Thassa is the god of the sea, aquatic creatures, and the unknown depths. She also holds sway over less tangible concepts such as ancient knowledge, long voyages, and gradual change.
Impassive and slow to anger, Thassa is secure in the knowledge that there are no mortals and few gods who can threaten her status. Once her ire is aroused, however, it is as unstoppable as a cresting wave. She often speaks in the future tense, referring to what tomorrow will bring. She seldom laughs, and when she does, it is usually out of smugness rather than genuine mirth.
Thassa usually appears to mortals in the form of a female triton-like being with octopus-tentacle hair and a crown of crab legs. She seldom adopts the same size as her followers, preferring to be seen from a distance as she towers over the ocean. When she moves closer to the view of mortals, she takes many other forms, often shifting from one to another: a giant squid, an ocean storm, a school of sharks, a fog bank, or a crab, her favoured animal. She sometimes speaks out of the ocean itself, in droplets hissing across the surface of the waves.
Thassa’s Influence
To most mortals, Thassa is the sea, and the sea is Thassa. The wind and waves, the tides, and the ocean’s bounty, ranging from small fish to the enormous krakens—all these are Thassa’s dominion. The sea has many metaphorical aspects that Thassa oversees as well: ancient knowledge, long-term change, introspection, voyaging, and repetitive patterns such as the tides.
Thassa governs the slow changes wrought by the passage of time, such as the weathering of rocks and the erosion of beaches. Where Nylea controls the eternal cycle of the seasons and Kruphix monitors the flow of time, Thassa holds sway over the slow-acting but irresistible forces that alter the world over hundreds or thousands of years.
Krakens and other behemoths of the deepest oceans move at Thassa’s command. She is protective of what she calls the greatest of her children, and she usually keeps them out of harm’s way in the darkest depths. A mighty kraken sighted close to shore is a sure sign of Thassa’s displeasure.
Thassa’s Goals
Thassa is never satisfied with the status quo, and she also never advocates hasty, uncontrolled change. She constantly resculpts the physical world, altering coastlines and upending familiar trade routes. There is no ultimate goal to this ongoing transformation; the purpose is change itself. Thassa believes that change is essential to existence, and she opposes anyone who tries to establish or maintain a permanent order to the universe. She aids and inspires forces of change, the rivers that wear down mountains and the tides that claim whole continents. She sometimes seems disinterested in the intrigues of the present, even in her own current schemes, as her thoughts drift toward what the future holds.
Divine Relationships
Thassa disdains the shortsightedness of her fellow gods, most of whom have convinced themselves that they can impose lasting order on the cosmos. At the same time, her realm is unassailable, and she believes that the changes she advocates are inevitable in the long term. So although Thassa frequently disagrees with the other gods, she doesn’t fear them.
Heliod considers Thassa his favorite sibling, despite her unwillingness to agree with his plan for a permanent order. Thassa, who rules depths that have never seen the sun, considers most of Heliod’s schemes pointless and opposes them if they seem to threaten harm.
Thassa took pity on Purphoros and aided him when Kruphix hobbled his mind, and Purphoros has not forgotten it. The two of them agree that old things must make way for new things, but Purphoros’s bursts of destructive energy stand in sharp opposition to Thassa’s gradual alterations. Purphoros regularly makes gifts for Thassa, most recently gifting her a new spear to replace her lost weapon.
Thassa has little use for the gods who oversee work she believes best left to mortals: Ephara with her cities, Karametra with her fields, Pharika with her tinctures, Mogis and Iroas with their armies. To Thassa’s mind, her peers are building castles in the sand, unaware or unmindful that the tide will sweep them away.
Worshiping Thassa
Most of Thassa’s dedicated worshipers are tritons, and the vast majority of tritons are wholly devoted to Thassa. Tritons spend much of their lives in Thassa’s realm, with their god omnipresent. They weave prayers to Thassa into nearly everything they do.
Among humans, Thassa is worshiped by those who rely on bountiful seas for sustenance or calm waters for safety. Sailors, fishers, and residents of Theros’s coasts and islands all pay her at least nominal respect and sacrifice. Her center of worship on land is in the coastal polis of Meletis, where sailors and philosophers pray to her for guidance. The week-long Lyokymion festival (the Feast of the Melting Swell) marks the start of the new year by celebrating the bounty of the sea.
Thassa’s most fervent human worshipers offer prayers at high and low tide. If possible, they do so at the water’s edge. At low tide they walk barefoot out onto the tidal flats, relishing the touch of Thassa’s seabed.
Thassa’s Champions
Alignment: Usually neutral
Suggested Classes: Cleric, fighter, rogue, wizard
Suggested Cleric Domains: Knowledge, Tempest
Suggested Backgrounds: Acolyte, outlander, sage, sailor
Thassa’s champions typically work on behalf of change, embrace new ideas, don’t automatically defend the status quo, and wish to serve the god who controls pounding waves and massive krakens.
Thassa’s Favour
In much the same way that the sea and its secrets simply exist, Thassa trusts that the lives and actions of her champions will serve her long-term goals because of their connection to her. What made the god of the sea turn her attention to you or how did she show her interest? The Thassa’s Favor table offers a few possibilities.
Thassa’s Favour
| 1 |
You nearly drowned in a shipwreck, but Thassa answered your prayers for deliverance. |
| 2 |
You were found on the shore as a newborn, in a basket woven of ocean grasses. |
| 3 |
You dreamed of a great kraken. When you followed your dreams to the sea, the kraken appeared to you and gave you Thassa’s blessing. |
| 4 |
You grew up on a fishing boat, and your parents taught you Thassa’s rites. |
| 5 |
You were born with a pearl in your mouth, an obvious sign of Thassa’s favor. You still have the pearl. |
| 6 |
You have no idea why Thassa showed interest in you, and you might sometimes wish she hadn’t. |
Devotion to Thassa
Following Thassa means devoting yourself to a particular way of perceiving the world. Thassa herself seldom takes a stand on moral issues, preferring to let matters play out, but her mortal champions can’t usually afford to be so patient. As a follower of Thassa, consider the ideals on the Thassa’s Ideals table as alternatives to those suggested for your background.
Thassa’s Ideals
| 1 |
Devotion. My devotion to my god is more important to me than what she stands for. (Any) |
| 2 |
Knowledge. I will learn the secrets of the hidden depths. (Any) |
| 3 |
Freedom. The sea can take me anywhere, and I’m not going to tie myself down. (Chaotic) |
| 4 |
Bounty. The ocean always provides, and I will share its gifts with those less fortunate. (Good) |
| 5 |
Change. Everything’s just waiting to be something else, including me. (Chaotic) |
| 6 |
Power. Like the waves, I answer only to Thassa. (Evil) |
Comments