Stiri (STEER-ee)

The Deep Mistress

As strong and steady as the tides in the ocean, the Deep Mistress is the paragon of prudence, caution, and consistency. She was crafted by Arvon to honor the careful calculation and delicacy that went into the creation of Zholmyr after the failures of the Outer and Elemental Planes. She serves to teach mortals the ways of tact, providence, and wisdom. The crest of Stiri hangs in the halls of great strategists, generals, and students of history. Followers of Stiri place high value on convention and custom. To worship the Deep Mistress is to commit to a life of tradition and tried-and-true rectitude.
Her inverse is the goddess Veles. Followers of Veles will say that Stiri and her disciples are intolerant, short-sighted, and myopic in their views of the future.
Stiri resides in the monstrous underwater fortress of Benteek, which also contains an endless library with tomes dating back to the Steward Races. It is believed that the only unscathed account of the Breach resides in Stiri's library. Only a handful of mortals know the location of Benteek and they are forbidden to share this information on pain of death from the Deep Mistress herself.

Divine Domains

• Knowledge
• War

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A crescent moon reflecting on rippling ocean waves

Tenets of Faith

• Prudence is the mother of all other virtue
• Always take counsel carefully with oneself and others, and judge correctly from the evidence at hand.
• Never fall victim to brashness or recklessness, lest you threaten harm to yourself and those around you.

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

The Deep Mistress is often emblazoned on shields, parapets, and other defensive structures. She is portrayed as a a large hybrid creature with an upper half consisting of a triton woman with a perfectly symmetrical crown of seashells and a long winding lower half of a sea dragon. She is also sometimes silhouetted against the moon--a symbol often attributed to Stiri due to the consistency of the ebb and flow cycle of the tides.
Artwork and monuments to Stiri depict a marine goddess of silent strength, standing straight and tall with her lower body often coiled in a defensive posture. Her likeness is often shown to include her weapon of choice: Shoalshaper--her magic coral harpoon tipped with a massive tooth from a dragon turtle.

Divine Classification

Deity (Soul Shepherds)

Alignment

Lawful Neutral

Church/Cult

Pantheon of Zholmyr

Gender

Female