Although four distinct entities, the Four Winds have worked in concert for as long as there have been sentient beings in the world, and as such they have also generally been worshiped as one. Once, as the Elaanians were first setting out to sea, a church devoted to the West Wind was started. It was a short-lived movement that saw all its churches destroyed by gale-force winds and its priests and followers drowned in unusually violent storms at sea. The Winds, these four sisters are inseparable, and they do not tolerate any mistreatment or slight of any of their number. So, they must always be honored equally and together.
Clerics are split between wanderers and sedentary members of communities. High Priests generally stay in one community or another, although they can also be encountered onboard ships that ply regular routes between two major ports. In such cases, the High Priests are also often important political figures in both cities.
When portrayed in art and poetry, the Four Winds are either portrayed as shapely teenage girls of exceptional beauty, or more abstractly as clouds in which faint hints of beautiful female faces can be seen. Many tales and poems revolve around the Four Winds secretly aiding other gods in making some of their grandest schemes come to pass, but there are even more that revolve around one or more of the goddesses having a brief fling with a mortal before moving on and forgetting all about the mortal man. The mortal, however, spends the rest of this life looking for a replacement for that perfect woman, but never finding anyone who even comes close.
The Four Winds are a result of a short-lived love affair between the goddess, Dawnbringer, and Vashar, god of the elements and elementals. They reflect both the gentle, selfless nature of their mother and the harsh, unpredictable nature of their father.
Although the Master Builder is said to have been hurt deeply by the affair between Vashar and his own wife, he nonetheless loved the quadruplets that resulted from the affair as his own, and the Four Winds were raised alongside the children the Master Builder had with Dawnbringer: Fahlerene, Morgott, Orlanth, and Haskir.
The Four Winds were particularly close to Fahlerene and Morgott, constantly vacillating between emulating their half-sister's wild and free nature or their half-brother's brooding, secretive ways. However, they also found themselves holding a deep respect for what their mother and adoptive father had created in the world, and in the notion that the sentient mortals were eventually to evolve to the point where they would gain a complete understanding of how the world worked.
While Fahlerene and Morgott came to be increasingly at odds with Dawnbringer and the Master Builder, the Four Winds instead lent assistance to the Master Builder, whispering ideas into the ears of mortals about sails, windmills, and other technologies and even magic that used the power of wind.
On the other hand, they also helped Fahlerene and Morgott further their interests by carrying animal scents on the breezes, shaking dead leaves from the trees, and by moving sand and snow to cover roads and forgotten ruins and abandoned settlements. Despite standing with the other gods against Morgott when he rebelled against the Master Builder, their continued their affection for Morgott and the lessons he taught them in their youth is most clearly shown by the domain powers they choose to grant their priests.
The Four Winds also developed interests of their own, adopting and nurturing a number of creatures in Creation havens with the Four Winds. Seeing to the well being of winged creatures is one of the things that captures and holds their attention other than their worshipers.
Although they are among the oldest of the gods, the Four Winds are not widely worshiped. Most people take them for granted, and although their anger or fits of pique are often to blame for violent storms, most assume that it is Fahlerene who is visiting destruction upon their lands. The Four Winds don't mind that their half-sister receives the credit or blame their actions, but it does sometimes make it difficult for lay-people and even some clerics to know which god needs to be appeased. For this reason, most temples and shrines devoted to any of the Gods of Balance, the Gods of Chaos, and any altar devoted to the Master Builder feature at least a small acknowledgement of the Four Winds, if not a subsidiary shrine. It is believed that prayers directed at the other gods, but really intended for the Four Winds, thus reach their attention. The belief is correct, but the lack of direct worship has kept the Four Winds from becoming the center of a major religion.
Three groups treat the Four Winds as their primary deity; the orvandyl, the Elaanish harpies (the latter are also known as furies; see a forthcoming installment for details), and sailors and sea captains. The Four Winds are patrons of the orvandyl and Elaanish harpies, while all but the smallest of sailing ships have shrines to the Four Winds onboard in case the attention of the goddesses need to be captured so that the ship's sails can again be filled with their presence, or their anger needs to be quelled to save the ship from a storm.
The Four Winds are friendly with most of the gods, and, as such, their church has good relations with most other widespread faiths. They even manage to maintain good relations with Fahlerene and Morgott, despite the increasing tension and hatred that exists between the half-siblings and other gods. Their cooperation with Fahlerene is more clearly shown in the weather patterns and storms, while their affection for Morgott shows in domain powers they grant their priests. In exchange, Fahlerene has allowed the orvandyl to construct cities unmolested in her wilderness, and even grants extraordinary defenses to them, while Morgott has promised to never let his Lichlords develop pathogens that will be carried by the Four Winds.
Let Morgott pretend that he is the Lord of Secrets, but the truth of the matter is that nothing can be hidden unless the Four Winds choose to make it so. The Four Winds come and go as they will, when they will, and nothing escapes their notice. Those who wish to learn the secrets of others, or who wish to have their own secrets remain thus are wise to make prayers and offerings to the Four Winds and leave Morgott to his stinking, animated corpses and other foul schemes. Similarly, Fahlerene's turning seasons could not occur without the ever-moving touch of the Four Winds, nor could the travelers who call upon Deera the Wayfarer be assured of safe and quick passage without the Four Winds keeping fair weather during the journey. Seafarers in particular know that the Four Winds are the true threat or blessing that may be visited upon them when they venture onto open waters, even if oceans and lakes are the domain of Ashtorn the Unchanging.
Despite their power, however, the Four Winds are among the most modest of gods. Their main desire is to help others and serve the greater good, and this is what they demand of their worshipers and clerics. At best, a devoted worshiper of the Four Winds should emulate them by always being on the move and never staying in one place for more than a few days, but always be looking for new people to help. This, however, is not feasible for most mortals, so it is just an acceptable to honor the Four Winds by serving a community the way the Four Winds serve the gods.
Worshipers and clerics alike are forbidden to ever harm a winged being, unless they are acting in self-defense. They are likewise forbidden from eating birds or flying insects of any type, as all winged beings are sacred to the Four Winds.