Pharasma

Lady of Graves

Alignment: Neutral
Realm: Boneyard
Temples: catacombs, cathedrals, cemeteries, hospitals, libraries, river islands
Worshippers: midwives, morticians, physicians, pregnant people, prophets, scholars, those close to death or engaging in deadly ventures
Sacred Animal: whip-poor-wills
Sacred Colors: blue and white
No record of history, and not even other gods, can recall a time before Pharasma. Her throne lies within a vast, gothic cathedral located on the infinite Spire at the center of the planes. From here, she looks both forward and backward in time, observing the births, lives, and deaths of every soul, as she serves as the final arbiter of a soul’s destination after death. Psychopomp servants of Pharasma guide and safeguard newly dead souls along the River of Souls to her realm, where she judges each soul and ensures it is sent to the proper plane for its afterlife, according to its alignment and mortal deeds. Although she can see all possible fates and knows the fate of each individual, free will and choice can alter a soul’s final destination, and she places great weight on the individual’s actions and personal choices. Therefore, Pharasma withholds her final judgment until a soul stands before her. Her prophecies are cryptic, and their full meanings are rarely revealed until the foretold events occur.
Once Pharasma has judged a soul, it can no longer be returned from the dead by mortal magics such as raise dead or resurrect. While it may be within Pharasma’s power to do so, she has never withheld a soul from its proper destination—not even from the realms of gods she may despise. She embraces her role with a dispassionate dignity that often makes her seem aloof or uncaring, but in truth she simply understands the necessity of impartiality to sustain the cycle of life and balance throughout the planes. Almost all other deities show Pharasma great deference, for she is the only one they trust to unfailingly distribute souls to their proper planes.
Pharasma abhors the creation of undead and magic that traps souls, preventing them from arriving in her realm for judgment and disrupting the balance of the cycle of souls. She commands her followers to destroy all such abominations and to release any bound souls.
Pharasma is usually portrayed as a tall, ash-skinned woman with white eyes and wild, flowing, white hair, cloaked in dark robes and holding an hourglass filled with red sand. Many dread her as a grim reaper, ready to take their souls at the end of their mortal existences. Yet many also worship her as the guardian of birth and new souls, a wise scholar, and a healer. These worshippers call her The Mother of Souls, a title reflecting her protective and guiding nature. Pharasma’s religioussymbol depicts a silver‑and‑blue spiraling comet, which signifies the bright and winding path of every soul’s potential.
While her faithful most often wear black clothing trimmed in purple or silver during rituals, they are also fond of wearing brilliant shades of silver, blue, and purple throughout their daily lives and during sacred rites celebrating birth and life. Midwives and physicians carry silver religious symbols of Pharasma on long chains when they go to bless newborn children or say prayers over the dying. Scholars and oracles embroider Pharasma’s spiral or an hourglass to represent their belief in fate, prophecy, or observation of time. Those devout to Pharasma are generally circumspect when it comes to taking sides in politics or conflicts. Priests of Pharasma can frequently be found blessing, healing, and tending to the dead on rival sides of disputes, battles, and even wars with equal efficiency.
Places of worship dedicated to Pharasma range from the simplistic to the ostentatious. Mausoleums and crypts usually contain at least a token idol or shrine dedicated to Pharasma. Shrines to her can be as simple as a carved stone on a river island or within a graveyard. However, Pharasma’s temples are towering, gothic cathedrals decorated with stained glass and carved statuary. These temples typically have universities, hospitals, and immense libraries attached above ground, and vast, deep catacombs intricately decorated with the bones of the deceased below. Wealthy patrons and scholars pay membership fees to access knowledge and wisdom within her temples. Since being interred within the catacombs of Pharasma is deemed a blessing, they also contribute sizable donations to secure prominent locations for their bodies’ later interment in the crypts, often as an attempt to gain favor during Pharasma’s judgment of their soul in the afterlife. It is not uncommon for entire libraries or estates to be donated to the church of Pharasma from the deathbeds of the rich and powerful concerned with how their mortal deeds will reflect upon their immortal soul.

Divine Domains

Birth, Death, Fate, Prophecy, and Time

Divine Symbols & Sigils