Lady of the Hunt

The Great Huntress

THE DEITY

Name(s): THE GREAT HUNTRESS, BULLS-EYE, THE MERRY MARKSMAN, THE TENACIOUS BOWMAN

Spheres of Influence: The Great Huntress is the deity of hunting, archery and patience.

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Spells Returned: At Dawn

Favored Weapon: Spear

Appearance: Bulls-Eye may appear as a giant hawk or a young, athletic woman with shoulder length brown hair. She wears furs and a cloak of feathers. The Merry Marksman possesses a longbow (“Heartseeker”) and shortsword (“Swiftkill”), and (according to some accounts) occasionally possesses a spear as well. Her constant companion is a large hawk named Rotakk.

THE CHURCH

Worship: Regular worship of the Great Huntress takes place in a (preferably) wooden temple, usually long and narrow in shape, and bordering a forest. Worshippers hear the service standing, as is common, and chant a mantra while the worship hall fills. Once full, the clerics begin the service to the solemn tune of harps (a sacred instrument revered for its shape and use of strings, both similar to a bow). Altars to the Great Huntress can also be found in the dwellings of devoted woodsmen.

Holy Symbol: A hawk with spread wings against a green background.

Holy Days: Any full moon is a holy day for the Golden Arrows. On each of six annual holy days, the Temple of the Patient Arrow meets underneath a full Pelselond, usually in an open field. Clerics and worshippers begin informally with archery practice, and then have contests until only one is left. The losers award the winner with praise and with gifts, and the winner wears a ceremonial bracer for the duration of the service. He also has a small part in the ceremonies that follow.

Holy Colors: Green and brown.

Holy Animal: The accurate, darting movements of the hawk make it much revered by the Golden Arrows. Their holy book prohibits worshippers from killing hawks.

Raiment: Clergy of the Temple of the Patient Arrow are oriented to working and living in the wilderness. Many have levels as a ranger. They tend to wear earthy green and brown robes, cloaks or tunics, along with their holy symbol embroidered over the left breast of their garb.

Special Requirements: Clerics of the Great Huntress consider themselves to be stewards over the animal wildlife and take great care in identifying intelligent beasts. Any such beast may not be hunted or eaten (although killing it in self-defense is allowed) by the cleric and his allies. A cleric who accidentally kills an intelligent beast must make appropriate acts of atonement. These teachings apply only to those beasts that might otherwise be mistaken for animals. The church itself has no special teachings on the use of tracking and archery against humans and humanoids, other than prohibitions on outright murder and hunting humans or humanoids for entertainment.

Advancement: Advancement within the Temple of the Patient Arrow is by defeating superiors in archery or hunting competitions. A Golden Arrow receives a golden-tipped arrow at each rank for each rank attained. These arrows are masterwork arrows with a value of 10 gp each, although most Golden Arrows would be loathe actually selling them or using them in combat.

Stalkers must have at least 2 ranks in Craft (bowmaking).

The Pure Shot’s awarded magical item is always a +1 longbow of distance. The follower assigned to the Pure Shot is a warrior instead of an adept.

True Shots must have a base attack bonus of at least +5.

Hawk Eyes must have at least 10 ranks in Craft (bowmaking). A Hawk Eye gains a +2 bonus on Spot and Survival checks.

Hunters must have a base attack bonus of at least +7. A Hunter’s stipend increases to 200 gp per month.

A High Hunter must have the Weapon Specialization feat (either longbow or shortbow).

A Great Hunter must have crafted a masterwork bow. A Great Hunter’s second follower is a ranger with the archery combat style. An elven or half-elven Great Hunter may instead gain an arcane archer (a prestige class in the Dungeon Master’s Guide) if the follower is of sufficient level to meet the class prerequisites, but this has only rarely happened in the past century.

Sacrifices: Golden Arrows must sacrifice an arrow with a gold or silver arrowhead, plus fresh game, during the full moon (Veshemo).

Friends and Allies:

The Face of the Free: “The Messengers of Liberty respect the wildlife that nourishes them. They never harvest more than they need.”

The Conventicle of the Great Tree: “The Brotherhood of the Bear understand the beauty and balance of nature, but they hope to control it.”

The Temple of the Stars: “In their travels, the Journeymen often pass through our lands… They respect the world that they travel through, and enjoy its fruits in moderation.”

Foes and Enemies:

The Courts of Inequity: “The Covetous Ones take whatever they want, and leave nothing to balance that which they take.”

The House of Vice: “The Vicelords find perverse uses for all of Tellene’s creatures.”

The Conventicle of Affliction: “The Pestilent Ones push the balance of nature toward destruction, and away from rebirth.”

The Founder’s Creation: “The Builders of Law destroy nature by building their stone abominations. They construct cities using wood stolen from the forest, destroying the wilds to make unneeded room for themselves.”

The Fraternal Order of Aptitude: “The Brothers in Logic value knowledge over truth. I feel they would destroy all nature merely to prove one of their theories, not even considering whether doing so is right or wrong.”

The House of Shackles: “Freedom is a natural state of being, and any who oppose it oppose nature itself.”

Major Temples: Important centers of worship for the Temple of the Patient Arrow can be found in Cosolen, Lathlanian, Bet Kalamar, Segeleta, Sobeteta, Kaleta, and Oloseta.

Temples feature wood construction whenever local materials allow it. The temple should be adjacent to a forest. If that’s not possible, the clerics should plant and maintain an orchard at least an acre in size next to the temple. Columns inside the temple resemble tree trunks, and the ceiling is painted to resemble a clear blue sky.

Besides the orchard, the temple should maintain fields for archery practice. Followers may use temple workshops for making bows and arrows. Like the Halls of the Valiant, the Temples of the Patient Arrow often maintain a hawk. The Golden Arrows, however, house only one at a time and prefer a small hawk like the sparrowhawk or kestrel.

Shyta-Thybaj, the location of the faith’s seat, sees occasional visits by a unique worshipper. A redeemed erinyes known as Sorfeis claims to be the best archer in the Lower Planes, and she only uses arrows from this temple. Sorfeis has been known to return enchanted arrows to the seat’s clerics in exchange for their services, and these arrows have been shared with others and thus distributed around Thybaj.

Huntmaster Syjem is not only the most accurate shot in the faith; he is also the best hunter and outdoorsman. Unfortunately, he is not as talented when it comes to diplomacy or knowledge of the faith. He continues to embarrass clerics who have more seniority and far more knowledge of matters of faith with his inconsistencies and blatant errors regarding dogma and form. While no fledgling, Syjem is barely into his forties—still young enough to lead the faith for a long, long time.

Sayings: “The arrow shaft is the cornerstone of life.” - “May your aim be true.” - “Good things come to those who are patient.” - “Patience is a virtue for which all should aim.” - “In life, as in hunting, wait for the right shot.” - “I will wait for you until the deer takes up the bow.” - “A well-placed arrow will pierce the heart.”