Selai

The Twin Worlds are very dangerous places. Both ravenous monsters and deadly villains call them home, making life difficult for many. Still, there are those who work to protect others from these dangers, and they, themselves have a protector. This is the goddess Selai, goddess of valor and guardianship.

Divine Domains

As with any other deity, she grants her powers to her priests. Most of these are of the war domain, not so that they might bring war, but so they can protect those already in the fight. Some were granted the power of the light domain, instead.
Selai also has a great many paladins in her service, as well. In fact, she has more than any other god save for Colrum, god of duty and loyalty. The vast majority of these have taken the Oath of Devotion. Others have taken the Oath of Redemption or the Oath of the Ancients, instead.

Divine Realm

As a goddess of virtue and benevolence, Selai naturally makes her home in the Upper Planes. In particular, her realm, Valora, rests on Mount Celestia. This is an island on the first layer of the plane, Lunia. Its conditions are much the same as the rest of the plane, but it is more gently-sloped than the rest.
This island is dotted with fortresses home to many. Most of those are petitioners, the servants of the goddess that have died. The most honored of them have died to protect others. It is with pride that the people here consider themselves among the first line of defense for the plane against the forces of evil.
The largest community is the city of Bulwark. It holds gorgeous architecture, majestic statues, and vast training yards. Its exterior walls are covered in great battle-scars in contrast with the beauty within. It gained these marks from battles against fiends, and maintains them as a reminder of their duties.

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Selai's divine sigil is that of a shield. It is cracked from battle, but not broken. The specific design of this shield varies by culture, but the crack always remains the same. This symbolizes the struggle to protect others, and the danger Selaians willingly take upon themselves.

Tenets of Faith

Selaians are guardians more than anything else. They are sworn to protect others, and place a particular emphasis on those who fight for others. They are usually the first into the fray, and are often dedicated healers, keeping other guardians into the fight.
Compassion is also a large part of the Selaian faith. While these people are warriors on some level, they greatly value life. While they have no hesitation when they enter the fight, Selai's worshipers do not do battle needlessly. They especially avoid taking a life without sufficient cause.

Physical Description

Body Features

As is fitting for a goddess, Selai is a creature of incredible beauty. She resembles a stunning, athletically-built warrior-woman with soft blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Traditionally, she is depicted as human, although this sometimes varies based on the races of specific worshippers.
She is usually depicted clad in heavy armor and carrying a weapon, most often a sword. She is always shown with a shield, even in the rare instances she's depicted unarmored or even unclothed. Almost always that shield is held high, preparing to accept a blow, often in protection of someone else.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Just like any of the gods of the Twin Worlds Pantheon, Selai was created by the Great Divine from the nothing that predated creation. Unlike most of the others save for the sea goddesses Estae and Theane, she was created alongside another, her twin sister Lesav.
Together they were the goddesses of war and death, and they were inseparable. They had harvested mortal lives in droves until one such mortal changed Selai's heart forever. She had fallen in love with a mortal warrior, and she could no longer see mortal lives as nothing. She declared that she would become a goddess of valor and a protector of those who protect others.
Lesav saw this as a betrayal. For the first time in all of existence, they were at odds. Unable to reconcile this, she had gone mad, believing that the Twin Worlds were worthy of nothing but death and attempted to kill all life. The Great Divine could not allow this imbalance to stand, and so he set fire to her and cast her into the prison plane of Carceri.
While this happened, she herself had difficulty reconciling parts of her divinity with her new worldview. As a goddess of war, she still possessed a bloodlust that could not be quenched. She peeled that part of herself away and it became its own god, the terrible and brutal Golath.
As a goddess of war, her worship was already popular, but when she cemented herself as a friend to mortals her influence only grew. Currently, the most influential order under her is the Brotherhood of the Sundered Shield, dedicated to her role as a protector.

Divine Classification

Deity

Religions

• Brotherhood of the Sundered Shield

Alignment

Lawful Good

Sex

Female

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Blonde

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale

Height

5 ft. 8 in.

Weight

140 lbs.

Aligned Organization

Twin Worlds Pantheon