Liatris Gravedaughter's page

Duskwalkers are one of the few races that are not born. The psychopomp scions manifest on the Material Plane as young children, in a place consecrated to Pharasma. Every duskwalker is the reincarnated soul of someone who helped maintain the balance of life and death, one who died before their time and caught the attention of powerful psychopomps. As such, they manifest with the knowledge that the undead and those who would raise them are their enemies. Liatris was no exception. She manifested at the temple of Our Lady of Lanterns in the city of Ardis, once the capital of Ustalav before a prince's whim moved his seat of government to Caliphas.

Ustalav's church of Pharasma is more familiar with duskwalkers than most, given the country's widespread reverence of the goddess of death. The arrival of a duskwalker child is considered both a blessing and an omen of trouble to come. After all, why would the psychopomps send one of their scions to a place that didn't need them? In this case, though, Ardis was already beset by angry ghosts and other undead in the abandoned sections of the city, so everyone thought they knew why she was there. Father Ossmander welcomed the girl with open arms, adopting her as his own and giving her the last name 'Gravedaughter' in honor of his divine patron. Liatris chose her own first name after a heroine of the church who fought against the Whispering Tyrant.

From an early age, Liatris was determined to follow the path of the inquisitor. Something about it just felt right. She suspects that her prior incarnation might have been an inquisitor, but she doesn't remember much of anything from that life. Father Ossmander was a busy parent, often preoccupied with his duties to the church, but he did his best to give her a good upbringing in the Pharasmin Penitence. The Penitence is a uniquely Ustalavic sect of Pharasma that teaches suffering in life will bring lenience from the Lady of Graves when they go to be judged. At first Liatris obediently participated in her father's rituals of self-denial (being too young for self-mortification) and listened to his lectures on the holiness of suffering.

But once she finished her training as an inquisitor and was anointed a servant of the church, the duskwalker revealed her true allegiance in dramatic fashion. She asked her father for the opportunity to preach a sermon. Delighted with her faith, he gladly agreed- only to watch in horror as Liatris told his congregation that Mother Kavapesta, the prophet who originally taught the Penitence, was mistaken! Pharasma is a dispassionate goddess, she argued. The Lady of Graves doesn't care about your suffering and your self-mortification is for nothing. She only cares about your deeds in life. Those who are kind, who help their neighbors and fight against evil, go to the celestial planes to live in bliss. The wicked, those who take pleasure in others' pain and hurt the innocent for their own gain, go to the lower planes to suffer for eternity. If you want to go to Heaven, your time will be better spent in acts of charity and kindness than in prayer and self-denial.

Had Liatris been anyone else, she might have faced a riot and even excommunication. But everyone knew that she was blessed by the psychopomps, Pharasma's favored servants, and feared their wrath if they hurt her. This was, of course, exactly according to plan. Liatris wasn't the only one in Our Lady of Lanterns to follow the old ways, but until she became an adult the rest of the movement feared being censured or excommunicated if they spoke up. Her childhood friend Sarabeth Verne, a lower-ranking cleric, was the unofficial leader of the movement and recruited Liatris early on. Just like being an inquisitor felt right, following the old forms of Pharasma's worship felt right too. Her connection to the psychopomps was exactly what the rebellious priests needed in a spokesperson.

Father Ossmander was furious. He and his daughter fought for hours after her heretical sermon, neither willing to back down. In the end Liatris stormed out and moved in with her friend Sarabeth. Father Ossmander began assigning her jobs that were difficult and dirty even by Pharasmin inquisitor standards, hoping that suffering would turn her back to the Penitence. But Liatris overcame everything he threw at her, even when he began giving her solo assignments where he would normally send two or more agents.

One such assignment was to exorcise a dangerous ghost in an abandoned warehouse. The merchant who owned it had killed himself in despair over his declining fortunes after the capital was moved to Ustalav, and rose as an angry ghost. Liatris knew she couldn't take on such an enemy herself, but what was she to do? She prayed to Pharasma, then to several psychopomp ushers in case Pharasma was too busy to listen. Salvation came in the form of an ahmuuth psychopomp. Ahmuuths are the psychopomps responsible for helping mortals fight the undead. The ahmuuth, Kaveth, went with Liatris to fight the ghost and find out what it needed to move on. (As it turned out, the ghost wanted his cash box to be filled with gold and his ledger to record the amount.) It was a hard fight and both were badly wounded, but with a loan from the temple the pair managed to convince the ghost to move on.

Kaveth was impressed with Liatris' faith and fighting ability. "We have been watching you since you manifested, Liatris Gravedaughter. In time, you may be worthy of greater blessings- and greater responsibilities." They refused to elaborate before returning to the Boneyard. She reported the ahmuuth's assistance to her father, but decided to keep their parting words to herself. After all, they said 'may', not 'will'.

Shortly after her encounter with Kaveth, the temple received a letter from Queen Galfrey of Mendev. She was sending missives to every major temple of Pharasma in Ustalav, asking for aid in fighting a cult of Orcus that had become entrenched while the Mendevian government was distracted by the Worldwound. Everyone knows that Ustalav is home to some of the best undead hunters in all Avistan. Father Ossmander decided that this was a golden opportunity to get his daughter and her heretical opinions out of the country for a while. Liatris knows what he's doing and isn't exactly thrilled, but at the same time this is a real problem that needs solving. A queen wouldn't humble herself to ask for help from abroad unless the situation was truly dire. So she read everything she could find on Orcus and his followers (which wasn't much, Ustalavic necromancers typically prefer the Whispering Way or Urgathoa) and set off for Nerosyan.

Liatris is a tall, muscular woman with pale gray skin, blue eyes, and long white hair usually worn in a high bun. Her features are too severe for classic beauty, with sharp cheekbones and thin lips. She usually wears a polished mithral breastplate over a shirt, trousers, and boots in shades of blue and gray. A gray leather bandolier and a silver holy symbol of Pharasma sit over the breastplate. The ensemble is completed by a navy blue cloak flecked with silver, a silver dagger and cold iron morningstar on her belt, and a longbow and quiver on her back. She carries an adamantine scythe, the blade etched with feather patterns.

When not expecting trouble (which is rare), Liatris prefers simple, comfortable clothing in shades of blue, white, gray, and purple. She always wears her holy symbol and at least one weapon.

Liatris is a serious woman who is devoted to her duty as an inquisitor of Pharasma. She does enjoy the occasional day off or evening with friends, often spent listening to music at a tavern or poetry readings at a teahouse. Unlike some Ustalavic Pharasmins, Liatris believes that leisure and happiness are important parts of a balanced life. Most of her days are spent in work though, either researching her next assignment, traveling, or fighting the undead.

The duskwalker considers Pharasma her patron deity, but she also prays to various psychopomp ushers on occasion. After all, Pharasma is a busy goddess. Liatris sees praying to the ushers like leaving a message with a count rather than a prince; the count has more limited authority and ultimately answers to the prince, but they can get things done within their domain and are often able to do it faster than a ruler who has to consider the whole principality.

The inquisitor has no interest in romance or physical intimacy. She is content to have friendship with mortals and communion with her goddess, and finds other people's obsession with pairing up both baffling and amusing. Liatris has a dry, often morbid sense of humor, and considers death merely another stage of life. That doesn't mean she seeks death though. She still has lots of work to do on the Material Plane.