Mytrah

Goddess of Sowing and Reaping

Domains: Life, Grave
Weapons: Scythe, Throwing Axe; Radiant, Necrotic
Symbol: A pomegranate in cross-section with the seeds filling the shape of an intersecting isotoxal dodecagon; the constellation Gorgon
Dominion: Family, Agriculture, Harvest, Husbandry, Tame Beasts, Fertility, the Greater Good, Sacrifice, Death, Rebirth, the Circle of Life, Acceptance, Fungus, Pollinators, Farmers, Ranchers
Mytrah is the goddess of sowing and reaping, sprouting and harvest, youth and age and what comes after. A stately matron both beautiful and fearsome, warm and cold, she is revered as the mother of agriculture and thus civilization by extension. Her voice is in the whisper of wheat and rushes, the call of the herd, the cry of the newborn, the choking gasps of your last breath. She brings the bounty of wheat, fruit, cabbage, milk, wool, and more blessings besides, all of which the people of Iroa know they owe to her and to her priesthood. But just as she provides for the people and gives them the means of life, she also takes that life from them, reaping the
Farming and ranching are both the gifts of Mytrah, who is said to have taught the first mortals how to bend nature to their will and force it to provide for them. Every major agricultural festival or moment is dedicated to Mytrah first above all, and her priests and priestesses oversee the first and last planting of the season, and the first and last harvest of the community. They work to help bring greater fertility to the land, and new techniques like crop rotation usually flow to the people by way of Mytrah's priesthood. The companionship the people of Iroa find in their domesticated beasts, from aurochs to slinks, comes also from Mytrah, who teaches people how to rule over and make use of the plants and beasts of the natural world rather than to live with and serve them as Varva might.
Life begins and ends and begins again, and she or the lampad underworld nymphs who attend her are present for all of it. Most mortals are escorted to and from the world by these handmaidens of the mother goddess, but those of particularly glorious or notorious destiny or deeds may be accompanied to and from this life by Mytrah herself. In either event, the soul is escorted to the court of Katabis and Persereka for the final judgement, where most are sentenced to purification to try again in another life, upon which Mytrah or her servants are responsible for the soul's journey to rebirth.

Mytrah's Tenets

Mytrah holds that acceptance of natural cycles and the inevitable smooths out all of the pains and vagaries of life - that misfortune is inevitable and does not have to cause as much distress when you anticipate it, and that likewise you will be more cautious and make fewer long term mistakes when flush with good fortune and things are going your way if you know and accept that these blessings will pass. Respect the soil and the farmer who tills it, for all the splendors of your empire and all the might of your armies are as nothing if you have nothing to feed your people. Give love to the beast and treat them well and they will serve and protect you well in turn. Have children if you are able and adopt if you are not. Embrace the coming of age and death and do not flee or fear them, for they are the passage to the next life, or eternal bliss if you have expiated all sin.

Mytrah's Relationships

Mytrah is closely affiliated to the other chthonic deities, but has fewer associations to the deities of the realms above. But as with every deity, there are exceptions.
Katabis and Persereka are very closely affiliated with Mytrah. Mytrah or her lampad handmaidens gather and bring the souls of the dead to the court of Crixos, the Underworld, and then later fish the judged out of the river of souls after their purification and take them to their next life to be born again. In doing so these psychopomps must move through Xenoves's realm, who also rules the soil in which Mytrah's agriculture is conducted, but Mytrah's on-again, off-again, on-again relationship with Xenoves means this is rarely ever a problem.
This goddess of earth is said to be the mother of the goddess of the sun, Heliana, and grandmother of the goddess of the polis, Paideia. All three are closely linked, with each in some way depending on the duties of one and making possible the duties of the other.
Aiatriu is deity of medicine and poison, a healer and a taker of life, and as such closely resonant with Mytrah. The herbs upon which Aiatriu and their chirurgeons depend grow because of Mytrah, and their ability to domesticate snakes and stranger creatures thought untameable by others depends on techniques established by Mytrah and her own priesthood; in turn, they concoct fertilizers, pesticides and other substances to bolster the health and output of the fields, and send people directly to Mytrah and her servants when it is determined that their life should be cut short.

Worshipping Mytrah

As goddess of agriculture and husbandry, Mytrah is prayed to by farmers, ranchers, and villagers as a whole who depend on the bounty of their fields and animals for their survival, as well as city planners who know the fields of the villages are what allow the polis to exist. As goddess of fertility and motherhood, Mytrah receives the prayers of would be parents, of villages hoping to reverse decline or to expand and become something more, and of families struggling to stay together. As goddess of decline and death, Mytrah is given appeasement by those hoping their death will be peaceful or that it will be delayed, by those hoping a loved one will be spared death for a few more years, by those who understand the needs of the greater good, and by hunters of the undead.

Mudada

In Nubir, Mytrah is known as Mudada. She is the legendary grim mother of the harvest, who brought the desert of Nubir to bloom. She unraveled the secrets of blood sacrifice to bring fertility to the land, and how to tame animals to break the soil and give their lives for the benefits of the people. She was the first midwife, laying down the traditions followed by everyone giving birth or helping another give birth ever since. She determined the limits to the life of every species, so that each animal and person might in turn enrich the world for those to come after them by giving their flesh back to the world. In all these things, she made it possible for mortal worshippers to support the Eternals of the Yahre-Nesyt, as well as to sustain themselves.

Mytrah's Champions

Suggested Classes: Bard, Cleric, Monk, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock
Suggested Backgrounds: Charlatan, Criminal, Entertainer, Sailor (Pirate), Urchin
Champions of Mytrah are generally able to be summarized into two main groups - the defenders and leaders of a community, or those who go forth to hunt the undead and other threats to a community, whether in revenge for their depredations or to keep them from coming into town and causing havoc in the first place. In either case, these figures form close bonds with the people they call neighbors, and are looked up to and respected by all around them, at least in more rural areas and settlements. In a major polis, these individuals can be considered provincial, but still usually are well regarded by civic leaders even if the people in general might be more condescending, because the leaders generally understand to what extent the city depends on the farming communities around it to survive.

Mytrah's Favor

What brought Mytrah's path together with yours? You may roll or choose on the table below for ideas, or develop an idea of your own with the GM.
d6 / Circumstance

1. You were found as a baby in a farm field, wrapped in leaves as though as you had grown out of the ground.
2. You pioneered an innovation in agricultural technique or animal husbandry.
3. You were an orphan who wandered into one of Mytrah's places of worship in search of a meal and a safe place to spend the night.
4. You were the seventh son or daughter of a family blessed with Mytrah's fertility, and so were offered to her temple as the price of this blessing.
5. You can't bear to witness suffering, so you serve Mytrah to bring peaceful death to the unfortunate.
6. You bear a seemingly incurable tumor that will kill you. But while you do Mytrah's will and embody her teachings, the cancer does not progress.

Earning and Losing Piety

You increase your piety score with Mytrah when you expand or shore up her influence in a concrete way, including but not limited to:

• Turning a wild field into fertile cropland
• Feeding those who are starving
• Defending a farm from monsters or wildfire
• Making a difficult sacrifice for the benefit of others

Your piety score to Mytrah decreases if you diminish her influence in the world, contradict her ideals, or make her look ridiculous or ineffectual through acts such as these:

• Destroying a settlement's food source
• Releasing and scattering domestic animals
• Diverting a water source needed for irrigation
• Bringing someone back from the dead

As a champion of unusual standing in the world, you receive benefits as your piety score rises. If you are a cleric or paladin of Mytrah, you start with a piety to Mytrah of 3.

Initiate (Piety 3+)

You gain Inspiration when you put your time in with honest manual labor or you enforce the natural cycle of life and death, or you perform an act that gains you piety. You also have advantage on rolls to know about Mytrah, her servants, and her works, and you know (the DM warns you) before you commit to an act that would displease Mytrah.

Devotee (Piety 10+)

As a devotee of Mytrah's mysteries, you have proven your dedication to the harvest goddess. You learn either the mold earth cantrip or the infestation cantrip (choose one), and learn either the purify food and drink spell or the ray of sickness spell (choose one). Choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma to be your casting modifier for these spells. You can use the cantrip at will, and the spell a number of times per day equal to your casting modifier. If you are a spellcaster, treat the cantrip and spell as bonus spells known of your class that are always prepared.

Votary (Piety 20+)

Mytrah's blessing allows you to suffer one additional failed death save before you die. Additionally, each time you would have an ability score or your maximum hit points reduced to 0 and would thus automatically die, you are instead reduced to 1 and sustain one failed death save. You also have advantage on saving throws vs disease.

Disciple (Piety 40+)

Mytrah bestows upon you the secret of Mytrah's Vintage, which can restore strength. By performing a 10 minute ritual which you can do as part of a short rest, you can conjure enough mystical grapes to fill a number of waterskins with wine equal to the higher of your Constitution or Wisdom modifier, minimum 1. Each waterskin acts as a potion of greater healing that also grants bonus saving throws against ongoing afflictions or effects. The wine remains magical for 24 hours, after which it is just wine. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until after a long rest.

Champion (Piety 60+)

Mytrah's surpassing favor allows you to survive and remain conscious (and standing if applicable) with 1 hp in the face of an attack, hazard or effect that would reduce you to 0 hp or kill you outright. Once you have been saved by this ability, you can't be saved by it again until after a long rest. You are also immune to disease, including magical disease.
Additionally, increase your Constitution or Wisdom score by 2, and also increase your maximum for that score by 2.