Myrtheria

The Tidemother

Myrtheria is the goddess of oceans, sailors, sea-beasts, and the moon. She is the matron of tides and tempests, of shanties sung on rolling decks and storms that swallow fleets whole. Sailors offer her prayer at every departure and every return, for no ship crosses the deep without her notice. As beautiful and terrible as the ocean itself, Myrtheria embodies both gentleness and wrath, a goddess whose moods flow with the moon and whose judgment cannot be bargained with.

Appearance

Myrtheria is always depicted in dual forms, depending on which side of her is invoked. As the calm sea, she appears as a luminous woman cloaked in waves and moonlight, her skin shimmering like wet pearl and her hair drifting like kelp in water. As the storm, she manifests as a massive, tentacled beast cloaked in stormclouds and thunder, with eyes like lanterns glowing in the depths. Sailors say both forms are equally beautiful, and equally dangerous, depending on whether you have earned her blessing or her ire.

Dogma

The Tidemother teaches respect for the unknown, reverence for nature’s power, and humility before the forces of nature. The sea is not cruel, she says, it is honest. It takes as it gives, and those who thrive upon it must learn its rhythms. Her faithful learn that fear and wonder are sisters, and that survival is not owed, but granted through grace and preparation. She teaches that the moon is the sea’s memory, and that dreams born under her light carry truths from the depths. Those who ignore omens, fail to pay respects, or exploit the sea without gratitude risk her wrath. Often sudden and without warning.

Worship

Myrtheria is worshipped by sailors, fishermen, coastal dwellers, moon-priests, and those who seek wisdom through water. Her temples are often found in natural sea caves, on storm-lashed cliffs, or aboard great seafaring vessels. Worshippers leave offerings of salt, silver, and song, and many ships bear her sigil carved on the keel or painted upon the sails. Her clergy are in some places known as Tidebinders, and they serve as both navigators and oracles. They interpret moon phases, read tides like scripture, and sometimes vanish for weeks into the sea, returning with eyes full of moonlight and words not their own.
The sacred text of Myrtheria is called The Brine Psalms, a collection of songs, riddles, and wave-rhythmic chants passed down aboard ships and through oral tradition. No copy is ever the same, and much of it must be sung to be understood. Her holy night is The Moonfall, held on the highest tide beneath the first full moon of autumn. Sailors and priests light lanterns upon the water, singing old songs into the wind and casting charms into the sea to thank her for safe passage, or to beg forgiveness.

Relations

Myrtheria walks the border between divinity and raw nature. She shares kinship with gods of wildness and mystery. Especially Perun, with whom she trades songs and storms. And she holds deep reverence for Lethara, whose Spire touches the sea even in the afterlife. She is wary of deities who would bind the natural world to rigid law, but respects those who understand the cost of freedom.

Divine Classification

Old God

Religions

• Aeryon
• Yelanids

Alignment

Neutral

Honorary & Occupational Titles

• The Tidemother
• Mother of the Deep
• Lady of the Moon
• The Voice Beneath the Waves

Pathfinder Statistics

Divine Attribute: Constitution or Wisdom
Divine Domains

• Cold
• Moon
• Nature
• Water

Divine Font: Harm or Heal
Divine Skill: Survival
Favored Weapon: Tident
Cleric Spells: 1st: buoyant bubbles, 3rd: wall of water, 5th: control water

D&D 5e Statistics

Suggested Domains

• Nature Domain
• Tempest Domain