At a Glance
| Identity | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Arcanua |
| Tradition | Local cults of the Low Countries and Lower Rhine |
| Sacred country | The southern Netherlands and small shrines along the inland roads |
| Divine concerns | Wakefulness, timely warning, beginnings and the lamp kept for others |
| Recognisable signs | The inscribed bronze cockerel; a lit lamp at dawn in the campaign cult |
| Worshippers | Watchkeepers, early workers, travellers and households awaiting news |
| Campaign alignment | Neutral Good |
| Domain paths | Sun, Protection |
The bronze cockerel rings once before the sun reaches the roofs. Arcanua is already at the gate, holding a lamp for the traveller who has walked through the night. Her gift is the warning that arrives while there is still time to act.
Arcanua in the Living World
Arcanua’s small shrines stand where a settlement wakes: a yard gate, a workshop door, a shelter beside the road. Her lamp burns with a steady flame that illuminates the person who needs attention rather than the richest offering. She appears as a watchful woman with an oil lamp in one hand and the other resting on a wooden latch.
At a southern Netherlands posting house, the groom Willemken rises before dawn to check the horses. An old bronze bird on the shelf has begun to sound when a sleeping guest is in danger. Willemken has learned to look for smoke, sickness and a knife before declaring a miracle. Arcanua is pleased by that habit.
She concerns herself with beginnings that demand care: the first journey, the opening of a workshop, the watch before a child is born. Hludana’s crews and Sandraudiga’s field workers know the value of being awake in time. Such shared work connects the cults; it does not prove ancient kinship.
Worship and Sacred Places
A worshipper cleans a lamp, checks a neighbour’s roof after a storm or takes a difficult watch without demanding praise. The sanctuary accepts a little oil given freely. Deliberately silencing a warning to profit from another person’s danger is the offence most likely to bring her direct attention. The cockerel’s dawn meaning is the campaign’s interpretation of an intriguing ancient votive object.
Meeting Arcanua
Arcanua speaks plainly and early. She tells visitors what they can still change, then expects them to choose. She does not reveal every secret hidden in the night. A warning may lead to an innocent person’s room, where the danger is an illness or a frightened child rather than a villain. Her displeasure leaves a deceiver unable to sleep until they deliver the warning they suppressed.
Adventures
The Cock Crows at Midnight
Willemken’s bronze bird wakes the house at midnight for three nights. On the fourth, a guest’s bed will become a doorway to a burning building far away. The party can track the ash on his boots, keep the doorway open for rescue or move everyone before it forms. Breaking the bird removes the warning and leaves the fire’s victims beyond reach.
The Dawn That Has Not Come
A hamlet stays under the stars while neighbouring fields see morning. A watchkeeper sold the shrine lamp to buy medicine and now fears admitting it. The party can recover the lamp, arrange another offering or find the spirit nesting in its extinguished flame. Punishing the watchkeeper does not bring sunrise back; restoring care to the shrine does.
Divine Presence and Defeat
The visible figure is a manifestation through which the divine power can act among mortals. Its defeat ends that appearance and leaves the local cult without direct intervention for thirty days; it does not kill the god or erase worshippers’ memories. Destroying a shrine can damage a community and close a meeting place, but is not a reliable way to destroy divinity.
An ordinary intervention begins with a warning, a mortal worshipper or the blessing described below. A personal appearance follows when the sanctuary or people within this deity’s care face a danger their own efforts cannot contain. Bargaining, retreat and fulfilling the god’s stated purpose remain possible during an encounter.
Divine Powers and Cleric Traditions
Campaign rules: All manifestation statistics and divine abilities below are original, unofficial and unplaytested. Challenge ratings are provisional encounter estimates, not a measure of the god’s full power. Each edition is self-contained. A creature must be within range and visible where a power requires sight; a power cannot move it into an unsafe or occupied space. Ordinary spell and condition rules apply.
Arcanua — Manifestation
Medium Celestial (Deity), Neutral Good
AC 23 (divine ward); HP 450 (36d8 + 288); Speed 40 ft.; Initiative +8 (18)
| Ability | Score | Modifier | Save |
|---|---|---|---|
| STR | 20 | +5 | +5 |
| DEX | 26 | +8 | +15 |
| CON | 26 | +8 | +15 |
| INT | 26 | +8 | +8 |
| WIS | 28 | +9 | +16 |
| CHA | 24 | +7 | +14 |
Skills Insight +16, Perception +16, Religion +15, Survival +16; Senses Truesight 60 ft., Passive Perception 26; Languages Middle Dutch, French, Latin; Telepathy 120 ft.
Resistances Cold, Fire, Lightning; Immunities Poison damage; Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned; Challenge 24 (provisional); Proficiency Bonus +7. Divine comprehension allows communication through Telepathy without granting a universal spoken language.
Traits
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). After failing a saving throw, the manifestation can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
A Light Left Burning. She sees normally in magical and nonmagical Darkness out to 120 feet. Within 20 feet of her, willing allies cannot be put to sleep by magic and have Advantage on Initiative rolls.
Divine Strikes. The manifestation uses Wisdom for its supernatural attack and power save DC 24. Its strikes are magical. It has no spell slots; its personal repertoire consists of the powers printed here.
Actions
Multiattack. The manifestation makes three First Light attacks.
First Light. Melee Attack Roll: +16, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (4d10 + 9) Radiant damage.
The Waking Cry (3/Day). Enemies in a 60-foot cone make Wisdom saving throws, taking 55 (10d10) Radiant damage on a failure or half on a success. On a failure they also lose the Invisible condition until the end of her next turn. Willing sleeping creatures in the cone wake immediately; magical sleep ends only if created by a spell of level 5 or lower. Any saving throw or escape check in this power has DC 24.
Bonus Actions
Light the Way. An object within 60 feet shines with Bright Light for 30 feet and Dim Light for a further 30 feet for 1 minute. She may end the light at any time; this creates no fire.
Reactions
The Warning Comes First. When an ally she can see within 30 feet is targeted by an attack, she imposes Disadvantage on that attack roll before it is made.
Legendary Actions
Legendary Action Uses: 3. After another creature’s turn, the manifestation may expend one use for one option below. It regains all uses at the start of its turn and cannot use more than one option after the same turn.
Advance. Move up to half its Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks. Divine Strike. Make one First Light attack. Grant Shelter. One willing creature within 30 feet gains 15 Temporary Hit Points. Grant Shelter can be used only once before the manifestation’s next turn.
Clerics and Domain Spells
Light Domain. This is a follower’s subclass, separate from the deity’s personal powers. Use its 2024 features and Cleric progression. The spells below are always prepared when the cleric reaches the stated level; they count as Cleric spells and do not use prepared-spell choices.
| Cleric level | Domain spells |
|---|---|
| 3 | Burning Hands, Faerie Fire, Scorching Ray, See Invisibility |
| 5 | Daylight, Fireball |
| 7 | Arcane Eye, Wall of Fire |
| 9 | Flame Strike, Scrying |
Cleric rules. The holy sign can be a small votive image reflecting this local cult. The deity’s own encounter abilities are not granted to clerics.
Arcanua — Manifestation
Medium Celestial (Deity), Neutral Good
Armor Class 23 (divine ward); Hit Points 450 (36d8 + 288); Speed 40 ft.; Initiative +8
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 (+5) | 26 (+8) | 26 (+8) | 26 (+8) | 28 (+9) | 24 (+7) |
Saving Throws Dex +15, Con +15, Wis +16, Cha +14
Skills Insight +16, Perception +16, Religion +15, Survival +16; Senses Truesight 60 ft., Passive Perception 26; Languages Middle Dutch, French, Latin; Telepathy 120 ft.
Resistances Cold, Fire, Lightning; Immunities Poison damage; Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned; Challenge 24 (provisional); Proficiency Bonus +7. Divine comprehension allows communication through Telepathy without granting a universal spoken language.
Traits
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). After failing a saving throw, the manifestation can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
A Light Left Burning. She sees normally in magical and nonmagical Darkness out to 120 feet. Within 20 feet of her, willing allies cannot be put to sleep by magic and have Advantage on Initiative rolls.
Divine Strikes. The manifestation uses Wisdom for its supernatural attack and power save DC 24. Its strikes are magical. It has no spell slots; its personal repertoire consists of the powers printed here.
Actions
Multiattack. The manifestation makes three First Light attacks.
First Light. Melee Spell Attack: +16 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (4d10 + 9) Radiant damage.
The Waking Cry (3/Day). Enemies in a 60-foot cone make Wisdom saving throws, taking 55 (10d10) Radiant damage on a failure or half on a success. On a failure they also lose the Invisible condition until the end of her next turn. Willing sleeping creatures in the cone wake immediately; magical sleep ends only if created by a spell of level 5 or lower. Any saving throw or escape check in this power has DC 24.
Bonus Actions
Light the Way. An object within 60 feet shines with Bright Light for 30 feet and Dim Light for a further 30 feet for 1 minute. She may end the light at any time; this creates no fire.
Reactions
The Warning Comes First. When an ally she can see within 30 feet is targeted by an attack, she imposes Disadvantage on that attack roll before it is made.
Legendary Actions
The manifestation has 3 legendary actions, regaining them at the start of its turn. It may take one option at the end of another creature’s turn. Advance (1 action): Move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. Divine Strike (1 action): Make one First Light attack. Grant Shelter (2 actions): Up to three willing creatures within 30 feet each gain 15 temporary hit points.
Clerics and Domain Spells
Light Domain. This is a follower’s subclass, separate from the deity’s personal powers. Use its 2014 features and Cleric progression. The spells below are always prepared when the cleric reaches the stated level; they count as Cleric spells and do not use prepared-spell choices.
| Cleric level | Domain spells |
|---|---|
| 1 | Burning Hands, Faerie Fire |
| 3 | Flaming Sphere, Scorching Ray |
| 5 | Daylight, Fireball |
| 7 | Guardian of Faith, Wall of Fire |
| 9 | Flame Strike, Scrying |
Cleric rules. The holy sign can be a small votive image reflecting this local cult. The deity’s own encounter abilities are not granted to clerics.
Arcanua — Manifestation
Medium outsider (extraplanar), neutral good; CR 20 (provisional original encounter)
Initiative +12; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +46
Defense
AC 43, touch 25, flat-footed 34 (+8 Dex, +18 natural, +6 deflection, +1 dodge); hp 324 (24d10+192); Saves Fort +18, Ref +24, Will +25.
DR 10/epic; immune poison; resist cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20; SR 31; fast healing 15.
Offense
Speed 40 ft.; Attack slam +30 melee (6d8+5 plus 4d8 divine force/19–20); Full attack 2 slams +30 melee (6d8+5 plus 4d8 divine force/19–20); Space/Reach 5 ft./10 ft. (supernatural reach).
The Waking Cry (Su, 3/day). Standard action. Enemies in a 60-foot cone take 16d6 untyped damage from divine light, Will half. Those failing cannot benefit from invisibility for 1 round. Normal sleepers in the area wake. As a separate part of this power, magical sleep is subject to a targeted dispel check at caster level equal to her Hit Dice; it is not automatically removed. Save DC 31; any escape check uses the same DC. The DC is 10 + half racial Hit Dice + Wisdom modifier.
A Light Left Burning (Su). Darkvision 120 feet that functions in magical darkness. Willing allies within 20 feet gain a +4 sacred bonus on initiative and saves against sleep; an existing magical sleep is not automatically ended.
The Warning Comes First (Su). Once per round as an immediate action, impose a –4 penalty on one attack roll against an ally within 30 feet. Use this before the roll is made.
Divine Armament (Su). The enlarged impact, force damage and reach of the slams are inherent campaign divine abilities, not size-based natural-weapon progression. They count as epic weapons for overcoming damage reduction. These powers do not grant spell slots or additional spell-like abilities.
Statistics
Abilities Str 20, Dex 26, Con 26, Int 26, Wis 28, Cha 24; Base Attack +24; CMB +29; CMD 54.
Feats Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (slam), Skill Focus (Perception), Skill Focus (Sense Motive), Improved Critical (slam) (12 racial-HD feat slots).
Skills Diplomacy +34, Knowledge (religion) +35, Perception +46, Sense Motive +46, Profession (shrine keeper) +36, Survival +36, Swim +29, Stealth +35. Listed skills have ranks equal to Hit Dice. Outsider class skills include Bluff, Craft, Knowledge (planes), Perception, Sense Motive and Stealth; the four additional racial class skills are Diplomacy, Knowledge (religion), Profession and Survival.
Languages Middle Dutch, French, Latin; telepathy 120 ft. Divine comprehension (Su) permits telepathic communication across language barriers. Environment The southern Netherlands and small shrines along the inland roads; Organization solitary manifestation; Treasure offerings remain at the shrine; Advancement —; Level Adjustment —.
Clerics and Domain Spells
Domains: Sun, Protection. A cleric chooses two, subject to the edition’s normal alignment rules. These are follower grants, not additional spells known by the manifestation.
Granted powers: Sun: Sun’s Blessing and Nimbus of Light; Protection: Resistant Touch and Aura of Protection. Use the level scaling and daily resources in the linked Pathfinder Cleric rules.
| Spell level | Sun | Protection |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Endure Elements | Sanctuary |
| 2 | Heat Metal | Shield Other |
| 3 | Searing Light | Protection from Energy |
| 4 | Fire Shield | Spell Immunity |
| 5 | Flame Strike | Spell Resistance |
| 6 | Fire Seeds | Antimagic Field |
| 7 | Sunbeam | Repulsion |
| 8 | Sunburst | Mind Blank |
| 9 | Prismatic Sphere | Prismatic Sphere |
Arcanua — Manifestation
Medium outsider (extraplanar), neutral good; CR 20 (provisional original encounter)
Initiative +12; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen/Spot +38
Defense
AC 42, touch 24, flat-footed 34 (+8 Dex, +18 natural, +6 deflection); hp 300 (24d8+192); Saves Fort +24, Ref +24, Will +25.
DR 10/epic; immune poison; resist cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20; SR 31; fast healing 15. Dodge grants a further +1 dodge bonus to AC against one designated opponent; it is not included in the base AC.
Offense
Speed 40 ft.; Attack slam +30 melee (6d8+5 plus 4d8 divine force); Full attack 2 slams +30 melee (6d8+5 plus 4d8 divine force); Space/Reach 5 ft./10 ft. (supernatural reach).
The Waking Cry (Su, 3/day). Standard action. Enemies in a 60-foot cone take 16d6 untyped damage from divine light, Will half. Those failing cannot benefit from invisibility for 1 round. Normal sleepers in the area wake. As a separate part of this power, magical sleep is subject to a targeted dispel check at caster level equal to her Hit Dice; it is not automatically removed. Save DC 31; any escape check uses the same DC. The DC is 10 + half racial Hit Dice + Wisdom modifier.
A Light Left Burning (Su). Darkvision 120 feet that functions in magical darkness. Willing allies within 20 feet gain a +4 sacred bonus on initiative and saves against sleep; an existing magical sleep is not automatically ended.
The Warning Comes First (Su). Once per round as an immediate action, impose a –4 penalty on one attack roll against an ally within 30 feet. Use this before the roll is made.
Divine Armament (Su). The enlarged impact, force damage and reach of the slams are inherent campaign divine abilities, not size-based natural-weapon progression. They count as epic weapons for overcoming damage reduction. These powers do not grant spell slots or additional spell-like abilities.
Statistics
Abilities Str 20, Dex 26, Con 26, Int 26, Wis 28, Cha 24; Base Attack +24; Grapple +29.
Feats Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (slam) (9 racial-HD feat slots).
Skills Diplomacy +34, Knowledge (religion) +35, Listen +38, Spot +38, Sense Motive +36, Profession (shrine keeper) +36, Survival +36, Swim +32, Hide +35. Listed skills have ranks equal to Hit Dice + 3. Other skills are untrained; unspent skill points are not included in the listed modifiers.
Languages Middle Dutch, French, Latin; telepathy 120 ft. Divine comprehension (Su) permits telepathic communication across language barriers. Environment The southern Netherlands and small shrines along the inland roads; Organization solitary manifestation; Treasure offerings remain at the shrine; Advancement —; Level Adjustment —.
Clerics and Domain Spells
Domains: Sun, Protection. A cleric chooses two, subject to the edition’s normal alignment rules. These are follower grants, not additional spells known by the manifestation.
Granted powers: Sun: Once per day replace an ordinary turning attempt with a greater turning that destroys affected undead instead of turning them.; Protection: Once per day, a standard-action touch gives a resistance bonus equal to cleric level on the next saving throw within 1 hour. Use the linked 3.5e domain rules for turning and other class interactions.
| Spell level | Sun | Protection |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Endure Elements | Sanctuary |
| 2 | Heat Metal | Shield Other |
| 3 | Searing Light | Protection from Energy |
| 4 | Fire Shield | Spell Immunity |
| 5 | Flame Strike | Spell Resistance |
| 6 | Fire Seeds | Antimagic Field |
| 7 | Sunbeam | Repulsion |
| 8 | Sunburst | Mind Blank |
| 9 | Prismatic Sphere | Prismatic Sphere |
A Blessing to Earn
After keeping watch so someone else can rest, a character can receive one dawn’s warning. Once before the next dawn, immediately before rolling initiative, add +2 to that roll. The blessing does not identify a hidden enemy or prevent an ambush by itself.
Sources and Mythic Context
Arcanua’s name is preserved by inscriptions from the same findspot, including a bronze cockerel dedicated by a veteran. The object’s hollow back may have served as a lamp or candle support. Its precise relation to the goddess is uncertain. Dawn, watchkeeping, the living cult and all miracles here are original campaign interpretations, not securely attested ancient portfolios.
Explore the Low Countries Pantheon, the Gods and Pantheons directory, and the neighbouring Roman Pantheon.
Original SpiralWorlds campaign lore, artwork and rules. Historical names and objects are distinguished from campaign developments above. Rules references: Wizards of the Coast, D&D Basic Rules (2014), Free Rules / Player’s Handbook (2024), and revised D&D 3.5 System Reference Document; Paizo, Pathfinder First Edition Core Rulebook and Bestiary. Referenced names identify the relevant edition; no publisher endorsement or playtest certification is implied.
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