Taal
Status | Active |
Type | God |
Domains | Nature [5] Wild Places |
Aspects | Torothal Karnos Karog |
Relatives | Rhya (wife)[5] Manann (son) [5] Ulric (brother) [5] |
Affiliation | Empire |
Symbols | Stone Axe [5] |
Taal is the god of Nature and Wild Places. He is the husband of Rhya, the father of Manann, and the older brother of Ulric. [5]
Contents
Beliefs
Taal is the god of nature. He is behind all the forces of nature which are beyond human control - the wind, rain, waterfalls, rapids, avalanches and landslides. He is the master of beasts, forests and mountains. His domain is the wild places of the world, and any that venture into them are expected to show him proper respect or risk his wrath. [5]
Cult of Taal
Often considered a dual cult with that of his wife. [1a]
Taal is worshipped throughout the wilds of the Old World and most of his followers are rangers, foresters, farmers, hunters and trappers - people who depend on and live off the land and live in accord with the natural world. His worship is strongest in the north and the east of the Old World, and is centred on Talabecland, where the river Talabec is held sacred to Taal.[5]
Depiction
Older than Ulric and more powerful than even Sigmar[2], Taal is normally portrayed as a powerfully built man with long, wild hair, dressed in animal skins and wearing the skull of a great stag as a helmet. It's also claimed that he can take the form of a great bison or bear.[5]
Holy Days
Taal's foremost holy day is the spring equinox, which marks the reawakening of nature after its winter slumber. The holy days of his brother Ulric are also kept by Taal's followers as minor festivals.[5]
Sacred Beasts
The Great Stag is sacred to Taal, his priests stating that their god was so impressed with the spirit of the first Great Stags that he gave them antlers to match his own. [3a]
Symbols
Taal has different symbols according to his aspects. As Lord of the Beasts, his symbol is a stag skull, or a stylized human head with antlers. As the god of weather, it is a stone axe, with which he is said to cause thunder, lightning and avalanches by striking the mountaintops.[5]
Tilea
He was known as Karnos in Tilea. [4a]
Gallery
Famous 30ft tall statue of the god in Talabheim
Sources
- 1: Sigmar's Heirs
- 1a: Chapter V: Cults of the Empire, pg. 39-40
- 2: Warhammer: The End Times Collection
- 3: The Imperial Zoo (book)
- 3a: Great Stag, pg. 10
- 4: Tome of Salvation
- 4a: Chapter 1: A Brief History of the Cults of the Empire, pg. 12
- 5: WFRP Rulebook (1st Edition), Section 5: Religion & Belief, Taal, pg. 201-202