The Tempest

"Live a daring life, my faithful, and my gracious gaze shall ever be upon ye."

Born of the crimson seafoam of a dying leviathan, The Tempest is a notorious Goddess. Bearing a volatile temper to match that of the ocean itself, she is known to lend her divine aid to those who commit daring deeds on the wide expanse of blue over which she presides.

## History

The exact details of the Tempest’s life before ascension are hotly disputed in temples and on docks alike. No two sailors will tell the same tale of her exploits, trading legends and stories indiscriminately. There is, however, no dispute over the general pattern her life took on - She was a hunter and a captain, specializing in the slaughter of exotic, calamitous sea creatures. She and her crew have been credited with keeping the shores safe, some even claiming that she ‘must’ve slew half of everything in the ocean’ before her ascension.

Her most famous exploit (and perhaps the only tale that all her worshippers agree is completely true) was her slaying of a beast only known as The Tyrant. In and of itself, The Tyrant was considered by some to be a god, a demon, or something more powerful and alien altogether, and only The Tempest’s crew would dare tread its waters. Ever-shrouded by an immense, chaotic storm, The Tyrant eluded the crew’s gaze for a month, patiently allowing The Tempest’s ship to lose itself in mist and fog. Then, when there was no escape, the monster struck.

Moments passed, and The Great Captain was alone on her ship, surrounded by the ruined corpses of her crew. No captain could go on without a competent team of sailors at their back to operate the ship… No captain, of course, save for The Tempest. As though divinely inspired, it is said that she spent another full week chasing the monster, piloting her ship with the deftness of twenty sea-weathered men. At last, she cornered the beast, swung from a rigging line off of the ship and drove her cutlass into The Tyrant’s skull.

The resulting spray of seafoam and gore coated The Tempest, and in her last act as a mortal being, she looked toward the sky and saw the eye of the storm. In that moment, she ascended to her rightful place in Utheria’s pantheon.

## Home

The Tempest has no one true home, said to run eternally along the winds that fill the sails of those who would heed her call on the sea. Her presence can be felt most powerfully in the Material Plane.

## Symbols & Faith

The Tempest’s divine symbol is a swirling, cerulean vortex. Most commonly, this symbol is embroidered into eyepatches and worn to emulate The Tempest’s own (supposed) missing eye. The Tempest’s faithful are most commonly found on Utheria’s coastlines, where they congregate to share her tales and their own. Wherever sailors gather, so to does The Tempest.

Worship of The Tempest is considered unconventional by the standards of other religious sects. Rather than converging in a single, designated church or temple to converse with their goddess, The Tempest’s followers deliver most of their prayers whilst on the sea. Priests most often operate dual-purpose structures and serve multiple roles in their community, maintaining lighthouses and piers in addition to their clerical work.

The Faithful of The Tempest have devoted themselves to emulating the fearless valor of their deity, and are rewarded for taking risks whilst out on the sea. The Great Captain loathes cowardice, and she is known to test her priests and paladins on the sea by sending perilous storms their way. Those who prove their resolve in the face of adversity gain greater favor from The Tempest, and those who fail tend not to make it back to port in one piece anyway.

In life, The Tempest lost one of her eyes in a battle with a great monster. It is said that when she ascended, her lost eye was returned in the form of the ‘eye’ of a raging storm. As such, most of the Tempest’s holy rituals are meant to be performed in the center of an oceanic storm. Such a site holds dual-meaning within the faith: Reaching such a spot would be seen as a favorable act on its own, as there is great risk in weathering such a storm, and it is said that The Tempest’s gaze is strongest and clearest when she can look through the eye of the storm.

## Relationships

The Tempest tends not to meddle in the affairs of other Ascended, nor does she take well to others meddling in hers. The Tempest’s only concerns are those pertaining to her own domain, and she only interferes with other deities when she feels they have encroached upon the sea and those within it.