Liora

Liora – Goddess of Life and Death

Titles:

• The Veiled Mistress
• The Keeper of the Cycle

Domains:

• Life
• Death
• Balance

Appearance:

Liora is depicted as a striking dual-aspect figure, symbolizing her control over the cycles of life and death. One side of her form radiates vitality, with glowing golden skin, eyes shimmering with warmth and kindness, and hair adorned with blooming flowers that seem to flourish endlessly. The other side is skeletal and cloaked in shadow, with hollow eye sockets faintly glowing with a spectral light and hair cascading in ashen strands. She wields Twinscythe, a divine double-ended weapon featuring a radiant, gilded blade representing life on one end and a jagged, shadowy blade representing death on the other. This weapon embodies the balance she maintains between creation and finality.

Personality:

Liora is compassionate yet impartial, embodying the nurturing kindness of a mother and the unyielding fairness of a judge. She comforts those who embrace the natural cycle but is relentless in punishing those who disrupt it. She offers mercy and peace to the repentant but directs her divine wrath toward necromancers, undead creatures, and those who exploit the sanctity of life and death for selfish gain.

Alignment:

• True Neutral

Symbols:

1. A scythe entwined with vines and bones, symbolizing the interconnected nature of life and death.
2. A circle divided into light and shadow, representing the balance between creation and passing.

Worshippers:

Liora’s followers are many and diverse. Clerics, healers, and midwives call upon her blessings during childbirth and healing. Morticians, gravekeepers, and soul guides honor her in rituals to ensure safe passage for the deceased. Her clergy, known as Cyclebearers, are devoted to maintaining the balance between life and death, tending to both the living and the departed while punishing those who disrupt the natural cycle.

Sacred Sites:

1. The Eternal Garden: A sacred grove that transitions seamlessly from vibrant, flourishing flora to skeletal, decaying trees. This symbolic space represents the inevitable transition from life to death and back again, emphasizing the eternal balance of the cycle.
2. The River of Passing (Does not Exist on the Mortal Plane): A mystical, ethereal waterway said to flow through Liora's divine realm, carrying souls to their final rest. Mortals who claim to have seen it describe it as a shimmering stream of light and shadow, constantly shifting in perfect

Legends:

1. The First Rebirth: Liora created the cycle of life and death after mortals pleaded for an end to endless suffering. She granted death as a mercy and life as a gift, ensuring balance for all existence.
2. The Second Rebirth: Liora gifted new life to a fallen Cyclebearer named Obru after he was slain while protecting innocents from the undead. In return, Obru became a Minor Deity, tasked with eradicating the abomination of undeath from the world.
3. The Gift of Passing: In a time of spiritual turmoil, Liora granted mortals the knowledge of proper burial rites. These sacred practices ensured that souls would find peace in the afterlife rather than becoming restless or wandering aimlessly.