Dominion: light, music and the arts, healing, prophecy, archery, flocks and herds, young people
Title: the Bright Protector
Sacred Symbols: lyre, bow and arrows
Sacred Colours: red, gold and white
Sacred Animals: raven, crow, hawk, swan, wolf, python, dolphin, roe deer, horse, dog, cicadas, mice
Sacred Plants: laurel, daphne, cypress tree, palm tree, hyacinth
Sacred Jewel: sapphire
Days of Worship: Sunday and Wednesday
High Feast Days: 24th of May, 24th of September and 24th of October
Festival: 24th of August
Devotees: musicians, poets, artists, actors, physicians and herbalists, prophets and oracles, archers, athletes, gymnasium owners, warriors, agricultural communities, citizens of small towns, shepherds, lawyers, politicians, teachers, mathematicians, numerologists, sailors, immigrants and those originating from the colonies
Invoked for: healing of blindness and eye disease, protection of warriors, protection from plague and pestilence, protection against storms at sea, protection for the health and safety of crops and herds, protection and safety of towns and homes, protection of the health of boy children, help with boys' education, success in athletic and artistic endeavours, suffering caused by love
Temple: The main temple to Apollo in Lindensea is found in the town of Fossebury in Westshire. In Camden, the Temple of Apollo is at the bottom of Whitebread Hill, below the temple of Sol, which is at its peak.
Initiation: Takes place between the ages of 18 and 20. Seven young men and seven young women of great physical beauty in both face and figure are selected by the god's oracle, and must prove themselves worthy through tests of athleticism, archery, horsemanship, singing, and dancing. By tradition, youths who pass this initiation enter the Royal Military Academy at Sunwood in Hillshire. Female initiates are considered the most eligible debutantes of their year, and have their choice of desirable suitors.
Merged with: Belen, the Tirathic god of the sun and healing
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Apollo is one of the most highly favoured gods in Lindensea, due to his powerfully protective nature and gifts for prophecy and healing. The most beautiful of all the deities, he is very attractive to the young who he is said to especially care for.
When the Romans came to these lands they identified the Tirathic god Belen as a form of Apollo, and their worship merged together naturally. Belen's shrine in Fossebury became dedicated to Apollo, and a large and beautiful temple was built in the shape of an octagon, the symbol of new life and regeneration. Besides healing baths in the River Fossebrook, there are also hostels for pilgrims to stay.
Apollo is popular in the farming communities and villages of Lindensea, due to his protection of crops, flocks, and herds. Many small towns will have shrines to the god, and his festivals are high points of the country social calendar. In the cities, foreigners, immigrants, and colonials are drawn to the Temple of Apollo, which provides a ready path to social integration and advancement.
The Temple of Apollo has a close alliance with the Temple of Sol and the Temple of Mercury. Devotees of the god Apollo consider themselves brethren to the devotees of these temples.
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