Xasara

A portrait of Xasara, including her golden cup

Xasara is a deity belonging to the Imperial Pantheon. She is known as the Goddess of Life and is thus associated with resurrection, immortality, forgiveness, and youth. She is also known as the Cupbearer to the Gods and it is said that it was her power that granted herself and her fellow gods immortality. Similarly, it is said that any who drink from her golden cup will be granted eternal life - though there is no known mortal that has done so.

As well as her penchant for gifting immortality, Xasara is also said to be able to restore youth and vigour, a power that has obtained some envy from other deities - gods and goddesses that lament over the inevitable aging of their followers. Nevertheless, she is equally revered by her fellow gods despite being one of the youngest among them, for it was her power that granted the Imperial deities eternal life and restored youth - a role that poetically fits with her role as cupbearer.

## **Symbology**

Xasara's main symbol is that of her golden chalice. A logical association, given its prominent role in her most famous stories. However, she is also associated with eagles. It is said that eagles are the servants and messengers of Xasara. They deliver divine visions to her most devout followers and, upon their deaths, it is the eagles that carry her followers' souls to her realm from the land of the dead.

### **Personality**

Xasara is often portrayed as a kind and loving individual. She enjoys all life and sees it all as equally valuable, regardless of whether it is traditionally good or traditionally evil. In this sense she is perhaps one of the most fair of all the Imperial deities. The only beings she does not tolerate are undead, for she sees such an existence as a dark manipulation of true life. Even then, Xasara is not wrathful and does not command armies of exterminators like other deities would. Instead, she takes a calculated approach to those that undermine her domain.

Despite the two residing over two completely opposite domains, Xasara is depicted as having a close friendship with her twin brother Zegram - the God of Death.

### **Xasara's Realm, The Cloud Garden**

Xasara's realm is known to mortals as The Cloud Garden. It is said to be a calm and beautiful place. Warm but never hot. Bright but never blinding. This realm is often depicted as a floating garden, hidden amongst the highest clouds of the heavens. The garden is home to flowers of any and all kinds, intricate and vast hedge mazes, bountiful forests, and even wildlife. It is here that the souls of Xasara's most devoted can spend their afterlives in peace and contentment - free to wander the garden without ever fearing danger or discomfort.

The centre of the Cloud Garden is a marble fountain. It from this water that Xasara grants youth and immortality. The water is collected by her cup and then gifted to those deemed worthy of such a prize. This fountain exists in the front grounds of her personal estate, a beautiful marble building that the Goddess of Life keeps open to all her followers.

## **Cult and Worship**

The Cult of Xasara is a small but incredibly devout group of people. These priests maintain the few dedicated temples that exist solely for Xasara and perform traditional duties associated with the role, such speaking sermons and granting forgiveness. Due to the beliefs of their goddess, the Cult of Xasara believe that all life is precious and are, thus, devoted pacifists. That is not to say all followers of Xasara are peaceful, however, for even the Goddess of Life herself maintains a small collections of clerics and paladins. It is these individuals that seek out those that bastardise life - particularly those who exist in undeath, as well as the necromancers that command them.

Despite maintaining a relatively small clergy, Xasara is a popular deity to worship. She is often thanked in moments of great relief or happiness by citizens across the Empire, from royalty to beggars. Her association with granting life also means that she is worshipped by doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners. Xasara also represents forgiveness and so, interestingly, she is also worshipped by freed prisoners, who have a tradition of hanging their chains within Xasara's temples as a sign of thanks. In a similar vein, those who have committed a wrong might come to a temple of Xasara in order to confess and beg forgiveness. Bestowing this forgiveness is only one of the many roles Xasara's priests play, a ritual done by having the confessor drink from a replica of the goddess' golden cup - something that is supposed to symbolise renewal and restoration.

## **Trivia**

* Xasara is mainly inspired by Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth and the prime of life. However, she also takes some inspiration from Abrahamic angels and Christian heaven.