Skadi, Goddess of Earth

Skadi the Landmother is ever present in the vast wilderness. It is said she walks the lands, watching over her domain and ensuring the seasons pass as they should. Her form that of an eladrin, wearing a grand headdress of wildflowers and a dress of autumn leaves. Sometimes she is depicted with multi-colored dragon scales. She is married to Uller, the god of the hunt. Legend has it the feathers in her headdress was a gift from Uller.

Skadi is the mother of the Chromatic Dragons, whom she bore from her own womb. She birthed the primordial dragons as a force to return Midgard to a time before civilization came. She is opposed by Heimdall, who made the Metallic Dragons in his forge to protect the mortal races. The followers of Skadi and Heimdall are locked in an eternal struggle, which often breaks out into violence.

Skadi is not opposed to individual mortals living in the world, but she does not think they should receive any special status from the gods. All chromatic dragons worship her, and she considers all chromatic dragons to be her children, and her most devout and powerful followers are sometimes granted the service of a dragon as a steed or bodyguard.

Divine Relationships

As the guardian of the uncivilized wilds, worship of Skadi is orthogonal to worship of many other gods. The least liked by her is Heimdall, whom her worshipers view as corrupting nature for his own purposes. She has an uneasy bond with Freya the Lady of Light as the sun is what provides for her domain - but the civilization that Freya encourages is antithetical to what Skadi's own purposes.

Skadi is more closely aligned to Aegir, her counterpart in the sea and oceans. Travelers would do well to have the favor of at least one of them where their domains intersect, such as in swamps and wetlands.

Stories of Skadi

The Peacock Headdress When the world was still young, Uller was courting Skadi but she was rejecting him. Only after showing his respect and understanding of nature by convincing a family of peacocks to let him take four feathers undisturbed and crafting them into a great headdress did she see his love for her and nature. She still bears the headdress to this day, and finding a peacock feather is a sign of Skadi's favor.

Mother of Dragons In order to imbue the chromatic dragons with the power to raze civilization, Skadi travelled to the farthest reaches of the multiverse, granting the primordial dragons the powers of the cosmos. The first to be spawned were the primordial white dragon from the frigid plane of Helheim. Afterwards, she went to the great Swamps of Oblivion in the Elemental Plane of Earth and birthed the mother of all black dragons. The green dragon came next, the result of Skadi joining her body to the poisonous waters of the River Styx throughout the Nine Hells. The blue dragons came from the Elemental Plane of Air. Last, and mightiest of all, the red dragons were spawned by Skadi in the Fountains of Creation, deep in the Plane of Fire.

Skadi's favor

Ideals of Skadi

Devotion My devotion to my god is more important to me than what she stands for. (Any)

Preservation Nature is not to be recklessly plundered. (Lawful)

Accuracy Precision in actions is everything. Beware hurting innocents. (Good)

Turbulence Nature is unpredictable, and so am I. (Chaotic)

Guard the Realm The wilderness protects civilization from what lies beyond. (Neutral)

No Mercy Nature does not take prisoners. (Evil)

Earning and losing piety

You increase your piety score to Skadi when you expand the influence of nature by committing acts such as these:

• Stopping those who hunt for sport or profit
• Keeping wild animals for husbandry
• Slaying non-natural threats such as undead, fiends or aberrations
• Slaying metallic dragons and other enemies in the Dragon War

Your piety score to Skadi decreases if you diminish her influence over the wilderness or contradict her ideals through acts such as these:

• Killing an animal unnecessarily, especially chromatic dragons
• Cutting down a forest to expand a settlement
• Interfering in the natural cycles of the wilderness
• Build a temple to any god, including Skadi herself

Skadi's Devotee

Piety 3+ Skadi trait

You can cast Animal Friendship once per long rest.

Skadi's Adherent

Piety 10+ Skadi trait

You can cast Plant Growth once per long rest, and you have advantage on any Charisma checks to interact with chromatic dragons.

Skadi's Disciple

Piety 25+ Skadi trait

You can cast Guardian of Nature once per long rest.

Champion of the Wild

Piety 50+ Skadi trait

You can increase your Dexterity or Wisdom by 2 and also your maximum for that score by 2.