Auril

Auril, also known as The Cold Goddess, The Frostmaiden, Icedawn , the Goddess of Winter, and the Frost Sprite Queen, was a fickle, vain, and evil deity, who was primarily venerated out of fear. The few among the Iulutiuns of the Great Glacier who worshiped her called her Saukuruk. She was additionally seen as being synonymous with the Queen of Air and Darkness by some communities of fey, such as those of the Shiverpine Forest in the Deep Wilds. However, after the Sundering the Queen of Air and Darkness was seen to be only impersonating Auril in order to retain followers on Toril.

"Cover all the lands with ice. Quench fire wherever it is found. Let in the winds and the cold; cut down windbreaks and chop holes in walls and roofs that my breath may come in. Work darknesses to hide the cursed sun so that the chill I bring may slay. Take the life of an arctic creature only in great need, but slay all others at will. Make all Faerûn fear me."

- Auril's charge to her clergy

Description
Auril typically appeared as an attractive human woman with blue skin. Her body was made from ice and snow.

In the late 15 century, Auril had three distinct avatars. In her first form, called the Cold Crone, she appeared as a hunched bipedal creature standing tall and with snowy owl's head with a pair of curled ram's horns, cloven hooves, and arms that end in sharp talons.

Personality
Auril was the embodiment of winter's wrath. She was arrogant, capricious and unpredictable. She took great pleasure in torturing her enemies and harassing her foes. Sacrifices and worship to her was often done out of fear. An evil goddess, her main goal is to cover the Realms under ice and snow.

Divine Realm
Auril had a divine realm called Winter's Hall in Pandesmos, the topmost layer of Pandemonium in the Great Wheel cosmology. Norse god Loki also made Winter's Hall his abode, a place to hide away whenever he fell out of grace with the other Aesir.

During the Spellplague, Auril's realm was located within the Astral Dominion of the Deep Wilds and was known as the Land Under Eternal Ice.

Relationships
Following the Spellplague, Auril gained significant power by siphoning the faiths of Ulutiu, Aerdrie Faenya, and Gruumsh/Talos into her own. In addition to her classic portfolio of cold and winter, the Frostmaiden claimed dominion over wind and storms, bringing her into direct conflict with the ancient primordial power Akadi.

In earlier centuries, Auril was a member of the Deities of Fury, along with Malar, Umberlee, and Talos. Umberlee and Auril cooperated with some degree of confidence, while Malar and Auril despised each other.

Auril and Chauntea were mortal enemies, constantly battling each other. Sune opposed Auril, as she blamed her for the destruction of much that was beautiful. Uthgar despised Auril because the Elk Tribe abandoned him for her faith. Rellavar Danuvien, a minor elven god of cold, sought to interfere in the plans of Auril whenever he could.

At one stage, Auril was in a relationship with Thrym, god of the frost giants. During that time she became the mother to the empyrean daughter Nalkara.

Worshipers


In the North, Auril was a commonly worshiped, and feared, goddess and an integral part of northern cultures. Worship of the Frostmaiden was common in lands such as the Great Glacier, the Icerim Mountains , Sossal and Vaasa.

Northlanders considered Auril one of their primary deities and was a key part of their culture. She was feared and seen as the harbinger of winter upon the whole world. In the late autumn and over the winter, regular sacrifices were made to her. Sacrifices of food were place upon rafts which were then set adrift in the ocean. Human sacrifices, usually prisoners of war or slaves, were placed on these rafts. Human sacrifice was a rare occurrence and was only seen during dire times.

In the Moonsea region, followers of the Frostmaiden were shunned by society and was most commonly encountered in Mulmaster and Zhentil Keep. During the winter in Zhentil Keep, followers of Auril openly recruited from the destitute, homeless and refugees. They were offered salvation, instead of the risk of freezing to death in an alley, if they joined the faith.

Worship and sacrifices to Auril were sparse in the Sea of Fallen Stars region, isolated to the northern shores. Illuskan invaders brought the worship of Auril to Tethyr.

Auril was a key part of the religion of taers and most taer clerics venerated the Frostmaiden.

Auril was one of the deities worshiped by air and water genasi, especially those who lived in cold regions. Air gensasi tended to be zealous in their worship, with a fanatical devotion to Auril. They enjoyed inflicting pain on other creatures using cold air.

Auril was one of the deities worshiped by members of the Arcane Brotherhood.

Auril used frost giants and winter wolves to deliver commands to her cults, while frostwind viragos and winter hags were the handmaidens of the Frostmaiden.

Druids considered her to be among the First Circle of nature deities, and saw her as deserving of veneration in spite of her more violent tendencies relative to some other members of the Circle.

Holy Days

 * Midwinter (Night), Hammer 30 to Alturiak 1. This was the most holy night of the year for the clergy, a festival of ice-dancing that lasted all night. Druids were also known to pay respect to the Frostmaiden on this date.
 * The Coming Storm and the Last Storm, informal but enthusiastically celebrated rituals where the priests gathered and called howling ice storms down on a region to mark the onset and end of winter.
 * Auril's Blesstide, or Auril's Day, was a holiday (of sorts) held annually in the city of Waterdeep on the first day of new frost in the year. It was not so much a holiday as a way to seek to appease the Frostmaiden in hopes of a mild winter.

Temples
Shrines dedicated to Auril could be found in Bezantur, Calaunt , Iriaebor , Nashkel , Phlan , Tasseldale , and Zhentil Keep

Notable temples to Auril were:
 * The House of Auril's Breath in Glister
 * Icedawn's House, south of Nashkel
 * The Towers of Fury in Calimport
 * The Winter Palace in Luskan
 * Ice Temple, located between Andora and the Wandering Village in Icewind Dale

Notable Worshipers

 * Artus Cimber, Chosen of Auril following the Spellplague.
 * Bjornhild Solvigsdottir, queen of the Reghedmen Tribe of the Tiger during the late 15 century DR.
 * Cierre, wandering drow surface spy.
 * Gerti Orelsdottr, effective leader of the Shining White frost giants.
 * Hedrun Arnsfirth, Chosen of Auril during the Second Sundering.
 * Ihanora the Merciful, the Chosen of Auril circa 1099 DR and the creator of the Snow Maiden's Reaver.
 * Iyraclea, self-styled queen of the Great Glacier.
 * Lysan, priestess of Icewind Dale.

History
In the, Auril intervened in Calimshan's Second Era of Skyfire, freezing over the Skyfire Wastes and sending her followers to battle both Calim's genies and Memnon's efreeti.

In the, Chosen of Auril, Hedrun Arnsfirth, began her war in Icewind Dale.

In the late 15 century DR, Auril encroached onto Umberlee's domain by freezing her chaotic tides. Though Umberlee was once allied with Auril, she cut off this alliance, and turned to the other Gods of Fury, Talos and Malar. The three allied deities sought to take down the Frostmaiden, and she was forced to retreat to the most frigid region of Toril: the Sea of Moving Ice. From an island known as Solstice, the Goddess of Winter caused the Everlasting Rime beginning in the. This seemingly eternal winter covered the area and extended over Icewind Dale for two years. This taxed the goddess, and as such, Auril became very weak, vulnerable, and self-isolated. In fact, she became so powerless that she could be slain by mortal creatures, which could force her to be banished until the next winter solstice.

Trivia
Among the northern islands of the Trackless Sea, such as Gundarlun, the Purple Rocks, Ruathym and Tuern, the constant, bitterly-cold northwest winds were called "Auril's Breath".

Connections
Auril