EPHARA, Goddess of the Cities

GODDESS OF CITIES AND CIVILIZATION

As god of the cities, Ephara sees herself as the founder of civilization. She watches over cities, protecting them from outside threats. She is credited with establishing the first code of law, which Celos has preserved and the other cities have imitated. Even more important, she helps cities reach their highest potential, becoming centers of scholarship, industry, and art.

Ephara appears as a huge animated statue wearing a stone crown, resembling the capital of a column. When she chooses to walk about her cities at human scale, she often takes on the form of a human woman. In either form, she is always dressed in blue and white, and her expression is usually serious, but not unkind. She often carries a large urn on one shoulder, with the dark, star-studded sky of Nyx pouring from it and dissolving into mist as it hits the ground.

EPHARA'S INFLUENCE

Ephara's sphere of influence is the city. Although worshiped in many places, she is most beloved in Celos, whose citizens credit her with the city's founding. Many city walls bear Ephara's face, fashioned thus in the belief that each of her images watches over the part of the city it looks upon.

Ephara is strongly affiliated with the daytime, when cities are awake, alive, and at work. Her followers generally pray at midday, with the sounds of the city forming an appropriate backdrop to their rites, as industry itself is sacred to Ephara. Many aspects of city life and culture fall under Ephara's influence. Scholarship is closely connected to Ephara, as is art-particularly poetry, sculpture, and architecture. Ephara is also highly concerned with civic wisdom and justice, and many politicians and other leaders seek her guidance in how to rule.

EPHARA'S GOALS

Ephara seeks always to further cities: establishing them, protecting them, and seeing them grow. She supports those who build new cities and those who free others from tyranny. Ephara knows that not all threats to a city come from outside it, and she encourages her followers to watch out for tyranny and injustice from within. She seeks for justice to prevail in civilized lands.

Ephara seeks far more for her cities than mere safety. She drives every city to aspire toward efforts that help its people thrive. Civic responsibility is essential in Ephara's eyes, and having an engaged citizenry is important. The pursuit of knowledge is also a vital task, and she encourages advances in philosophy and science. As the scholars in her cities obtain or derive new knowledge, Ephara's magic scrolls grow ever longer. Finally, art is of critical importance to a thriving city. Ephara particularly supports architecture, the creationof which often drives industry and sculpture, though she doesn't scorn other varieties of artistic expression.

DIVINE RELATIONSHIPS

Ephara and Heliod have aligning interests, since they both value structure and justice. Ephara works toward establishing judicial systems that enforce the laws and uphold the values that Heliod holds dear.

Ephara is also on good terms with Njord, the god of the sea, because Ephara recognizes the necessity of water for a thriving cities. She also admires Purphoros's craft, realizing the essential role of the forge and other forms of industry to build a city.

Ephara and Nylea are almost polar opposites, and there is no shortage of bad blood between the god of the cities and the god of the hunt. Nylea resents the construction of every building in a place that once held plants and animals, and Ephara has no patience for any wild creature that encroaches on a settlement. Ephara looks at the wilderness and sees only wasted potential, while Nylea looks at cities and sees only destruction.

Her relationship with Karametra is a difficult one from either perspective. Ephara approves of agriculture, a key ingredient for the development of cities, and both gods are concerned with defense of settlements. Even so, Karametra is tied to Oyarasland and the wild lands, where Ephara is distrusted, and although Karametra and Nylea have their own complicated relationship, Karametra strongly favors Nylea over Ephara.

WORSHIPING EPHARA

To an extent, Ephara's devout show their faith by going about their lives and contributing to society. Midday services at Ephara's temples often feature a brief prayer, followed by a longer talk from an industrial or civic leader on a topic of general interest. Attendants often bring meals to eat while on a break from their jobs.

Ephara's face is a common sight in cities. Marble buildings, stone walls, and similar surfaces usually feature a sculpture or relief of her visage. People often swear oaths or engage in verbal disputes in front of these images, believing she won't let a falsehood told in front of her go unpunished. Whether she actually intervenes is unclear, but conflicts that play out this way are often resolved peacefully, without a need for the justice system to get involved.

Ephara seeks champions who will defend her cities fiercely, both from external threats and internal corruption. She asks them to protect not only the people, but also the structures that comprise a polis. The circumstances that led you to worship Ephara most likely involved the polis you call home.

MYTHS OF EPHARA

Ephara's deeds demonstrate her commitment to cities and those who seek their improvement.

Earthquake in Celos

The temple of Ephara in Celos isbvthe god's largest and grandest place of worship on Idavoll. It is kept in perfect repair, and worn or damaged pieces of the structure are quickly replaced. During an enormous earthquake, many of the structures in Celos crumbled. Ephara kept her temple standing throughout the mighty quake, making it a place for Celosians to take refuge in the following days during the aftershocks. After the cataclysm, she shared designs from her scrolls of sacred knowledge with the architects of Celos so they could rebuild the city to be much more resistant to earthquakes.

The Library of Leibermo

The small town of Leibermo boasts a remarkable library that according to local legend was a gift from Ephara. Other tales suggest that the library was actually founded by the new god Selesnya, but then a terrible fire destroyed the place, and along with it generations of collected knowledge. Once the people finished rebuilding the structure to start the library over, Ephara is said to have appeared and restored the books and scrol ls the library had lost, copying the information from her personal scrolls of sacred knowledge.

Trial of Aristhenes

A man named Aristhenes committed many murders, targeting members of the government and some of their family members. When he was arrested and put to trial, he claimed that no one could fairly judge him because every qualified judge was personally affected by the case. Ephara herself came to the city to serve as judge for the trial, since no one could accuse her of anything but perfect impartiality, and she found Aristhenes guilty.

Founding of Celos

The city-state of Celos was once part of the archon Agnomakhos's empire. The archon ruled his territory with absolute cruelty. Ephara bestowed her magic on the subjugated populace to enable them to fight back and overth row Agnomakhos. The newly freed people then established Celos, as the settlement on that site is known today. The founding of Ephara's favored city is still celebrated today, both in Celos and elsewhere among the god's followers, as the summer holiday of Polidrysion, which takes place on the 4th month of Heyannir.