The Minerva

During the course of her adventures, the famed Sylvia Fairchild became very well acquainted with Zeus and his wandering infidelities. Of their tryst was born a secret child, who Sylvia named Minerva and hid away from the gods.
Blessed with the full breadth of the Words of Creation, young Minerva was able to speak the very language that wove Emeriss together from the aether as fluently as if it were her native tongue. This drew the attention of the pantheon as a whole in a way that even her mother, powerful a wizard as she may have been, could not protect her from.
The gods visited tragedies and sickness upon the child and, though many of their plots were foiled by her mother and her allies, eventually Minerva was claimed by Persephone herself who walked the child into Hades with tears brimming in the goddess' eyes.
Unfortunately, the power of Minerva's Words resisted the authority of death itself and took refuge in the mind of her elder sister - Vidica Fairchild. There it blossomed, growing in power and stitching itself an identity from the half-lost scraps of the child's memories until what had once been only the whisper of a Word on the wind became a demi-goddess full of wrath and ambition.
Patient and thirsty for retribution against the gods that stole her young life away, she waits as the mantle of her power passes from one generation of Fairchild magicians to the next, growing deeper and wider with every passing year.

Vidica Fairchild (58-70 AD)

The first to bear the mantle of The Minerva, Vidica was a gifted enchantress specializing in memory magic and mind altering spells. Combining her talents with the power of The Minerva's Words she devised the spell which transformed living memories into memoriae - small heart-shaped phials used to contain the memories and personality of the wearer. Using these memoriae, the first agents of the Cult were able to go about their deeds with complete deniability, only retaking their memories once the action they had been assigned was complete.

Arenna Fairchild (70-103 AD)

The daughter of Vidica, Arenna was a phenomenally powerful sorceress who spent her tenure as The Minerva using her powers to fill the Cult's coffers and expand its influence beyond Deepvale (the city where it was founded). During Arenna's tenure, the Cult was quiet but, guided by her gentle hand, it blossomed into the beginnings of the political powerhouse it would one day become.

Fara Fairchild (103-136 AD)

Relatively young when the mantle settled upon her, Fara's personality was warped by its burden transforming her into a truly terrifying caster and a harsh mistress. Under Fara's rule, the Cult gradually transitioned from a community of like-minded loyalists to a strict hierarchy beholden to Fara above all else - a veritable kingdom lurking within the shadows of another. By Fara's magics, entirely family lines were bound to the Cult to the 10th generation and the minds of the disloyal were transformed into grim memoriae.

Esra Fairchild (136-180 AD)

Already a talented sorceress by the time The Minerva passed to her, Esra left the Cult to its own devices, trusting its speakers and ministers to carry on its growth in her absence. Turning her attentions to purging threats to Ruellan society such as the orcish war hordes and Vennican invasion attempts, she freed the Cult to focus on its own development in secrecy without need to devote resources to prevent green skins and dominionists from accidentally upending their efforts. Almost single-handedly, Esra obliterated the orcish threat within Ruelle to the last, pure blooded warrior, leaving behind only those half-orcs already integrated into society.

Seralina Fairchild (180-240 AD)

Patient and powerful, Seralina spent decades expanding the Cult's ranks and capabilities through complex, necromantic rites. Through careful research she managed to forge new magics capable of returning the spirits of the dead to the material plane in shackles while animating their bodies via a link to a living soul. With these undead legions at her disposal, Seralina greatly expanded the Cult's already far-reaching influence and infrastructure.

Dione Fairchild (240-259 AD)

But a child when her mother Seralina passed away, Dione had yet to be groomed in the ways of magical ritual and the political dance. Even so, with the mantle of The Minerva settled firmly on her shoulders she proved more than a match for the task. For nearly two decades she ruled over the Cult with a firm but gentle hand, guiding it in the collection of greater and greater magics towards the end of The Minerva's ascension. Unfortunately, she was never able to unravel the mysteries of resurrection before she met her untimely demise.

Eliza Fairchild (259-312 AD)

Elder sister of Dione, Eliza had long ago come into her own as a wizard before Aaron the Lesser asked for her hand in marriage. The proposal drew a deep wedge between Dione and Eliza, eventually leading to the murder of the former. After ascending to the throne of The Minerva, Eliza focused her efforts on condensing the Cult's operations, bringing them deeper into the shadows, where they would be less likely to be discovered and their aims thwarted by either the authorities or wandering adventurers.

Ilyandriel Fairchild (312-400 AD)

Lacking her mother's discretion and gifted with a much more intimate connection to The Minerva than Eliza, Ilyandriel took great pleasure in singling out small bands of adventurers and allowing them a glimpse of the Cult - providing them with just enough information to tempt them into seeking out the demi-goddess at its heart. In time, the mantle forced its hand, guiding Ilyandriel away from such childish diversions and into the next stage of Her plans for the Cult, pressing Her avatar into negotiations with a tribe of goblins who would join the hordes of undead as quiet, plausibly deniable foot soldiers.

Coudetta Fairchild (400- 513AD)

Without a daughter of her own, Ilyandriel was forced to wait until her only son, Arathur Fairchild, had taken a wife before she could pass on the mantle. His bride, Coudetta Tyrsin, took quickly to The Minerva's teachings and when the time came that Ilyandriel's past transgressions caught up to her Coudetta was more than ready to take her place as the avatar.
It was Coudetta who first began the tradition of the Knights of The Minerva, binding powerful individuals to the demi-goddess' will through hidden memoriae so that the Knights never even knew they had been chosen - let alone offered the opportunity to refuse. Over the course of her long reign (the longest of any avatar to date), Coudetta also began the arduous process of cleaving chunks of land free from Emeriss and casting them out into the aether, creating demi-planes and temples where the Cult could worship and contemplate without fear of being discovered.
Eventually, the long exposure to a nascent demi-goddess took its toll on Coudetta's mind, wracking her with spasms and hallucinations to the point that the wizard was forced to turn away from The Minerva's path. When it became obvious that the demi-goddess could not convince her to return to her duties the mantle simply vanished into the aether, leaving Coudetta and the whole of the Cult to wonder what had become of their deity.

Celena Fairchild (513-543 AD)

The daughter of Coudetta and Arathur Fairchild, Celena was raised beneath the bruised sky of the temple's demi-plane. She came of age listening to the rattle of skeletons marching through the marble corridors and bare goblin feet upon the carpets. Hers was a life steeped in the magics of the Cult at the height of its power, unchallenged for over a century and on the very cusp of ascension. It was only after Coudetta's death, without the mantle of The Minerva to preserve her, that the goddess returned, alighting upon a woman whose faith had never faltered, even as she watched her mother slide irreversibly into madness.
Even when her first daughter was born, Celena held firm to her belief that The Minerva was a blessing waiting to be ushered into Emeriss. But, as young Prism grew, Celena feared what might become of the child if she were forced to shoulder the same burden that had driven her grandmother, Coudetta, into madness. By the time Celena and Stefan bore their second daughter, Roxanne, the rock-solid foundation of Celena's faith had begun to erode.
She forbade the practice of magic from both her daughters, guiding them both into more martial realms and eventually resulting in Prism taking Paladin's oaths while Roxanne rebelled into petty crimes. When at last Celena and Stefan were struck down by the blade of a Knight of The Minerva in the year 543 for disloyalty the goddess, they went to their graves, grateful that at least their daughters would be spared the weight of the mantle.

The Shadow Avatar (543AD - present)

No one knows the name or identity of the current Avatar of The Minerva. Most expected that she would return to the aether, awaiting a Fairchild with arcane talents through whom she could channel her will but, no sooner were Celena and Stefan's bodies cold than a figure draped in blue spider silk appeared upon the temple throne, her face shrouded in shadow beneath a white and gold cowl. Great wings like those of some massive dove extended from her back, armored in delicate, golden filigree and the tome in her lap pulsed with a divine light that left the assembled worshipers in awe.
Claiming the title of avatar, she demonstrated her power by weaving arcane and holy magics together in a single Word, "Ashte." With that simple invocation, life poured back into the corpses of Celena and Stefan Fairchild in the first true resurrection seen on Emeriss since the arrival of Man more than four millennia ago. Then, the Shadow Avatar ordered them punished for the sin of disbelief.
Stefan lasted fourteen days. Celena, seventeen.
The Shadow Avatar has reigned over the Cult since that first moment, unchallenged as she leads her followers into increasingly open operations to gather the final materials and artifacts they will need for the ascension of The Minerva and the holy terror she shall unleash upon gods and mortals alike - shattering Emeriss to remake it in the vision of a new goddess.