Garia, the Divine Scales (3.5e Deity)

Summary::Garia the Divine Scales of the Balance of all Opposing Forces of Light and Darkness and the Final Judgement of Gods and Mortals Alike.

Origin
Before time, space, matter, even the gods, there was stillness. A perfect void where all was in balance, and the void was peaceful and serene. But into this void came the gods, and with them they brought the vices of extremity and bias. These gods created and destroyed, loved and hated, fought for freedom, stability, good and evil. And the void mourned for the loss of it's tranquility, knowing it would never return.

One god was different from the others. Garia bore with him a set of golden scales that could messure the balance between any two extremes, and thus he was able to see the fluctuations that the other gods caused, for the scales were never stable since they day of their forging. To him the void spoke: as it is was not how it was, and how it was is how it should be. Garia heeded these words, and began a climb to power that left many gods slaughtered while others were similarly raised in power. Garia could have been over diety, but instead chose what was, at least in his mind, the position of ultimate control: jury, judge, and executioner of the gods.

Description
Garia wears a priests robe made from the very void that spoke to him, thus rendering himself impossible to detect, even by other gods, unless he chooses to present himself. On his back he carries golden merchants scales taller than he is, with which he messures the balance of any two opposing forces. Since the creation of time the scales have never been in perfect balance, thus Garia is lothe to use them lest he lose hope in his quest. It is said that hidden in his robes is also a gavel, a mighty hammer that can severe a god from its immortality in a single stroke. It is unclear if Garia had always had this gavel or if it another gift from the void.

Dogma
Garia teaches that balance between all things can be achieved. He passes on his quest of perfect balance to his followers, who must seek the balance between good and evil, law and chaos, creation and destruction, life and death, existance and nonexistance. His clerics must seek this balance within themselves and without, thus they are given his role as judge, jury and executioner in relation to mortal extremes. However, Garia teaches that above all else, lack of bias is the only thing that makes balance a visible force, thus his cleric must remain detached from all else.

To aid in this quest, Garia has each of his followers choose the two opposing forces of his domains- either Good and Evil or Law and Chaos. It is not a violation of his tenents to use spells from opposing alignments, rather it is a violation of his tenents to not do so each day one of his clerics casts spells, as it is so to cast only healing or damaging spells in a day.

Clergy and Temples
Garia's clerics are easily recognized by their black robes and the set of merchants scales they carry. Adventuring clerics also make a point of carrying their weapons concealed, in emulation of how their god carries his gavel.

Each temple, in addition to areas required for religious ceremony, is a fully outfitted jail and courthouse, which is used for both mundane and divine trials. Their philosophy of neutrality and stoic lack of bias combined with this feature of their temples often results in semi-dogmatic communities where the priests of Garia handle all legal matters. Indeed, these communities often just let the priests supply the watchmen for the community, as these watchmen are by default professional and precise ing their apprehension of a suspect.