Lady Sythra, known as The Endless Grief, is the embodiment of sorrow and despair within the Hells. She is a tragic figure of immense power, wielding control over emotions, memories, and the very essence of hopelessness. Her presence evokes a crushing weight that saps the will to fight, leaving only despair in its wake. Sythra is not overtly wrathful or malicious. Instead, she feeds on the anguish of others, using it to sustain herself and deepen her dominion over the Abyssal Gloom, her frozen and desolate realm. She thrives on quiet suffering, broken dreams, and the inevitability of loss. Despite her bleak nature, she is often viewed as eerily beautiful—a figure whose sorrowful allure can draw even the most stoic to their knees. Her demeanor is cold, calculating, and distant. She speaks in tones that carry the weight of countless tragedies, her words echoing in the minds of those who hear her. She rarely engages in outright violence, preferring to manipulate and twist emotions to break her enemies from within.
There are certain effects when someone takes her as a patron:
- Their shadow moves sluggishly, like it's weighed down by sorrow.
- They hear faint cries of sorrow in quiet moments, remnants of lost souls from the Abyssal Gloom.
- If they cry, their tears turn to frost
Weeping Aura: When the player casts a spell attack of 1st level or higher and hits, their eyes glaze over with icy mist, causing one creature of their choice within 30 feet to take psychic damage equal to their proficiency bonus.
The Broken Mirror
A shattered mirror or reflective surface with jagged cracks. The mirror represents the shattered self and the grief of lost identity. It signifies the inability to reflect oneself clearly due to sorrow and the emptiness left behind by lost memories. It is used by worshippers to reflect their own inner sorrow and to seek communion with Lady Sythra.
Wilted Flower or Black Rose
A withered, dead flower, particularly a black rose, is a common symbol of grief and the passage of time. It represents the beauty of life slowly fading into nothingness and the acceptance of that inevitability. This symbol is often placed in altars to honor Lady Sythra’s rule over despair. It can be used in secret rites of mourning and is worn as a sign of devotion to the Endless Grief.
The Cracked Hourglass
An hourglass cracked down the middle, with sand spilling out. The sand represents time running out, and the cracks represent how time itself can be a reminder of inevitable loss. The spilling sand indicates that there is no turning back—time is fleeting, and the grief of that realization is inescapable. This symbol is used by those who worship Sythra to mark the passage of time and the inevitability of loss. It is often inscribed on tombstones, memorials, or worn by mourners.
The Bleeding Eye
An eye weeping tears of blood. The tears symbolize the endless sorrow and suffering that Lady Sythra embodies, with the eye itself representing the perception of the world through the lens of grief. This symbol is often used as an invocation of her presence or in rituals designed to invoke deep sorrow and despair. It may be carved into the foreheads or palms of her followers as a mark of devotion.
Mental characteristics
Lady Sythra is born as a mortal, destined to be a paladin in the service of the goddess of darkness. In the coming years her devotion was unmatched and lived for the sake of the dark lady; however, in the year 557 a sudden emptiness washed over her that she could not explain. it was as if a part of her had died that day.
Krorone Goddess of Darkness extended a hand to her, but she rejected it, feeling as though it was tainted and not worthy of her worship any longer. She spiraled into a deep depression and endless grief, pining over the emptiness that she felt in her soul. In the year 577 unable to cope with the grief and confusion she felt over this loss, Sythra dies at the age of 42. Her death marks the end of her mortal life, but her soul lingers in a state of sorrow, unable to move on due to the cosmic disturbance.
Sythra’s lingering spirit is drawn into the newly-formed Hells, created by Undeath in the year 797. There, her soul is reformed and amalgamated by the forces of the Hells and creation magic, transforming her into a demon with immense sorrow and grief at her core. Her hatred for Krorone is born from the injustice she endured and the rest that she could never have. As the centuries passed by her grief continued to overwhelm her and eventually with the addition of powerful magics that
Hydall God of the Arcane had granted them the lands surrounding her begin to shift and change, molding it into today what is known as
The Abyssal Gloom. The realm is a manifestation of her sorrow and grief, a place where despair and hopelessness reign. She found that she could sustain herself using her newfound powers to manipulate emotions and memories, feeding off the despair that fills the land. Souls trapped in the Abyssal Gloom eventually fell under her sway, and her influence spreads within the Hells only to be counteracted by
Ozraxis, The Infernal Architect who signed a treaty with her to remain forever in her domain.
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