Fotana
Divine Domains
Death, Trickery, Gambling,
Divine Symbols & Sigils
a crow, a hand of playing cards,
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Those who die should stay dead, the pursuit of immortality by mortals should be punished. Death and rot make way for new life and Fotana keeps the living in check.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Long ago the realm of the dead was ruled by Admos. He may once have been a good ruler but as time went on greed consumed him. By the time this story takes begins, the rich could pay their way out of death and the even richer could pay to have someone else take their place.
Fotana was orphaned as a child. No one knows why her parents died but we know that they were not fated to die. She found them dead in her childhood home, a gold coin with a skull fused to the skin on their chests. Once people found out about her parents' deaths, her home was quickly sold and she was forced out on to the streets. Fotana was forced to fend for herself, stealing from the food stands in the local markets, waiting for the shop owners to shoo away birds so she could grab what she needed. She shared what she stole with the crows for helping her, but also to keep them at the markets and they learned to trust her, and after that to steal for her.
At first they would bring Fotana small trinkets or scraps of fabric, which she would try to sell but what was not simply trash was never worth much. Later they would bring copper coins or the occasional silver. Daisy, a large raven, was a favorite of Fotana's. He originally would bring Fotana flowers, which is how he got his name, he became the first of the birds to start bringing coins. Daisy was the one who brought Fotana her first gold coin.
When She realized what she had her first thought was of hiding it, thinking any adult would know it was stolen, but after the initial panic subsided and she had some time to think she decided there were better uses for it. Fotana was 13 by the time she first entered a gambling hall. It was a small place near the edge of the market where old men and tired day laborers would bet over small sums hoping to stretch the little pay they got from their jobs. It was the perfect place to learn and they would be much more willing to try winning that gold coin rather than take it directly. Fotana started out simply watching to get a sense of the rules and being taught by people who had already lost too much but still wanted to play, but in time she started to gamble whatever coin she didn't need to spend on food. As always, Fotana was a quick learner. Her dependence on deception and distraction growing up led to her slowly making a profit and a reputation for herself.
It started when she finally decided to use her gold coin. An adventurer had stopped in the town for the day and was trying to pass the time in the small town when he sat down at her regular table. After a few rounds she was forced to match a bet that she couldn't afford if she wanted to play a strong hand, so she raised with her gold coin and won. Thinking she shouldn't push her luck and knowing she didn't really have to, she took her winnings and left directly after. The adventurer wanting to take back his money, accused her of cheating and demanded she be banned from the gambling hall. The next day she was immediately thrown out and after losing her best way to make money she took her two gold coins and bought transport to the nearby capitol; and black birds were said to be seen following her carriage.
In the capitol Fotana found many gambling halls, some were filled with laborers like back home but others were filled with artisans and merchants, and there was even one that was frequented by local lords and rich travelers. She started small here, gambling in and around the slums learning local rules and popular games. After a while she left the slums and tried her luck with the artisans.
Over the years her birds still brought her trinkets and although they weren't nearly as useful now Fotana still appreciated them. She eventually used her winnings to buy a house on the outskirts of town with lots of land and trees for her birds to nest in. The locals had long since caught on to her skill so she really only played with travelers or the occasional lord who thought a little too highly of himself.
Once again, greed reared it's ugly head. A traveler was making ridiculously large bets and claiming to be the cousin of some crowned prince in a far away land. He was a perfect target for Fotana, but when she seemed to be the only one willing to match his bets he got noticeably irritated and that only got worse when she was winning. After losing a particularly large pot, the traveler was furious.
“There is no possible way that this could just be skill! You must be cheating!” he screamed, obviously desperate to take back what he thought would be an effective bluff.
“Ask any local in this building, all I have is skill and I have never been caught cheating. If you didn't want to lose it you shouldn't have bet it.” Fotana gathered her winnings, deciding she had made enough today and that this guy's ego had been thoroughly checked.
“You wont get away with this! My family is favored by Admos!” With that the whole room went silent. Over time people had gotten to know Fotana in the capitol and despite her habit of separating them from their money, many cared for her. Fotana tried to maintain her composure enough to leave the gambling hall and get back home. In her panic she hadn't noticed the other patrons beating the traveler and throwing him out of town.
In the next few days, nothing happened. People thought that the traveler may have been bluffing. After a week the owner of the gambling hall was found dead with a gold coin fused into his chest, the next day, a local cobbler and after that the mayor’s son. It was clear that he was slowly killing off the whole town. Fotana, thinking that this was her fault, gathered some supplies and headed for the Grand Temple of Shani. Her trip to the coast was long and eventful, but should be saved for another time. For the purpose of our story it is important to know that she won a magical cloak of jackdaw feathers. When Fotana arrived at the temple, she snuck into the main prayer chamber using her cloak to become invisible and offered Shani some smoked fish and a dozen sweet rolls in exchange for a way into the underworld. A cool wind blew through the chamber, which was odd in a windowless room, but nothing else seemed to tell her she was heard. On her way out of the temple she was given two small phials by one of the acolytes and as she was looking at them she was stabbed in the gut.
Fotana woke up in a room filled with gold, the ceiling was made of twisting shadows and standing above her was a young girl eating a sweet roll. Fotana rose to her feet and tried to address the girl but she had disappeared. She was now alone in a long hallway, gold stacked so high on both sides she couldn’t see the walls and and a red carpet stretched along the floor. At the end of the hall Fotana saw a large humanoid figure made of the same swirling shadow that made up the ceiling talking to a young man with an arrow in his back. The shadowy figure had a large table full of food and a single goblet filled with red wine and was playing with a gold coin in one hand while he listened to the freshly dead plead with Admos sent back. Fotana stopped and examined the two phials given to her. One phial had a label with a skull and the other was labeled antidote. She turned invisible and put the poison in his wine goblet and waited for the man with the arrow to be done. Admos denied him his plea and a door opened to the man’s left and some invisible force pulled him through it as he screamed for mercy.
After the man was gone, Admos drained his goblet and called for the next soul. Fotana waited a moment, and dropped her invisibility.
“State your name and why you think you should live.” Admos said in a flat tone, almost more to the coin in his hand than to Fotana.
She mulled it over for a moment. “I don’t want to live.”
Admos didn’t have much of a face in the mingling shadow but still managed to look shocked. “Do you plan to elaborate on that? Or should I send you on your way?” Admos regained his composure, even those who had taken their own lives rarely wanted to stay by the time they got here.
“I’d actually like to play a game if you don’t mind.”
“I do mind, there are people waiting to be judged.” He dropped the coin in his hand and noticed it was now shaking.
“I think you might want to reconsider.” Fotana threw him the empty phial.
The dark clouds making up his face curled to resemble a smile as he examined the phial. “What are your terms? I certainly hope an antidote is involved.”
“It is. If you win, you get the antidote and all the gold I own.”
“And if you win?”
“I want your job.”
At that, Admos laughed. “Well I suppose I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” He slammed his arm on the table in front of him and slid it across the surface, sending his meal to the floor and a deck of cards formed from shadow and took its place. Admos shuffled and dealt.
“Best three of five hands wins to prevent flukes, cheaters lose game.” Fotana said, picking up her hand.
Admos only managed to win one hand and as Fotana won her third hand the door to the left opened and dragged him through. Fotana became a fully fledged goddess and immediately started changing life for the living. She is the only goddess who will not accept gold as sacrifice.
Social
Hobbies & Pets
She has a raven named Daisy.
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