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For my Cleric of Suyuddha, The Warrior Queen
Anathema: let your emotions dictate your tactics, hunt felines for sport, permit others of your rank or lower to calculate tactics on your behalf
At the beginning of every session, announce, "Hey, please don't make tactical suggestions to me. If you do, I'll be forbidden from performing it, and have to do something else. Ask, don't tell. Except for the party leader, of course."
Any other fun ones out there?
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Anathema: let your emotions dictate your tactics, hunt felines for sport, permit others of your rank or lower to calculate tactics on your behalf
At the beginning of every session, announce, "Hey, please don't make tactical suggestions to me. If you do, I'll be forbidden from performing it, and have to do something else. Ask, don't tell. Except for the party leader, of course."
Or you could declare yourself the lowest-ranking member of the party... ;-)
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Or you could declare yourself the lowest-ranking member of the party... ;-)Anathema: let your emotions dictate your tactics, hunt felines for sport, permit others of your rank or lower to calculate tactics on your behalf
At the beginning of every session, announce, "Hey, please don't make tactical suggestions to me. If you do, I'll be forbidden from performing it, and have to do something else. Ask, don't tell. Except for the party leader, of course."
True...but one of your edicts is to try and *take* charge. ....:)
Edicts: study the art of warfare and strategy, strive to take and maintain control of your situation, hunt and slay hounds of Tindalos
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They are both even more amusing as an edict, instead of anathema.
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Various moderately amusing anathemas:
- Bastet: Choose to marry
- Ra: Kill a plant or a creature with cold damage, seal a building to completely block sunlight
- Selket: Poison someone you didn't intend to
- Thoth: fail to correct false information. (Thoth is now officially the god of "well actually".)
- Mammon: Leave the cult of Mammon
- Pazuzu: Call on Pazuzu for help.
- Shax: Sleep in a building with fewer than five rooms
- Imbrex: Offend Imbrex (welp.)
- Shyka: Willingly tread where time does not pass. (not a problem for most)
- The Lost Prince: Take public credit for your good deeds
- Hshurha: Walk on the earth if you could easily travel otherwise. ("No, technically I don't need a wheelchair.")
- Arqueros: Intentionally fall asleep (Yes, yes, I know... but it's a technically valid reading of the text.)
- Falayna: Enforce a dress code
- Bergelmir: Harm the Elderly ("I'm sorry, but that dragon...")
- Barzahk: Celebrate specific calendar dates over others (Barzahk is now officially the god of being grumpy about the holidays... and they will *never* remember your anniversary.)
- Imot: prevent the destruction of things that cannot be saved (but wouldn't succeeding at that mean....)
- Narakaas: Torture an unwilling creature (safewords are important)
- Aakriti: Fail to study a new creature if safely able ("We may be here a while.")
- Alseta: Destroy a door or block a path for personal gain (That could be tactically... interesting.)
- Followers of Fate: Apologize for making an incorrect prediction (The triune goddess of never admitting that your were wrong)
- Naderi/Shizuru: Separate lovers ("Look. We have to kill them both at the same time. That's the rule.")
- Fumeiyoshi: pass by food without stealing a bite
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Amusing indeed, for the life of me I can't really imagine a much more toxic type of teammate than someone who is forced into acting either as a combat dictator or an utter lone wolf.
All that being said, anyone who isn't formally part of their faith or FORMAL military group would be exempt as some operating outside of a rank and file structure do not HAVE a rank at all and therefore can't be either above or below the station that such a PC would maintain.
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...
- Imot: prevent the destruction of things that cannot be saved (but wouldn't succeeding at that mean....)
...
An anathema that is definitionally impossible to violate. That's my favorite so far. :)
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Ex-Mammon cultist: I quit!
Mammon: Quitting? You’re fired!
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You see, if you get fired instead of quitting they gotta give you your settlement pay for years of service, a fact that Mammon's church is no doubt aware of...
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My favorite is the Lantern King's anathema against "explaining a good joke."
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I think an over-sensitive interpretation of the Arzani's "despise and never forgive those who have hurt you" would be funny.
GM - Your soup is cold.
PC - Damn you Tavern keep! You are now my enemy forever!
I think an over-sensitive interpretation of the Arzani's "despise and never forgive those who have hurt you" would be funny.
GM - Your soup is cold.
PC - Damn you Tavern keep! You are now my enemy forever!
Taken strictly as written, it also means doctors are anathema to Arazni, what with how many medical procedures involve causing short-term harm to enable long-term healing. Anything involving needles, anything involving sewing up a wound, anything involving surgery, heck, anything that requires a full checkup (since they tend to involve squeezing tender areas, typically causing pain) triggers the edict!
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Taken strictly as written, it also means doctors are anathema to Arazni, what with how many medical procedures involve causing short-term harm to enable long-term healing. Anything involving needles, anything involving sewing up a wound, anything involving surgery, heck, anything that requires a full checkup (since they tend to involve squeezing tender areas, typically causing pain) triggers the edict!I think an over-sensitive interpretation of the Arzani's "despise and never forgive those who have hurt you" would be funny.
GM - Your soup is cold.
PC - Damn you Tavern keep! You are now my enemy forever!
Note to self : never use Risky Surgery on an Araznist.
And I was thinking that Calistria was the goddess of the revenge.
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And I was thinking that Calistria was the goddess of the revenge.
[Offtopic] What I like about Calistria: Despite her outward appearance and areas of concern officially being Lust, Trickery, Revenge - pointedly underpinned by her symbol and (shall we say?) often eye-catching presentation - there is a somewhat hidden meta-theme about her.
It's easy to miss, e.g. when just skimming over the books or AoN, but her Gods&Magic article (+plus older lore texts) tell: I'd say, it's about self-assured versatility, bolstered by sensuality both as means and ends.
Calistria doesn't forget and she will pay back - and the division of her church fundamentally revolves around the decisive question how hefty that pay back has to be (ranging from benevolent to absurdly cruel) - but she doesn't even her vengeance lead herself away from her own path - whatever that may be in the respective period of time. Or era, when talking about goddesses.
(BTW: That contrasts Arazni's steely acrimony.)
And now we're going from Offtopic to
[Semi-Offtopic] and anathema:
"become too consumed by love or a need for revenge" from the lips of a goddess that put revenge on her coat of arms ...
makes me wonder whether that was a trick as well. A deterrence maybe, in the most plausible way. The yellow and black warning colors of a wasp. Unspokenly signalling: "Don't get in my way! (Unless you feed my needs... I might even share with you then ...)"
All in all a fantastic trope, if you ask me, that gives her a uniqueness beyond identity. (Of which I dearly hope, she survives some rumored death as a god, glooming on the horizon...). A real identity, hidden beneath artificial appearance.
Easy to miss, when one gets caught by boobs and capers, gets twisted around fingers of truth and contradictions. Until savoring the sting of that lustily layered, profound personality and her (quoting G&M) "[capriciousness as] a model for maintaining perspective and composure over a [...]long lifespan".
Or maybe I am just fully devoted to her. ;-)
"Come Sweetheart! Want to risk a closer look?!"
And I was thinking that Calistria was the goddess of the revenge.As as I know she also always was 'but don't be too keen on it'. Not exactly typical :)
Ninja'ed me! :-)
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And I was thinking that Calistria was the goddess of the revenge.[Offtopic] What I like about Calistria: Despite her outward appearance and areas of concern officially being Lust, Trickery, Revenge - pointedly underpinned by her symbol and (shall we say?) often eye-catching presentation - there is a somewhat hidden meta-theme about her.
It's easy to miss, e.g. when just skimming over the books or AoN, but her Gods&Magic article (+plus older lore texts) tell: I'd say, it's about self-assured versatility, bolstered by sensuality both as means and ends.
Calistria doesn't forget and she will pay back - and the division of her church fundamentally revolves around the decisive question how hefty that pay back has to be (ranging from benevolent to absurdly cruel) - but she doesn't even her vengeance lead herself away from her own path - whatever that may be in the respective period of time. Or era, when talking about goddesses.
(BTW: That contrasts Arazni's steely acrimony.)
And now we're going from Offtopic to
[Semi-Offtopic] and anathema:"become too consumed by love or a need for revenge" from the lips of a goddess that put revenge on her coat of arms ...
makes me wonder whether that was a trick as well. A deterrence maybe, in the most plausible way. The yellow and black warning colors of a wasp. Unspokenly signalling: "Don't get in my way! (Unless you feed my needs... I might even share with you then ...)"
All in all a fantastic trope, if you ask me, that gives her a uniqueness beyond identity. (Of which I dearly hope, she survives some rumored death as a god, glooming on the horizon...). A real identity, hidden beneath artificial appearance.
Easy to miss, when one gets caught by boobs and capers, gets twisted around fingers of truth and contradictions. Until savoring the sting of that lustily layered, profound personality and her (quoting G&M) "[capriciousness as] a model for maintaining perspective and composure over a...
Wow, this made Calistria MUCH more interesting to me! I may need to play a Calistrian now!
I always found the bit of lore that said Calistrians admonish followers not to lean to heavily on the admiration of wasps to be kinda disappointing, frankly. Wasps are cute and amazing creatures! Why WOULDN'T you admire them?! :P
The time to worship Calistria is now!
The clerics of a Calistria no more have their "aligment" damage restricted to damage lawful creatures. Also she allows both holy and unholy. You can also now make a Paladin or a Redeemer(!?) of Calistria!
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The time to worship Calistria is now!
[...] You can also now make a Paladin or a Redeemer(!?) of Calistria!
[Off-Topic] Addition: If vengeance means ensuring atonement a Redeemer of Calistria is closer than one might think at first glance. Actually, it's also a beautiful topic for Syncretism and a joint faith of Calistria and Nocticula. Who could be suited better to join, than the former Demon Lord of Lust and Darkness, now the Redeemer Queen?
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A Redeemer of Calistria could be a very interesting char.
First because the main anathema of a champion is the anathema of the deity so in case of conflate the anathema of deity precedes. But the main concept and edict of a redeemer is the redemption.
So I can imagine a Redeemer of Calistria working between the edicts searching for a redemption for its enemies while still demanding that they pay the price for their actions.
Could be an very interesting roleplay.
A bit of a stretch, but Falayna might hate wedding planners as much as she loves weddings themselves.
At least in the real world, last I checked, there's an interesting little thing wedding planners are very well aware of: The bride wears a wedding dress, and the groom wears a tuxedo. Doesn't sound much, but de facto as it may be... it's a dress code. ;3
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At least in the real world, last I checked, there's an interesting little thing wedding planners are very well aware of: The bride wears a wedding dress, and the groom wears a tuxedo. Doesn't sound much, but de facto as it may be... it's a dress code. ;3
Well, Falayna would consider it anathema for one of her people to insist a bride wears a dress on her wedding even if she would rather wear a suit or a dress uniform, or parade armor, or whatever she wants. She's big on femininity, sure, but she's also good in "you express that however it best fits you."
Where she'd run into trouble was figuring out what the entourage for the happy couple is going to wear, since often that's dictated rather than arrived at via consensus, as Falayna would prefer.
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A Redeemer of Calistria could be a very interesting char.
First because the main anathema of a champion is the anathema of the deity so in case of conflate the anathema of deity precedes. But the main concept and edict of a redeemer is the redemption.
So I can imagine a Redeemer of Calistria working between the edicts searching for a redemption for its enemies while still demanding that they pay the price for their actions.
Could be an very interesting roleplay.
Alternatively, a redeemer of Calistria could be someone who uses redemption as the instrument of their revenge.
See, everyone is praising you for turning all of the big bad's most trusted underlings to the side of Good. But secretly you're only doing it so you can see the look on the big bad's face when everything they built turns on them and the hand holding the knife to their throat is that of their former friends.
...and sometimes the redemption is the revenge.
It's a long, slow game... but you can get them to the point where they want to be better... and then the guilt hits for what they were.
From small slights, long prices.
Alternatively, as entropy consumes all things eventually, you can not save anything ever because you are only delaying the inevitable.An anathema that is definitionally impossible to violate. That's my favorite so far. :)...
- Imot: prevent the destruction of things that cannot be saved (but wouldn't succeeding at that mean....)
...
...which would mean that it's still impossible to violet because you cannot prevent their destruction - only delay it for a while.
I'm mildly amused by the idea of priests of Imot having impassioned scholarly debates as to why their god's anathema is impossible to violate.
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And I was thinking that Calistria was the goddess of the revenge.[Offtopic] What I like about Calistria: Despite her outward appearance and areas of concern officially being Lust, Trickery, Revenge - pointedly underpinned by her symbol and (shall we say?) often eye-catching presentation - there is a somewhat hidden meta-theme about her.
It's easy to miss, e.g. when just skimming over the books or AoN, but her Gods&Magic article (+plus older lore texts) tell: I'd say, it's about self-assured versatility, bolstered by sensuality both as means and ends.
Calistria doesn't forget and she will pay back - and the division of her church fundamentally revolves around the decisive question how hefty that pay back has to be (ranging from benevolent to absurdly cruel) - but she doesn't even her vengeance lead herself away from her own path - whatever that may be in the respective period of time. Or era, when talking about goddesses.
(BTW: That contrasts Arazni's steely acrimony.)
And now we're going from Offtopic to
[Semi-Offtopic] and anathema:"become too consumed by love or a need for revenge" from the lips of a goddess that put revenge on her coat of arms ...
makes me wonder whether that was a trick as well. A deterrence maybe, in the most plausible way. The yellow and black warning colors of a wasp. Unspokenly signalling: "Don't get in my way! (Unless you feed my needs... I might even share with you then ...)"
All in all a fantastic trope, if you ask me, that gives her a uniqueness beyond identity. (Of which I dearly hope, she survives some rumored death as a god, glooming on the horizon...). A real identity, hidden beneath artificial appearance.
Easy to miss, when one gets caught by boobs and capers, gets twisted around fingers of truth and contradictions. Until savoring the sting of that lustily layered, profound personality and her (quoting G&M) "[capriciousness as] a model for maintaining perspective and composure over a...
Bit of a late post but THIS is exactly how I feel about Calistria. There’s so much more going on with her than people give credit. I do really hope she stays.
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And I like that they seem to have ditched the idea that liking and nurturing wasps is a juvenile understanding of Calistria's faith according to senior members of the church, like it's a phase you're meant to grow out of when you start comprehending Calistria's higher mysteries and realize you're meant to draw inspiration from them but not treat them as actual sacred animals or something. Your church wouldn't be raising nests of them in their temples if that was the case! And wasps are cute!
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And I like that they seem to have ditched the idea that liking and nurturing wasps is a juvenile understanding of Calistria's faith according to senior members of the church, like it's a phase you're meant to grow out of when you start comprehending Calistria's higher mysteries and realize you're meant to draw inspiration from them but not treat them as actual sacred animals or something. Your church wouldn't be raising nests of them in their temples if that was the case! And wasps are cute!
Was this really a thing? If it was, it's weird that they tied her so much to wasps just to then say that they don't really matter, it's not like most of the pantheon were the "sacred animal" is an aftertough that is almost never associated with the deity, Calistria always have a wasp aestetic.
This feel like a result of shared canon, with different writers comming in and out and having different preferences about how things are supposed to be. Like one writer liked the idea of the godess of lust and vengeance, but didn't like bug, so they took step to have the bugs stay in the background. Regardless, I'm glad it's no longer the case. Wasp are indeed cute.
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Yep, right in the very first article written about her in Pathfinder Adventure Path #17: A Memory of Darkness:
Some priests like to add other accent clothing like a wasp's colors but eventually grow out of this habit, as the insect represents the goddess but is not inherently divine or worthy of emulation.
Yep, right in the very first article written about her in Pathfinder Adventure Path #17: A Memory of Darkness:
Some priests like to add other accent clothing like a wasp's colors but eventually grow out of this habit, as the insect represents the goddess but is not inherently divine or worthy of emulation.
Hmm.
That one suggests that what they grow out of is trying to emulate wasps... but it doesn't necessarily stop them from liking or nurturing the creatures. Possibly a side order of "you're taking this too literally".
Of course, that's only this one quote. I'm certainly willing to believe that there are plenty more.
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Even if it's only this one sentence, it's a bit weird that an article talking about the sacred animal of a godess isn't especially divine. Or that one shouldn't try to emulate it's coloration when the godess herself is always shown in the animal colors. All this while the godess herald is a giant wasp and temples tend to wasps nest.
That's like if they said that priest of bastets stop caring about cat after a while, because the animal is only used to represent the godess.
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Let's go classical. A paired set of anathema
1. You cannot eat carrion meat (ie- no road kill)
2. You must always accept food offered to you by old women.
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Let's go classical. A paired set of anathema
1. You cannot eat carrion meat (ie- no road kill)
2. You must always accept food offered to you by old women.
Hah! Easy anathema, I will succeed this geas so hard. By the way, what did you say was in this stew, granny?
Let's go classical. A paired set of anathema
1. You cannot eat carrion meat (ie- no road kill)
2. You must always accept food offered to you by old women.
Easy enough. "Accept" is not the same as "eat", after all. Just make sure to bring along tupperware wherever you go.
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Let's go classical. A paired set of anathema
1. You cannot eat carrion meat (ie- no road kill)
2. You must always accept food offered to you by old women.
A reference to Cú Chulainn?
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A reference to Cú Chulainn?Let's go classical. A paired set of anathema
1. You cannot eat carrion meat (ie- no road kill)
2. You must always accept food offered to you by old women.
That's what I immediately thought of, but I thought that geas was specifically dog flesh, not generalized carrion.
That's what I immediately thought of, but I thought that geas was specifically dog flesh, not generalized carrion.A reference to Cú Chulainn?Let's go classical. A paired set of anathema
1. You cannot eat carrion meat (ie- no road kill)
2. You must always accept food offered to you by old women.
You might be right on that one.
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I agree, wasps are cute. But I honestly think it’s more of a, Calistria doesn’t want her followers being devoted to the wasp. As her faith is less about devotion and more about giving thanks.
All of her messaging and what not still shows the wasp is very representative of her. She just doesn’t want people going crazy bending a knee to a cute bug.
Calistria seems likes shes the goddess of paradoxical aloofness.
never forgetting or forgiving a slight means a lot of a persons heart and memory will end up dedicated to holding grudges. It is paradoxical to say dont get too consumed by these and yet always hold on to them at the same time. I would argue if you go by the motto of never forget a slight then you are already consumed.
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Calistria seems likes shes the goddess of paradoxical aloofness.
never forgetting or forgiving a slight means a lot of a persons heart and memory will end up dedicated to holding grudges. It is paradoxical to say dont get too consumed by these and yet always hold on to them at the same time. I would argue if you go by the motto of never forget a slight then you are already consumed.
I think the idea is that you if you let revenge consume you, then you are letting the target of said revenge define your life in some way. Likewise for love, you can lust after people, even get romantically involved, but if you let yourself become fully commited, then the target of your affection define your life in some way. Both case are arguably a loss of independance, and Calistria want independance.
It is slightly paradoxal yes, but I think the intent is pretty clear. Make sure you take revenge and don't let a slight go unanswered, but never let this revenge become what define you. Make sure you live your life to the fullest and experience a wild pannel of sensation and emotions, but don't let yourself become a slave to them. It's of course a very fine line to walk, and it's the kind of stuff that would be far too vague to be an actual law or a formal rule, as it rely on "common sense" to be duly followed, but for a chaotic deity like her, it's rather fitting I think.
Calistria seems likes shes the goddess of paradoxical aloofness.
never forgetting or forgiving a slight means a lot of a persons heart and memory will end up dedicated to holding grudges. It is paradoxical to say dont get too consumed by these and yet always hold on to them at the same time. I would argue if you go by the motto of never forget a slight then you are already consumed.
You've gotten it snarled.
- Callistra is the one that says to never let a slight go unanswered, but not to be consumed by it. If someone slights you, you find a way to make them suffer for it, and then you move on and let it go.
- Arazni is the one that's all about never forgiving those who have hurt you. She's the one who will cling to her hatred of someone until the end of (their) days. She also seems to have a somewhat higher bar for putting someone on the hate-list. It takes more than just a slight.
It's true that trying to follow both at once would probably end badly.
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That's what I immediately thought of, but I thought that geas was specifically dog flesh, not generalized carrion.A reference to Cú Chulainn?Let's go classical. A paired set of anathema
1. You cannot eat carrion meat (ie- no road kill)
2. You must always accept food offered to you by old women.
Yes, in the myths it was specifically dog meat. I should have said "indirect reference."
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Calistria seems likes shes the goddess of paradoxical aloofness.
never forgetting or forgiving a slight means a lot of a persons heart and memory will end up dedicated to holding grudges. It is paradoxical to say dont get too consumed by these and yet always hold on to them at the same time. I would argue if you go by the motto of never forget a slight then you are already consumed.You've gotten it snarled.
- Callistra is the one that says to never let a slight go unanswered, but not to be consumed by it. If someone slights you, you find a way to make them suffer for it, and then you move on and let it go.
- Arazni is the one that's all about never forgiving those who have hurt you. She's the one who will cling to her hatred of someone until the end of (their) days. She also seems to have a somewhat higher bar for putting someone on the hate-list. It takes more than just a slight.
It's true that trying to follow both at once would probably end badly.
Pretty much.
Though I feel like Calistria has a specific vibe of "letting it go". It's not forgiveness. It's "I've gotten revenge and your life is now ruined, loser. Sucks to be you. I'm going to go to a party and forget all about you ever existing now. If I see you again maybe I'll shoot you if I remember who you are."
Note that Calistria and Arazni share the Last Breath pantheon, together with Milani.
Note that Calistria and Arazni share the Last Breath pantheon, together with Milani.Calistria seems likes shes the goddess of paradoxical aloofness.
never forgetting or forgiving a slight means a lot of a persons heart and memory will end up dedicated to holding grudges. It is paradoxical to say dont get too consumed by these and yet always hold on to them at the same time. I would argue if you go by the motto of never forget a slight then you are already consumed.You've gotten it snarled.
- Callistra is the one that says to never let a slight go unanswered, but not to be consumed by it. If someone slights you, you find a way to make them suffer for it, and then you move on and let it go.
- Arazni is the one that's all about never forgiving those who have hurt you. She's the one who will cling to her hatred of someone until the end of (their) days. She also seems to have a somewhat higher bar for putting someone on the hate-list. It takes more than just a slight.
It's true that trying to follow both at once would probably end badly.
Pretty much.
Though I feel like Calistria has a specific vibe of "letting it go". It's not forgiveness. It's "I've gotten revenge and your life is now ruined, loser. Sucks to be you. I'm going to go to a party and forget all about you ever existing now. If I see you again maybe I'll shoot you if I remember who you are."
Remember Paizo has already the resolved the issue of Pantheons having potentially hazardous and contradictory Edicts and Anethema by prioritization. A lay follower only needs to follow the Edicts and Anethema of the Pantheon as a whole. A Cleric or Champion picks one deity to be the one that grants their powers and they follow their directives first, then the pantheon's as a whole, then the rest of the gods in said pantheon. So in this case you would decide at character creation wether Arzani or Callistra takes priority and only follow the other's when you reasonably can.