-Bephmalea-
GODDESS OF FREE WILL, DREAMS, AND CANON
Symbol: Those who have heard their destiny through the whispered words of the Goddess bear with them a totem of balance, often a circle with light and dark swirls around a center of light. This symbol of balance is used most often by her followers for there are few houses of worship or shrines that Bephmalea keeps upon Nhearn.
Place of Existence: It is unclear is the Realm of Dreams exists or if it is a manifestation around the edges of the Realm of Nhearn, though the stars are claimed to be of her making, either representing doorways to her supposed dominion or her existence itself within the Realm.
Signs: Lucid dreams and prophetic insight are gifts of the deity. When the stars seem bright or the night sky feels close at hand she is said to be witnessing the events of the world with a vested interest. For those who are familiar with the Goddess, they claim that there are few signs offered, for the Goddess does not often meddle in the affairs of the world, but rather she speaks directly and with purpose only.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Bephmalea is one of the few deities that perplex researchers. Her origins are unknown and her arrival upon Nhearn in ancient lore shares little of her own creations. There are some who theorize that she could be a primordial being, one who witnessed the creations before the firmament and then revealed herself following the war among the gods while there are others who believe that the introduction of the Winds of Magic may have been a contributing factor, as her first motion against the other gods was to preserve the Winds of Magic against Aurora. Although her origins are masked in thought, her existence in itself is often forgotten, as she acts so infrequently and with so few followers that there are few who know of her at all.
In moments that she does act, she is known to halt disaster, the apocalypse, and the altering of reality, only forcing her will upon the firmament as a means to continue the acts of free will that the denizens of Nhearn possess, even if they are unware of it. With this power she is also the keeper of canon, a preserver of the history of all the Realms, maintaining the complexity of reality throughout the universe.
Although there are few shrines to her faith and fewer temples hidden throughout the lands, her followers are devout and carry her purpose with utmost conviction. Her congregation is made up of strong willed individuals who often claim to have contact directly with the deity as she asks them to partake in worldly events so that she does not have to intervene, guiding their purpose to alter the course of disaster by placing them there to act of thier own volition. While this seems counterproductive to her kindness of free will, her followers have always claimed to carry their burden without worry of being controlled to act.
Throughout the regions of Nhearn, each culture has guessed to the purpose of the stars and have attributed them to the makings of Christianna, or the fabric of the Tower of the Dead, or even that they might be portals to the Realms beyond Nhearn, but it is Bephmalea who creates them, hosting the twinkling stars in the night sky as memory, each one keeping track of grand events throughout the histories of the universe, each one recording deeds grand or small that must be preserved as part of her canon. At times new stars may shine, some may extinguish, yet all are her records, each one weaving the story of all time.
While little is truly known about Bephmalea, she is considered one of the more powerful deities, acting out only as needed to halt events that none other could foresee the consequences of. She often acts with the assumption that she has done good, but she has also affected the works of good deities who seek to use their influences in ways that she deems undesirable. She acts in balance, keeping all of reality together, and in this way she is respected by the forces of good and is always considered in the plans of the forces of evil.