Synia

Goddess of Law and Justice

Synia, Goddess of Law and Justice, is one of the best known Gods of Ehldaron.

Beliefs and purpose
Synia will always pursue the truth so justice can be delivered, and she will always attempt to make things right. The Goddess is kind and caring for victims, and harsh but fair for the accused if they willingly undergo trial and punishment. If one tries to escape justice, refuses the trial, disrespects the judges involved, or otherwise tries to obstruct justice however, she can be exceptionally angry and punishing. This made her one of the most worshipped and beloved Gods of Ehldaron. Synia was an extremely powerful Goddess, often considered to be a Transcendent God. Her most notable achievement demonstrates her strength very well, as she was able to subdue all other Gods and end the first Gods War. Despite this however, she was allegedly killed with her own Godsword decades later.

Synia in the Ancient World
In the ancient world Synia controlled a floating region which housed the Sky Court, with many Judges of Synia trialling any kind of case imaginable, small or big, from peasant squabbles to altercations between Gods. As the Judges of Synia were considered to be the most objective her region was the centre of Justice in the world. Many ventured to the Sky Court from other Gods their nations to ask for justice, often to the dismay of many of these Gods. Nevertheless Synia’s Sky Court was the most respected on Ehldaron by mortals and Gods alike.
Since there was little peace in the ancient world, as each God was settling their own regions with their own followers, skirmishes and wars quickly followed. It was often Synia that intervened and tried to stop the fighting. Sometimes both Gods involved in a conflict stepped willingly to Synia and demanded that she tried the case, something she gladly did. Other times however, the fighting got so brutal and out of hand that Synia and her followers intervened on behalf of the inhabitants of Ehldaron. While Synia does not like to fight and wants to avoid battle at any cost, she was not afraid to intervene if she felt no other choice was left. Thanks to her immense strength she was often able to either bring the Gods involved to reason or simply scare them off… for a while.
While Synia’s efforts were noble, in the end she was more like a person trying to stop a broken dam using nothing but her fingers. The dam was bound to break eventually, and so it did. A massive war broke out between all Gods. And even Synia wasn’t able to stop a conflict of that scale. It is unknown how long the first God War lasted, since the few reliable records that remain speak of timespans that range from dozens to thousands of years. However long it lasted, it was an extremely bloody and brutal war with many dying every minute because of it. While Synia tried reasoning during the first weeks of the war, she quickly realised her attempts bore little fruit. Synia and her floating region disappeared, and many of her followers from both her own and other regions disappeared with her.
After an unidentified amount of time Synia returned. Carrying a new Godsword that was infused with powerful magic granting her the power to subdue all warring Gods she was able to stop the Gods War. Single handily forcing an armistice, Synia pushed all Gods back to their own regions and then created an extremely powerful magical edict that prevented the Gods to go back to war with each other. A period of relative peace followed. Although there was still a fighting happening in the shadows and even internally within regions, this was the most peaceful period Ehldaron had ever experienced. Some Gods thrived, others like the Icreas, God of War, grew weak and self-destructive, and started fading away. Many attempts were made at breaking the Edict, and for a while none were successful. One day however, someone or something made its way to Synia’s region, inside the Sky Court. It somehow managed to get a hold of Synia’s Godsword and then used it to kill Synia. Synia, Goddess of Law and Justice, was murdered with her own Godsword, in her own Sky Court.
News of Synia’s death spread fast, and everyone was confused. Who or what was powerful enough to slay one of the most powerful beings to ever exist on Ehldaron? With the Synia gone, so was her Edict, but before anyone had a chance to do anything a second murder happened. Ahlecto, God of Secrets and Control, was just like the Goddess of Law and Justice killed with Synia’s Godsword, in the centre of his own empire. A second, and even more brutal, God War started. This war however was much shorter, as after mere weeks some being plunged Synia’s Godsword into the ground and used its power to create an enormous shockwave of magic spread over the world. It was so powerful in fact that it tore up the world in different continents. The ultimate purpose of the being however, seems to have been the banishment of all Gods from Ehldaron. From that point on all of the Gods disappeared from the material plane and haven’t returned since. The world had to rebuild. It is unknown whether the being responsible for this is the same as the one that killed both Synia and Ahlecto or something else entirely, but whatever or whoever it was, it had to have been extremely powerful to able to simply wield Synia’s Godsword, nevermind be able to use its powerful magicks. The Sword itself has also never been found, and to this day it remains one of the most wanted treasures as many believe it is still hidden somewhere on Ehldaron.

Followers
Despite Synia’s supposed death, she still has many followers in most nations. Curiously enough, unlike Ahlecto who was killed in the same way as Synia, there are still priests and clerics that gain divine powers from the Goddess of Law and Justice. This leads many to believe that there is still part of her that lingers on, or that she in some shape or form has been reborn. Clerics and priests of Synia are highly respected and often looked at for guidance and help. Just like in the ancient times, most nations have large groups of Synia followers located in one or more cities, often making it the judicial capital of the region. While Clerics and Paladins of Synia will only resort to violence as a last resort, they can always be trusted to intervene if innocent lives are being threatened. Despite their stance towards violence most of them turn out to be extremely skilled fighters. Many of these followers also hope to find clues to the location of the now long lost Sky Court.
There also exists a splinter group of Synia followers called “The Blood of Synia”. They claim that after Synia was murdered she no longer was the Goddess of Law and Justice, and instead become the Goddess of Vengeance, and it is her followers duty to avenge her death. Unlike the usual followers of Synia, The Blood of Synia is not afraid to fight. They care little for careful investigation and finding a right punishment. Instead The Blood of Synia ruthlessly hunts down criminals of all kinds, often with the goal of harsh physical punishment, if not death. Some look up to these Blood of Synia followers and consider them far more effective than their counterparts. Most clerics, paladins, and priests of justice however consider The Blood of Synia a perversion of their own beliefs. Despite their dislike of the group, the followers of Justice are not naturally hostile against the followers of vengeance, as that would be against their own beliefs. If they find out however that a Blood of Synia has been taking matters into their own hands and was chasing and killing people then, even if they were criminals, the clerics and paladins of Justice will arrest and trial these persons for murder.

Divine Domains

Justice (War, Tempest, Forge)

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Warhammer over a tome

Divine Classification

Transcendent God

Alignment

Lawful Good