#zerce

Name: Zercé

Titles: The Hearthmother, Flamestoker, The Stonemaiden, The Fire’s Kiss, Lifeshaper, The Life Soul

Zercé is one of the older gods of the Verdulan pantheon, rivaled only be Vemor and Diphycys. It was the Hearthmother who first gave life to the mortal races  of Seaheim, molding them from divine clay and giving them the fire of life. Of all her children, the Dwarves revere her the most, and it shows in the massive monuments that have been built to her. The most well known is The Damastane in Caldr, which is a massive temple complex built deep below the city. 

A beautiful marvel of black iron and obsidian, the brightly lit halls smell of burning cherry logs (the cherry tree is sacred to her followers) and the sweat of rough labor. In Here, artists and other craftspeople put themselves to the test, working away at megaheated forges and blistering workshops. In the cellars of the building, monks brew the famous Maiden’s Hand Ale, known for it’s strong proofing and refreshing cherry taste. Even lower, pyromancers undergo stressful training involving developing a tolerance to burns and scalding. Once that is done, they must forge a monument to Zercé that suitably impresses the Goldcloak (a name for a higher ranking member of The Circle of Flame, usually one who trains new recruits.) Once that is done, they may read the Tome of St.Ignis, a martyr of the church with many titanic legends.

The other famous monument is located on Mount Dunteran, just above the Dwarvish citadel of Deepwatch. Known as The Maiden’s Cairn, a loving image of  Zercé and her demigod children (Angus, Ronas, and Fyron) can be seen carved into the very mountain with massive attention to detail. It is said that once could count the individual stone hairs carved into the Maiden, or her individual eyelashes. This was a great feat of engineering by the Dwarvish Lord Kinnick Gemblood.