Appaliunas

General of Gods, Guardian of the day

God of the Sun and War

Domains: Good, Protection, Strength, Sun, War

Favored Weapons: Falcata

Divine Animal: Eagle

    Appaliunas has a very calm exterior, but has been noted for having a furious temper. The temper is rarely set off, but when it does temperatures around him can soar to heights most find uncomfortable. He can seem to be very stern and commanding, which is useful when he commands celestial armies in battle. To those he trusts and calls friend though he can seem to be very different. In a relaxed setting he is very mischievous, cheerful and inclined to drink. He prefers to surround himself with the finer things in life

    He requests his followers train in the ways of war. They must always stand ready to defend their follow people. He prefers people who take action to guard others. He holds there is no greater courage than being willing to guard those who care for. Since his people are all trained in the art of war he expects them to lead the local militia or organize armed resistance against threats.

    As the god of the sun and war he has quite a bit to keep track of. He must ensure solar events happen on schedule and that nothing interferes with those tasks of the sun. For war he must ensure there are always people ready to defend those weaker and stand to repel the forces of fiends and undead.

    Most of those who follow Appaliunas tend to have martial prowess. Though he does not turn away arcane casters as they have a place on the battlefield as well. The number of different people found calling on him surprises those who pay little attention to the only remaining god of war. His followers tend to be cunning opponents as they are generally solid tacticians.

    The favor of Appaliunas comes in many different forms. He has been known to grant immunity to the effects of heat or prevent dazzling. He has also been known to grant tactical insight. Wins that seem to come out of nowhere have been frequently chalked up to his granting his blessing on the fight or grant a sudden tactical insight that allowed a sudden upset during the battle. On the other hand his wrath is felt in sudden light blindness or sun-stroke. He will also cause constant loss in battle. If pushed to an absolute fury he will curse the offender.

    He only intervenes on behalf of those who show great courage or on a mission of utmost importance. Then his intervention will be in diverting their enemies or buying them breathing room so they can recover to keep up the battle. His lesser interventions are providing information that can invaluable to those involved.

    Appaliunas is often described as appearing to be a human male. Most people agree he is a handsome and charming man. All art shows him as having golden hair, summer sky blue eyes and tanned skin. He is almost never without his blade at his side and shield within easy reach.

    His holy symbol is that of a golden sun against a blue sky. This symbol has taken several symbols over the centuries, but today the form is generally done in either an oval or rectangular form.

The Church

    The church serves as a way of training many warriors. These warriors generally either end up in the militia, military, or as adventurers. Where a church is found there always trained fighters within. It serves as a place to record the fallen for the area and as a place of refuge during attack. Frequently rulers and military leaders will send promising soldiers to the temples for more in depth training. Those sent for such training generally wind up as military leaders themselves.

    His priests are all trained in combat even if they have non-combat roles in the temple. The priests are all well-versed in defensive tactics and even the gentlest of them is fully capable of taking down opponents. They aid the area they reside in by offering support and even open up the training area to local militia for a stable area to train.

    The church is usually found in cities, but it is not unheard of to have one near smaller settlements. The most well-known and prestigious temples for the sun aspect are found on mountains, as high up as they can get. Otherwise they are found in areas that are considered strategic by the church founder, even when local officials insist their area is not of strategic importance.

    Services are normally held at noon to help maintain the strong tie to the sun, since that is when the sun is held at the highest point. Everything considered to be of importance is held at the time or arranged to conclude at that exact moment. Words of combat wisdom are frequently included.

Temples and Shrines

    Temples are designed along the lines of forts. Every temple keeps a fully stocked larder and an armory. They are built of solid thick stone and with doors of the toughest metal they can afford. Every temple has a ceremonial hall, training area, and hall of remembrance. The temple serves as a place for people to fall back to in a time of war and have protection.

A Priest’s Role

    A priest has two main duties that he must attend to on a daily basis. These two duties are in addition to his daily training and holy days. The first daily duty in a temple is to help ensure the temple is ready for potential battle. The second is to aid local authorities with their duties.

    In ensuring the temple is ready for battle, the priests divide up a list of things that must be checked daily. This is done so they can catch potential problems before a battle happens. This also allows them to ensure the larder is fully stocked and that the same goes for the medical wing. They also ensure that weapons and armor are ready for use.

    When offering aid to local authorities it is generally in the form of trained fighters. Though occasionally the authorities prefer to have the temple aid in training their militia and watch for combat. These two forms of aid ensure that the local authorities do not have to worry about being overwhelmed by thugs.

    On a typical day a priest will rise at dawn and head down for breakfast. After breakfast he will go to find out what duties he has been assigned for the day. After that he will attend to the assigned duties only stopping for noon prayers and lunch. He will then continue his duties until sundown when the church gathers for dinner. The brothers are then released to their own pursuits for the evening.

    Clerics have more duties pressed upon them than the average priest. This is due to the fact they channel more of the god’s powers than the others. Usually cleric’s are put in charge of running the actual temple. If more than one temple resides at the temple they will each have something they are in charge of with the most experienced running the entire temple. Traveling clerics are required to render martial aid where it is needed or seek out areas in need of martial assistance. Sometimes though they are tasked to give aid on a quest against an enemy of Appaliunas.

    Inquisitors rarely remain in the church for very long, this is due to their duty as hunters. They generally hunt those who harming his faith by pretending to be his followers and doing great harm in his name. Sometimes they are tasked with hunting down a fiend who is causing too much trouble. Their final and grimmest job is hunting down those who were once followers, but have betrayed the faith.

    The duties of a paladin are very straightforward. They are to give martial aid where it is needed and they must not turn away anyone in need of protection. They have more demand on them to guard and lead battles than many. They generally act as generals of armies or lead temples in battle. They are only allowed to leave a battle if they need to gather more aid, as Appaliunas would rather not lose fighters in battle if it can be avoided. To his paladins there is no such thing as acceptable losses.

• I shall stand steadfast in the face of battle

• I shall guard those in need 

• I shall lead my comrades to victory

• I shall honor those that fall in combat and mark their names forever in a Hall of Remembrance.

• If someone must die to secure victory then I shall be the one to lay down my life, that others shall live

Adventurers

    Followers of Appaliunas adventure for a wide number of reasons. The chief reason amongst them is to ensure all areas gain protection even if they are outside the reach of a temple. Others wish to gain firsthand experience of the enemies they might face while guarding a temple or area in battle. This desire for firsthand experience can frequently lead them into trouble their companions would rather have avoided.

    Adventurers tend to be well regarded so long as they do not cause trouble. On the whole the church view them as very helpful for removing dangers from an area. It helps that they can charge martial characters a fee for use of the training facilities. The good view of a particular group will hold until they prove untrustworthy.

Clothing

    Ritual garb tends to be very ornate, which is very fitting given his preference for the luxuries in life. These are usually a summer sky blue with gold trim and thread work. The sun is usually worked into the pattern in subtle ways, with the General of the temple wearing the obvious sun patterns. Ceremonial items tend to reflect the appearance of the sun and summer sky.

    Casual Wear tends to be just blue with yellow trim. Though the wealthy tend to spring for colors closer to the church robes. Most priests of lower rank have these blue and yellow robes to help denote their rank in the church.

Holy Texts

Sun Guardian This text ha within it passages about how Appaliunas was appointed as Guardian of the sun. It also includes his earning of his title as General of the Gods. Other than those things it mostly discusses his viewpoint on numerous subjects and also how to hand his temple forts.

Holidays

High Sun: Melina 21. This day is the longest one in the year and is always celebrated with a great feast. It tends to also be a very joyous day with a great deal of celebration.

Day of Remembrance: Kirsi 10. This is a day set aside to recall the Fiend War and all the lives lost during that dark time. It has been expanded as a way for communities and leaders to honor those who have fallen in war or while guarding those they love.

Aphorism

Battle rarely goes the way that is expected: Battles of any type (combat or social) requires some preparation. It also requires one to be able to adapt as the battle flows

Relations with other Religions

    Appaliunas is a touch stern in carrying out his duties and as such can sometimes have trouble dealing with the wilder deities. Until after the war with the fiends he also had little use for what he viewed as soft healers. This has changed after seeing how sorely they were needed to save the wounded. He now orders many of his followers to learn how to heal people on the battlefield, so that more may live to old age.

    Appaliunas calls a very unusual god as his closest friend, or at least unusual given his usual views on things. Appaliunas calls Herne as his closest friend and a good drinking buddy. This is despite their sometimes frequent and loud arguments. Appaliunas is swift and fierce in defending his friend.

    For the most part only the fiends have to worry of incurring his ire. The only other thing he abhors more are the undead and those who harm other under the light of the sun.

Realm

    Like most of the gods he holds two homes, one in the Celestial Realm and one in the Mortal Realm. The one in the Celestial has a grand mansion at the center of it and serves as the home of many of his follower. It is surrounded by grand gardens that those here are free to roam, but any formal meeting with him requires an appointment.

    On the Mortal Realm he occupies a forest in Eisgen Norden. There he is a fierce guardian of that forest. No undead or fiends may enter the forest as he refuses to tolerate such intrusions into his home. The home is more along the lines of a cottage here, but just as richly appointed as his mansion.

Planar Allies

Helidoro: A Celestial Eagle with the ability to alter his size. He also possess’ the ability to speak with others as befits his role amongst the celestial eagles. His feathers tend to gleam like the sun when in full rage.

Elena: A vulpinal agathion who is unique for her larger size. She has several other unique traits that set her apart from others her kind. She frequently helps serve those in meetings and uses it as a way to interject information at times useful to either side of the meeting.

Soliel: A unique celestial that resembles a strix in appearance. She is a mix of ebony and golden feathers. She acts as his Herald when he needs to dispatch a someone and it has to be of high rank without a personal visit.

Archetypes that best fit a follower

Battle Scout (Ranger)

Divine Strategist (Cleric)

Holy Tactician (Paladin)

Tactician (Fighter)