Tilla

[ripvanwormer]

Tilla
The Redeemer
Level, Alignment, and Sphere: 19th (Empyreal), CG, Thought
Symbol: A blue short sword surrounded by a yellow halo
Portfolio: Recklessness and secrecy, honor and madness, halfling nomads
Worshipped in: Hollow World, Five Shires, Davania
Appearance: Tilla manifests as a beautiful halfling woman wearing gold chainmail and carrying a sword of a blue crystalline substance.
History: Tilla was a mortal halfling who led a migration of wild hin from Davania to Skothar, seemingly purely for the sport of it, though some myths suggest her tribe was displaced by lizardfolk refugees. Leaving her people in the capable hands of her successor, Arthemis Booh, she resumed a life of adventure. Contradictory legends have her winning the love and friendship of the naga king Muchalinda while still in Davania and adventuring as a companion of Robert I before the founding of Thonia. She is even said to have been a companion of Korotiku during the banishment of the Night Spider. Tilla won the Diamond Orb of Tyche from the horde of the Diamond Dragon Insellageth and used some of the power from it to create her legendary crystal sword. With the aid of the orb and the sword she managed to destroy an accursed adamantine crown worn by an archvillain whose name and nature varies almost every time the tale is retold (some say it was the rakshasa maharajah Khara, while others say it was worn by the Emperor of the Serpentines or by the Night Spider). Some suspect that the varying nature of her legends is a result of a taboo among her followers against ever revealing to outsiders her true story. Some myths they will refuse outright to tell: the ones that touch on the suffering the Docrae went through at the hands of the Afridhi and the origins of the halfling power of denial.

While many of the descendants of the hin that Tilla brought to Skothar would become settled and domestic folk, adapting elements of local cultures including their religions, some hin remained wild and these Tilla cherished. After the Docrae clan was driven from their lands by the Afridhi she became the special patron of these wild hin, and the Docrae began to honor her above all other Immortals.

In 1000 AC she remains the patron of the Docrae in the Hollow World and she's sometimes honored as one of the High Heroes in the Five Shires, revered by hin pirates, adventurers, warriors, and thieves. Some wood imps and kubitts have come to look to her for guidance as well.
Personality: Tilla, like her followers, embodies contradictions. She can be a reckless daredevil one minute and a ghostly shadow the next. Other Immortals sometimes believe her to be mad, but her personality is so likable and humorous that her friends will follow her anywhere. They know that as mad as she may be, she'll always fall on the side of right.
Patron: Korotiku
Allies: Tyche, Korotiku, Raven
Enemies: Arachne Prime, Zugzul

Classic D&D Stats
Followers' Alignment: Any
Favored weapon: Short sword
Clerics' skills and powers: Clerics of Tilla gain a 10% chance to hide in shadows as a thief.

D&D 3E Stats
Domains: Esteem, Obscuration, Travel, and War
Favored weapon: Short sword
Source: Dave Arneson's Blackmoor (d20)

[Havard]

Nice!

Up til now I was basing myself on the previous speculations that Tilla could be a different identiy of Tyche, but to be honest that was never a perfect match. I am intrigued by this writeup. It raises quite a few questions about the history of Halflings.

-Havard

[ripvanwormer]

Thanks.

One part that I wasn't sure about was whether Tilla should have abandoned Mystara for a time. I had the idea that after the Docrae became assimilated into mainstream halfling culture, or perhaps after the Great Rain of Fire, Tilla turned her attention from Mystara to seed the outer planes with wild halflings and seek out the origin of the mysterious blackflame on the planes of energy and the dimension of nightmares. She only returned her awareness to the world when she heard an Old One had intervened in the Wrath of the Immortals.

But that would mean her cult was very new in the modern world, and it's unlikely very many people would know about her or revere her. So I was torn.

[Havard]

One idea we toyed with over at The Piazza was that some Docrae fled deep undergroud after the Great Rain of Fire, becoming a kind of Deep Halflings. Perhaps Tilla was preoccupied with this?


-Havard

[Yaztromo]

Another idea I'm toying with is Inuit-style Halflings, that are not settled anywere and move with seasons, ocean currents and their prey.
Not sure if it would be of some interest here.