Estanna
From Praemal
Estanna is the Prustan goddess of hearth and home, and is known as the Hearthtender or sometimes, the Virgin. She normally appears as a young woman tending a fire. But Estanna does not always appear as a maiden, as shown in the folk tale, "Mother Estanna and the Maiden."
She is worshipped by peasants who often do not have time for other religion. Her focus is on home and family life. She has few clerics and most people worship her directly and she has no temples, with home shrines being the standard way she is worshipped.
Her few clerics typically serve as midwives.
The church of Lothian has been attempting to switch the worship of Estanna over to veneration of St. Thessina, and is busy converting all published folk talkes regarding Estanna into mentioning St. Thessina as well and clerics of Lothian typically maintain that Estanna is simply another name for the saint. This approach is making a slow but steady dent in the number of Estanna's faithful
Mother Estanna and the Maiden
The following is a popular folk tale and appears in the Fables of Burdock:
"Mother Estanna and the Maiden" is the tale of a rich widow and her two daughters. The elder was spoiled and idle, the younger one unloved and overworked. Every day she would sit outside the cottage and spin beside the well.
One day, she pricked her finger on the point of the spindle. When she washed the blood away, the spindle fell from her hand and sank out of sight. When she leapt into the well after it, she found herself in the otherworld of Estanna, who kept her as maidservant for several weeks. Then Estanna was so impressed by the girl's meekness and industry she sent her back to her family, with an apron full of gold.
The mother sent the lazy daughter down the well to get more gold. Copying her sister, the lazy daughter bloodied her finger and leapt into the well. But Estanna reproved her idle nature by sending her home covered with pitch.
One of the gods of Praemal.
Estanna in Neutral Good and her domains are Community, Good and Protection. (The Community domian can be found in the Book of Exalted Deeds.) Her symbol is the hearth and her favored weapon is the dagger.
For more information on Estanna, see the Book of Exalted Deeds.
