Pharasma
Birth and death are written in the bones, but bones can be broken. —The Bones Land in a Spiral
Lady of Graves, the Mother of Souls
Pharasma is the stern observer of life and death, scrutinizing the tangled webs of fate and prophecy, mercilessly cold in the administration of her duties. Having seen infants die, the righteous fall too soon, and tyrants live to advanced age, she makes no judgment about the justness of a particular death, and welcomes each birth with equal severity. At the moment of a mortal’s birth, she knows the many possible paths each soul could follow, but reserves her official verdict until the last possible moment. Legends claim that Pharasma saw Aroden’s death approaching—and even judged him as she does for all those born as mortals—but did nothing to warn even her own followers, many of whom were driven mad by the event. Though prophecy is no longer reliable, prophets continue to be born, and most of them are rendered insane by their confusing and contradictory visions.
In art, Pharasma is depicted as a midwife, a mad prophet, or a reaper of the dead, depending upon her role. Her visage usually has gray skin, white eyes, and white hair. As the midwife, she is efficient and severe, hair pulled back and arms bare from hands to the elbows. Pregnant women often carry tokens of this image on long necklaces to protect their unborn children and grant them good lives. As the prophet, Pharasma is wild-eyed and tangle-haired, and her words echo like thunder. As the reaper, she is tall and gaunt, with a hooded black gown and an hourglass with fast-flowing red sand, and is often shown seated on her throne and passing judgment on mortal souls.
Situated atop an impossibly tall spire, Pharasma’s realm in the afterworld—the Boneyard—looms over the perfectly ordered city-plane of Axis. When mortals die, their souls join the vast River of Souls that flows through the Astral Plane, and eventually deposits them in Pharasma’s Boneyard at the top of her spire. Once there, they stand in a great line, filtered through several courts according to their alignment and supposed planar destination. Those who die before experiencing their full fate might be lucky enough to return in this life or the next, either spontaneously or by getting called home by resurrection magic, but more often those who feel that they’ve met an untimely end discover that their destiny was in fact always leading them to their particular moment of death, however unjust or ignoble. Though she allows resurrection, the Lady of Graves opposes undeath as a desecration of the memory of the flesh and a corruption of a soul’s path on its journey to her judgment.
She encourages her followers to hunt undead, as the souls of the destroyed undead will then reach her for judgment. At the heart of the Boneyard is Pharasma’s Palace, a gothic structure built over the exact center of the Spire. Psychopomps walk its pathways and quietly fly above its walls, performing the administration of souls, and Pharasma’s faithful are housed within. Despite its light color and mood, the Palace is obviously a creation of the goddess. It’s unknown whether she made the Spire itself.
Pharasma manifests her favor through the appearance of scarab beetles and whippoorwills, both of which function as psychopomps (both in the figurative sense as guides for dead souls, as well as in the literal sense as manifestations of the outsiders called psychopomps). Black roses are thought to invite her favor and good luck, especially if the stems sport no thorns. Her displeasure is often signified by cold chills down the spine, bleeding from the nose or under the fingernails, an unexplained taste of rich soil, the discovery of a dead whippoorwill, or the feeling that something important has been forgotten. Pharasma also sometimes allows the spirits of those who have died under mysterious conditions to transmit short messages to their living kin to comfort them, expose a murderer, or haunt an enemy.
While her faithful most often wear black clothing trimmed in purple or silver during rituals, they are also fond of wearing brilliant shades of silver, blue, and purple throughout their daily lives and during sacred rites celebrating birth and life. Midwives and physicians carry silver religious symbols of Pharasma on long chains when they go to bless newborn children or say prayers over the dying. Scholars and oracles embroider Pharasma’s spiral or an hourglass to represent their belief in fate, prophecy, or observation of time. Those devout to Pharasma are generally circumspect when it comes to taking sides in politics or conflicts. Priests of Pharasma can frequently be found blessing, healing, and tending to the dead on rival sides of disputes, battles, and even wars with equal efficiency.
Places of worship dedicated to Pharasma range from the simplistic to the ostentatious. Mausoleums and crypts usually contain at least a token idol or shrine dedicated to Pharasma. Shrines to her can be as simple as a carved stone on a river island or within a graveyard. However, Pharasma’s temples are towering, gothic cathedrals decorated with stained glass and carved statuary. These temples typically have universities, hospitals, and immense libraries attached above ground, and vast, deep catacombs intricately decorated with the bones of the deceased below. Wealthy patrons and scholars pay membership fees to access knowledge and wisdom within her temples. Since being interred within the catacombs of Pharasma is deemed a blessing, they also contribute sizable donations to secure prominent locations for their bodies’ later interment in the crypts, often as an attempt to gain favor during Pharasma’s judgment of their soul in the afterlife. It is not uncommon for entire libraries or estates to be donated to the church of Pharasma from the deathbeds of the rich and powerful concerned with how their mortal deeds will reflect upon their immortal soul.
Like their goddess, the followers of Pharasma detest Urgathoa, Orcus, and all those who exult in undeath, for they represent both a corruption of natural existence and a vile bending of the will of Pharasma. Pharasmins oppose these foes whenever they encounter them, and vehemently counter their attempts at evangelism. If they learn that such cults are planning to raise undead, Pharasmins recruit allies and spend resources without hesitation to stop the abomination. Otherwise, Pharasmins are free—but not compelled—to make alliances and enmities with anyone they choose, on an individual level or as a temple, just as the Lady of Graves works with all the gods to guide mortal souls into their realms.
Pharasmin priests are renowned for their impartial natures, and regularly minister to both sides in a given conflict, caring foremost for the proper treatment of the dead and newborns. Followers of the Pharasmin Penitence might clash with the faithful of deities who focus on alleviating or preventing suffering, but are more likely to simply view them with cold distrust. A few fanatics take it upon themselves to pursue wizards, sorcerers, and other magic-users who attempt to improve the world through magical means; the fanatics see these attempts as defying the will of Pharasma.
Birthed-in-Sorrow: Resembling a gaunt, gray, wyvern-sized linnorm, this creature can channel positive energy like a cleric and can animate objects, forcing them to serve her. She loathes undead, and often blasts and grapples packs of them, reducing them to dust and vapor. She prefers offerings of magic items useful for destroying undead or healing the living.
Echo of Lost Divinity: This spectral Azlanti soldier wears fine clothes in green and gold. When his face is visible, he resembles depictions of Aroden as a god. As he has only appeared in Pharasma’s service since the death of the Last Azlanti, some believe he is a remnant of that god. Echo of Lost Divinity denies this, however. He prefers to heal and support those who call him rather than attacking their foes directly.
Steward of the Skein: This skull-adorned, armor-clad, winged woman is Pharasma’s herald. The Steward is a loner, and has little interest in the desires of mortals. She is personable with other planar servitors of her creator, but her unique role places her above them in the religious hierarchy, and she does not like fraternizing too much with her underlings lest she distract them from what Pharasma has planned for them. Conversely, she is extremely interested when one of the goddess’s other servants is due to give birth or die. Though the Steward has no interest in procreating on her own, she arrives at the moment of celestial and half-celestial births to witness them with great interest—perhaps as a proxy for Pharasma herself, whose presence would certainly overwhelm the newborn and confuse its role in the tapestry of fate. Likewise, the Steward has an almost morbid curiosity about one of her fellow servitors dying, and has an almost precognitive sense for such things, making her sudden appearance next to other servants of Pharasma in the Material Plane slightly worrisome.
In art, Pharasma is depicted as a midwife, a mad prophet, or a reaper of the dead, depending upon her role. Her visage usually has gray skin, white eyes, and white hair. As the midwife, she is efficient and severe, hair pulled back and arms bare from hands to the elbows. Pregnant women often carry tokens of this image on long necklaces to protect their unborn children and grant them good lives. As the prophet, Pharasma is wild-eyed and tangle-haired, and her words echo like thunder. As the reaper, she is tall and gaunt, with a hooded black gown and an hourglass with fast-flowing red sand, and is often shown seated on her throne and passing judgment on mortal souls.
Situated atop an impossibly tall spire, Pharasma’s realm in the afterworld—the Boneyard—looms over the perfectly ordered city-plane of Axis. When mortals die, their souls join the vast River of Souls that flows through the Astral Plane, and eventually deposits them in Pharasma’s Boneyard at the top of her spire. Once there, they stand in a great line, filtered through several courts according to their alignment and supposed planar destination. Those who die before experiencing their full fate might be lucky enough to return in this life or the next, either spontaneously or by getting called home by resurrection magic, but more often those who feel that they’ve met an untimely end discover that their destiny was in fact always leading them to their particular moment of death, however unjust or ignoble. Though she allows resurrection, the Lady of Graves opposes undeath as a desecration of the memory of the flesh and a corruption of a soul’s path on its journey to her judgment.
She encourages her followers to hunt undead, as the souls of the destroyed undead will then reach her for judgment. At the heart of the Boneyard is Pharasma’s Palace, a gothic structure built over the exact center of the Spire. Psychopomps walk its pathways and quietly fly above its walls, performing the administration of souls, and Pharasma’s faithful are housed within. Despite its light color and mood, the Palace is obviously a creation of the goddess. It’s unknown whether she made the Spire itself.
Pharasma manifests her favor through the appearance of scarab beetles and whippoorwills, both of which function as psychopomps (both in the figurative sense as guides for dead souls, as well as in the literal sense as manifestations of the outsiders called psychopomps). Black roses are thought to invite her favor and good luck, especially if the stems sport no thorns. Her displeasure is often signified by cold chills down the spine, bleeding from the nose or under the fingernails, an unexplained taste of rich soil, the discovery of a dead whippoorwill, or the feeling that something important has been forgotten. Pharasma also sometimes allows the spirits of those who have died under mysterious conditions to transmit short messages to their living kin to comfort them, expose a murderer, or haunt an enemy.
While her faithful most often wear black clothing trimmed in purple or silver during rituals, they are also fond of wearing brilliant shades of silver, blue, and purple throughout their daily lives and during sacred rites celebrating birth and life. Midwives and physicians carry silver religious symbols of Pharasma on long chains when they go to bless newborn children or say prayers over the dying. Scholars and oracles embroider Pharasma’s spiral or an hourglass to represent their belief in fate, prophecy, or observation of time. Those devout to Pharasma are generally circumspect when it comes to taking sides in politics or conflicts. Priests of Pharasma can frequently be found blessing, healing, and tending to the dead on rival sides of disputes, battles, and even wars with equal efficiency.
Places of worship dedicated to Pharasma range from the simplistic to the ostentatious. Mausoleums and crypts usually contain at least a token idol or shrine dedicated to Pharasma. Shrines to her can be as simple as a carved stone on a river island or within a graveyard. However, Pharasma’s temples are towering, gothic cathedrals decorated with stained glass and carved statuary. These temples typically have universities, hospitals, and immense libraries attached above ground, and vast, deep catacombs intricately decorated with the bones of the deceased below. Wealthy patrons and scholars pay membership fees to access knowledge and wisdom within her temples. Since being interred within the catacombs of Pharasma is deemed a blessing, they also contribute sizable donations to secure prominent locations for their bodies’ later interment in the crypts, often as an attempt to gain favor during Pharasma’s judgment of their soul in the afterlife. It is not uncommon for entire libraries or estates to be donated to the church of Pharasma from the deathbeds of the rich and powerful concerned with how their mortal deeds will reflect upon their immortal soul.
Relations with Other Religions
All deities deal peaceably with Pharasma, for their agents must have access to her realm to escort souls under their protection to their respective homes. While she approves of some actions and disapproves of others, she remains aloof and distant, with no true friends or enemies. She detests entities like Urgathoa and Orcus, who actively disrupt the cycle of souls by creating undead, as well as daemons who prey on the River of Souls, yet she leaves direct conflict to her minions, and does not demean the honor of her role as judge by withholding souls rightfully bound for such patrons. Most of the other gods understand and appreciate her impartiality, though Iomedae views her with some resentment for keeping Aroden’s approaching death a secret. Pharasma’s relationship with the enigmatic Groetus, who floats above the Spire, is a mystery.Like their goddess, the followers of Pharasma detest Urgathoa, Orcus, and all those who exult in undeath, for they represent both a corruption of natural existence and a vile bending of the will of Pharasma. Pharasmins oppose these foes whenever they encounter them, and vehemently counter their attempts at evangelism. If they learn that such cults are planning to raise undead, Pharasmins recruit allies and spend resources without hesitation to stop the abomination. Otherwise, Pharasmins are free—but not compelled—to make alliances and enmities with anyone they choose, on an individual level or as a temple, just as the Lady of Graves works with all the gods to guide mortal souls into their realms.
Pharasmin priests are renowned for their impartial natures, and regularly minister to both sides in a given conflict, caring foremost for the proper treatment of the dead and newborns. Followers of the Pharasmin Penitence might clash with the faithful of deities who focus on alleviating or preventing suffering, but are more likely to simply view them with cold distrust. A few fanatics take it upon themselves to pursue wizards, sorcerers, and other magic-users who attempt to improve the world through magical means; the fanatics see these attempts as defying the will of Pharasma.
Planar Allies
Pharasma’s divine servants are usually psychopomps, though spirits whose destinies were especially bright or unusually dark may visit the mortal world to carry a message on her behalf, even if they went to another deity or realm as part of their final judgment. The appearance of such a spirit usually relates to its activities in life or the god it served. For example, to warn her followers of a bloody battle, Pharasma may call forth the spirit of a mighty warrior of Gorum. In addition to her psychopomps, some of Pharasma’s servitors include the following, which answer to planar ally and similar calling spells from the faithful.Birthed-in-Sorrow: Resembling a gaunt, gray, wyvern-sized linnorm, this creature can channel positive energy like a cleric and can animate objects, forcing them to serve her. She loathes undead, and often blasts and grapples packs of them, reducing them to dust and vapor. She prefers offerings of magic items useful for destroying undead or healing the living.
Echo of Lost Divinity: This spectral Azlanti soldier wears fine clothes in green and gold. When his face is visible, he resembles depictions of Aroden as a god. As he has only appeared in Pharasma’s service since the death of the Last Azlanti, some believe he is a remnant of that god. Echo of Lost Divinity denies this, however. He prefers to heal and support those who call him rather than attacking their foes directly.
Steward of the Skein: This skull-adorned, armor-clad, winged woman is Pharasma’s herald. The Steward is a loner, and has little interest in the desires of mortals. She is personable with other planar servitors of her creator, but her unique role places her above them in the religious hierarchy, and she does not like fraternizing too much with her underlings lest she distract them from what Pharasma has planned for them. Conversely, she is extremely interested when one of the goddess’s other servants is due to give birth or die. Though the Steward has no interest in procreating on her own, she arrives at the moment of celestial and half-celestial births to witness them with great interest—perhaps as a proxy for Pharasma herself, whose presence would certainly overwhelm the newborn and confuse its role in the tapestry of fate. Likewise, the Steward has an almost morbid curiosity about one of her fellow servitors dying, and has an almost precognitive sense for such things, making her sudden appearance next to other servants of Pharasma in the Material Plane slightly worrisome.
Holy Books & Codes
Pharasma’s holy book, The Bones Land in a Spiral, mostly consists of the words of an ancient prophet. The faithful debate which events its predictions foretell, and whether the prophesied days have already passed. Later sections dispense advice on facilitating safe childbirth, properly disposing of the dead to prevent undeath, and other relevant topics.
In older temples, the holy book consists of collections of scrolls illuminated with rare inks and bound in metal filigree, each held in a gray silk mantle to protect it from wear and mishaps. Some of these collections are historical artifacts worth thousands of gold pieces, and priests bring only the scrolls they need to temple services, leaving the remainder in a safe place. Church doctrine mandates that worn-out protective mantles can’t simply be discarded, so used mantles are either walled up in tiny compartments within temples or sewn into a burial shroud for a priest or other notable member of the faith. Corpses fortunate enough to bear a Pharasmin mantle as part of their shrouds are said to be especially resistant to the power of undeath, including being animated or turned into spawn.
In older temples, the holy book consists of collections of scrolls illuminated with rare inks and bound in metal filigree, each held in a gray silk mantle to protect it from wear and mishaps. Some of these collections are historical artifacts worth thousands of gold pieces, and priests bring only the scrolls they need to temple services, leaving the remainder in a safe place. Church doctrine mandates that worn-out protective mantles can’t simply be discarded, so used mantles are either walled up in tiny compartments within temples or sewn into a burial shroud for a priest or other notable member of the faith. Corpses fortunate enough to bear a Pharasmin mantle as part of their shrouds are said to be especially resistant to the power of undeath, including being animated or turned into spawn.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Pharasma’s holy symbol is a spiral of light, representing a soul, its journey from birth to death to the afterlife, and the confusing path of deciphering prophecy.
Tenets of Faith
Pharasma abhors the creation of undead and magic that traps souls, preventing them from arriving in her realm for judgment and disrupting the balance of the cycle of souls. She commands her followers to destroy all such abominations and to release any bound souls.
Holidays
The first month of spring, Pharast, is named for the Lady of Graves—a month of new life and renewal for the world. The church has two common holidays shared by all temples.
Day of Bones: On the fifth day of Pharast, priests carry the enshrouded corpses of the recent dead through the streets of the city in an honored procession. These corpses are interred at no cost in a church graveyard, tomb, or sepulcher, which is considered a great honor to the departed.
Procession of Unforgotten Souls: In lands where the Lady of Graves is a prominent deity, this ceremony is held nightly in the weeks leading up to the harvest feast, during which the faithful ask the goddess to delay when she takes them to the afterlife. Priests wear thin, black robes over their festival clothes, and carry lit candles in a procession into a large fountain, pool, lake, or quiet river. As they enter the deeper water, the candles go out, but as the priests reach the other side, the candles re-light, and the water makes the black robes transparent, revealing the festival colors beneath.
Day of Bones: On the fifth day of Pharast, priests carry the enshrouded corpses of the recent dead through the streets of the city in an honored procession. These corpses are interred at no cost in a church graveyard, tomb, or sepulcher, which is considered a great honor to the departed.
Procession of Unforgotten Souls: In lands where the Lady of Graves is a prominent deity, this ceremony is held nightly in the weeks leading up to the harvest feast, during which the faithful ask the goddess to delay when she takes them to the afterlife. Priests wear thin, black robes over their festival clothes, and carry lit candles in a procession into a large fountain, pool, lake, or quiet river. As they enter the deeper water, the candles go out, but as the priests reach the other side, the candles re-light, and the water makes the black robes transparent, revealing the festival colors beneath.
Symbol
Edicts
strive to understand ancient prophecies, destroy undead, lay bodies to rest
Anathema
create undead, desecrate a corpse, rob a tomb
Areas of Concern
birth, death, fate, prophecy, and time
Enemies
Urgathoa
Temples
catacombs, cathedrals, cemeteries, hospitals, libraries, river islands
Worshippers
midwives, morticians, physicians, pregnant people, prophets, scholars, those close to death or engaging in deadly ventures
Sacred Animal
whip-poor-wills
Sacred Colors
blue and white
Favored Weapon
dagger
Domains
death, fate, healing, knowledge
Alternate Domains
soul, time, vigil
Divine Ability
Constitution or Wisdom
Divine Font
heal
Divine Skill
Medicine
Religions
Realm
Church/Cult
Age
oldest being in the multiverse possibly
Date of Birth
before time
Children
Ruled Locations
Aphorisms
Pharasmins use a great number of rituals and tokens for their many ceremonies. Along with these, they also use numerous phrases, including the following.All who live must face her judgment: This is a promise that another person—typically an enemy, but possibly just a flippant or disrespectful person—will suffer whatever fate is in store for them, even if it takes longer than the speaker would like. It is also customarily uttered when one must make a fated decision.
Not this year, not yet: This is a brief prayer, spoken in response to hearing a tragedy or bad rumor, asking that Pharasma delay when believers are sent to her realm, for they have much to do before that time. The devout speak it at each morning’s prayers and when they pray before bed.
Pharasma’s sands keep running: This phrase, in reference to the sands of time continually flowing through Pharasma’s hourglass, is commonly spoken when either someone is taking too long or when one must wait a long time.
The Lady shall keep it: This is an oath to bear a secret to the grave, swearing that only Pharasma shall hear it in person (and only once the oath-maker has died), or that she will claim the oath-maker early if they break their promise of secrecy.
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