Loviatar

Maiden of Pain, the Willing Whip, Patroness of Torturers

Loviatar seems straightforward to the uninitiated; she is well-known as a goddess of torture and pain. What the common folk don’t know is how dedicated the Maiden of Pain is to her pantheon; the Willing Whip professes a dogma that mixes pleasantry with agony, healing with suffering. The greatest of the goddess’s followers aren’t those who wantonly focus on bringing suffering to others. Her true champions are those who know how to enthrall, knowing that moments of respite make the return to pain all the sweeter.
All four seasonal equinoxes are marked at organized temples with the Rite of Pain and Purity, a drumming dance performed by the faithful atop hazards such as thorns, barbs, and broken glass. These rituals cause a magical red mist to rise over the proceedings, sometimes causing the goddess herself to appear and communicate with her followers. Every twelve days, temples and chapels hold Candle Rites, which mirror the above ritual but involve passing parts of the body over lit candles. In both rituals, the participants are healed once they are finished.
Loviatar enjoys widespread worship throughout Faerûn, with larger and more active sects in major cities like Waterdeep. Though members of the clergy are commonly both masochistic and sadistic, the pain they inflict and receive is heavily structured by the strictures of the church. Inflicting terrible pain on both the willing and unwilling is central to a Loviatan’s duties and can involve physical injury or causing emotional turmoil.

Divine Classification

Death domain

Alignment

Lawful Evil