Medenis

God of fatherhood, forestry, and hunting.  Medenis is one of the eldest gods, being a deity of elvenkind in ancient days when the various ancestries of Keradrin's people lived largely apart from one another.  As the folk of Keradrin spread from their original homelands, met, mixed and melded, so too did the various pantheons of deities that stood over them. Medenis' marriage to Tanimaut, the human goddess of motherhood, agriculture and compassion, was one of the key steps in the unification of the pantheon.

The majority of Medenis' worshipers are still elves, particularly those who dwell in forest lands such as the vast Forest of Arduvei or the smaller realm of Arboria. Foresters and hunters of other ancestries also follow his faith. It is also common for both new fathers and widowers with younger children to seek the guidance and support to be found in Medenis' worship.

Medenis is most commonly depicted as a mature male elf, almost invariably with a bow in hand. His arrows, once loosed, never miss their target. He is sometimes seen as a stern god, though always just in his actions. He is as quick to forgive an honest penitent as he is to condemn the unrepentant sinner. Needless cruelty is one of the greatest sins in Medenis' faith, as is wastefulness. Therefore, hunting purely for sport or for trophies is a practice much frowned upon among his worshipers.

Ceremonies to honor Medenis are held in his temples and shrines at each full moon, and tend to be festive in nature; the most important of these is on the last full moon of autumn, when worshipers bring gifts and offerings of timber, furs, leather and meat. These are then used to sustain the temple or shrine and the clergy who serve there.

Temples and shrines dedicated to Medenis tend to be small and rustic, even in cities. The shrines of forest-dwelling elven worshipers are often located in special groves of trees, open to the sky and carefully tended over generations.

Medenis' symbols are a green oak leaf and a golden bow. His sacred animal is the weasel or ferret. He has been known to send omens and messages to his worshipers through a pair of ferrets, one white and one black.