Curse of the Crimson Throne
Pharasma
Alignment | Neutral |
Portfolio | Fate, Death, Prophecy, Rebirth |
Domains | Death, Healing, Knowledge, Repose, Water |
Subdomains | Ancestors, Ice, Memory, Resurrection, Souls, Thought |
Favored Weapon | Dagger |
Cleric Alignments:
LG | NG | CG |
LN | TN | CN |
LE | NE | CE |
“The Lady of Graves”, Pharasma, (pronounced fah-RAZ-mah) is the goddess who shepherds Golarion’s recently-departed souls to their final reward. Upon death, souls migrate to Pharasma’s Boneyard in the Outer Sphere, which sits atop an impossibly tall spire that pierces the Astral Plane. Pharasma makes no decision on whether a death is just or not; she views all with a cold and uncaring attitude, and decides on which of the Outer Planes a soul will spend eternity. Pharasma is also the goddess of birth and prophecy: from the moment a creature is born, she sees what its ultimate fate will be, but reserves final judgement until that soul finally stands before her. As the goddess of death and rebirth, she abhors the undead and considers them a perversion. This latter fact leads Pharasma to grant modified powers through the Death domain and the Soul subdomain when they are granted to her followers. Spells that her followers are granted do not have the ability to benefit or create undead; this is not the case for other deities granting their followers access to this domain and subdomain.
Pharasma is counted among one of the original gods that opposed Rovagug. Sometime after, Urgathoa‘s escape from the Boneyard and return to the Material Plane, brought undead and disease to the world. Pharasma was a part, albeit minor, of the Thassilonian pantheon acting as the goddess of death. The death of Aroden, the first of the ascended gods, at the end of the Age of Enthronement 100 years ago was extremely unexpected. His death was not prophesied, and once he died, most of the other prophecies in the world started to go bad as well. Many of Pharasma’s priests have lost their faith or have gone mad as a result, but those who remain, are finding that Pharasma’s hold over prophecy is becoming less important, while her domain over death, birth, and fate, are growing stronger. It’s a time of change for Pharasma and her faith. Some legends say that Pharasma knew the death of Aroden was approaching, but chose not to tell her followers for reasons unknown.
Pharasma remains neutral in almost all aspects towards other deities. Iomedae still bears a slight grudge against her for not revealing Aroden’s impending death. Urgathoa and her followers are the closest thing to an enemy she has.