Estraga Falmatua

Estraga Falmatua

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Born in Mallatar, a small water city of the demiplane Gosina Began training with Ellitheron, elf cleric, at the age of 11

Gender Identity

Female

Sexuality

Not particularly interested

Education

Religious training from 11-28, can read, write, do math, and argue her religious philosophy, was inducted into the deeper mysteries of The Wheel

Employment

Adventurer Savior of the Multiverse Former high cleric of Mallatar

Accomplishments & Achievements

Has spoken for her Goddess twice (once on the Winter Solstice of 828, once near the Summer Solstice of 829)
Laid the Raven Queen to rest
Delivered the Prophecy
Assisted with protecting Talsiere from the Giant Spider of Fear

Failures & Embarrassments

Does not understand most of the Imperium
All the flattery and love she gets now for having delivered the Prophecy
Has a not so good relationship with the Sehanine temple

Mental Trauma

Survived the planar collapse of her home, put the Raven Queen to rest.

Intellectual Characteristics

Curious, down to earth, go with the flow

Morality & Philosophy

See religious views She will not resurrect anyone beyond a Revivify spell Full Resurrection is basically an evil and never necessary. Once the soul has been severed from its body, it moves onto its next life, further along the cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth. Resurrecting someone means pulling them back and killing or incapacitating their new body, causing grief to their new loved ones. Reincarnation is a thing, most souls live several lives.

Taboos

Resurrecting the dead

Social

Contacts & Relations

The Adventuring Guildhall - baby adventurers
Survivors of Mallatar - Followers of the Wheel Religion, Estraga's family among them
Martamilva - Earth Elemental

Family Ties

Siblings: Allagre, Sithila, Rastua, Nahlehk (older siblings), a baker's dozen kids between them
Parents: Falwen, Rejith

Religious Views

The Children of the Wheel
Estraga and her people view themselves as guardians of these particular domains of the Gods they worship. So long as some believers tie these gods to these domains, the gods can retain some tentative control over them.
Life from death and Death from life. Such is the fundamental cornerstone of the Children of the Wheel's religion. Life, Death, and Afterlife all work in concert to keep the wheel of mortal existence turning. After all, what good is an idea with no one to have it? Stars burn, planets travel through space, and only through Life, Death, and the Afterlife do these events have meaning beyond themselves. 
No one, not even the gods, can escape the wheel, only slow its turning.


The Wheel holds that after true death of the body, the soul immediately moves to its afterlife, which could be a reincarnation in the mortal planes or moving onto a true afterlife. The goal is to fulfill your duties to the gods and preserve the Wheel and once the gods are "done with you" you move onto the final afterlife. The reason that resurrection is an abomination is because they believe that souls incarnate at the moment of birth and as such, resurrection is basically yanking the soul out of its new life. It is also considered extremely selfish, bordering on murder, as according to these religious beliefs you are basically trading your grief to the new family which loses their loved one in exchange for you getting that soul back.
This religion is dedicated to the cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth. Examining the duality of existence, life and death, life from death, death from life, and the movement between, rebirth, is a cornerstone of its outlook. Sehanine is one of its founding gods. She is worshiped as the Lady of Cycles and her symbol in the mystery cult is the moon surrounded by another circle with three lines running from the outer edge to the outer edge of the inner circle. The moon itself is crescent. The lines are equidistant from each other. The other gods of this cult are along similar lines.
Sehanine - top god of this pantheon. Not only the Lady of Time but the Lady of Cycles. Life, Death, Rebirth, she is the whole process, the overarching supervisor. Existence is like a wheel, movement can be made in either direction but the wheel is constantly spinning, no beginning, no end. The Wheel believes that life, death, and rebirth (either into the afterlife or into the next life) is the sacred cycle that Sehanine oversees. The moon is a visual representation of this cycle.
Pelor - Goddess of Rebirth and Life from Death, also the Lady of the Boundaries between Death and New Life. Partner of Sehanine and Guardian of the Cycle. The planting cycle (planting season, growing season, harvest season) is representative of this guardianship role.
Raven Queen - Moment of Death, the passing through the boundary between life and afterlife. Mallatar holds that she had to die in order to become the bridge and continue the cycle Death - Usher to the Afterlife Eldath - Goddess of Life
History: Once upon a time, two major movements converged. One questioned whether the power of resurrection was in fact too much power for mortals. The long and short of it boiled down to a corruption and social justice issue: only the very rich could afford the cost of resurrecting their loved ones. How could temples claim to be neutral arbiters of the gods if they were so beholden to the regular cash infusion that the rituals would provide? How could they guard against corruption and stand with the people with the costs they could (and had) placed on the rituals? Why should only the wealthy be allowed to return? What would stop tyrants from returning and what rights would they actually have? As these questions were debated, as a movement began to ban the practice of resurrection rituals, a Revelation occurred. The seers claimed that the goddess Sehanine had shown them the truth: that mortal souls were part of a cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth, where rebirth meant potential reincarnation rather than an afterlife in the outer planes. Eventually, the two movements collapsed into one mostly philosophically driven religion: the Children of the Wheel or the Cycle. Understanding that they were beaten on the resurrection front, the bulk of followers eventually left their home plane altogether rather than condone such practices.
References to the Cycle/Wheel or Sehanine as the Lady of Cycles/the Cycle itself is a pretty clear indication you’re dealing with this belief system. Symbology: a three spoked wheel with a crescent moon on the hub. Fancier and more obscure symbology will have a wheat sprout, a wheat shaft, and a scythe within the outer thirds. The Wheel sprung up around the time when the religious world started debating the place of resurrection in the world and about the nature of the multiverse (ie fixed versus changeable, the idea of a thing like fire/the plane of fire, and whether beings like fiends or celestials can grow/change, and how much mortal ideas/beliefs can influence these bigger ideas). There is also the social justice aspect of resurrection and the potential corrupting of temples and religious missions in service to it.

The religious year turns on the solstices and equinoxes.
Winter Solstice - New Year and Sehanine's feast day. Day of Order. A lot of singing. Most rigid and stoic of the holidays. Time of reflection and thanksgiving to the ladies of the wheel. Considered a time of portents and wishes. A time when we are extra mindful of the thoughts we put into the world for the veil is thin and the planes pay attention. A time to plan. Omens and signs for the coming year are read or given. New charms for peace and the blessings of the ladies are created and distributed by the priests/clerics. These are exchanged with last year's. Children, the infirm, and the old receive them, basically those at decently high risk of dying to natural causes/plagues.
Spring equinox- Pelor's feast day. Day of Rebirth. Day of Light. Burn the bonfires bright to guide lost souls home. Burn the bonfires to light the way for wandering spirits to find their way back into the cycle. Keep the fires burning all day and night. Special rites/magic to draw wandering spirits and send them on in the fires. Day of telling secrets or truths. Lots of roasting meats and sweets. Some are offered as enticements to the spirits. Celebrate and take comfort in the fact that your dead have moved onto another life. Big day of family.
Summer solstice - Eldath's feast day. Day of Life. Celebration of children. Presents are given out, special naming rites and rituals for children born within the year. The closer the child is born to the Summer Solstice, the luckier they are said to be. The night before the Solstice, mourn the loss of children.
Autumn equinox - Death's feast day. Day of Grave. Tend the graves, ensure the bodies cannot be raised or used via necromancy. Special rites are performed for the ill, the infirm, and the old.

Social Aptitude

Not very. She's pretty easily overwhelmed and very quick to stubbornly insist on her way if she has a deep enough belief on the subject (see what she did with Oralith's body)

Hobbies & Pets

No pets

Wealth & Financial state

Very wealthy

Water Genasi Cleric of the Grave Domain of Sehanine, Lady of Cycles

View Character Profile

Alignment

Chaotic Good

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Prophet of Sehanine

Age

29

Date of Birth

1 Sowingsole 799

Birthplace

Mallatar

Current Residence

The Guildhall in Talsiere

Gender

Female

Eyes

Black

Hair

Dark Brown/Black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Muddy Grey/Blue

Height

5'10

Weight

140lbs ish?

Known Languages

Common, Primordial, outside of game mechanics, she speaks Elvish