice in a temple that was erected only five years ago, but how can you rely on such a new faith, when the practises of your ancestors have guided your family since forever.

Tenets

The tenets of Berram are casual and traditional. They are often overshadowed by the edicts of kings or the tenets of a more demanding faith. Nevertheless, many people adhere to these tenets by custom and unwittingly, people who only know Old Strawface from the children's stories and fairy tales.

• Respect The Wild: Do not cut down more trees than you need firewood. Do not shoot more deer than you can eat. The wilds around your own plot of farmland have their own rules and you must follow them.
• Sow And Harvest Before Everything Else: So what if the lord needs his mansion renovated? So what if there is a carevan of exotic merchants in town? So what if a war is brewing? If you do not sow or harvest your crop, you will starve and nothing else will matter.
• Be A Generous Host: What if the stranger at your gate was Old Strawface in disguise? Would you chase him away in fear of bandits? Be a generous host to those who ask and do not demand the reason for their travel. A hearth can warm a surprisingly large number of people, a simple broth can feed equally many.
• Care For Your Livestock: Sheep, cattle and pigs were gifts from Old Strawface. Do not damage them unecessarily. You are not a tyrant abusing his peasants.

Allies of the Faith

Berram made many personal friends. The good common followers of Berram and his friends help eachother when in need, no questions asked. Among these are Riss the Shoeshine Girl, and many nearly forgotten gods of towns, valleys and roads. The spirits of nature also get along well with the followers of Berram, because they know they will be treated with respect.

Followers of Berram are accepted - or at times, merely tolerated - by the Common Church of the Ladies Three. The faith of Old Strawface has a way of adapting to more ambitious religions and the wiser among those religions know that there is little good that comes from persecuting his followers. There are few places in the world where a follower of Berram would have to fear being hunted for their faith.

Enemies of the Faith

Berram has few foes, but gods of war loathe him and look down upon him. There is little he can do for his followers when they are struck by conflict, and it is war that can do the most harm to the lifestyle of a follower. Even if another farmstead is just collateral damage to an army, or just another conscript to a lord, the devastation war can bring to life and land can destroy ages of customs, ancestral lines and traditions that shape the lives of Old Strawface's followers. Whenever you have the opportunity, you should end or prevent war if you are devoted to Berram.

The followers of Old Strawface also find enemies in those creatures who do not farm at all: goblins, orcs, or similar monsters. Parasitic monsters such as those are carnivores, eating farmers and their land as prey. If Berram, or one of his followers, should ever draw a sword, it would be to defend himself against those who subsist only on raiding others.

Clergy and Temples

There is no clergy that serves Old Strawface, but there are druid circles who view him as their leader. Instead of priests, the village elders pass on the word of Berram to their offspring. To many, Old Strawface is just one of many of their stories and traditions, but there are elders who intimately pursue his dogma.

Likewise, Berram has no temples. Small buildings serving as shrines are also too much for him. Instead, the place of worship is where his nickname is drawn from. Followers of Old Strawface place small offerings and utter prayers under the scarecrows - straw men - in their fields. They believe a straw man will ward their fields against evil, such as monsters, wolves and bandits.

Holidays and Festivals

No matter how ubiquitous the festival may be in any farmers town, the Harvest Festival is dedicated to Berram wherever his followers go. After succesfully harvesting all the fields, followers thank Berram for the yield and his continued protection during the Harvest Festival. Although the composition of the festival varies from place to place, a common component dedicated to Berram is are the making and offering of straw figures, including a tall and lanky straw figure often tied to a tree in the centre of a village, which is supposed to represent Old Strawface himself. Many young pairs are also bethrothed during the Harvest Festival, because the blessing of Berram is considered essential to a happy family.

Another holiday is held during midwinter, when families congregate in the heart of winter. It is called Hearthynight, with everyone from siblings to far-flung cousins attending to a feast dedicated to Berram and his gift of livestock. A large cow is butchered and shared and stories are told. It is believed that Berram also appears on these nights, handing out blessings as well as seeds for the new season, to remind people that spring will return.

Champions and Avatars

As mentioned under the "Enemies of the Faith", Old Strawface detests monsters who subsist on raiding. Young men and women who take up the sword, the bow or the spear to rid a village of a goblin nest can all become champions of Berram. Because the way of life for a follower of Berram generally comes down to farming, most of his champions lose his favour as soon as the threats to their way of life are dealt with. Only seldomly have there been tales about adventuring champions of Old Strawface.

One of them was Erman Mabbson, who began his life as the son of Mabbo, an honest farmer. Erman first aimed his arrow at a man when the new lord began acting like a bandit, hunting peasants for sport and taxing the people without protecting them. Mabbo lost his land and Erman's sister was taken away by the lord, so Erman asked for the blessing of Old Strawface and he shot the lord down with his bow. After that, Erman would lead a rebellion of peasants to defeat the lord's retainers, then the lord's own lord's army and eventually the emperor. Old Strawface has always been a humble deity, but rulers who studied history know better than to abuse his humility, because even someone like Berram could destroy an empire with a single champion.

Known Sects/Cults

Although there are few followers of Berram left who do not also at least nominally accept the Common Church of the Ladies Three, there is a cult of followers who oppose other religions. They are the Strawsworn, a secretive group dedicated to freeing the peasants from any form of repression, including kings and clergy. Strawsworn take a militant stance to the ideas of Berram and only roughly half of them are farmers, while others dedicate their life to projects most followers would never condone. Staging assassinations and acts of arson, Strawsworn are a force to be reckoned with. However, as a result of their actions they are often scapegoated for any act of rebellion against any authority and many higher lords or clergymen simply laugh at the threats of mere peasants. It is true that the struggle of the Strawsworn is more than often without success and it always comes at a heavy cost in blood for both members and bystanders, but that has never seemed to discourage the cult before.

Extra

Elves and gnomes sometimes also worship Berram, although much more casually and without many of the connotations to the land. They do not know the nickname "Old Strawface" and call him by his old Elven name, Bendárrállim. To them he is a wandering god, who protects those who live in harmony with nature.