Talona

in universe
subject = a
described_object = a fictional deity
category = context
Forgotten Realms Deity|fgcolor=#fff


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name=Talona
title=Lady of Poison,
Mistress of Disease,
Mother of All Plagues
home=The Barrens of Doom and Despair
power=Lesser
alignment=Chaotic Evil
portfolio=Disease, poison
domains=Chaos, Destruction, Evil, SufferingRinschler, Thomas E. "Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting: Deities Supplement" (Wizards of the Coast, 2001).]
alias=
super=None

Talona (tah-"low"-nah), "The Lady of Poison", "Mistress of Disease" and "Mother of All Plagues" is the fictional goddess of poison and disease in the "Forgotten Realms" universe of the "Dungeons & Dragons" role-playing game. Ed Greenwood created Talona for his home Dungeons & Dragons game, inspired by the Finnish deity Kiputytto.

Description

Talona is depicted as an old crone who walks bringing misfortune and death. Talona is the goddess of plague and disease, her followers are expected to go about quietly and seek out new diseases.

Relationships

Talona allies with Loviatar and Shar and despises Chauntea, Mielikki, Kelemvor, and Tyr. She dislikes Ilmater for the cures he finds.

Dogma

cripture

Let pain be as pleasure, for life and death are in balance, but death is the more powerful and should be paid proper homage and respect. Death is the true power, the great equalizer, and the lesson that waits for all. If it falls to you to drive home the point with the tip of a dagger, so be it. The Mother of All Plagues works upon you from within, and weakness and wasting is her strength. Talona's breath is forever and always with you, whomever you or the rest of the world believes in or serves. Let all living things learn respect from Talona and pay homage to her in goods and in fervent worship. If they do so, intercede for them so that Talona will not claim them - this time. Go and work in Talona's name and let your doings be subtle or spectacular, but make them known as the will of the Mistress of Disease. Boyd, Eric L, and Erik Mona. "Faiths and Pantheons" (Wizards of the Coast, 2002).]

Worshippers

Clergy

Priests of Talona carry daggers dipped in poison. In the R.A. Salvatore series "The Cleric Quintet", the formula to the concoction known as the "Chaos Curse" was given to Aballister Bonaduce by an imp which the avatar of Talona had told Aballister about.

Churches

*The House of Night's Embrace, located in Tashlutavague|date=March 2008.

Creative origins

In the Second Edition "Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting", Talona was an interloper deity - one of several deities who originally came from Earth. This was omitted from the Third Edition "Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting".

Further reading

*The Lady of Poison, by Bruce Cordell is the first book in the "Forgotten Realms" series, "The Priests". It is about the worshippers of Talona.
*Viper's Kiss, by Lisa Smedman is the first book in the House of Serpents trilogy. It has a few chapters on the membership requirements of Talona's worship.

References

*Boyd, Eric L, and Erik Mona. "Faiths and Pantheons" (Wizards of the Coast, 2002).
*Martin, Julia, and Eric L Boyd. "Faiths & Avatars" (TSR, 1996).