Olladra

The domino, the holy symbol of Olladra.

**Olladra** is the Sovereign of Feast and Good Fortune in the Sovereign Host. Goddess of fortune and plenty, Olladra is the most popular of the Host when things are going well, and one of the most reviled when they are not. She is the patron of gamblers, entertainers, and rogues, or anyone seeking good fortune. She is kind but fickle, and and shines upon those who take risks... but even her most faithful Vassals can't come to grips with why she chooses to bless or curse on a whim.

Olladra is the wife of Onatar and the mother of Kol Korran and The Keeper. She had a brief trist with The Shadow, with whom she mothered Sehanine.

> "*Fortune favors the bold.*" ― The battle cry of Olladra's followers.
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## Personality

Olladra is headstrong and willful, always believing her way was the best way, but equally mercurial and as fickle as fortune itself. She remains jovial even in the darkest times, preferring mischief and ironic justice to open violence. She likes good jokes and is known for occasionally playing practical jokes on the more stern and straight-minded deities. Any game based on chance would be won by ridiculously improbable odds in her presence.

## Worship

Olladra is worshiped by a large amount of humans across Khorvaire. She has a large presence in Aundair, Eldeen Reaches, Karrnath, and the Shadow Marches. Commonly consisting of adventurers and others who relied on a mixture of luck and skill to achieve their goals, the Olladran clergy encourages folk to pursue their dreams. Olladra teaches his followers to avoid predictability and routine, to delight in wine, to learn music, to seek out happiness, joy, entertainment, and the company of others. Olladra advises his faithful to appreciate both the jokes they play and the jokes played on them. He also teaches that misery, temperance, and solemnity are the greatest poisons to the soul. Nobles and merchants are constantly seeking the blessing of Olladra, and no significant venture are undertaken without the prayers of the Luckbringers.

Many members of the halfling House Jorasco worship Olladra as the goddess of healing, and the ritual ceremony involved in advancing in the house involves being ritualistically wounded and healed before making an offering to Olladra. Some members of House Orien also worship Olladra, including the Blades of Orien. Other healers besides House Jorasco also worship Olladra, including the Healing Hand of Olladra, a group of healers and medics that served during the Last War. Tricksters also tend to favor Olladra as the Sovereign of Good Fortune, including the Hollow Shards of Stormreach. The iredar kobolds also worship Olladra.

**Tenets of Faith.**

* Eat, drink, and be merry, for life is good and luck comes to those who need it.
* Olladra favors the bold. Fashion your own destiny to enjoy her favor.
* Fight against oppression. Any who would deny you your freedoms should feel Olladra's anger.

**Priest Training.** Priests of Olladra require no specific skills or training beyond what all priests of the Host must possess. If someone can inspire others to accept him as a priest, clearly the god of fortune has already smiled upon him. Olladra’s priests willingly assume great risks to prove their belief that luck will see them through. (Of course, Olladra’s luck seems to aid the prepared more often than those who trust blindly.)

**Prayers and Rites.** Olladra accepts any valuables but looks more favorably on sacrifices of items acquired through luck, such as gambling winnings or “found money.” Offerings made to the goddess of luck are often accompanied by the prayer, "A copper to the Lady returns tenfold in gold."

**Scriptures.** Olladra's religion lacks a single holy book, but instead maintains hundreds of mutually contradictory collections of parables and songs. Any attempt to codify or reconcile these texts is anathema to Olladra's creed, which teaches that chaos should be embraced and material things have little importance or intrinsic value.

**Shrines.** Olladra’s shrines shine with riches second only to those of Kol Korran. The precise building materials and floor plans are unimportant, but small shrines to Olladra are far more common than actual temples; these can be found anywhere, in pubs, in dens of thieves, House Jorasco Healing Houses, and in the form of piles of stones at roadsides, carved with her symbol. Most faithful drop a small token of their esteem by the shrine: a few coins, a bit of tasty food, or a cup of wine.

**Holy Symbol.** The holy symbol for Olladra is a domino, with one side reading five and the other reading four. Other holy symbols of Olladra include numbered icosahedron dice, a face-up silver coin with an image of her face surrounded by shamrocks, the number Nine, and the Sovereign Octogram in white and dark gray, representing both good fortune and bad. (The pattern on Olladra’s Octogram is reversed from the pattern on Aureon’s to avoid confusion, as the colors are very similar.)

**Favored sayings.**

* *"*Olladra smiles" is a polite way to say *That was lucky*
* "Olladra scowls" is essentially *that didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to*
* "Sometimes the Lady smiles, sometimes she laughs out loud." when struck with misfortune

## History

Olladra is one of the Sovereign Host, a pantheon of originally fifteen gods, and later nine gods that hold sway over mortal life.

### Birth of a Goddess

There is much debate to the birth of Olladra. Most Vassals believe that Olladra and the first generation of Sovereigns were created by the Progenitor Dragon Eberron; however, many believe that their creation was not deliberate on Eberron's part, but rather a by-product of the act of the creation of the world itself. Others believe that the first generation Sovereigns were the children a pairing between the two Progenitor Dragons Eberron and Siberys.

There are other creation myths, though. Some say that Olladra and the other Sovereigns were created by mortals; that the mortals' belief in a higher power created the gods. Others believe that Olladra and the Sovereigns are actually from another plane of existence, and traveled to Eberron during its creation. Another theory says that the Olladra and the Sovereigns were the ones that convinced the dragon Eberron to create the world.

While there are many disagreements to Olladra's origins, all can agree to her place in the celestial host. Olladra, the Sovereign of Feast and Fortune, became the wife of fellow Sovereign Onatar, the Sovereign of Fire and Forge. The two gave birth to twin children: Kol Korran, the Sovereign of World and Wealth, and Kol Turrant, the Sovereign of Greed and Gluttony.

### Faith of the Dragons

The dragons of Argonnessen subscribe to the religion of Thir, or "three" in the draconic tongue. In this religion, the three Progenitor Dragons created everything, and that they set the thirteen Dragon Gods above all. However, there was a need for someone to watch over the "lesser" races of the humans, dwarves, and elves. This role is played by the Sovereign Host. These fifteen dragons watch over the mortal races; however, when one dragon who embodies the primal concepts in life, they are said to rise to become a Sovereign in death. Then, the former Sovereign leaves the thirteen planes and ascends to the realm of the Dragon Gods. The dragons believe that there can only be fifteen ascended sovereigns at any one time, though there are rogue dragons who wish to challenge that claim. The dragons make no distinction of between the Dark Six and the other Sovereigns.

With this faith in mind, many dragon priests follow the Sovereign archtypes. They dedicate their lives to an archtype that will ensure them a place amongst the Sovereign Host. Those that wish to follow in Olladra's footsteps follow the archtype called **Fortune's Fang**. These dragons prefer to travel in solitude, intermixing with other races and mingling with humanity. Some serve as spies, but others act as minstrels.

While the dragons seem satisfied to subscribe to that faith, the other races find this world view very arrogant, and believe that the Sovereign Host is more than just a set of primal dragons set to watch over the "lesser" races.

> "*Luck as We Know It. Many modern Vassals point to Olladra as proof that Arawai and Balinor are not the only two members of the Host with dominion over natural forces, rather than aspects of civilization. Luck is universal, neither a civilized nor a savage concept. In fact, they are quite wrong. In most ancient societies, and in the vast majority of today’s primitive cultures, luck does not exist as a concept. People might pray for good fortune, but their prayers are directed to the gods or spirits of the relevant aspect of the world. Fortune in trade is the province of gods of trade; success in games of chance comes from the gods of games or from household spirits. “Fortune” as an independent aspect of life is very much a modern, civilized concept. After all, it was not until mortals formed societies that life became easy enough - relatively speaking - for them to devote any thought to the notion of “good luck” applied to anything other than the necessities of survival.*" ― Cayla d'Jorasco
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## Aspects

Olladra is depicted as a young halfling, an elderly human, or a black dragon. She often appeared as a slender short-haired woman, dressed in a short white satin gold-trimmed tunic and high brown leather boots. Her head was adorned with a delicate silver coronet that glistened in the light. Sages have speculated that other gods are aspects of Olladra:

### Tymora, Our Smiling Lady

The ancient gnomes of what would later become Zilargo worshipped Tymora the Smiling Lady, which many believe to be an aspect of Olladra. In the gnomish version of this myth, Tymora is married to Zionil (Onatar) with whom she has a daughter named Waukeen (female aspect of Kol Korran). The Keeper was not represented as Tymora's son, but instead as a twin sister named Beshaba. Although some gnomes have maintained the old traditions, the vast majority have long since adopted the human version of the Sovereign Host.

### Hlied

   Many of the peoples of the Frostfell, most prominently the Uldra, speak of the myth of Hlied and Iborighu: of a beautiful goddess Hlied that was almost slain by her arch-enemy Iborighu. Iborighu threw Hlied's fragmented bodies into the sea, where her body spawned the rimefire eidolons that became icebergs. Many sages believe that Hlied is actually Olladra and Iborighu is actually the Keeper, and that they have distorted the mother/son relationship to be siblings instead.

### Ollarasht the Gambler

In the Shadow Marches of Khorvaire, many orc and half-orc clans worship Ollarasht the Gambler, which many believe to be an aspect of Olladra.

## Notable Worshippers

* Many adepts and clerics of House Jorasco are worshipers of Olladra, including **Alhaura d'Jorasco** and **Ardrad d'Jorasco**.
* Vincent Trent, a khoravar bard and rogue operating as a ~~***REDACTED***~~ for ~~***REDACTED***~~, member of the Order of the Faded Flame.
* Philomela the Beloved, a bard who was cursed by the Demon Lord Graz’zt to become a medusa. Her curse was later broken by the Order of the Faded Flame.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ***Eberron Campaign Setting***.
Keith Baker, Bill Slavicsek, and James Wyatt (2004). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-3274-0.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 ***Dragonmarked***.
Keith Baker, Ari Marmell, Michelle Lyons and C.A. Suleiman (2006). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-3933-8.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 ***Player's Guide to Eberron***.
James Wyatt, Keith Baker, Luke Johnson, Steven Brown (2006). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-3912-5.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 ***City of Stormreach***.
Keith Baker, Nicolas Logue, James "Grim" Desborough, C.A. Suleiman (2008). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-4803-5.
5. ↑ ***Dragonshards: The Kobolds of Khorvaire***. Keith Baker (March 21st, 2005). Wizards of the Coast.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 ***Faiths of Eberron***.
Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Ari Marmell, and C.A. Suleiman (2006). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-3934-6.
7. ↑ ***Dragons of Eberron***.
Keith Baker, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Nicolas Logue, and Amber Scott (2007). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-4154-5.
8. ↑ ***Frostburn***.
Wolfgang Baur, James Jacobs, and George Strayton (2004). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-2896-4.