Sektni (SECT-knee)
The Weaver, The Swarm Queen, Patient One
Lawful Neutral Bugkin Fate Goddess
Unlike the other deities, there is no single agreed upon image of Sektni. She is sometimes depicted as something best described as a giant spider, sometimes as an anthropomorphic swarm of insects, sometimes as a strange furless humanoid with dusky skin and alien features, and sometimes as a regal bugkin matriarch with a silvery carapace. A silver spindle with a needle sharp point has been universally recognized as a symbol of hers since olden days, and in more recent times a silver loom serves a similar role. The most ancient symbol of Sektni of all though is a silken spider web.An ancient goddess, once known as Ekt (or E'k''t) in the First Age, Sektni is beleived to be unemotional, neither kind nor cruel. Her ways are so subtle as to be undetectable, both action and inaction all part of her ineffable plan. Or perhaps she does nothing at all, intervenes not at all, interferes not at all. If she does indeed have the power to dictate fate, to predestine all things, how could one tell the difference between something that happened because it simply did, versus because she so destined it to occur? If nothing else, pondering the ramifications of Sektni's existence and what role she plays in the ordering of the events of the world (if any) has kept various sages and philosophers quite busy over the ages.
Due perhaps to her aloof nature, lack of clergy, and inscrutable inevitability Sektni is not widely worshiped. Though many common folk optimisitically pray to her now and then for good fortune and in hopes of wheedling a better fate for themselves or loved ones, wiser heads know that if things are predestined such prayers are of no use. However, some fatalists, philosophical savants, and other detached or pragmatic types attune to the ideas of predestination and an orderly reality which Sektni represents.
Sektni has no clerics, but does grant her favor in various ways to a relative few mortals. Additionally, in older tales originating in the Second and Third Ages, Ravenna, Sektni, and Pookalon feature as a trio to decide the fates of mortals, with Sektni responisble for weaving the threads of each mortal's destiny, Ravenna responsibile for deciding where to cut each thread, and Pookalon acting as a sort of foil to allow each mortal the chance to escape their fate in favor of following their own free will. There remain some who continue to hold to this old belief.
- Druids: Circle of the Silvery Skein
- Rangers: Swarmkeeper (insects)
Circle of the Silvery Skein (Mystery Cult)
The Silvery Skein is a very old and formidable mystery cult that venerates Ravenna, Sektni, and Pookalon in the ancient ways, as a trio of goddesses concerned with fate, death, and free will.