| Talona | |
|---|---|
| Titles | Lady of Poison, Mistress of Disease |
| Gender | Female |
| Power Level | Intermediate Deity |
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil |
| Domains | Disease, Poison, Pestilence, Death |
| Holy Symbol | Three teardrops on a triangle |
| Favored Weapon | Unarmed strike (claws) |
| Cleric Domains | Death |
Talona is the goddess of disease, poison, and pestilence — one of the most reviled deities in the pantheon. She embodies the slow, creeping death of illness and the suffering of poisoning, finding beauty in the wasting away of living things. She is depicted as a withered old crone covered in sores and plague marks, and she is genuinely envious of more powerful deities who have not suffered her relative obscurity.
Despite her dark portfolio, Talona has a strange vulnerability — she desperately craves acknowledgment and love, which makes her both pitiable and dangerous. Her cruelty is in part the cruelty of someone who feels perpetually overlooked.
Followers
Talona’s followers include assassins who specialize in poison, physicians who have crossed into dark experimentation, and nihilists who see disease as nature’s great equalizer. Her worship is outlawed almost everywhere. Her clergy spread disease as acts of devotion and are considered among the most dangerous and hated individuals in the world. They tend to be resentful, isolated, and driven by a combination of genuine faith and deep personal bitterness.
Divine Relationships
Talona’s primary enemy is Chauntea, whose crops and communities she blights. She also opposes Lathander and all deities of healing and renewal. She has a strange, almost obsessive relationship with Loviatar, the goddess of pain — the two are sometimes described as rivals and sometimes as reluctant companions in shared dark purpose.