Calistria (kah-LISS-tree-ah)

Calistria is the goddess of lust and revenge who takes on many faces and guises. She is held in especially high regard by elves, who often identify with her moods and changeable nature. A fondness for wasps has earned this vengeful deity the title the Savored Sting; such creatures live on after harming their enemies, a trait Calistria's followers hope to emulate when pursuing their goals.

Divine Domains

Pain, passion, secrecy, trickery

Holy Books & Codes

The Book of Joy

This book details the various passions held sacred by the goddess known as the Unquenchable Fire.

Blood for Wine

A collection of holy poems, these verses are sometimes quoted by assassins loyal to Calistria before they fulfil their grim tasks.

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Tenets of Faith

Calistria is not only vengeful, but vindictive when she has been wronged by another; she will take her time returning such disfavor, maneuvering in order to attain the best position from which to enact her retribution. Her legendary trysts are well-documented, although it is difficult to conclusively determine whether these tales are tales are truth or nothing more than fantasy.

Church of Calistria

Worshipers and clergy

The faithful of Calistria can be found across Golarion, but her tenets of lust and vengeance have taken especially firm root in Absalom, Galt, Kyonin, Nex, the River Kingdoms, the Shackles, Taldor, and Varisia, and among Keleshites, Taldans, Tian, Varisians, elves, and half-elves throughout the Inner Sea region. The followers of the Lady in the Room fulfil varied roles wherever they are encountered, anything from spy to prostitute and beyond, but always in support of their goddesses' mercurial nature. Such individuals deal in trickery and mischief, encounters of the flesh and knowledge that is both secret or dangerous, and the pursuit of these goals can often lead these faithful to wander the world in order to achieve them.

Elven faithful

Elves hold Calistria in especially high regard, though she is also popular among humans and more exotic races, such as half-elves and tieflings. The faithful of the Savored Sting includes large numbers of prostitutes, thrill seekers, and spies. Her clerics usually clothe themselves in scant garb in shades of yellow, often accented by henna dyes used on the skin.

Temples and shrines

In human lands, Calistria's temples host numerous sacred prostitutes (though rumours of all her temples being brothels are untrue), and act as centres of gossip and information, assuring its continued growth in popularity. In elven lands, buildings dedicated to the Savored Sting more often resemble thieves guilds, and usually cater to those seeking information or retribution rather than more carnal pursuits.

Organizations

Order of Vengeance

A secret order operating in Galt from the city-state of Gralton.

Wasp Queens

A group of exclusively elven and half-elven thieves who venerate Calistria's aspects of trickery and revenge.

Holidays

Even though there are no specific holidays that honor Calistria, the winter month of Calistril is named for her.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Calistria usually appears as a female elf of otherworldly beauty with elongated ears and limbs, and a suggestive smile playing across her face. She wears revealing clothes of flowing yellow silks that do little to hide her lithe and graceful form, and she is often depicted in the company of giant wasps.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

During the Age of Creation, Calistria was responsible for distracting Rovagug while Torag and Gorum forged the shell of the Dead Vault, which would serve as the Rough Beast's prison after his defeat.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Calistria is seen as a desirable partner by a number of other gods, and stories of her trysts can be found in numerous holy texts, including her own. One such tale claims Cayden Cailean's took the Test of the Starstone because of a failed attempt to win the attention of the goddess, who claimed that no mortal could survive her charms. She is also an ally of Desna, Norgorber, and Shelyn—deities of dreams, secrets, and beauty, respectively.

She has an ongoing feud with Urgathoa, as the two goddesses often vie for the same followers because of their similar portfolios: Calistria represents lust, while Urgathoa champions physical excess of all kinds.

Servants

Calistria's divine servitor race are the vendenopterixes, seductive, winged creatures who punish those who oppose the goddess. The empusas serve as Calistria's handmaidens and agents who hide within mortal societies to achieve vengeance. On Elysium, and sometimes beyond, Calistria is also served by a number of races that share her philosophy and portfolio, including azatas, fey, and giant wasps.

Unique servants

• Threv - This frog-like shapechanging sorcerer is obsessed with vengeance, and prefers gifts of poison or ranged magic to allow him to carry out vindictive murder.
• Velvet Wing - This slender elven looking woman, with ragged insectile wings is a seductress and faithful servant of the Savored Sting, though her kind are often mistaken for succubi, they do not have the reprehensible maliciousness of those demons.
• Menotherian - Appearing as a huge bear-sized black wasp, the Menotherian can also attain the form of a stunning elven beauty. She is the personification of Calistria's lust, vindictiveness and deceptive aspects as well as her Herald and most loyal servant.

Alignment

Chaotic neutral

Realm

Elysium

Honorary & Occupational Titles

The Savored Sting
The Lady in the Room
The Unquenchable Fire

Adjective
Calistrian
Areas of Concern
Lust
Revenge
Trickery
Worshipers 
Elves, hedonists, performers, scorned lovers, thieves
Edicts 
Pursue personal freedom, seek hedonistic thrills, take vengeance
Anathema 
Be consumed by love or vengeance, let slights go unanswered
Favoured Weapon 
Whip
Symbol 
Three daggers
Sacred Animal 
Wasp
Sacred Colours 
Black, yellow