Pharasma (fa-RAZ-ma)

N goddess of Birth, Death, Fate, and Time

The Lady of Graves

Birth and Death are written in the bones. but bones can be broken

-The Bones Land in a Spiral

No record of history, and not even other gods, can recall a time before Pharasma. Her throne lies within a vast, gothic cathedral located on the infinite Spire at the center of the planes. From here, she looks both forward and backward in time, observing the births, lives, and deaths of every soul, as she serves as the final arbiter of a soul’s destination after death. Psychopomp servants of Pharasma guide and safeguard newly dead souls along the River of Souls to her realm, where she judges each soul and ensures it is sent to the proper plane for its afterlife, according to its alignment and mortal deeds. Although she can see all possible fates and knows the fate of each individual, free will and choice can alter a soul’s final destination, and she places great weight on the individual’s actions and personal choices. Therefore, Pharasma withholds her final judgment until a soul stands before her. Her prophecies are cryptic, and their full meanings are rarely revealed until the foretold events occur.

Once Pharasma has judged a soul, it can no longer be returned from the dead by mortal magics such as raise dead or resurrect. While it may be within Pharasma’s power to do so, she has never withheld a soul from its proper destination—not even from the realms of gods she may despise. She embraces her role with a dispassionate dignity that often makes her seem aloof or uncaring, but in truth she simply understands the necessity of impartiality to sustain the cycle of life and balance throughout the planes. Almost all other deities show Pharasma great deference, for she is the only one they trust to unfailingly distribute souls to their proper planes.

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.

Pharasma is usually portrayed as a tall, ash-skinned woman with white eyes and wild, flowing, white hair, cloaked in dark robes and holding an hourglass filled with red sand. Many dread her as a grim reaper, ready to take their souls at the end of their mortal existences. Yet many also worship her as the guardian of birth and new souls, a wise scholar, and a healer. These worshippers call her The Mother of Souls, a title reflecting her protective and guiding nature. Pharasma’s religious symbol depicts a silver‑and‑blue spiraling comet, which signifies the bright and winding path of every soul’s potential.
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 Urgathoa, 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

Like their goddess, the followers of Pharasma detest Urgathoa, 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.

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.

Holidays

The first month of spring(and of the Year), Pharast (March), 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.

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 phrase is customarily uttered when one must make a fated decision or when warning someone about their poor behavior.
Not this year, not yet: A brief prayer spoken to the goddess of death, asking to delay the inevitable in order for the speakers to accomplish more in their lives.
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: A solemn oath to keep a secret by swearing that only Pharasma shall hear it from the confidante (and only then after death).

Religions

• Gods of Tengaria
• Templar Order
• The Seven