Solonor Thelandira
Encyclopedia
In the Dungeons & Dragons
campaign setting
Forgotten Realms
, Solonor Thelandira is the elven
god of hunting, archery, and survival in wild and harsh places. He teaches his followers the arts of hunting; including archery, moving unseen and hiding in wild places. He watches over the borders of wilderness and farmed land and seeks to maintain the balance between them. His symbol is a silver arrow with green fletching, and his sacred animal is the stag.
In many campaign setting
s, the elven pantheon of gods (also known as the Seldarine) consists of the leader Corellon Larethian
, as well as Aerdrie Faenya
, Deep Sashelas
, Erevan Ilesere
, Fenmarel Mestarine
, Hanali Celanil
, Labelas Enoreth
, Rillifane Rallathil
, Sehanine Moonbow
, Shevarash, and Solonor Thelandira. Other elven gods may be present in different campaign settings.
's article "The Elven Point of View," in Dragon
#60 (TSR, 1982). In Dragon #92 (December 1984), Gary Gygax
indicated this as one of the deities legal for the Greyhawk
setting. He also appeared in the original Unearthed Arcana
(1985).
Solonor Thelandira was detailed in the book Monster Mythology
(1992), including details about his priesthood. His role in the cosmology of the Planescape
campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground
(1996). He received a very detailed description for his role in the Forgotten Realms
in Demihuman Deities
(1998). He is described as one of the good deities that celestials
can serve in the supplement Warriors of Heaven (1999).
Solonor Thelandira's role in the Forgotten Realms is revisited in Faiths and Pantheons
(2002).
. In fact, some say Fenmarel and Solonor are brothers. The Great Archer works with Shevarash to defend elven homelands from the drow but does not have that god's hatred and bitterness of heart. Solonor's advocacy of sport hunting draws him into conflict with Rillifane Rallathil
, who believes in hunting for survival only. Despite this, Solonor strongly believes in the balance of nature, and instructs his followers to avoid sport hunting in forests Rillifane protects.
Among the non-elven powers, Solonor is closely allied with other deities concerned with the natural world, including Skerrit
the Forester, and the various Animal Lords, particularly those concerned with hunting.
Solonor despises powers that favor despoliation over nature, and actively opposes the efforts of such gods and their followers. His greatest foes are Lolth
and the Queen of Air and Darkness and the Unseelie Court.
, Highfolk
, Sunndi
, and the Duchy of Ulek; or in realms with large elven populations, such as Ahlissa, Geoff
, Keoland, and Veluna
.
Solonor is primarily revered by elven and half-elven rangers, hunters, woodsmen, and fighters. In particular, elven hunters appeal to him for better catches of game and elven warriors trapped in hostile territory call on him for aid. In recent centuries a few humans, primarily hunters, have joined his faith as well.
campaign setting
, Solonor is also closely allied with Silvanus the Oakfather, and Mielikki
, Lady of Forests, another goddess with which he has been romantically linked.
His greatest foes are Malar and Talos.
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
campaign setting
Campaign setting
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...
Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
, Solonor Thelandira is the elven
Elf (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, elves are a fictional humanoid race that is one of the primary races available for play as player characters. Elves are renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the sword and bow...
god of hunting, archery, and survival in wild and harsh places. He teaches his followers the arts of hunting; including archery, moving unseen and hiding in wild places. He watches over the borders of wilderness and farmed land and seeks to maintain the balance between them. His symbol is a silver arrow with green fletching, and his sacred animal is the stag.
In many campaign setting
Campaign setting
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...
s, the elven pantheon of gods (also known as the Seldarine) consists of the leader Corellon Larethian
Corellon Larethian
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Corellon Larethian is the leader of the elven pantheon, and the god of Magic, Music, Arts, Crafts, Poetry, and Warfare. Corellon is also considered a member of the default D&D pantheon. He is the creator and preserver of the elven race, and governs those...
, as well as Aerdrie Faenya
Aerdrie Faenya
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Aerdrie Faenya is the elven goddess of Air, Weather, Freedom, Impulse, Fertility, and Birds.Her symbol is a cloud with a bird silhouette.-Publication history:...
, Deep Sashelas
Deep Sashelas
In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Deep Sashelas is the elf patron deity of aquatic elves. He is also a god of creation, knowledge, beauty, and magic...
, Erevan Ilesere
Erevan Ilesere
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Erevan Ilesere is the elven deity of Mischief, Change, Rogues and Changelings. Erevan is a fickle, utterly unpredictable god who can change his appearance at will. His symbol is a nova star with asymmetrical rays.-Publication history:Erevan Ilesere was...
, Fenmarel Mestarine
Fenmarel Mestarine
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Fenmarel Mestarine is the elven deity of feral elves , outcast elves, scapegoats and solitude...
, Hanali Celanil
Hanali Celanil
In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Hanali Celanil is the elf deity of Romantic Love and Beauty. Her symbol is a gold heart.-Publication history:...
, Labelas Enoreth
Labelas Enoreth
Labelas Enoreth is an elven deity in many Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings. In the Forgotten Realms, he is the Lord of the Continuum who governs the orderly passage of time and guards against those who would alter the path of history. Together with Sehanine Moonbow he oversees the long life...
, Rillifane Rallathil
Rillifane Rallathil
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Rillifane Rallathil is the elven god of Nature, and patron deity of wood elves. His symbol is an oak tree...
, Sehanine Moonbow
Sehanine Moonbow
In many Dungeons and Dragons campaign settings, Sehanine Moonbow is the elven goddess of the moons. She is one of the more powerful members of the Seldarine. The Lady of Dreams actively opposes the nefarious schemes of the Spider Queen and the other drow powers. She is said to be the wife of...
, Shevarash, and Solonor Thelandira. Other elven gods may be present in different campaign settings.
Publication history
Solonor Thelandira was first detailed in Roger E. MooreRoger E. Moore
Roger E. Moore is a designer of role-playing games. He is best known for his long-running tenure as editor of Dragon magazine, and was the founding editor of Dungeon magazine.-Early life:...
's article "The Elven Point of View," in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#60 (TSR, 1982). In Dragon #92 (December 1984), Gary Gygax
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....
indicated this as one of the deities legal for the Greyhawk
Greyhawk
Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
setting. He also appeared in the original Unearthed Arcana
Unearthed Arcana
Unearthed Arcana is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
(1985).
Solonor Thelandira was detailed in the book Monster Mythology
Monster Mythology
Monster Mythology is a sourcebook for the second edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Released by TSR in 1992 and written by Carl Sargent, with interior illustrations by Terry Dykstra, John and Laura Lakey, and Keith Parkinson, Monster Mythology was released as a companion volume for...
(1992), including details about his priesthood. His role in the cosmology of the Planescape
Planescape
Planescape is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by Zeb Cook. The Planescape setting was published in 1994...
campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground
On Hallowed Ground
On Hallowed Ground is an accessory book for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, for the Planescape campaign setting.-Contents:This book contains information about deities' planar domains from 20 separate pantheons...
(1996). He received a very detailed description for his role in the Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
in Demihuman Deities
Demihuman Deities
Demihuman Deities is a Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition: Forgotten Realms campaign accessory, published by Wizards of the Coast. The book was designed by Eric L. Boyd...
(1998). He is described as one of the good deities that celestials
Celestial (Dungeons & Dragons)
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....
can serve in the supplement Warriors of Heaven (1999).
Solonor Thelandira's role in the Forgotten Realms is revisited in Faiths and Pantheons
Faiths and Pantheons
Faiths and Pantheons is a campaign accessory for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons, for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.-Contents:...
(2002).
Description
Solonor is never in one place for long, as he is always hunting. His magical bow can fire as far as the horizon and his quiver that never empties. He hunts not to kill for killings sake but to maintain the balance of nature and to destroy evil. He does not close with foes, but tracks them and shoots from a distance. He can create an arrow of slaying, and if this strikes home it will kill all enemies. Many fiends have fallen to a single shot.Relationships
Solonor is on good terms with his fellow Seldarine, especially with Fenmarel MestarineFenmarel Mestarine
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Fenmarel Mestarine is the elven deity of feral elves , outcast elves, scapegoats and solitude...
. In fact, some say Fenmarel and Solonor are brothers. The Great Archer works with Shevarash to defend elven homelands from the drow but does not have that god's hatred and bitterness of heart. Solonor's advocacy of sport hunting draws him into conflict with Rillifane Rallathil
Rillifane Rallathil
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Rillifane Rallathil is the elven god of Nature, and patron deity of wood elves. His symbol is an oak tree...
, who believes in hunting for survival only. Despite this, Solonor strongly believes in the balance of nature, and instructs his followers to avoid sport hunting in forests Rillifane protects.
Among the non-elven powers, Solonor is closely allied with other deities concerned with the natural world, including Skerrit
Skerrit
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Skerrit is the deity worshipped by the centaur race. Skerrit is also known as the "Forester." His symbol is an oak growing from an acorn.-Publication history:...
the Forester, and the various Animal Lords, particularly those concerned with hunting.
Solonor despises powers that favor despoliation over nature, and actively opposes the efforts of such gods and their followers. His greatest foes are Lolth
Lolth
Lolth is a fictional goddess in the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Lolth , the Demon Queen of Spiders, is the chief goddess of drow elves...
and the Queen of Air and Darkness and the Unseelie Court.
Realm
Solonor lives in the realm of Arvandor on the plane of Arborea. His domain is near the Pale Tree, a white tree with silver leaves thought to have mystical powers.Dogma
Walk in harmony with nature and oppose the efforts of those who would disturb her delicate balance. Preserve the wild places from excessive encroachment, and work with those who would settle the land to preserve the beauty that first attracted them. Hunt only for sustenance, culling the old and the weak from the herd so that all species may prosper. Like an arrow in flight, it is difficult to arrest the consequences of an action. Choose your targets carefully, for an ill-considered action can have a long-reaching impact.Worshippers
Solonor is worshipped chiefly in elf-ruled lands, such as CeleneCelene (Greyhawk)
In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Celene, properly known as the Faerie Kingdom of Celene, is a political state, and the most prominent elven nation in eastern Oerik.-History:...
, Highfolk
Highfolk
In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Highfolk, properly known as the Free Town of Highfolk, is a political city-state of the Flanaess...
, Sunndi
Sunndi
In the fictional World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Sunndi is a political state situated in the region of the Flanaess. Sunndi was originally given a very brief description by Gary Gygax in 1980's World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting...
, and the Duchy of Ulek; or in realms with large elven populations, such as Ahlissa, Geoff
Geoff (Greyhawk)
Geoff is a fictional land that is part of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Geoff was first described in 1983 in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting, where Geoff is properly known as the Grand Duchy of Geoff, and is a ducal political state of the fictional continent called the...
, Keoland, and Veluna
Veluna
In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Veluna, properly known as the Archclericy of Veluna, is a theocratic political state of the Flanaess.-History:...
.
Solonor is primarily revered by elven and half-elven rangers, hunters, woodsmen, and fighters. In particular, elven hunters appeal to him for better catches of game and elven warriors trapped in hostile territory call on him for aid. In recent centuries a few humans, primarily hunters, have joined his faith as well.
Clergy
Priests of Solonor dress in elven chainmail and silver, wearing robes with leaf-green hoods. His priests pray and meditate when the moon reaches its highest point.Temples and rituals
Services to Solonor are conducted in deep forests. Monthly sacrifices of hunting trophies are made to him.Forgotten Realms
In the Forgotten RealmsForgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
campaign setting
Campaign setting
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...
, Solonor is also closely allied with Silvanus the Oakfather, and Mielikki
Mielikki (Forgotten Realms)
Mielikki is a fictional goddess in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Mielikki is the goddess of autumn, druids, dryads, forests, forest creatures, and rangers. Her symbol is a gold-horned, blue-eyed unicorn's head facing left, and her...
, Lady of Forests, another goddess with which he has been romantically linked.
His greatest foes are Malar and Talos.
Additional reading
- Conforti, Steven, ed. Living GreyhawkLiving GreyhawkLiving Greyhawk was a massively shared Dungeons and Dragons living campaign administered by RPGA that ran from 2000 to 2008. The campaign setting and storyline were based on Gary Gygax's World of Greyhawk setting, and used the Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition rules...
Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign, version 2.0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online:http://www.wizards.com/rpga/downloads/LG_Deities.zip
- Sargent, CarlCarl SargentCarl L. Sargent is a British author of several roleplaying game-based products and novels.-Early career:...
. "The Elven Pantheon - Completed!" DragonDragon (magazine)Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#191. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1993.
- Living Greyhawk Journal no. 3 - "Gods of Oerth"