Talona

Talona (tah-low-nah), The Lady of Poison, Mistress of Disease and Mother of All Plagues is the fictional goddess of poison and disease in the Forgotten Realms universe of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Ed Greenwood created Talona for his home Dungeons & Dragons game, inspired by the Finnish deity Kiputytto.

Overview
Talona is depicted as an old crone who walks bringing misfortune and death. Talona is the goddess of plague and disease, her followers are expected to go about quietly and seek out new diseases. Talona allies with Loviatar and despises Chauntea, Mielikki, Kelemvor, and Tyr. She dislikes Ilmater for the cures he finds.

Priests of Talona carry daggers dipped in poison. In the R.A. Salvatore series The Cleric Quintet, the formula to the concoction known as the "Chaos Curse" was given to Aballister Bonaduce by an imp which the avatar of Talona had told Aballister about.

Followers of Plague
Followers of Talona take pain as if it were pleasure. They believe death is more powerful than life, though they are equal in balance. Work in her name and let your doings be subtle or spectacular.

Churches

 * The House of Night's Embrace, located in Tashluta.

Trivia
In the Second Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Talona originally came from Earth. This was omitted from the Third Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. 

Literature

 * The Lady of Poison, by Bruce Cordell is the first book in the Forgotten Realms series, The Priests. It is about the worshippers of Talona.


 * Viper's Kiss, by Lisa Smedman is the first book in the House of Serpents trilogy. It has a few chapters on the membership requirements of Talona's worship.