Pharasma

Pharasma

(Deity)

Titles

Lady of Graves

Adjective

Pharasmin

Home

Boneyard

Alignment

Neutral

Portfolio

Birth
Death
Fate
Prophecy

Worshipers

Diviners, expectant parents, morticians, slayers of undead, healers, midwives, prophets, warriors, Absalom Station, Apostae, Eox

Favored Weapon

Dagger

Symbol

Spiraling comet

Images of Pharasma

Source: Core Rulebook, pg(s). 489

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Pharasma, the Lady of Graves, is the goddess of birth, death, fate, and prophecy who judges the souls of the recently departed and shepherds them to their final reward. She is worshiped in some form by any mortal species, and her most ardent followers often become a culture's healers, midwives, morticians, mystics, and undead-hunters.

Home

The Lady of Graves makes her home in the Boneyard, on top of a colossal spire overlooking the city-plane of Axis. There she is assisted in her duties by an army of psychopomps.

Judging the dead

Pharasma's faithful claim that she accompanies every living creature from the moment of their birth until the moment they die. She pays close attention to every choice that creature makes, along with those actions' long-term repercussions. After death, the soul of that creature travels along the River of Souls to the Boneyard where Pharasma uses her intimate knowledge of their life to judge it and to decide what form their afterlife will take. Pharasma is uninterested in sin or righteousness and simply assigns afterlives according to the mortal's character. No one escapes the judgement of the Lady of Graves, not even the gods.

Dogma

Even though she is a goddess of death, Pharasma does not look down upon healing or even resurrection. She knows that all mortal souls have an ultimate fate that cannot be avoided, despite any temporary reprieves that might occur. Undeath, however, is anathema to Pharasma, as she considers it a desecration of the memory of the flesh and a corruption of the path to judgement. She commands her followers to destroy all such creatures along with those who create them.

Church

All mortal creatures worship Pharasma in some way, although her name and depiction changes from culture to culture. Her priests generally do not take sides with regard to politics or other mortal concerns. Many of them are midwives, healers, and mystics, while in some societies she is popular among warriors. All Pharasmin priests can perform the rites associated with death and burial in their home culture, and many also make a study of the funerary rites of other cultures.

Worshipers

The Lady of Graves is particularly popular among diviners, expectant parents, morticians, and those who dedicate their lives to destroying the undead. Centers of worship in the Pact Worlds system can be found on Absalom Station, and on the planets of Eox and Apostae.

Temples

Even though any burial place is considered a shrine to Pharasma, her temples often appear "old-fashioned", recalling an earlier time. Many are grand gothic cathedrals with attached graveyards, crematoria, or other places associated with death and burial.

Pharasma's Coil

Pharasma's Coil is the name given to the hidden spiral galaxy that exists on the Ethereal Plane that has been colliding with Desna's Path (the galaxy on the Material Plane that contains the Pact Worlds system) for millions of years. It is named thus because its shape is very reminiscent of Pharasma's holy symbol.