Navarre Yesbella

Navarre Yesbella is a goddess in the High Elven Pantheon, the creation of Feno Ilirel and Immarra Hyacinth. Patron to those in need of liberation and of the welfare of the elves, she is said to be the Goddess of the Godless, whose beneficence touches everyone. As a result, her followers are many among the poor, the imprisoned, the enslaved, as well as those magistrates and officials who would seek to do those persons justice.

Her symbol is that of a camp-fire, and cats are her sacred beast. As a chaotic good diety, she grants her followers access to the domains of Community, Liberation, Luck, and Protection. While not warlike herself or given to the practice, those among her followers who can channel a divine proficiency become proficient in the quarterstaff, which she is said to have some skill with herself, and is often depicted using.

History

Toward the end of the First Rule, Navarre's mothers Feno Ilirel and Immara Hyacinth created her together when Imarra saw that Merellien Chaebalar's tendencies would need to be balanced lest they create their own injustices. For a time, Nevarre Yesbella continued to live with the mortal elves in the Atarlie Empire even after her uncle's reign ended, ministering to those in need before eventually returning to Elysium, her church having been established to continue her works in her stead while she focused on more divine matters of welfare.

Relationships

Navarre is the beloved baby-child of the Elven Divine Family, though she is not the youngest. She was raised as the child of Feno Ilirel and Immarra Hyacinth to be the counter-balance to her half-sister, Merellien Chaebalar. Perhaps surprisingly, the two get along famously well, and while they have been known to disagree to the point of vocal debate with one another, they rarely act against each other on purpose. She is also a half-brother to Camus Inakas, though Camus's own isolationism has lead to a rift between the pair of them.

Navarre will brook no intervention from any of the evil dieties in her Pantheon, and often schemes to block them. Even her uncle, Lysanthir Lugalor, can be assured of a cold welcome from Navarre, though the two are at least quite civil with each other.

Appearance

Navarre stands head and shoulders above mortal elves, but otherwise looks much akin to that race. She has chest-length chestnut hair and a kindly smile, that together give her the appearance of a country elf, possibly even of slightly mixed-with-human heritage. She is not commonly without her staff, which has the appearance of an enormous pestle.

Realm

Navarre is part of the elvish divine family, and so has a portion of the realm of The Cradle of the Wise, a fortified city in the plane of the Elysium. Her presence there is rarely interrupted and she is the most likely of all the Elven gods to entertain visitors apart from her cousins.

Providence

Any boon to the poor, especially unlooked for, especially when the circumstance was otherwise dire, is often attributed to Navarre's direct intervention. She is the aching voice of guilt in the hearts of her followers that spurs them into action to preserve the welfare of all.

Servants

Azatas serve Navarre in Elysium, and occasionally even travel to Ahren on her orders to deliver messages of importance. She is not known to have a divine herald - the demands upon her attention are too great to be served by any one entity and so must be attended to by the legions themselves.

Church

Many, many elves who are of ordinary or impoverished means turn to Navarre Yesbella for aid, and her ministers work hard to attract aristocrats and merchants into her ranks to help equalize the need. Uniquely among the High Elven Pantheon

Worshippers

Known to all Atarlie, those who worship Lysanthir are more often than not his clergy, though his temples almost always have more than a few worshippers hoping for a glimpse of their recently-departed loved ones, whose zeal and faith will wane with their grief. A few petition him for help in their endeavours, be they to make contact with or gain some mastery over the souls of the dead, or to "help speed death along".

Clergy

Lysanthir's clergy dress in black and white robes in keeping with the somber nature of their profession, and dress formally as a rule, usually including white gloves that are particular to his faith. The carrying of symbolic hourglasses or actual thuribles is also common. Most of his clergy travel with the materials needed for funerary rites on their person.

Clergy of Lysanthir also serve in the Imperial Legion as chaplains alongside those of several other gods, helping with battleground funerary and crematory practices.

Temples & Shrines

Found in a settlement of any size, the temple to Lysanthir Lugolor has a large commonality with other Atarlie temple architectures, sometimes including a public forum. In addition to place of worship and housing for the clergy, such temples have undercomplexes where pre-burial rites are performed on the recently departed, and will either be the entrances to local catacombs or near to local burial grounds. In some major cities, crematoria are also found.

Many temples of Lysanthir are meeting places for local assassin guilds or necromancer cabals, and may have other facilities suited to those purposes for those who know how to identify themselves as such discreetly.

Holy Texts

Lysanthir's holy work, the Codex Mors is a dictated treatise on the nature of death, providing prescriptions for pre- and post-mortem prepratory rites, the formulae for funerary rites, and other bits of trivia. Uncommonly for the holy works of evil gods, the Codex is heavily reproduced and widly available. A great many elder elves, sensing their oncoming deaths in their bones, obtain copies and study them for the philosophical commentary on the nature of a "good death" and to steel themselves against the fear of the oncoming grave, knowing they too will one day have to explain themselves before the Judge of the Ultimate.

Church History

The history of the church of Lysanthir is the history of the empire itself; it is one of the oldest cults within the Empire and has never been out of influence.

Holidays

The Festival of the Turning Wheel nominally takes place on the anniversary of Lysanthir's birth and is the holiest of his holy days, observed throughout the empire and its protectorates. This New Year celebration is also observed in other territories, but rarely in his honour directly.

Favoured Animals

Crows, who are said to be a sort of curious earthly psychopomp, are sacred to Lysanthir and his followers.