Forgotten Realms Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Forgotten Realms Wiki

Hiatea (pronounced: /hiˈɑːtiəhee-AH-tee-uh[9] about this audio file listen) was the giant goddess of nature, agriculture, hunting, females, and children. Her symbol was a flaming spear.[10]

Description[]

Hiatea's avatar appeared in the form of a tanned giantess, a lithe figure with long legs of varying heights. Known appearances had her standing at a statuesque 10 feet (3 meters), a huge 30 feet (9.1 meters), and a gargantuan 70 feet (21 meters) tall. Her hair was golden-red and tied back from her face, showing clearly the hazel-brown shade of her large eyes.[6][7]

Personality[]

She was strong, confident, and an exceptional hunter.[6]

Hiatea had two aspects. From her firbolg upbringing, she had an affinity for community, agriculture, and family.[6] Once she discovered her true patrimony (another myth said it was due to Stronmaus' teasing), she reinvented herself as a mighty hunter and protector.[7]

Possessions[]

Hiatea wore leather armor and carried a bow, and a quiver of arrows, and a spear that flamed on her command.[6][7]

Realm[]

Hiatea lived in Woodhaven on the wild, rugged layer of Eronia on the plane of Elysium.[11] She often journeyed to the Beastlands on hunting expeditions, with her skills amazing beings all who witnessed them.[6]

Activities[]

Hiatea communicated frequently with her priests and shamans, sending omens in the form of distinctive shapes in the fires, or in flaming spheres within dying embers. Her community priests might see omens in the dreams of children. She might also send omens in the form of a gigantic (2-foot wingspan) yellow-gold moth that would spiral around flame. Her priests perceived messages in its path of flight. Those who captured the moth alive would be invisible in woodlands for up to six days.[6]

Relationships[]

Hiatea's other siblings or half-siblings included Grolantor, Iallanis, and Memnor, Skoraeus Stonebones, and Stronmaus.[9]

Hiatea was the mother of the demigod Grond Peaksmasher, whom she sent to be the patron of the firbolgs of the Moonshae Isles.[12]

Because of her patronage of the wood giants, Hiatea began to develop real friendships with some of the elven deities, notably Solonor Thelandira, whom she often engaged with in archery contests.[6]

Worshipers[]

Hiatea was worshiped by giants of all species, especially females. Firbolgs and voadkyn (wood giants) of both genders were particularly fond of Hiatea, and considered her to be their special patron.[6]

Hiatea taught that nature was both creator and destroyer, and that admitting defeat was the worst shame a giant could bear. Still, some prices were too high to pay even for victory, for Hiatea was a goddess with tendencies toward good.[7]

Hiatea's priests typically had one of two roles, although the boundary between the two could occasionally be fuzzy. There were the community priests ("priests of the steadings") who tended to agriculture and the raising, protection, and education of children, and there were the protector (or sentinel) priests who patrolled woodlands and forests and kept an eye on other races. Her voadkyn protector priests went out of their way to maintain relations with the wood elves.[6] The highest priests of Hiatea belonged to no community, instead visiting the giant steadings only to issue orders to the priests of the community.[7]

Among the firbolgs, female clerics might be somewhat more numerous than male ones, though males and females were considered of equal merit in all of Hiatea's sects.[6]

All of Hiatea's clerics must be capable of surviving and hunting in the wilderness. Those who lost this ability because of age, injury, or other ailment had to retire.[7]

Once a month or so, the community priests accompanied the sentinel priests and the faithful on a ceremonial hunt. Once a year, usually in the spring, they selected a particularly challenging creature to kill.[7]

Making family decisions without consulting a community priest of Hiatea was considered a minor sin by the faithful.[7]

History[]

Hiatea was the daughter of Annam. Her mother was an unnamed sky goddess or, according to some myths, a mortal giant. Annam originally preferred sons over daughters, and used magic to ensure the gender of his offspring was male. Hiatea's mother hid her pregnancy from Annam and had her daughter raised by firbolgs so that Annam would never learn of her existence.[6]

When she came of age, a messenger was sent from her mother's deathbed to tell Hiatea of her true parentage. Hiatea proved herself with a series of daring feats, culminating in an epic battle with a great monster, sometimes named as a Lernaean hydra with fifty heads and sometimes as a tarrasque. She was sometimes said to have used her spear to slay an enormous hydra, preventing its heads from regenerating by cauterizing them with fire.[13]

She brought a trophy of her kill to her father, who recognized her valor and worth, accepting her as one of his own offspring. Upon learning of her existence, her brother Stronmaus was overjoyed and celebrated by creating mighty storms that flooded the worlds, washing away great evils in the process.[13]

Appendix[]

Further Reading[]

References[]

  1. James Wyatt et al. (August 2023). Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. Edited by Janica Carter et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 27. ISBN 978-0-7869-6898-5.
  2. Eric L. Boyd, Erik Mona (May 2002). Faiths and Pantheons. Edited by Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 221. ISBN 0-7869-2759-3.
  3. Rich Redman, James Wyatt (May 2001). Defenders of the Faith. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 92, 94, 96. ISBN 0-7869-1840-3.
  4. Richard Baker, James Wyatt (March 2004). Player's Guide to Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 160. ISBN 0-7869-3134-5.
  5. David Noonan (May 2004). Complete Divine. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 124. ISBN 0-7869-3272-4.
  6. 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 Carl Sargent (May 1992). Monster Mythology. (TSR, Inc), p. 77. ISBN 1-5607-6362-0.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 48–50. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  8. Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 175. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 48. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  10. Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 49. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  11. Dale Donovan (December 1995). “Liber Benevolentiae”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Conflict (TSR, Inc.), p. 50. ISBN 0-7869-0309-0.
  12. Eric L. Boyd (September 1995). “Forgotten Deities: Grond Peaksmasher”. In Duane Maxwell ed. Polyhedron #111 (TSR, Inc.), p. 4.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Carl Sargent (May 1992). Monster Mythology. (TSR, Inc), p. 73. ISBN 1-5607-6362-0.

Connections[]

The Giant Pantheon
Annam All-Father
Othea
Subservient Deities
DiancastraGrolantorHiateaIallanisKarontorMemnorSkoraeus StonebonesStronmausSurtrThrym
Progenitors
DunmoreArno and JulianLanaxisMasudNiciasObadaiOttarRukVilmos
Advertisement