Atroa (Dungeons & Dragons)

Atroa
	World of Greyhawk character
First appearance	World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983)
Created by	Gary Gygax
Information
Race	Deity
Gender	Female
Title	The Sad Maiden
Alignment	Neutral Good
Home	Beastlands
Power level	Lesser
Portfolio	Spring, East Wind, Renewal
Domains	Air, Good, Plant, Renewal, Sun
Superior	Velnius

Last updated April 30, 2019

‹ The template Infobox character is being considered for merging. ›

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Atroa (ah-TRO-ah) is the Oeridian goddess of Spring, East Wind, and Renewal. Her holy symbol is a heart with an air-glyph within, or a kara tree full of ripe, red fruit.

A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place. Usually a campaign setting is designed for a specific game or a specific genre of game. There are numerous campaign settings available both in print and online. In addition to published campaign settings available for purchase, many game masters create their own settings, often referred to as "homebrew" settings or worlds.

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997. It was derived from miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail serving as the initial rule system. D&D's publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry.

Fantasy Genre of literature, film, television and other artforms

Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction set in a fictional universe, often inspired by real world myth and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became literature and drama. From the twentieth century it has expanded further into various media, including film, television, graphic novels and video games.

Publication history

Atroa was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax.^[1]

The World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting and the World of Greyhawk Fantasy World Setting are two closely related publications from TSR, Inc. that detail the fictional World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game. Both publications were authored by Gary Gygax, and they were the first stand-alone offerings to provide detailed, comprehensive information regarding a D&D campaign setting.

Ernest Gary Gygax was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) with Dave Arneson.

Atroa was one of the deities described in the From the Ashes set (1992), for the Greyhawk campaign.^[2] Atroa is described as one of the good deities that celestials can serve in the supplement Warriors of Heaven (1999).^[3] Atroa was featured in the article series on the Oeridian Lesser Gods in Dragon #263 (1999).^[4]

<i>From the Ashes</i> (Dungeons & Dragons) book by Carl Sargent

From the Ashes is a supplement for Dungeons & Dragons's World of Greyhawk campaign setting.

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, celestials are a class of creatures and monsters known as outsiders who are of wholly good alignment.

Dragon was one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products; Dungeon was the other.

Atroa's role in the 3rd edition Greyhawk setting was defined in the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000).^[5]

The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (LGG) is a sourcebook for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Despite the title, the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer is not exclusive to the Living Greyhawk Campaign. Other publications linked to the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer have treated it as superior to the D&D Gazetteer and used it in the D&D Gazetteer's place.

Description

Atroa appears as a fresh-faced blonde woman, often with an eagle perching upon her shoulder. With her sling Windstorm, she can strike the most distant foe, and with Readying's Dawn, her spherical glass talisman, she is able to melt all ice in sight.

Relationships

Atroa is the daughter of Procan and cousin of Merikka. As one of the Velaeri, she is sister to Velnius, Telchur, Sotillion, and Wenta. She once loved the god Kurell, but he rejected her to pursue his brother Zilchus's lover, her sister Sotillion. She is currently romantically linked with Fharlanghn. She is allied with Ehlonna, Phaulkon, Velnius, and her sisters, but opposed to her brother Telchur. To most other gods, Atroa is indifferent.

Procan is a fictional deity in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Procan is the Oeridian god of seas, sea life, salt, sea weather, and navigation. His holy symbol is a gold and coral trident above or piercing a cresting wave.

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Velnius is the Oeridian god of the Sky and Weather. His holy symbol is a bird perching upon a cloud.

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Telchur is the Oeridian god of Winter, Cold, and the North Wind. His symbol is a leafless tree in a field of snow.

Realm

Atroa's realm, the Grove of Perpetual Spring, is in the layer of Brux in the Beastlands. She is also thought to spend time in the realm of Morninglory in Elysium.

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the Beastlands is a neutral (chaotic) good-aligned plane of existence. It is one of a number of alignment-based Outer Planes that form part of the standard Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) cosmology, used in the Greyhawk and Planescape campaign settings, as well as some editions of the Forgotten Realms setting.

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Elysium, or more fully, the Blessed Fields of Elysium, is a strongly good-aligned plane of existence. It is one of a number of alignment-based Outer Planes that form part of the standard Dungeons & Dragons(D&D) cosmology, used in the Planescape, Greyhawk and some editions of the Forgotten Realms campaign settings.

Dogma

As Goddess of Spring, Atroa is the invigorating breath that awakens the world from its slumber. She gives the world new love and new life, renews old friendships, and plucks the heartstrings of lovers, travelers, and poets. The Sad Maiden promotes spring as a time for burying old feuds, repairing old items, and eliminating old biases. Spring, like the dawn, presages great things; Atroa urges her followers to look to the future with open minds and hearts in order to enjoy them to the fullest. They believe in taking responsibility for what they have begun, and nurturing what they have planted. It is a great sin in Atroa's faith to allow a plant to die because of neglect, or to allow a child to go hungry. They believe in the basic good of all people. Celibacy is frowned upon by Atroa, who encourages marriages and pregnancies. Pregnant priestesses of Atroa are considered the holiest of them all.

Worshippers

Atroa is usually worshipped with her siblings as part of the Velaeri, the Oeridian agricultural gods. She is thus revered by farmers and others who depend on the land's bounty.

There are two sects of the Atroan church: the Planterings and the Bearers. The Planterings concentrate on Atroa's seasonal aspect, working hard at farming, honoring the spring and preparing for winter. The Bearers concentrate on the aspect of renewal, revering the family and urging the proliferation of the human race. They run orphanages, and are usually women.

Clergy

Priests of Atroa tend to be optimistic and willing to try to experience new things. They are often wandering spirits, rarely spending more than a year in the same place. By nature, they are very forgiving and count every foe turned friend with pride. They love revisiting old friends and lovers nearly as much as traveling to new places. They are busiest in the spring, when they help plant crops. Many are midwives. Many Atroan priests love exploring strange locales, especially if it's been a while since their last journey. The sling is their favored weapon. Specialty priests of Atroa are known as Green Daughters or Green Sons.

Priests of Atroa typically wear simple farmers' clothing with green wide-brimmed hats. Often they wear green cloaks with red dots, and they customarily wear leather gloves for agricultural work. On formal occasions they wear green, knee-length robes with short sleeves and hoods.

Temples

Places of worship to Atroa are often dedicated to the Velaeri as a whole. The locations are found throughout Oeridian lands, including Ahlissa, the Bone March, the Gran March, Highfolk, Ratik, Sunndi, the County of Urnst, and Veluna. Though worship of the Velaeri is forbidden in the Theocracy of the Pale, they are honored in secret by many farmers and country folk.

Temples to Atroa specifically are usually small chapels or shrines, made of wood and with little decoration. They have many windows, which always face the east. Carved wooden images of Atroa sometimes stand in front of the altars, and bells ring out the hours.

The largest Atroan temple is the Temple of the Children in Gradsul, in Keoland, a large wooden building that competes with the Foaming Tower of Osprem in the same city for followers. Both churches share many followers, as most sailors want the blessing of both goddesses. The Temple of the Children is one of the greatest orphanages in Keoland.

The Trade Wind Chapel in High Mardreth in the County of Urnst is the second largest temple of Atroa. It has grown since the Greyhawk Wars, since much shipping has begun bypassing Nyrond for the Urnst States.

Rituals

Prayers are recited in the morning. The act of working in the fields is counted as prayer in itself, though devout worshipers of Atroa often recite the phrase "Blessed be this ground" over and over while doing so. Priests of Atroa give blessings at the occasion of births and weddings, and also preach at funerals with messages of hope.

Holy days

The week of Growfest is particularly important to Atroa and her faithful, when the clergy joins their flock in planting, followed by song, prayer, food, and drink in the evenings. The holiest day is the Spring Feast, on Growfest 4, which is set aside as a day of rest, prayer, and reflection. Her followers leave offerings to the goddess on Great Moon's Glory (Readying 11th), to beg her to come early and to request her brother Telchur to peacefully leave.

Related Research Articles

Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for Dungeons & Dragons—Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign predated it by over a year — the world of Greyhawk closely identified with the development of the game from 1972 until 2008. The world itself started as a simple dungeon under a castle designed by Gary Gygax for the amusement of his children and friends, but it rapidly expanded to include not only a complex multi-layered dungeon environment, but also the nearby city of Greyhawk, and eventually an entire world. In addition to the campaign world, which was published in several editions over twenty years, Greyhawk was also used as the setting for many adventures published in support of the game, as well as for RPGA's massively shared Living Greyhawk campaign from 2000–2008.

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References

↑ Gygax, Gary. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (TSR, 1983)
↑ Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes (TSR, 1992)
↑ Perkins, Christopher. Warriors of Heaven (TSR, 1999)
↑ Miller, Andy. "The Oeridian Lesser Gods, Part I: Atroa, Delleb, and Kurell." Dragon #263. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1999
↑ Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)