Ezrahil

"Let righteousness rain down upon your foes! Let them see the full glory of our Lady! Let Her will be done!" — Battle cry of the Brotherhood of Bronze

The Truth Deliverant

Ezrahil is one of the twelve gods of the Heavenly Council. She is known for having some of the most devoted and zealous followers, for she is the goddess of war, victory, divine favor, strategy, paladins, clerics, and humanity itself. Many of the Heavenly Council's chivalric and military orders pledge allegiance to her above all other gods, and zealous followers of her can be found throughout the armies of every Heavenly Council host. She was actually born during the War of the Dawn at the Battle of Mount Castorai, when Balan the Final Justice's blood flowed into a single pool and from the Old Magic formed Ezrahil in her full armor.
Like the rest of the Heavenly Council, Ezrahil appears in mythologies and tales throughout Holos. These tales differ substantially region to region, and Ezrahil's role within the divine pantheon and within the meta context of the realms shifts depending on the culture. Her cults are particularly strong in the Mashiq, where pilgrims travel from across the world to visit the black mountain where she was born and the great vales where she stood against the Dread Dragoness.

Comparision to Other Divinities

Though often simply referred to as a goddess of war, in truth, Ezrahil is the goddess of the struggle and of victory over the struggle. She is often compared to Telerashi, the Storm's Fury; Balan, the Final Judgment; and Oheilion, the Bloodied Lord. Where Telerashi is often wild and untamed in her rage, Ezrahil is seen to emphasize logic, tactics, and strategy. Where Balan encourages diplomacy and civil debate, Ezrahil understands that violent struggle must be a factor in any equation as it is a weapon that must be available for compromise to have consequence.
The philosophy of Ezrahil is in truth very close to that of Oheilion, though the followers of both deities have oft been on opposite sides. Despite centuries of propaganda, Oheilion does encourage honor in battle and the following of a warrior's code. He is not, after all, a god of pure destruction like the demon queen Zaguna. In some ways they are two sides of the same coin—Ezrahil is the goddess of victory and Oheilion is the god of defeat, a god turned to in final hours, a god of the desperate. Ezrahil has long been associated with the heroic ideal, an ideal that often means honorable surrender when beaten and virtuous consiliation to those whom have fought with distinction. During the Mithril Era, this was associated with heroic ideals like aristeia while in the contemporary Sundered Era, these ideas have become interpreted as chivalry. Oheilion sees no dishonor in raiding, in guerilla tactics, in espionage and subterfuge. He understands the bitter taste of defeat and so will not chastise those who resort to such difficult means.
Ezrahil is also a god of higher command—though she has oft appeared to the common soldier and granted them boons of strength and courage, she remains a goddess associated with the knightly class. Cultures that follow Oheilion are usually more egalitarian, with ideas of a separate warrior class being antithetical to their values.

Divine Domains

Ezrahil is the goddess of righteous war, victory, divine favor, strategy, paladins, clerics, and humanity. Her primary domain is War.
However, Ezrahil also has domestic aspects. She is often associated with the hearth and her valiance in battle is often attributed to her fierce devotion to her family, to the Heavenly Council, and their creations. As such she is associated by many cultures with the idea of a homeland.
Her association with the hearth also connects her with the more elemental theme of fire itself. Some tales claim that she had some kind of relationship with Mahu'ika, the Titan of Fire. In some version of these tales, Ezrahil seduces Mahu'ika and offers to couple with her in exchange for the secret of fire. During their coupling, the pair threaten to consume the mortal world in flame. In others, Ezrahil threatens to march into the Plane of Fire and take it as her own personal realm if Mahu'ika does not surrender both the secret of fire and her body to Ezrahil's lust. Many of Ezrahil's heroic champions and saints also must pass trials of fire or journey to the City of Brass in order to prove their enduring valor.

Holy Books & Codes

The Heavenly Codex—specifically the "Book of Ezrahil"
Hymns to Ezrahil

Prayer on the Eve of Battle

O' Maiden-Born-Of-Blood!

O' Truth-Deliverant-In-Flesh!

The hour of blood draws near

Though I wish it not to come

Grant me but an ash-mote of your resolve

That I may cut a righteous path

In the wilderness of cruel-battle.

Yours is the hand that sweeps away armies

Yours is the song that scatters beasts

Let their spears shake like the willow

Let their shields clatter and fall to earth.

Hear me now as Indifferent Death hones His sickle

Raise me up, bear witness to my works

That they might illuminate the shadow of your glory.

Through you I find salvation

Through you I gain redemption

Through you I am made worthy

I beseech this of you, O' Woman-Glad-O-War

Amen

Prayer for Courage

O' Sword of the Morning Star Still the whispering demon of Doubt And kindle Courage in my heart. Thou is the sovereign of victory Thine is the glory of battle and death Permit my trespass and through me Make righteous this coming violence All this I pray in your name O' Truth Deliverant Amen

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Ezrahil's divine symbol is a bronze shield emblazoned with a white oak tree. Her sacred colors are bronze and white. It is said that flames touched by her presence burn red-violet.
Her animal harbingers are cats, usually lions, though in her domestic form she is more closely associated with housecats. In Decca, she is often associated with tigers, particularly white tigers.

Tenets of Faith

During the Mithril Era, the virtues of Ezrahil were expressed as the heroic ideal of atioiti. This ideal was important during a time when the world was new, magic abound, and there were many monsters and demons that had escaped and wrought havoc upon mortalkind.
This ideology fell away slightly during the Palladian Era, as ideals like the atioiti shifted to become more cohesive with the dogma and culture of the Palladian Empire and similar large states that developed during this period.

Holidays

Ezrahil's feast month is First Reaping, the eighth month of the Auloan Calendar. She shares her feast day, the Day of Noons, with her father Balan. Weekly services to Ezrahil are held on Mothersday.

Divine Goals & Aspirations

To see that humanity survives despite their short lifespans and that they spread throughout the Material Realm.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Ezrahil is depicted as a female humanoid figure dressed in bronze battle armor, often of a Temekanian or Palladian style. She carries a bronze shield with the roaring maw of a lioness emblazoned on it, and her white oak war club, Steelbranch.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Ezrahil was born during the War of the Dawn at the Battle of Mount Castorai, when Balan the Final Justice's blood flowed into a single pool and from the Old Magic formed Ezrahil in her full armor.
Following the battle she was brought before the Heavenly Council as they plotted their next move against the Unspoken. When they realized they could not defeat the growing Mother of Monsters, Valdra, Ezrahil volunteered to stall out the Unspoken while the rest of the Council pooled their divine power to forge a living weapon to defeat Valdra. This was Oheilion, the Bloodied Lord. Ezrahil fought Valdra alone for nine months as Oheilion was forged in secret. She and the Mother of Monsters tore the continents apart. They opened up rifts in the earth and pushed up great mountain ranges with their fighting. Ezrahil was wounded many times but was recovered thanks to the healing licks of her companion, the great lion Re Mashar.
Finally, Ezrahil lost her adamantine greatsword, Readyborne, somewhere on the edge of the Bashari Timberlands. In desperation, Ezrahil retreated into the forest where she came upon a white oak tree blessed by the Old Magic. Re Mashar used his claws to rend a branch of the tree from the trunk and Ezrahil used her divine power to transform it into a mighty war club. Imbued with the Old Magic and Ezrahil's divinity, the Truth Deliverant returned to the field of battle and held Valdra off with just the club alone for another nine months until the Bloodied Lord was completed. She stood alongside Oheilion during the final assault at the Battle of the Shattered Shores and helped bury the Mother of Monsters beneath the Material Realm in the Underdark's eternal labyrinths.
Later, she helped the other members of the Heavenly Council banish the dangerous Oheilion to Fields of Maurenchali and then guided the surviving vestiges of humanity out of the dark caves they'd been hiding in. She pledged to protect them and see that their short lives were used well, despite the Council's prohibition of favoring one mortal race over the others. Since then, she has remained an ardent, near zealous supporter of humanity and seen that they have spread to every corner of the Material Plane and beyond.

Social

Family Ties

Ezrahil was born when she emerged fully armored from pool of blood left by the god Balan after the Battle of Castorai during the War of the Dawn. She has no siblings, though she is said to consider Balan to be her father. She also has no divine children, for she remains always on the battlefield, and considers all those who fall in righteous and glorious battle to be her true children.

Hobbies & Pets

When Ezrahil has appeared on battlefields either in mythic legend or in folklore in the Material Realm, she does so atop her constant companion, a giant lion named Re Mashar.

Divine Classification

Deity

Religions

• Brotherhood of Bronze

Alignment

True Neutral

Current Location

Celestial Mountains

Church/Cult

Heavenly Council

Honorary & Occupational Titles

The Truth Deliverant; the Lion's Maw; the Unbroken; the Righteous Fury; Morning Star; Maiden of Blood; the Martial One; Treebearer; Shieldmaiden; Flame-Stealer; Bone-Bleacher; Sword of the Morning Star; Leapt-of-Blood; Bloodborn Maiden; Mother of Lions; Lion Queen; Keeper of the Violet Flame;

Birthplace

Mount Castorai

Family

Heavenly Council

Aligned Organization

Heavenly Council

Hallowed Arms

Steelbranch: a war club infused with divine energy and taken from a white oak of the Old Magic

Holy Orders:

• Acolyte: Squire

• Cleric: Justicar (War Domain)

• Paladin: The Brotherhood of Bronze (Oath of Conquest)

• Leader: Marshal

• Temple: Stave

Animal Harbingers

Lioness; Cat