Pythia Dolorosa (pih-THEE-yuh doh-lor-ROH-sah)
Pythia Dolorosa Heliodoron (a.k.a. Mama Dolly)
Dolorosa Heliodoron (colloquially known as Mama Dolly) is the current Pythia of the Church of Light in the City of Umbar.
Reign
Dolorosa stepped into the role of Pythia fewer than 24 hours after the alleged murder of her predecessor, Neophyta Apollodoron, in 5153 AW (see "Murder" of Pythia Neophyta). Soon after her appointment, she supposedly uncovered massive corruption within the church, and as part of the effort to "restore the public's faith in the institution", began a purge of alleged offending clergy members. This led to a chain of events that resulted in the outing of reigning Radiant, Navron Pairotë, as a trans man, soon after resulting in his forced and unprecedented abdication.
Throughout the Umbaric Succession Crisis, Dolorosa leads the New Dawn in advocating for the funding of an expedition to find the Sun God--the Copper Dragon Vraisos the Bright who is thought to be located somewhere within the Shifting Sands desert region that surrounds Umbar--with the intention to place the Sun God upon the throne of Ozen's Watch, completely replacing the mortal role of Radiant with that of an immortal God-King.
Relationships
History
In the wake of Pythia Neophyta's death under mysterious circumstances, Mother Dolorosa Heliodoron's commitment to both proving the deceased Pythia's death was foulplay and to finding the killers responsible easily swayed Sister Ariadne publicly in favor of a quick election of Dolorosa as new Pythia to deliver a swift justice for the gruesome murder and ensure a continuous, stable city government. Ariadne's close personal relationship with Neophyta made her endorsement of Dolorosa all the more influential to the Sacred Council, and it was not long after that the Council voted unanimously to declare the former Mother Dolorosa as the new Pythia Dolorosa.
Nicknames & Petnames
Sister Ariadne was the first to call Dolorosa "Mama Dolly" before Pythia Neophyta's death while Dolorosa was still a high priestess, in reference to the scolding demeanor she gave to parishioners during a church service where she determined they had not been "enthusiastic enough".
Pythia since 5153 AW
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