Sohalla (Goddess)

Sohalla is the Naellysh god of mercy, empathy, and charity as well as the patron of pilgrims. While worship of Sohalla is thought to originate in Naellyn, the followers of Sohalla can currently be found in most known nations. Followers of Sohalla are nomadic in nature, often undertaking lengthy pilgrimages to far away lands in search of holy sites.

## Sohalla the Merciful

> Those who walk the path that She has walked and see the world as She has seen it know that She is still with us, walking the world over by our side. Where She treads, Her tears soak the soil and Her grace eases the suffering of the innocent.
>
> Sister Kaija, in “*The Path: Within and Without*”

The story of Sohalla begins in the realm of gods. Last-born of the gods and the youngest child of Aol and Tal, Sohalla was created to at last bring balance to Aol’s divine court. Aol, after millennia of interacting in various ways with the world of mortals and with his own godly kin, grew weary with the conflict between the two worlds and within his family and sought to end it forever. He believed that though mortals were doomed to destroy themselves endlessly, there was one quality that they possessed that confounded him. Empathy. He witnessed acts of mercy, of charity and even of self-sacrifice to each other despite their selfish programming and decided he should bring this gift back to his home before vowing never to return again to the realm of mortals. Thus, Sohalla was born.

For a time, there was peace amongst the gods. Sohalla was Aol’s mediator, finding common ground between even the most diametrically opposed gods. In settling godly disputes, Sohalla learned much about the realm of mortals. Profoundly curious, she requested leave from the godly realm to walk amongst the mortals, but her father forbade it. Despite this Sohalla felt drawn to the mortal world, as if a piece of her soul longed to return to a home she had never seen. Resolved to see the mortal world with her own eyes, she left the realm of the gods, and unbeknownst to her at the time, she would never return.

Upon arriving in the mortal realm, Sohalla assumed the form of a simple peasant woman and began to walk amongst the populace, traveling from village to village, city to city, nation to nation. Along the way her wonder turned to sadness as she discovered that most of the common people suffered terribly at the hands of warlords and criminals, poverty and sickness, as well as oppressive systems of governance. Her heart broke to see innocent people in pain, and she found pain in every corner of the world. She could feel the absence of the gods deeply. The mortals had been abandoned, and soon she found that she could not help but weep at their plight. Her tears fell to the ground as she traveled, marking her path across the land. For many years she traveled tirelessly, alleviating pain and suffering as best she could wherever she went. She began to accumulate followers inspired by her good deeds and kindness, who would become the First Flock of Sohalla. Eventually, as the years wore on and her corporeal form remained unblemished by time, her First Flock began to suspect that she was no simple cleric possessing of powerful healing magic, but in fact a living saint - a divine being sent by the gods. Sohalla revealed to her flock that she was no saint, but a god herself, self-exiled from the heavens as penance for the abandonment of the mortal realm. She bade each one of her followers walk the land in eternal pilgrimage and to spread the virtues of empathy and mercy, as they were the the path to redeeming the mortal realm. Perhaps, she thought, if Aol looked down from his seat in the heavens and saw the quality of his beloved daughter in the peoples of the world, he may be compelled to return to the realm of mortals and once again bestow his holy grace. So each one of her First Flock departed to separate edges of the known world and beyond, retracing Sohalla’s own path, spreading the word about Sohalla’s sacrifice for the sake of the souls of all mortals. Sohallans believe to this day that she has never returned to the realm of gods, and that she still walks the earth still - this time, alone.

## History of the Followers of Sohalla

Worship of Sohalla is believed to have begun sometime before 100 A.o.M., however historians are uncertain. Besides what can be gleaned by the few writings passed down from members of the First Flock which can be approximately dated to around that time, little is known by today’s scholars. Sohallans remained removed from the politics and goings-on of nearly every major even which has been accurately recorded from that time or since, preferring to busy themselves with humanitarian work and regular pilgrimages to presumably random corners of the world. The only deviation from this relatively unorganized expression of faith came in the year 723 A.o.M. when evidently out of nowhere, the various followers of Sohalla - who claim to receive the destination of their pilgrimages through divine visions - suddenly began gathering in the relatively small city of Elyander (what is present day Elysander) in Naellyn.

### The Great Pilgrimage

In the year 723 A.o.M., Sohallans began to arrive in Elyander. At first, the followers of Sohalla were small in number and aroused no concern or suspicion from any of the townsfolk, who welcomed their visitors with open arms. Over the course of the next two and a half years, however, the city of Elyander began to receive more and more flocks of Sohallan pilgrims until their numbers met and then far eclipsed the original population of the city. As their numbers began to mount into the thousands, Naellysh forces were raised by Rexus Felbus Nosseos for fear that this was a pretext created by another nation in order to set up a staging area for an invasion. These suspicions were bolstered by the fact that a majority of the Sohallans present were foreigners from neighboring nations, however the Sohallans were largely unarmed and possessed no command structure that Naellysh agents could discern. Ultimately, tensions between the Naellysh forces and the Sohallans came to a close when several leaders of large flocks reportedly received simultaneous, identical visions directing them to their next destination, thus signaling the beginning of The Great Pilgrimage. On the 13th of Slate in the year 725 A.o.M., even more suddenly than they had arrived, all 26,000 followers of Sohalla left Elyander to travel East, where they left the borders of Naellyn. It’s is still unknown where exactly they traveled or what exactly their goals were, but worship of Sohalla did not stop with their departure. Soon after, particularly in nations other than Naellyn, worship of Sohalla grew despite a complete lack of religious infrastructure. Historians point to this mass emigration as the most likely catalyst for the explosive growth of the Naellysh language, which soon after began to be referred to as “Common”.

## Worship of Sohalla Today

Today, Followers of Sohalla are widespread and fairly commonplace, although they seldom stay in one place long. Universally, they are regarded as kind-hearted humanitarians at best and lost souls at worst and very rarely face hostility or persecution of any kind from the nations of Zaraxis. This is likely a result their strict adherence to a code of non-intervention which has prevented them from organizing or involving themselves in any significant way in the events of history. Flocks of Sohalla typically make camp outside of towns or villages, avoid trading or bartering for anything except essentials, and continue on their way after a few weeks of offering free relief and medical care to any locals they encounter. Within Naellyn in particular, Flocks of Sohalla are considered good luck, and to make small donations to them is said to be good manners.

### Tenets of Sohalla

Followers of Sohalla are fairly strictly ascetic, believing that to own or covet material possessions for one’s own sake is to stray from Sohalla’s path. They believe in non-violence, except in instances of self-defense or where innocents are in danger, and even then violence is strongly discouraged. They believe in the value of all life, and do whatever is within their power to alleviate unnecessary suffering wherever they go. Followers of Sohalla also believe in redemption, and have been known to accept and rehabilitate social outcasts and petty criminals who show a desire to improve themselves, although they do not go so far as to harbor fugitives or accept violent offenders

### Pilgrimages

Followers of Sohalla are most well-known for their frequent pilgrimages. One or more members of a flock will receive a vision of a destination, referred to as a Place of Solace by the faithful, which is believed to have been visited at some point in time by Sohalla herself and serves as the site for a holy ritual wherein the flock attempts to communicate with and receive direction from the goddess. This is where they receive their next destination. The journey itself is as important to Sohallans as the destination however, as they believe the challenges and trials of these often difficult journeys purify and exemplify their conviction and faith. Those unable to complete their journey or who choose to abandon it are referred to as Lost Ones, and are generally excommunicated from their flock.