Greymoria
Greymoria Taedi
Greymoria is the spiritual embodiment of negative or toxic femininity embodying the literary archetype of the witch.
Greymoria is defined by her bitterness and spite. Here is a story to explain how and why Greymoria acts and thinks the way she does.
Greymoria of course argues that Scarterra as we know it would not exist without her contribution to the Divine Rebellion. As far as Greymoria is concerned, she was the only member of the Nine whose contribution was truly indispensable.
Most New Year festivals involve storytellers, acting troupes or puppeteers reenacting the Nine’s Rebellion against Turoch. It is considered an honor to play the part of Greymoria. In some nations, this is the only time of year that publicly worshiping Greymoria is socially acceptable.
This is to say nothing of dozens if not hundreds of races Greymora created that were driven to extinction. Some, according to rumor, by Greymoria's hand.
Besides Greymoria's created mostrous children, the priests, priestesses and holy warriors of Greymoria also call themselves "the Children of the Dark Mother". They are commonly referred to as "the Children" by other Scarterrans.
Greymoria is not an especially popular or beloved goddess but she is feared. Sometimes the Children go out of their way to present a softer friendly image and sometimes they go the opposite route and become misanthropic proverbial monsters. Their numbers are few, but they tend to be magically powerful both in theurgy and arcane arts, so they can never be ignored or taken lightly.
Show spoiler
A few of The Nine begrudgingly admit that Greymoria’s actions were necessary but no one says she is a hero. Very few mortals believe Greymoria’s actions were heroic.
In order to defeat Turoch, the Nine had to poison him first. Turoch eats souls. In order to make souls poisonous, Greymoria tortured and mutilated them substantially. It’s not known whether she did this to hundreds, thousands or millions of souls. Some of these souls were not consumed by Turoch. The ones that escaped became the forerunners of the first undead and may have laid the groundwork for the formation of the Void .
A ship with 400 passengers is stranded. They know they are going to be rescued in 20 days. There is not enough food and water for 400 people for 20 days. There is only enough for 200.
There are two officers in charge. Officer A says they need to kill 200 people or everyone dies. Officer B says that is too horrible to contemplate. Officer A kills 200 passengers anyway. Officer B then decides to lock Officer A in the brig for murder, then starts distributing food and water to the survivors. Then Officer B distributes all the rations to the survivors and looks like a hero for giving them all food and water and protecting them from the horrible murderer.
As far as Officer A feels, Officer A is the hero, but everyone thinks she is a monster worse than Jack the Ripper.
by me with Midjourney
Achievements and Failures
Greymoria crafted the poison that allowed Turoch to be slain. She created the first undead. She made it possible for mortals to learn wizardry. Her name is spoken with reverent fear through Scarterra. Greymoria has spearheaded the creation of more mortal races than any other of the Nine, possibly more than the rest of her siblings combined. This is how Greymoria has the title "Mother of Monsters". In the First Age she created new races to inflict misery and death on the ancient dragons. In the Second Age she created new races to inflict misery and death on the ancient elves and in the Third Age she still creates new creatures to attack humans by proxy. One way or the other, most of Greymoria's monstrous children end up disappointing her. In the First Age, most chimeras ended up serving dragons. In the Second Age, almost every goblin ended enslaved by the very elves they were supposed to slay. Large numbers of kobolds turned away from worshipping Greymoria, and by most accounts the Greymoria-loyalists are the worst off kobold tribes. A group of camazotz rejected Greymoria so thoroughly that they diverged into a new race called the kalazotz...a pro-Mera race.Comissioned art of Camazotz/Kalazotz comparison by Diana Rahfoth
Divine Domains
Greymoria’s Portfolio includes but is not limited to: Magic, wizards, warlocks, sorcerers, monsters, necromancy, poison, torture, drowning, darkness, stealth, secrets, spite, jealousy, spiders and spiderlike monsters, fear
Her theurgists' favored domains are Crafts, and Hexing, Necromancy.
Artifacts
Greymoria's symbol of power and her Divine Trophy is a helmet crafted out of Turoch's skulls which enhances her powers over darkness and stealth. Greymoria is usually depicting carrying the helmet. Artists rarely depict her wearing the helmet because it is believed that she becomes invisible to all normal and supernatural forms of perceptions when she does so.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Basic Greymoria Symbol 1 by Me using a combination of Nightcafe and MS Paint
Greymoria symbols vary widely but usually implies mystery, death, and magic. The most common symbols seen are variations of upside-down hearts among other things. Ravens/crows, polecats, skulls, and shadows are often depicted.
At least among Greymoria's public and semi-public worshipers. Many secret Greymoria cults favor very subtle symbols and code phrases with an aura of plausible deniability.
Tenets of Faith
-Love Greymoria above all others for without her nothing would exist.
-Punish those who do not love Greymoria.
-Encourage the spread of arcane arts for this will glorify Greymoria.
Holidays
The three basic Zodiac holidays are in Greymoria's Zodiac Month which falls in between late Spring early Summer stretching from the end of Thrimlich into the Month of Embers. Greymoria's Verdance, the Apex of Greymoria, and Greymoria's Solace mark the start, midway point, and end of Greymoria's Zodiac month respectively.
Although the "Tween Days" are hardly exclusive to Greymoria, her worshipers take these days very seriously, especially Samhain the Day of the Dead.
The Children are a fairly decentralized group and they value their secrecy, so localized groups of Greymoria's core worshipers frequently have major and minor venerations to Greymoria on different days of the year in different places.
by me with Midjourney
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Greymoria is by most accounts, the most proactive of all of the the Nine and mortalkind is all the worse off for it.
She stuck in a downward spiral of pyschological suffering that results in mortals physical suffering.
by Zeta Gardner
Greymoria's history has made mortals fear and shun her. This has lead to fewer mortals worshiping her and this causes her to create monsters and mystic curses to punish mortals for not loving her enough. These efforts makes mortals fear and shun her more, causing her to lash out again.
Greymoria will go out of her way to heap misery on her siblings among the the Nine, especially Mera and Mera dislikes seeing mortals suffer. So it's not always clear if Greymoria is angry at mortals or other deities but she always seems to be angry at someone.
Physical Description
Apparel & Accessories
Greymoria's Divine Trophy is a helmet of darkness and invisibility.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Maylar admires Greymoria’s contribution to the Divine Rebellion as strong and bold. Greymoria’s mortal followers and spirit minions do not work with Maylar's mortal followers and spirits minions very often, but they recognize kindred spirits. Both groups are usually outside of acceptable society. The Testers and the Children usually leave each other alone. That speaks volumes given that the Testers and Children hardly ever leave anyone alone.
Phidas is too concerned with his image to openly admit that Greymoria’s mutilation of souls was a noble act, but at the very least Phidas and his Masks generally avoid creating trouble for the Children. The Masks generally only persecute the Children when the Children attack the Mask's territory and because of this the Children usually leave their territory alone…usually.
Khemra has a wide following and Greymoria does not. This is enough for Greymoria to consider Khemra an enemy. The Children and the Keepers are often foes. As of late, the Keepers have been integrating more mages into society and this has alleviated tensions somewhat. Some of the Children view this as a worthy concession and others view this as an opening to let them infiltrate Khemra backed nations. Of course others view this as the Keepers meddling in Greymoria's sandbox.
Zarthus and Hallisan both are staunch enemies of Greymoria because they protect Mera. It is hard to figure out which of these two Greymoria hates more. Zarthus' minions are more persistent hunters of Greymoria’s Children but Hallisan's public influence helps discredit mages worldwide.
Mera is probably the most widely worshiped deity on Scarterra and this infuriates Greymoria to no end. As far as Greymoria is concerned, her contribution to the Divine Rebellion was the most difficult and most important and Mera's contribution was both the least important and the easiest. Greymoria and her followers attack and undermine Mera and her followers largely out of jealousy and spite. Greymoria’s followers are fond of drowning their sacrifices and victims largely to discredit or mock Mera as a benevolent water goddess.
Korus and Greymoria usually get along. Some of the more vicious animal-like forest monsters represent past collaborations between Korus and Greymoria. Greymoria’s children may be belligerent monsters, but they rarely engage in blighting the landscape and defoliating plants on a wide scale.
Both Nami and Greymoria have relatively small followings. Unlike Greymoria, Nami acts like this doesn’t bother her. This sticks in Greymoria’s craw, but she usually has bigger fish to fry than Nami's followers.
Composite Display of the Nine's portraits by Zeta Gardner
Scaraqua
by me with Midjourney
Divine Classification
goddess
Religions
Alignment
Neutral Evil
Current Location
Realm
Church/Cult
Children
Sex
female
Aligned Organization
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