Andral

Andral
Alignment	Neutral Good
Divine Rank	Unknown
Pantheon	Ravenloft
Portfolio	Sun, ravens
Domains	Good, Sun
Home Plane	Unknown
Worshippers	Ravenkin, wereravens

Andral, alternatively called Anhdral or Eundrel, is the mostly forgotten sun god of Barovia and Borca.

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History

Andral was worshipped in Prime Material Barovia, long before Strahd lived, and even before the realm of Barovia existed. In 168 BC, the state Church of Andral was established with the blessing of von Zarovich family, and became fairly widespread. In 341 BC, Sergei von Zarovich joined the clergy of the church and became the next high priest of Andral in 350 BC. A year later, the events that lead to Barovia becoming the first domain of dread occur, and by around 400 BC, the church, its practices, and dogma are forgotten by most barovians.

Worshippers

Though Andral has been replaced by other gods, and his former churches converted to those of Ezra and The Morninglord, there still are people who believe in the old god. The leader of the Keepers of the Black Feather is the last cleric of Andral. Currently that is the ravenkin Keeva Sixtywinters.

Artifacts

There are many artifacts and magical items created by the Church of Andral before its end, with many of them being instrumental to defeating Strahd.

Bright Blade

3rd Edition

The Bright Blade is an unique sunblade made for Sergei von Zarovich when he joined the clergy of Andral. The blade followed Strahd into Barovia when it was taken by the mists, and in sixth century BC, it was wielded by a doomed group of adventurers. From there the blade made its way into the hands of Rudolph van Richten, and vanished with van Richten in 750 BC. The blade fuctioned the same as a regular sunblade, but dealt triple damage to vampires, and gave negative levels to evil characters wielding it.

5th Edition

Here called the Sunsword, it was once a blade made of a platinum hilt and guard, with a thin crystal blade. After Sergei was killed, Strahd arranged the sword to be destroyed by the wizard Khazan. He managed to destroy the blade, but the hilt was stolen by his apprentice and lost afterwards. The sword itself functioned as a regular sunblade, although a sentient one that wanted to take revenge for the loss of its blade.

Holy Symbol of Ravenkind

3rd Edition

The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind was created in 350 BC by Most High Priest Kir, the predecessor of Sergei, who saw that a dark fate awaited Barovia, giving his life to create the symbol. From there it sat in Castle Ravenloft until 499 BC, when it was used against Strahd by Jander Sunstar, and was then lost until 740 BC when it was back in Castle Ravenloft. After the Grand Conjunction, the symbol was lost again, and is being sought by the Keepers of the Black Feather. The holy symbol functioned as an amulet of undead turning, but also dealt extra damage to undead vunerable to sunlight, and once per week, if pressed against a vampire or vampire spawn, it would flare with sunlight.

5th Edition

The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind was originally given to the paladin Lugdana by a giant raven, or an angel in the shape of one, before any church was established in Barovia. She used the symbol to root out vampires and their spawn until her death, and was then worn by the high priests. The holy symbol posessed the ability to hold vampires in place, make undead have a disadvantage when turning them, and make it flare with sunlight.

Icon of Ravenloft

3rd Edition

A foot tall, intricately engraved silver statue, with diamonds for eyes, depicting a raven, the statue was given to Sergei before his wedding by clerics of Andral. The statue is based on the tale, that when Mihaela von Zarovich entered Barovia, a raven fell down to the ground near her. She picked the bird up and asked that Andral return him, as he merely wanted to touch his magnificent face. The raven then returned to life and flew to Mount Baratok. The statue stayed in Strahd's hands until the Grand Conjunction, after which some say it got in the hands of Azalin. The icon, when held by a good cleric or paladin, gives them a +4 to turning checks, and cure moderate wounds once per day. If an evil person touches it, he gains two negative levels until he takes it off his posession.

5th Edition

Here, the icon is a 12-inch tall silver statue, depicting a cleric kneeling in supplication. It was made by Archpriest Ciril Romulich, an old family friend, to consecrate Castle Ravenloft and its chapel. Those near it are under a Protection from Evil and Good spell that only affects the undead and fiends. When attuned to it, the wielder can cast Augury once per day, empower their undead turning, and heal wounds once per day.

Why Ravens?

One of the odder things about Andral's worship is this: why is a sun god associated with ravens? Most would expect a spooky black carrion-eating bird that likes to hang around and caw ominously where people are dying to be associated with a god of death or necromancy. Well, it's actually not unprecedented; many cultures depict ravens (or their look-alikes, crows) as having been turned black as a result of something to do with the sun. Most importantly, in some Native American myths, a raven was the being responsible for bring the sun to the world, after it was hoarded by some evil or greedy figure. Andral's religion probably had a similar parable featuring ravens freeing the sun but being scorched black by it in the process - we'll never know because Andral's religion is canonically dead.