Mielikki

Mielikki, also referred to as the Lady of the Forest, the Supreme Ranger, and the Forest Queen, was the neutral good goddess of autumn, forests, and dryads and other forest creatures and the patron of druids and rangers in the Faerûnian pantheon and the Finnish pantheon. She was known as Khelliara in Rashemen.

Description
Mielikki's preferred avatar was the Supreme Ranger, where she appeared as a tall woman of robust and shapely build and lithe grace. Her russet-colored hair was long and unbound so it hung around her shoulders and down her back, while her eyes were large and brown, like pools. Her clothes were dull green and brown in color and she wore the leather armor commonly used by rangers.

Her other avatar was the Forest Queen, seeming to be a young maiden who had golden-hued moss and leaves for hair. She wore sheer yellow and green robes and had summer songbirds fluttering around her person.

No matter her chosen form, Mielikki was tall, spoke in a rich low purr, and always walked on the air so her feet never made contact with ground, and thus didn't leave any tracks and didn't make any sound. Occasionally, she had a stag's antlers emerging from her forehead, either already present when she appeared or growing slowly as mortals watched, though she displayed these less often after Beshaba adopted black antlers as her symbol.

Personality
Mielikki was cheerful with a ready smile and had confidence in herself and her path. However, while she fully showed that confidence when in small groups, she was averse to formal speaking and being in charge of larger groups. She did not consider people her friends lightly, but she demonstrated fierce loyalty and protectiveness to those who were.

While she knew that death was a part of life and some must die so that others may live, she could not just accept injuries and deaths of both animals and friends. She regularly healed such stricken beings as she found them, rather than leave them to be part of the circle of life as Silvanus would.

Abilities
She was a supremely skilled tracker, better than Malar and surpassed perhaps only by Gwaeron Windstrom.

She could cast spells from any school of magic bar those of necromancy and illusion and from any sphere bar the reversed, harmful forms of spells in the healing sphere and necromantic sphere. Moreover, she cast all spells from the animal sphere and plant sphere that involved of course animals and plants at twice their normal power in all aspects and they were harder to resist. In particular, simply by touching any tree, she could create treants at will and she could summon twelve forest creatures of one type to her side every two minutes, and they obeyed their goddess unto death. Her very presence cancelled all mind-altering effects, such as charms and psionics, on all good and non-evil creatures up to from her person. She was herself immune to necromancy spells and reversed, harmful forms of healing and necromantic sphere spells, and her very touch destroyed undead.

In combat, Mielikki was skilled in fighting with twin scimitars, her hornblades. However, she did not engage in melee often, and favored her fists when she did. She would rather rely on her own skills and magic. She also sometimes used a bow, but its arrows struck not to inflict injury but to bring life—where they landed, forest plants appeared and grew in a matter of moments, even entangling whoever she wished.

When not appearing as one of her avatars, Mielikki manifested most often in the form of a white unicorn that glowed and galloped in the air. This could teleport anywhere in Faerûn as she willed, communicate mentally with all living creatures, and cast spells with a touch of its alicorn. On other occasions, she appeared as a floating, glowing light of a blue-white or a green, gold, and rust hue. Through it, she could speak, envelop and carry items, and use her magic.

To work her will, Mielikki might send dryads, satyrs, sprites, swanmays, treants, or unicorns, and forest animals like hawks, wolves, and songbirds.

Activities
Mielikki most enjoyed exploring all the forests of Faerûn.

Sometimes, so that she might test the conduct of her rangers, Mielikki posed as a mortal woman lost and alone in the woods. But those who were observant would see she made no trail, and that her feet didn't even touch the ground.

Divine Realm
Mielikki had long dwelled upon the Prime Material plane itself,  and only established a divine realm in the Outer Planes in the. It's likely she helped Eldath move out there too.

She resided in the Grove of the Unicorns, which in the Great Wheel cosmology was found in Krigala, topmost layer of the Beastlands, and in the World Tree cosmology was located within the House of Nature.

Relationships
Mielikki was a servant of Silvanus, the Oak-Father, together with Chauntea, the Grain Goddess, and Eldath, the Goddess of Singing Water. Mielikki, Eldath, and Silvanus counted each other as allies, worked in harmony, and held true trust and affection for one another, and these relationships were mirrored in the alliances of their churches and priests. Although her followers sometimes referred to her with the honorific Daughter to Silvanus, Mielikki was not actually the daughter of Silvanus; rather, she considered him a father figure. This led to some confusion and a false myth told that Mielikki was the outcome of an affair between Silvanus and Hanali Celanil, an elven goddess of love. Similarly, she thought of Eldath like a sister. So close was their relationship that she gave her fellow goddess the nickname 'Datha' and they had been seen to hug one another like sisters.

She was in turn served by Gwaeron Windstrom, Lurue, and Shiallia. On some of her expeditions, Mielikki was accompanied by Gwaeron Windstrom, who lent her aid in tracking and training her own rangers. When pressed into battle, which was rare, Mielikki rode upon the back of Lurue the Unicorn. Shiallia lent her services in planting seeds and nurturing seedling in the High Forest and in midwifing for pregnant forest animals. Mielikki was also allies with Shaundakul and Lathander and was of course an enemy of Malar, Moander, Myrkul, Talona, and Talos.

Moreover, Mielikki had two mortal champions. One, in the late 14 century DR, was Lady Jeryth Phaulkon of Waterdeep, titled the Chosen Star of Mielikki, Our Lady's Champion, and even the Granddaughter of Silvanus. The goddess granted her certain powers to make her a firm forest warrior.

Symbol
Her traditional holy symbol was a white unicorn's head, golden horned and blue eyed, facing sinister, that is, to the left. An alternative symbol showed a white unicorn over a green field. An older symbol was a white star on a green leaf, specifically a tiny and dazzlingly bright white star balanced on a green leaf of oak or ash that was open and verdant.

Worshipers


Among adventurers, Mielikki was followed by rangers of all temperaments, by druids, and by clerics and thieves of chaotic bent.

Under her Khalreshaar aspect, she was mainly worshiped by a growing cult of half-elves. They believed her to be the daughter of Silvanus and Hanali Celanil, and as such, the first truly half-elven deity. Under this aspect, she served Rillifane Rallathil.

History
Mielikki hailed from the Finnish pantheon.

Since she already resided on the Prime Material plane, Mielikki suffered little when the gods were cast down to the mortal world by Ao during the Time of Troubles in the. However, so many stray gods wandering the world gave her faithful no end of grief. She was seen in the company of Eldath. In the chaos of the aftermath, Mielikki claimed the portfolio of autumn from the deceased god Myrkul.

Mielikki came to recognize that, with her service to Silvanus, as his power was growing, her own was dwindling. Therefore, in the, she ordered a complete restructuring of her clergy. The action not only arrested the decline, it bolstered her power and gave her enough to establish her first divine realm in the Outer Planes.

Mielikki very rarely directly revealed herself to her followers. One of the few events where she had a direct influence was in the events of the Spellplague in 1385 DR, when an avatar of her, or at least one of her servants, took Catti-brie and Regis away to a private paradise called Iruladoon she had prepared for them that would remain untouched by the turmoil of the Spellplague to follow. This was presumably done as a favor to Drizzt Do'Urden.

Background
Mielikki is based on a Finnish forest goddess of the same name, as originally appearing in the 1-edition Deities & Demigods, page 60.

Connections
Mielikki