Iphigenia (3.5e Deity)

Summary::Allmother Iphigenia is the goddess of comfort, parents, the afterlife, and obedience.  Born of submission, she opposes Baal Adramelech the Burning King.  Her scion is Dream Eater Lotophagoi.

Origin
As Hiranyagarbha, father of the gods, returned to the world he found it dominated by the beings known as dragons. They gave no comfort to lesser beings, nor taught them their secrets so they may provide for their own. To oppose them he created Iphigenia, the wise mother, and Baal Adramelech the Burning King, the inspiring father figure. These two creatures born of submission to a greater goal, they taught the young mortal races the laws of the world so that their societies may help each other, and pass on their knowledge from generation to generation. Knowledge which was once lost to time was given to their children, and soon civilization came to be.

It is said that Iphigenia was once a mortal woman, the literal mother of all humanoids. As one of the ancient primordial beings, she was very long lives but even she would pass from the world. Hiranyagarbha sought for one who knew how to care for the world's races and found her soul in the underworld, which he ascended. The dragons had robbed mortalkind of their knowledge and civilization, but with her help she would once again return a righteous civilization to the world. Her origins in death may also explain her her connections to the afterlife, a connection which was made stronger once Pesta the Whisperer fell to darkness.

Regardless of the method of creation, she would later lose her allies to the darkness. She is troubled that the fallen gods would be so reckless and disobedient, and strongly opposes their leader Baal Adramelech. She intends to bring him in for the scolding of the era, but intends to ultimately forgive him provided good behavior. She acts out of motherly love, but she can be frighteningly stern if the situation calls for it.

Description
Iphigenia 's true form is obscured, but through visions she has always appeared to be an elderly full bodied woman vaguely resembling ancient mother goddess statues. She is typically kindly and wise, speaking of her vast experiences and knowledge. When angered she is stern but never cruel, with a gaze that could shame the most unsympathetic of beings. She is usually depicted in robes, or in "stormy dark" armor in her more stern appearances. She is known to occasionally be seen smoking and unspecified "divine herb".

Curiously, she is also associated with sleep and dreams. Her ultimate goal is comfort, and teaching others how to act to maximize comfort for all beings. She is not opposed to comfort through various means and is thus associated to both sleep and certain relaxing drugs.

Iphigenia is typically associated with her favored creature, the dog. The dog is protective and always there to comfort, and it is said in death dogs protect and guard the passage to the underworld.

Dogma
Iphigenia values wisdom and experience, and teach the experience to the inexperienced. Others are expected to listen and obey, and failure to do so is often its own punishment, though they will be swift to remind you of one's folly. Even so, one must forgive and bring them back into the fold. Her teachings are to bring comfort to the world through order and knowledge on how to avoid pain and suffering. She opposes those who think one must suffer to experience the world, and free spirits who act without understanding the consequences for one's actions. She is also the keeper of the afterlife in the upper realms (while Pesta keeps the afterlife of the lower realms), comforting beings even in death, once they have been purified by At Tawwab.

Her scion is Dream Eater Lotophagoi, a baku spirit of dreams and fancy. Where Iphigenia focuses on making reality comfortable through wisdom, Lotophagoi gives comfort to those in dreams, especially those who cannot find rest in the real world. He relieves pain, inspires the mind, and watches over the sleeping. It is said to appear to those in greatest suffering so that it may relieve the pain in whatever ways it can. It is strongly associated with Iphigenia 's more drug related aspects.

Clergy and Temples
Iphigenia 's temples are comfortable and utilitarian, places of soft cushions, warm rooms, and enjoyable smells. Incense is used often, and the temples often resemble large inns or other places of residence. There are also often study halls and libraries, where wisdom and knowledge may be passed onto others. This is in duplication to her divine realm, the sleeping hills, where her house sits among the mist-filled valleys and spirits may indulge themselves in a comfortable and easy going existence.

Her clergy wear lavender robes and other cool colors, or in rare times in battle, dark armor much as ascribed to the goddess herself. Her favored weapon is a heavy mace, for it is an imposing weapon of discipline as well as a symbol of leadership one expects from a parent.

Pantheon
Iphigenia is a goddess of the Logos Benius pantheon, on planet Maya.