The Three Sisters
While their worship is new to Golarion, the Three Sisters are relatively old (though still young by godly standards). Daughters of an unnamed LG deity their childhood was spent attending to duties in the heavens, only occasionally being sent down to the material plane. However, during the last few centuries their increasing activity and fame amongst mortals has brought them active worshipers and an organized church.
Unusually, and as a reflection of both the newness of their faiths and the closeness of the sisters, many of their worshipers honor all three sisters as a single faith. This is especially prevalent amongst Bards, who regard the sisters as patron of music, Witches, who worship them as aspects of the maiden, mother, and crone (the last never openly referred to as such where Urd might hear...which is to say it's never openly referred to), Druids, and oracles. Those who take levels in cleric must chose one of the three however.
Another reflection of their faith's newness and closeness is that, with the exception of personal household shrines, the sister's churches normally all share the same building. Though regional and personal differences will often guide which of the sisters have primacy within a specific temple, with Urd often dominating in Cheliax and Skuld in Numeria for example.
Of primary concern to the church is it's adversarial relationship with Asmodeus and Urd's mother, Hild. Urd's mother is an infernal goddess in her own right, who's area of influence encompasses several worlds, and Asmodeous believes that the rise of the sister's faith on Golarion is part of a plot on her part to weaken him. For their own part the sisters suspect he's right, but feel they have no choice but to see things through.
Herald: While each of the sisters (save Urd) have their own personal planar allies, often a request for aid will summon the ascended mortal, and husband of Belldandy, Kenichi (20th level Driver Rogue). Once an ordinary student at a university on an unnamed world, Kenichi bound the then-still archon Belldandy to his side with a impulsively made wish, believing the offer of a wish as a practical joke being played on him. Over time genuine love sprang up between the mortal and the nascent goddess, driven in part by their shared love of racing, and after many adventures together they married, with him eventually ascending to heaven at her side. While not actively worshiped himself, his name as often invoked for luck by engineers and good-aligned folk about to make a wish through magical means.
Appearing as a short human of Mikian heritage he is by no means a great combatant (though after so many adventures he's hardly helpless), but by nature an engineer with a love of racing machines who prefers to either deal with a situation diplomatically, with a competition, or to MacGuyver a solution.
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Urd
NG Goddess of Fire, Magic, The Past, Tieflings
Domains: Magic, Knowledge, Fire, Rune
Favorite weapon: None
History:
Eldest of the three sisters, Urd is the result of a affair between her father and the devil goddess, Hild. Raised in the heavens, Urd faced some prejudice as a result of her tiefling heritage, impulsive behavior, and violent temper. But the love of, and for her sisters, as well as her determination not to fall under the influence of hell, has kept her from falling under the power of her mother, with whom she has a contentious relationship.
Though eldest, and more powerful than her sisters, Urd is below Bell in the heavenly hierarchy. This is not due to any doubts about her heritage (she has long since proven herself) but while her loyalty is not doubted, her ability to conform to the strict tenants of law is. Her willingness to bend the rules and tendency towards impulsive behavior being legendary. Also, she believes that she can better protect her sisters if she isn't so bound by the strict rules of the heavenly hierarchy.
Unlike most gods, Urd does not have a favored weapon, preferring to rely entirely on her enormous magical skills in combat, with lightning strikes being her first, second, and (ohgodpleaseI'vesurrendered!) third choices.
With her infernal heritage, Urd is extremely sympathetic to the plight of those who struggle with the temptations of infernal or demonic blood, and such people can always find aid and a sympathetic ear in her temples. This has made her faith the largest of the sisters in terms of numbers, if not popularity with the authorities.
Urd appears as a beautiful young woman in her mid-twenties of Ulfen decent, the only obvious signs of her tiefling heritage being her dark skin, white hair, and that in her archon form half of her wings are jet black.
As befitting her blunt nature, signs of Urd's favor are often quite obvious. A potion discovered just when needed, or slipped into one's food or drink. Her disfavor is usually even more obvious, taking the form of a lightning bolt from the sky.
Church:
Urd's faith contains more arcane casters than those of her sisters, with Sorcerers dominating, especially those good-aligned Sorcerers with infernal or demonic bloodlines. Many Witches who follow one sister above the others claim her as a patron, with the rest following Belldandy. Alchemists who follow the sisters tend to split between Urd and her youngest sister, with those who concentrate on healing and the crafting of potions following Urd.
Urd also has a considerable following amongst Rogues who appreciate her looser interpretations of heavenly law, but good-aligned tieflings and other half-breeds of any class make up the largest, and fastest growing, segment of her faith.
Planar Allies:
Unlike her sisters, Urd doesn't have specific allies that respond to summonings for aid, preferring to materialize as an avatar to deal with problems herself. Both because she enjoys visiting the material plane and as a "legitimate" way to ditch whatever duties she's been assigned in heaven. When she can't attend to a summoning herself, Urd will normally simply send Kenichi or trick one of her sister's allies into handling the problem, though this often results in the summoner having to deal with a surprised and annoyed ally, as well as whatever issue they were attempting to deal with.
This state of affairs is something that younger worshipers often consider quite impressive, but which the older and wiser view with experienced trepidation.
Relations with other faiths:
Urd is on generally good terms with the other gods of Golarion. In part this is due to the diplomatic efforts of her sister, Belldandy, but also because the other good-aligned gods recognize the fact that her temples provide a place for good-aligned folk who, despite the god's own feelings on the matter, are not welcomed by their followers because of an evil heritage.
Asmodeus is the only Golarion god actively antagonistic to Urd, but that antagonism is tempered with calculation. While he believes her presence on Golarion is part of a plot by Hild and dislikes her acceptance of infernal-blooded worshipers, he is also mindful of the fact that despite a lifetime of attempts Hild has never managed to bring Urd into the embrace of hell. He believes that if he can corrupt her it would provide him a lever in his planar competition with Hild.
Urd's only other "adversarial" relationship is with her youngest sister, Skuld. Their teasing, practical joke-filled relationship has been transmitted to their followers, often leading to somewhat explosive, though never fatal, results.
Belldandy
LG Goddess of Family, The Present, Redemption, Wind
Domains: Air, Animal, Community, Good
Favorite Weapon: Unarmed Strike
History:
Middle of the three sisters, Belldandy is the most diplomatic of the three, and it is largely due to her peacemaking abilities that the rise of the sister's faith has been as smooth as it has, with little resistance from the other gods, save Asmodeus. The only one of the sisters who is married (one of the few gods on Golarion who is), Belldandy's priests have been increasingly asked to bless and perform weddings, and in time marriage may become part of her portfolio.
It surprises many to find that Belldandy has a great competitive streak, and she and her husband often secretly appear at racing events. She is also a champion racer herself, either partnered with Kenichi, or by herself astride her intelligent Broom of Flying, Stringfellow. It is this competitive streak that will drive her to experience new things and learn odd skills, to include her skill at unarmed combat.
A serene, cheerful goddess, concerned largely with fulfilling her duties and caring for her family, Belldandy is often underestimated and considered weak by opponents. A misconception reinforced by her being a devout pacifist. A misconception many have come to regret, because though she will make every attempt to handle a problem diplomatically she is the only one of her sisters to have received extensive combat training, and if her family is threatened her strikes may be non-lethal, but can strike with the full fury of the storm behind them.
Perhaps Belldandy's greatest strength however is the aura of peace that follows her everywhere. Arguments and wars simply halt in an embarrassed silence when she arrives on a scene, and would-be attackers find themselves unable to proceed. On more than one occasion, devils sent to attack or corrupt her have instead renounced their infernal ties and sworn themselves to her. Urd suspects it is this quality that has caused her mother arrange for their faith to spread on worlds under the influence of Hild's enemies, and by doing so distracting the Sisters from Hild's own territories. Though Urd has kept this suspicion to herself.
Belldandy appears as a beautiful, blond-haired young woman of Ulfen decent in her early twenties.
Her favor can be found in a song that comes out of nowhere, and a sudden feeling of calm that comes over one as they are about to attempt a difficult task.
Church:
Far more popular on other worlds, on Golarion, Belldandy's portfolio is largely already covered by other gods, such as Erastil, Seranrae, and Shelyn. This means her church is the smallest in terms of followers; however, Belldandy's faith has influence wildly out of proportion to its actual numbers.
This is due to virtually all temples to the sisters having at least one follower of Belldandy in attendance, who acts to defuse conflicts between followers of Urd and Skuld, as well as acting as a public face for the temples. It is largely due to her followers own diplomatic skills and legal knowledge that the worship of Urd has not been outright banned in Cheliax and other lands.
Monks and Bards make up the majority of Belldandy's followers, with Monks of the Lotus dominating. Additionally, many Monks devoted to her take vows of peace or truth, but she discourages any of her followers from taking any of the others, believing they interfere with helping others achieve happiness. A small, but growing number of Urban Druids follow Belldandy exclusively.
Surprisingly, a number of Ninja follow Belldandy, inspired by three of her servants, though they often keep their allegiance secret.
Planar Allies: The following allies may respond to a summoning.
Stringfellow - An awakened Broom of Flying (15th level monk), and one of the fastest flying creatures in existence, Stringfellow acts as Belldandy's mount when she can't simply teleport somewhere and when she is taking part in a race.
Three Ninja - Three celestial awakened rats (13th level ninja), created by an infernal enemy to spy on the sisters, they were inspired by Belldandy to rebel against their creator. Slipping back into the shadows they have been largely forgotten by all but the most knowledgeable of Belldandy's followers, which is how they like it. Despite this, they have become patrons for a number of ninjas, as well as some Ratfolk and the (very) rare good-aligned wererat.
Relations with other faiths:
Belldandy has excellent relationships with all the good-aligned gods of Golarion, and even with many of the others, save Asmodeous. Due to their frequent attendance of racing events, Belldandy and Kenichi have a closer, and competitive, relationship with Kurgess than with many of gods.
Belldandy's only truly adversarial relationship is with Hild, who respects her power, but views her (correctly) as the reason Urd remains loyal to the Heavens. Even on Golarion, Hild still forments minor plots against the sisters.
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Skuld
LG Goddess of Creation, The Future, Machines, Water
Domains: Artifice, Protection, Water
Favored weapon: Bombs
Description:
Still a child by godly standards, Skuld feels embarrassed by her youth and lack of power relative to her sisters, she responds to this by constructing mechanical devices designed to compensate for her perceived powerlessness. However, her ambition and youthful impatience often causes her to over-estimate her skills and take shortcuts, causing explosive results.
The most aggressive of the sisters when it comes to facing their enemies, many of Skuld's most powerful and well-built creations are designed for combat, particularly against enemies sent by infernal or demonic sources. These include her greatest creations, the clockwork soldier Banpei and to a lesser extent the android Sigel.
As befitting her love of machinery, Skuld tends to focus her attention on centers of industry and technology, with Alkenstar (despite the difficulties of the mana wastes) and Numeria drawing much of her attention. Though it is not unheard of for craftsmen from the shipyards of Goka to the Golemworks of Magnimar to find themselves wondering why they are arguing details of their designs with a stubborn child.
To the dismay of many more traditional gods, Skuld has an enormous love for explosives and explosions, and in battle her enemies will find themselves facing a rain of grenades, rockets, and cannon fire.
Though her church is mostly concerned with craftsmen and machines, many of the stories told of Skuld are humorous tales focusing on her attempts to keep Belldandy and Kenichi (whom she believed was going to steal her sister away) from deepening their relationship prior to their marriage. This has led to many parents praying to her, asking for their children to accept their new step-parents, as well as children praying for their parents to not remarry. A development that Skuld views with extreme embarrassment...and Urd finds hilarious.
Skuld appears as a extremely cute ,black-haired, twelve year old child of Ulfen decent.
Signs of her favor include repairs and sudden improvements to mechanical devices. However, as a sign of her relative youth and lack of control both her favor and displeasure can be found in sudden waves of water rising out of nowhere to cushion a fall or smash into a foe.
Church:
Mechanical craftsmen, Gunslingers, trap makers, golem and clockwork making Wizards, and bomb-focused Alchemists of all races are all found among Skuld's faithful, but a growing minority of her church is composed of intelligent and self-aware golems, clockwork creatures, and androids.
Skuld is gravely concerned with the threats to her sisters from infernal agents and the threat of the Worldwound, so she has the largest number of paladin and other holy warrior followers out of all her sisters.
Planar Allies:
Banpei - A clockwork soldier (15th level Paladin) created by Skuld to defend her sisters from devils (and to interfere with Belldandy and Kenichi's relationship), Banpei is considered Skuld's greatest creation. Most often found defending the Sister's home, Banpei will occasionally be sent by Skuld to secretly follow and protect Belldandy during her excursions to the material plane. He is also the patron of an order of paladins composed of androids and other self-aware constructs.
Sigel - An android (12th level bard) created as a companion for Banpei, something she finds annoying. Sigel normally acts as the Housekeeper at the sisters home and only rarely leaves to attend to summonings, usually only doing so because she's been finding Banpei more irritating than usual.
Relations with other faiths:
Skuld has excellent relations with other faiths, and has better relations with other gods involved in battling the Worldwound than her sisters due to her followers increasing presence there. But much of her attention is devoted to opposing the plots of Asmodeous and Hild, though to Skuld's irritation neither takes her very seriously.
Unlike her sisters, Skuld has entered into an adversarial relationship with a non-evil deity, the neutral goddess of invention, Brigh, with whom she is directly competing for worshipers.
Something I've been working on for a bit, based (of course) on the long-running manga Oh My Goddess.
Any deviations from canon should be attributed to: an assumption that these versions of the characters are from the far future of the current storyline, the writer of the manga getting his own canon mixed up on occasion, my own confusion about some finer points of canon, and the difficulty of translating certain concepts of the manga into "Pathfindereze".
Critiques welcome and encouraged.
Interesting. Really nerdy, but interesting. :)
It is kind of nice to see some good gods for tieflings and androids though.
It is endlessly amusing to me that the description of norns in Fey Revisited notes that they have black hair when young, steadily lightening as they grow older. :)
It is endlessly amusing to me that the description of norns in Fey Revisited notes that they have black hair when young, steadily lightening as they grow older. :)Why? that's generally what happens to most folk, a grey haired crone is the general paradigm for ancient wisdom.
The impression I got from it, though, was that only very young norns have black hair. And if you look at these three...
The impression I got from it, though, was that only very young norns have black hair. And if you look at these three...It is endlessly amusing to me that the description of norns in Fey Revisited notes that they have black hair when young, steadily lightening as they grow older. :)Why? that's generally what happens to most folk, a grey haired crone is the general paradigm for ancient wisdom.
If you want to get technical about it, Skuld, the youngest, has black hair, while Belldandy, the middle sibling, has blond. Then to finish things off, the eldest, Urd, has white hair.