Bralm
| Game background | |
|---|---|
| Title(s) | The Flying Queen, the Hive Goddess, the Toiling Lady |
| Home plane | Infernal Battlefield of Acheron |
| Power level | Lesser |
| Alignment | Neutral (lawful neutral/lawful evil tendencies) |
| Portfolio | Insects, Industriousness |
| Domains | Animal, Community, Law, Pact, Strength |
| Superior | none |
| Design details | |
In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Bralm is the Suel goddess of Insects and Industriousness. Her symbol is a giant wasp in front of an insect swarm
Publication history
Lenard Lakofka created Bralm.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
Bralm was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax.[1]
Bralm was further detailed by Lenard Lakofka in Dragon #92 (1984), in the article "Gods of the Suel Pantheon V."[2]
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
Bralm was one of the deities described in the From the Ashes set (1992), for the Greyhawk campaign.[3]
Bralm is described as one of the good deities that celestials can serve in the supplement Warriors of Heaven (1999).[4]
Bralm is further detailed in The Scarlet Brotherhood (1999).[5]
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)
Bralm's role in the 3rd edition Greyhawk setting was defined in the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000).[6]
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)
Her priesthood is detailed for this edition in Complete Divine (2004).[7]
Description
Bralm is depicted as a middle-aged woman with dark blonde hair, sometimes with insect wings on her back. She fights with a magical staff. She also takes the form of an ankheg, giant wasp, or giant scorpion.
Relationships
Bralm is friendly with the rest of the Suel pantheon. However, she has no close allies in the Pantheon because she judges others on their ability, having no concern with age or status. She has great enmity for Trithereon because of his individualism, and she avoids deities who have dominion over fire, like Joramy and Pyremius, because she dislikes that element. In the Suel pantheon's many battles between lawful deities and chaotic deities, Bralm has always sided with Wee Jas and the other gods of order. Heironeous has a longstanding enmity with Bralm, and she has a strong if sometimes uneasy alliance with his brother Hextor.
Realm
Bralm's realm, known as the Hive Fortress, is in the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron, in the layer of Avalas.
Dogma
Bralm teaches that everyone in society has their proper position that people are obligated to master even if they don't understand their importance in the greater scheme. She instructs her followers to obey those with higher social positions and greater knowledge. She urges contentment in hard labor, and compares her followers to insects in a hive.
Worshippers
Bralm is prayed to for aid and blessings in various sorts of labor, especially those kinds that involve large numbers of people such as construction, farming, and mining. She is worshipped both by slave drivers and by slaves who hope to be rewarded for their service in the afterlife. She is a major deity in the Empire of the Scarlet Brotherhood and the Hold of the Sea Princes, and her faith is strongest in hot regions such as Hepmonaland and the Vast Swamp. Suel nomads in the Sea of Dust hold her in high regard. Bralm is popular with farmers both because of her patronage of labor and her control over harmful insects.
Some of Bralm's churches worship insects or keep giant insects as pets.
Clergy
Bralm's priests dress in robes of dull brown or yellow, decorated with insect designs. Jewelry of gold, black, or green metal is common on ceremonial occasions. They act as overseers in complex tasks: in the military, in farms and mines, as slave drivers and so on. Within the Scarlet Brotherhood, a priest of Bralm speaks at the groundbreaking of anything larger than a private home. They enjoy imposing order for its own sake, especially on independent-minded folk. Their favored weapon is the quarterstaff. They never use fire-related spells.
Clerics of Bralm work with wizards of the Scarlet Brotherhood in their monster-breeding programs and in summoning sea monsters to attack enemy ships.
Temples
Shrines to Bralm are built at the mouth of every new mine in the Empire of the Scarlet Brotherhood. The Temple of the Bee in the Tilva Jungle worships Bralm's insectoid aspect; a giant queen bee in the temple is rumored to be regarded as a sacred animal. They have been producing jars of honey with curative properties.
Holy days
The holiest day of the year is the hottest day in Goodmonth, when clerics anoint themselves with exotic scents, build strange structures from sticks and mud, and release small swarms of insects that cling to their scented followers without stinging.
Rituals
Prayers to Bralm are recited at twilight and dawn, when the insects are most active. During all ceremonies, a high priest wears a gold pectoral with crystal wings sprouting from the back.
References
- ↑ Gygax, Gary. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (TSR, 1983)
- ↑ Lakofka, Lenard. "Gods of the Suel Pantheon V." Dragon #92 (TSR, 1984)
- ↑ Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes (TSR, 1992)
- ↑ Perkins, Christopher. Warriors of Heaven (TSR, 1999)
- ↑ Reynolds, Sean K. The Scarlet Brotherhood (TSR, 1999)
- ↑ Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
- ↑ Noonan, David. Complete Divine (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)
Additional reading
- Brown, Anne. Player's Guide (TSR, 1998).
- Conforti, Steven, ed. Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign, version 2.0 (Wizards of the Coast, 2005). Available online:
- Gygax, Gary, and Frank Mentzer. The Temple of Elemental Evil (TSR, 1985).
- Living Greyhawk Journal no. 3 - "Gods of Oerth"
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