Yaraesa

Yaraesa

(Deity)

Titles

Lady of Wisdom

Alignment

Neutral good

Portfolio

Knowledge
Mental perfection
Scholarship
Science

Worshipers

Aballon, Absalom Station, Bretheda, Castrovel

Symbol

Atom with a brain as its nucleus

Images of Yaraesa

Source: Core Rulebook, pg(s). 492

Yaraesa, also known as the Lady of Wisdom, is a goddess of knowledge, learning, and science. She embodies the perpetual struggle toward mental and spiritual self-perfection, and is said by lashuntas to have once been a mortal scientist who ascended to divinity by mastering every form of knowledge within her lifetime.

Dogma

To Yaraesa's followers, the core meaning of life is the search for knowledge and meaning through education and experimentation to effect the advancement of oneself and one's society. The simple act of reading is considered a sacred act. They attempt to emulate her mastery of all fields of knowledge in their own attempts to transcend mortality, though each follower might take a different approach to do so. For instance, they consider formal education, exercise, and meditation equally valid forms of self-mastery — the common thread between them being the application of the scientific process to measure and improve their understanding of themselves and the world around them. As such — and somewhat unusually for a religion — Yaraesa's worshipers reject conventional notions of faith. Her followers gain her divine magic through scientifically reproducible means rather than doctrine or blind faith. Yaraesa invites her followers to figure things out for themselves, rather than just accept a given dogma, and believes that the relationship between a god and her followers should be that of an esteemed teacher and her pupils. As such, Yaraesa represents the connection between science and spirituality.

Church

Worshipers

Yaraesa is widely worshiped in the Pact Worlds system by the lashuntas of Castrovel, who credit her with many of their early scientific accomplishments, but she also popular throughout the rest of the system, particularly among the shirrens. The professions most drawn to Yaraesa are naturally scientists, but also include educators, mechanics, psychics, scholars, and technomancers.

Temples

Churches of Yaraesa look like ancient libraries filled with books, even if the volumes are just holographic projections. They always contain quiet rooms set aside for study or meditation. Many universities contain shrines or chapels dedicated to the Lady of Wisdom.