One of my players was looking for something a little different than what was offered in the RotRL players guide. This is what we came up with. Thought I would share it, and get some thoughts.
( my version of Varisia is tinged with anglo-saxon and celtic influences, more flavor than crunch.)
Bestla
Shieldmaiden of the Golden Hall, Hearthguard
Lesser Goddess of Home, fertility, wisdom, skill, and vigilance
Symbol: White Mare’s Head
Alignment: LG
Portfolio: Hearth, Family, Fertility, Wisdom, Skill-at-arms, Watchfulness, and Horses
Worshiper’s AL: LG, LN, LE, NG, TN
Cleric’s AL: LG, LN, NG
Domains: Community, Good, Law, Protection, War
Favored Weapon: Shield
The wife of Erastil, Bestla is the goddess of the household and family. She blesses weddings and grants fertility to continue family lines. She is wise in all things and values greatly common sense and tradition. Bestla is charged with the protection of the Golden hall, and as such values skill-at-arms. She keeps a watch whenever Erastil leaves for a hunt and has had to protect the Golden Hall from incursions on many occasions. Bestla is aided in her charge by a host of the honored dead, those who died bravely in battle, and by celestial mares of the purest white. The mares act as sentries and also come to the material plane to lead or carry the souls of the honored dead to the golden hall to join her host. It is said that all the horses on Golarion are descended from these mares and followers treat horses with the utmost respect.
Dogma
Bestla teaches that the family is the strongest tie between individuals. This view is extended to the community which she sees as a form of large family. Procreation and the continuation of strong family lines are the world’s best defense against the decay or destruction of the community. Bestla expects her followers to uphold the traditions of their home and family, and to always act with wisdom and reason. Her followers are expected to fight in defense of home and country, and to be skilled in the arts of peace as well as war. It is the duty of all her followers to be vigilant and watchful of threats that may come to their borders.
Clerics of Bestla
Cleric class variant: Lose Knowledge (Arcana)
Gain Knowledge (Local), Spot
Bestla’s clergy is predominantly, but not exclusively, female. They are active in civil life, tending to the needs of families and the community as advisors, judges, and arbiters of disputes. They are teachers of local customs and sponsor works of art and craft. They are rooted in the realities of daily life and often toil alongside their flock. The clerics bless new homes and consecrate the hearth alters of worshiper’s. They are strong, capable people with quick wits and combat skills. They train themselves and others in the arts of war, and especially self defense. Her clerics always carry a shield, often emblazoned with a white mare’s head, as a symbol of their role as protectors and guardians. Bestla’s clerics hold horses in high esteem and will not abide abuse of such creatures. When they travel abroad, they often adopt their traveling companions as family members, and consider these bonds as sacred as those of blood relatives.
The Church of Bestla
Bestla has no temples of her own, but she has a place of honor in all Erastil’s temples. Every hearth fire that burns in temple or home is an altar to Bestla. Her shrines are simple and small, yet strong, and offer some defense to the greater hall. Often unassuming decoration or furnishing will have a dual purpose not apparent at first sight, greatly adding to the hall’s defense. On Oathdays, the Halls of Erastil are turned over to Bestla for training the community in the arts of war. There are often hidden armories within the hall, also, that can be accessed at need.
Visitors to Bestla’s shrines find the comfort of a warm, dry place to rest. For the halls of Erastil are welcoming indeed. Those truly in need find that the cleric’s courtesy and generosity are bounded only by a desire to see the supplicant become self-sufficient and therefore a benefit to the community as a whole. Those who come carrying weapons openly can expect to be challenged by the clergy and members of the church to single combat. Such challenges are generally fought to first fall or first blood, and are intended solely to discover if the visitor knows how to use the weapon they carry. Those refusing the challenge are treated with disdain, or outright ignored, and are greeted with suspicion in the community.