The Gods: The Tlomitlányal
Avánthe
Mistress of Heaven, Maid of Beauty, Mother of Devotion, Wife (in a nonphysical sense) to Hnálla.
Avánthe seeks a smooth-running and well-ordered world, one in which all things flow gently along towards Hnálla’s final Perfect Light. She stresses a patterned rhythm of cooperation and symbiosis, and her ceremonies commemorate the cycles of nature: the spring, sowing, the rains, and the harvests. Avánthe aids women in all circumstances, those who maintain the clan and the community, men and women who are devout pillars of society, the supporters of justice, and those who struggle against Change.
Her symbol is a circle with rays descending from it. She has 93 Aspects, and her priests wear sky-blue robes and chaplets of gold, while her priestesses wear similar robes but have headdresses of blue-lacquered Chlén-hide and golden bracelets and armbands.
Power Centres
Avánthe is popular throughout Tsolyánu, but especially in the central regions along the Mssúma River.
Factions
The Girdle of Purity society of the Temple of Avánthe desires stronger, more militant measures and an active role in politics.
Dilinála, Cohort of Avánthe
The Cohort of Avánthe is Dilinála : the Lovely Maiden of the Turquoise Crown, Aid of Lovers, Solace to the Weary and Handmaiden of Avánthe. She is ‘Woman as Woman Alone’: femininity without the polarity of male versus female; the innocent virgin, the beloved daughter, the loyal sister, the platonic confidante to whom a lover may tell his yearnings, the wise woman of many years, and even woman in love with woman. She is represented as a demure woman of great beauty and chaste purity holding out her hands to comfort the worshipper; her emblem is a hand extended, palm down, in silver and blue on a light blue field. She has only 9 known aspects.