Nerissa

(a.k.a. The Lorn Lady, Hedge Goddess (denigrating))

Portfolio

Nerissa is one of the more obscure members of The Twelve Progenitors. She is the Fragment of Boundaries, Loss and Longing, although she is often also associated with forms of witchcraft and the concoction of medicines and poisons as well as ritual magic. She represent crossroads and boundaries, and by extension worlds beyond the mundane, she is particularly associated with walking in between realms. She also represents the importance of change and releasing the past to move forward. She shares a close relationship with Larum in this aspect. For a Goddess known to prefer solitude, she is a surprisingly quick-witted sweet talker, but she only ever does so to get whatever she wants. She seems to care little for others, including her worshipers who rarely have their prayers heard.

Worshipers

Institutionalized worship of Nerissa is relatively rare, most of her public shrines are included among other deities in major shrines, rather than having their separate space. The majority of her worship is individual and consists of wooden home shrines, often as part of shrines made for deceased loved ones. Clerics of Nerissa are often solitary wanderers who are more focused on introspection and self-improvement by living a live away from others to realize one's own weaknesses.
Paladins of Nerissa are even rarer, but those that do exist are often wanderers who try to bring about change in remote places by guiding others towards abandoning their past experiences that chain them down, and instead moving forward.

Description

Depictions of Nerissa are usually rather plain, although she is often accompanied by Laral, her three-headed dog. She usually wears practical traveler's garb and a leather side bag containing plants and herbs.

Divine Domains

Portfolio: Solitude, Crossroads, Witchcraft, Concoction of medicine and potions, Ritualistic magic

Domains (5E): Arcana, Twilight

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Mandrake root

"The Lorn Lady who gave her heart, And received only longing and loss. Now rests in solitude."

— Fragment of an old poem.

Circumstances of Birth

Created by the The First Five