Shiwa

Written by Desyov

Goddess of Planning, Reason, and Restraint

Pronunciation - /SHEE-wah/
Shiwa is the eldest sibling among other greater gods, and is seen by most as comparable to the prime three in raw strength. They are well known as having a hand in the planned creation of nearly all things. They act as Oum's closest adviser, and are said to have been the first to come up with the concepts of language, having taught the concept to the Dragonkind.
Shiwa's existence is filled with controversy, fore she is said to know all. Very few people are familiar with her true abilities, but nearly every piece of scripture about Shiwa references her ability to know all, or so she's claimed. This all comes to a head with the great floods. A cataclysmic event hundreds of years ago where Facit broke free of Oum's bindings, and destroying nearly all currently known civilization at the time. Cults of Facit claim that Shiwa's foresight is blind to him, where as churches of Shiwa say that would be impossible.
Outside of this, Shiwa has taken a rather passive stance on mortality as it's developed. Any faithful of hers come from those who yearn for knowledge, and because of this, those who do manage to find interest in her faith are the same people who would be looking for the rare, complex, and hidden ways she communicates.

Archives

Shiwa rarely interacts with mortals herself, and has hardly any angels or divine servants. At least physical ones. Most of Shiwa's divine servants take less living forms in literal terms, each of which known as Archives. The two most notable being an incredible large extra-planar vault of forbidden knowledge known as The Accursed Archive, and her holy realm and home known as The Oracle's Archive.
Every Archive is sentient much like that of a magical item, having their own personalities, memories, and intelligence, as well as magical abilities not unlike that of other angels. Though their abilities vary, they all have a number of common traits that few of the archives lack.

• Every single one of the Archives is protected by magic that blocks most infiltrative magics. Teleportation in or out, extra-planar travel, as well as divination or scrying sensors.
• Any written information within the Archives can only be read by those the Archives deem worthy.
• All of every creatures past who enters an Archive becomes known to it, even if it has been forgotten.

by Ben H+Ja

Divine Domains

Clerics of Shiwa have access to the Fate and Knowledge domains when choosing their path.

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Shiwa's holy symbol is, unlike some other gods, rather specific. She knows exactly the symbol she wishes to represent her, and to what specifications. She communicates this sort of thing clearly, despite her distant communication with her faithful. Shiwa's symbol is an intricate web of stars painting a page, matching the constellation that her many archives make up in the sky. You can tell how long ago a symbol of Shiwa was made by how up to date the map of stars is.

Mental characteristics

Intellectual Characteristics

Shiwa is intelligent enough to know everything. She has such incredible intellect that since her creation she has been able to predict every ripple of existence to such a degree that nothing can theoretically surprise her. It's up for debate whether her domain gives her knowledge of everything or not, but even if it doesn't, her ability to predict is ridiculously accurate to an extent that it almost doesn't matter.

Personality Characteristics

Vices & Personality flaws

Shiwa, in all of her depictions, is lazy, tired, and reluctant. She dislikes the idea of greater deities interfering with the acts of mortals, or even the acts of the lesser divine. Almost like a mirror to her brother Facit, Shiwa leaves everything to the last possible moment. She claims to know how all will happen, and therefore waits until the last possible second before doing anything she needs to do.

Social

Hobbies & Pets

Shiwa spends all of her time reading. Even though she knows nearly everything, she simply enjoys relaxing, and reading. Despite her domain, she's been known to request fantasy stories and novels as offerings, implying an enjoyment of fiction.

Relationships

Deshai

Sister (Important)

Towards Shiwa

-5

-5

Frank

---

Shiwa

Sister (Vital)

Towards Deshai

0

0

Subversive

---

History

Ever since shortly before the birth of Usugo, Deshai has had an incredible and unrelenting hatred for Shiwa. She has tried multiple times to kill her, and has many transcriptions of her word in holy text and practice that describe and treat Shiwa and her followers as dirt and garbage, to be killed without thought or hesitation.
Despite her hatred towards her, Shiwa has no issues with her sister. Usugo was necessary, and this hatred is a price that is worth the benefits that come from a balanced pantheon of the gods. Shiwa also does not fear Deshai, as Shiwa has access to all information. Shiwa cannot be caught off guard or out planned. They know of and can plan for every single time Shiwa will attack, how it will go, and what they will need to do to prevent their own death. This confidence, and the rather dismissive demeanor Shiwa gives off towards her, only makes Deshai more angry.

Relationship Reasoning

A few weeks before the twins would be born, Shiwa called Deshai to her holy realm. The Oracle's Archive. When she arrived, she was brought to Shiwa's personal study, and was rather bluntly and flatly told that, Usugo will become a god of negative emotion. Shiwa explained that he would never be able to be happy, and through early years would never stop crying. She believed that it would be important for her to be prepared for that. Deshai though, was absolutely furious and lashed out. Shiwa knew this would happen, and so as she had predicted, just before Deshai succeeded in her attempt to kill her, Liphan arrived. He healed Shiwa, and took Deshai away. To this day, Shiwa is entirely neutral about the situation, and Deshai retains her anger.

Divine Classification

Greater Deity

Realm

The Oracle's Archive

Spouses

Siblings

Gender

Female

Hair

White, and poofy like clouds

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Darker brown

Height

9'6''

Related Myths

• Beginnings
• Big Sister
• Maternity