Khemra
Khemra Heekma
Khemra in some ways is the metaphysical equivalent of the upset headmistress or crusty old dean furrowing her brow at the antics of the rest of the Nine and (mortals in general).
Divine Domains
Khemra’s Portfolio includes but is not limited to: The sun, literacy, history, law, oaths of fealty, hierarchies, translators, traditions, travel, regulation of the Nine as a whole, grandeur, royalty, and being a foe to the undead
Tenets of Faith
-Follow the roles you were destined for and make sure others do likewise and don’t overstep their bounds.
-Seek and share knowledge and make sure it is preserved for future generations.
-Help create and maintain ordered societies for this is the way to ultimately benefit all.
Social
Contacts & Relations
When the Nine joined forces to overthrow Turoch, they drafted an agreement known as the the Divine Compact or just “the Compact”. The Compact was an agreement on how the Nine would share the running of the Creation after the Divine Rebellion. The chaotic deities began ignoring the Compact almost immediately after Turoch was dead and Khemra remains very bitter about this. Phidas and Hallisan were also both upset by this too, but they have since moved on and Khemra has not. Phidas and Hallisan admit that the world is changing on its own independently and the Nine need to adapt with it. Khemra still hopes to reinstate the original Compact or get together with all the Nine and create a revised Compact. Khemra’s mortal and spirit minions have a well-deserved reputation for meddling in the affairs of other deities’ domains and worship and this has won the Keepers many enemies.
Khemra is easily the most hidebound and dogmatic of all the Nine. This means she is somewhat predictable, and she is rarely proactive. In most cases she reacts to the machinations of her siblings rather than creating her own machinations.
Hallisan and Phidas are both romantic rivals for Khemra’s affections. Khemra tries to split her time evenly with both though she probably secretly likes Hallisan slightly better. Like most of the goddesses, Khemra secretly pines for Korus, but Korus doesn’t like her that way. Khemra is happy to work with both Hallisan and Phidas to advance and strengthen civilization but is annoyed that both Hallisan and Phidas' priests are trying to muscle her priesthood out of the royal halls in the mortal realm. That said, the Keepers generally get along well with Guardians and Masks. At the very least, their respective priesthood always try to appear civil. It’s customary when Guardians and Masks have a beef with the Keepers to keep their dispute behind closed doors and out of public view.
Korus and Khemra usually get along. The biggest point of contention is that Khemra is the patroness of civilization and Korus is the god of the wilderness. Sometimes they butt heads when Korus feels civilization is spreading too rapidly. Khemra yields to Korus more often than not when this happens. The Stewards and Keepers usually get along well in the mortal plane.
Mera is usually pretty easy to get along with. Mera thought the Compact gave the evil gods too much leeway. That’s the main point of contention between them. If evil succeeds when good people do nothing, Mera views Khemra as a divine embodiment of a good person doing nothing. For her part, Khemra is a little miffed that Mera set herself up as the goddess of hearth fires. She views this as a partial usurping of Khemra’s position as the sun goddess. Khemra would never admit it, but she is secretly jealous of Mera's popularity with the masses of peasants.
Greymoria was technically the last deity to violate the terms of the Compact. Greymoria technically held to the letter of the Compact longer than Khemra did! Greymoria never bribed mortals with a Gift until after the Second Age dawned. Greymoria doesn’t break the letter of the Compact much, but she violates the spirit of the Compact each and every time she creates a new monstrous race. The sheer volume of creatures that Greymoria has created annoys Khemra greatly. Khemra also dislikes the fact that most of Greymoria's children are often at least nominally hostile to civilization.
Maylar is a jerk. Maylar believes in survival of the fittest and constantly tests everyone, gods, mortals, spirits, and beasts alike. Maylar says he is making Creation as a whole stronger, but Khemra believes he is a liar. Maylar is merely tearing down otherwise solid structures. As far as Khemra is concerned, Maylar just likes to watch things burn and his “survival of the fittest” creed is a lie to justify his childish actions. Khemra is not very proactive but she will proactively go against Maylar's schemes and minions without hesitation
Khemra finds Zarthus more vexing than Maylar because a tiny secret part of Khemra believes Zarthus is occasionally right and she is loathe to admit it. At the very least, Zarthus, clearly has good intentions. When Khemra’s minions slaughter Maylar's minions the people cheer. When Khemra’s minions slaughter Zarthus' minions Khemra’s minions look like the bad guys. Khemra is less offended by Maylar killing Khemra’s followers than she is by Zarthus defaming Khemra’s followers and they do this a lot.
Nami is a free spirit and Khemra is not. Khemra believes that Nami flouts the Compact specifically to annoy Khemra. Nami is hard for Khemra to oppose because Nami is not very predictable. If anything, Nami violates the Compact less often than Maylar and Zarthus but when she does cheese off Khemra, it’s in a very inventive and novel way.
Scaraqua
In Scaraqua, Khemra is most commonly referred to as Heekma, one of two Sons of the Sky. I have not come yet come up with any Scaraquan race that holds Heekma in high regard. As far as Scaraquans are concerned Heekma is a sun god. Heekma is instrumental in heating the sea and letting life exist, but she did that a long time ago in exchange for payment from Mubete (clouds of rainwater). Sacraquans often have a “What have you done for me lately?” attitude with Heekma. Among other differences which I have yet to peg down, Heekma is considered a male deity in Scaraqua, not a female deity. Scaraquans have a Father Sky and Mother Sea motif going in their cosmology. Life as we know it is only made possible when Sky and Sea come together. This is the reason why sunlight heats the sea and why water evaporates and forms clouds in the sky. Logically, the Scaraquans that would be most likely to be overtly hostile to Heekma would be darkness loving monsters of the deep trenches and deep sea floor. Most Scaraquans live in shallow warm waters, so at the very least, Heekma would have some small contingents of priests and priestesses below the sea among Merfolk and other common sea humanoids. It is a reasonable assumption that most of Heekma's worshipers below the sea would favor closer relations with Scarterrans rather than more distant relations. Conversely, given how hidebound Khemra/Heekma is, maybe Khemra followers support a rigid separation of sky, earth and sea. It could go either way. The Scarterran goddess Khemra and the Scaraquan Heekma are both Lawful Neutral. The main difference in the eyes of her/his worshipers is that Khemra tends to meddle and interfere in the events of other beings whereas Heekma is more remote and private with a sort of "stay off my lawn!" attitude towards laws, likely to distance himself from beings who fall short of his ideals.
Divine Classification
goddess
Religions
Alignment
Lawful Neutral
Current Location
Realm
Church/Cult
Children
Sex
female
Comments