Istral, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge

"Use the knowledge of the past, to shape a better future."
   - Istral

Description

Istral, the goddess of preserved knowledge, is often linked to the moon, ice and snow. She is often depicted as a young woman of pale, sublime beauty, sometimes cold as the ice of the northern realms, sometimes as soft as the fresh snow. They all agree, she's a collector of wisdom and history, but not at every cost. Those pursuing forbidden knowledge are sure to receive icy punishment.

Holy symbol

Istral is connected to ice and snow, so her symbol is a snowflake. Most of her followers wear a brooch of a snowflake, most often made of iron or bronze, but in some rare cases the symbol is made of silver, glass or crystal.
Some temples use the materials of their symbols to signify their rank withing the temple, sometimes replacing the brooches with necklaces.

Rise to godhood

When Shomdon, the former god of knowledge, left the Godly Council, an imbalance arose, that shook the world of the gods. They may be superior, but they do not see everything. They depended on the god of knowledge to answer them about everything, no matter how hidden and intimate the mystery or detail.
Someone new had to be found, but none of the gods had the skills that were needed.
So it happened that the gods, in their desperation, ordered the Chosen to gather all the creatures with the broadest knowledge and put them before the riddles of the former god. The trial plunged many of the scholars into madness, their minds were twisted and they were beyond help. Others got on, failing in later chapters of the marathon of puzzles, thinking and knowledge. Only one woman, Istral, possessed the skill, wit, mental flexibility and extensive knowledge to master all of the trials she was confronted with. She was led to meet the Godly Council and as she stood before the gods, awestruck and almost speechless, she was elevated to a goddess herself. The boundaries of her mind were blasted and she was given the all-seeing eye and the all-knowing spirit. Since then, Istral has managed and collected all the knowledge the world has to offer, investigating, questioning and educating the beings that populate the world, but she also tries to keep safe and lock away the knowledge that must not fall into the wrong hands.

Istral by Artbreeder / mrsummer360

Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Domains: Knowledge
Symbol: A snowflake surrounded by a circle