Noms Alternatifs
Description
Ailuros is the wild and free goddess of moonlit nights and joyous hunting, a force for chaos and the patron of the alseid. With her hounds at her side, her lithe form, and her glowing moonlit arrows, she is sometimes thought of as half-fey herself, a member of the Great Hunt. She is a goddess of excellence and desire, the patron goddess of perfumers, alchemists, and those whose trade is beauty. With the scent of the trees and woodland streams in her hair, she and her hounds hunt wolves, foxes, and wild boar, protecting the livestock and crops of farmers and shepherds as well as driving away vermin.
Her hair is golden, her clothes made for the hunt. A solar or lunar disk hovers over her head, and she wears bracelets in the form of deer or serpents.
Worshippers
Ailuros attracts a strange medley of worshippers in keeping with her wild and freedom-loving nature: alchemists, trappers, dancers, perfumers, tailors, and vintners adore her as do many among the alseid, catfolk, elfmarked, gnomes, and halflings. Gnolls occasionally offer her sacrifices, though they tend to call her Bastet.
Symbols and Books
Ailuros's symbol is a deer, her sacred animal. She is also often depicted with bow and arrow, her hunting weapons, and with her hounds.
Ailuros has relatively few sacred texts. The Path of the Huntress is a volume of hymns, parables, hunting lore, and even poetry sacred to her followers. The Grove of Sirens is a collection of esoteric prophecies, revelations, perfumer's lore, and guidance for blessing the making of incense and guiding hunters.
Shrines and Priests
Ailuros accepts only women into the priesthood, though men are welcome as worshippers. Some of her priestesses are alseid, werewolves, or bearfolk, and many are also alchemists, hunters, rangers, or trackers.
Her greatest shrine in the Shadow Realm is the Scented Church of Merrymead, where the Fragrant Servant Sayzanette Belleflor leads the faithful, most of them bearfolk, in prayer and ritual.
Masks
Ailuros is called Bastet in Corremel, and she is often associated with the Hunter. Sometimes she is associated with gods of the eastern winds or with draconic gods of fragrance, gambling, and luck.
Other Faiths
Temples of Ailuros and her priestesses are on excellent terms with worshippers of various elven gods, and her priestesses are sometimes elves. Anu-Akma's priests respect those of Ailuros, who provide perfumes and incense used in the death god's rites. Baccholon treats her with respect and fondness. The Hunter also often seems to find common cause with Ailuros.
Her enemies are the dark goddess Marena (who perverts both lust and death), the moon goddess Hecate (who dares intrude on Ailuros's oversight of the moon), and the jealous faith of Kupkoresh (whose followers consider Bastet a demonic abomination, not a goddess at all). Her faith despises various vermin-cults, such as reptilian gods, rat cults, and the like.
Ailuros in Midgard
Ailuros is popular in the Grand Duchy of Bourgund, where stands the High Temple of Perfumed Night. This temple is the starting point of a shadow road into the city of Merrymead. The bearfolk know of this route to the mortal world, though they rarely mention it.
What Ailuros Demands
Take pleasure in life and live for the day. Hunt and kill your food when you can. Take joy in destroying serpents. Visit the perfumers frequently and offer up gifts of scent and spice to the goddess's altars. To divine the future, read the entrails of an enormous, unblemished animal, and sacrifice such a creature before any great endeavor.