Phirulla, the Goddess of Death Character in Lidoc | World Anvil

Phirulla, the Goddess of Death

Phirulla presides over the domain of the dead, a realm of order, where she sits in judgement over the deceased. She punishes the wicked, rewards the good and the just, and the rest wait to be sent to Adilia to be reborn, although another god may intercede on a souls behalf. One of her core tenets is that death should not be feared and is a natural part of life, and as such she abhors undead, possibly moreso even than Adilia.  

Rumors

While there are rumors, myths, and misinformation spread about all gods, this is perhaps most true of Phirulla due to the people's instinctual fear of not just death, but of being judged and punished for their actions and misdeeds throughout their lives.   It is not uncommon for people to worship or even try to serve another god specifically to be avoid Phirulla's judgement, that they may be brought to their demesne and rewarded after death regardless of how Phirulla would judge.   Phirulla definitively has the fewest worshipers, many seeing her as wanting or even causing death. Some refer to her as the goddess of evil and a counterpoint to Adilia, rather than working in tandem with her. Extremists and even cults have formed around these beliefs and will pray for the deaths of others, extremists usually for those they believe need judged, while cults more likely for anyone who has their displeasure.   Religious scholars have argued for centuries, using texts, written and eyewitness accounts of their displays of power, to determine exactly how gods amass their power and how they rank against each other, with relatively little to show for their efforts. The prevailing theory is their power is based, at least in large part, on how many worshipers they have. Dissenting theories state that has little to no effect, some saying that their power is an innate thing, a part of them and separate, which is how it is able to be transferred or even taken as in the War of the Gods, while others state that it is linked to what their domains of power are. While the worshiper theory would make Phirulla seem like she should be possibly the weakest of the greater gods the other theories have her ranked as possibly the strongest. She has taken the least visible actions since the War of the Gods making it hard to gauge her power against the others.

Divine Domains

Primary
  • Death
  • Grave
  • Order
  • Solidarity
  • Secondary
  • Protection
  • Twilight
  • Unity

  • Divine Symbols & Sigils

    Her symbol is a set of ivory scales, some say made of bone.   The full motions of prayer to Phirulla is to bow your head, then cover your eyes with the palm of your right hand and bring it down to your chest, ending in a closed fist on your heart, where the prayers to Adilia begin, symbolizing that death is just another part of life. The common, abbreviated motion is to bring an bring an open palm downwards, closing into a fist.  

    Colors

    While many associate her with black, calling it the color of death, her primary color is white, as well as grey (#636666) and rarely a deep crimson.  

    Weapon

    Although she is much more likely to carry her Ledger of the Dead, when she does battle she wields a shield and warhammer. Another common misconception of the common folk is that she and her clergy wield scythes and sickles, symbols of reaping and harvesting, and use them to collect the souls of the dead.  

    Extremists and Cults

    Divine Classification
    God
    Children