Gosaena

Gosaena Domain Death Symbol a silver or grey sickle on a field of green Pantheon Neutral Smite/Bane Bane Critical Cold

Goddess of Death

Despite resurrections, deeds, and other ways to return to existence, death is an ultimately final thing. When the bridge between life and death is crossed for the final time, and a soul is allowed through the Ebon Gates, Gosaena is there waiting on the other side. She is the goddess of death. Unlike Lorminstra, when a spirit comes to Gosaena, it will not be returning to the mortal realm.

Gosaena is a pariah among the other Arkati. She is gifted with foresight, most specifically, knowledge of when everyone and everything will die. The Arkati, now gods to the mortal races, had no desire to recall their own mortality and so outcast her. Neither pantheon will claim her, and no one will speak to her save Jastev, whose own talent for foresight makes him sympathetic to her plight.

Gosaena never speaks, except on very rare occasions to Jastev. She is as silent as the grave, and takes the souls due her without regret, compassion or malice, only impartiality.

Gosaena's preferred humanoid manifestation is that of a beautiful woman with pale skin, long silver hair, and ice blue eyes. She wears grey robes and a large grey cloak that covers brilliant white feathered wings. In manner, she is silent and impartial. Her symbol is a silver or grey sickle on a field of green.

Shrines, Statuary, and Holy Places

Cleric Guilds

Displayed in the Prayer Rooms of each Cleric Guild is a statue of Gosaena. These prayer rooms are considered a holy shrine to multiple deities.

Beautiful and ethereal, Gosaena looks at you with serene impartiality.  Peeking out beneath her full cloak are a pair of sturdy wings.  Held carelessly in her hand is a lethal-looking sickle.  The curve of her sickle mirrors the curve of her lip.

>touch Gosaena
You reach out and touch the statue of Gosaena.

Silence fills your mind, as quiet as Gosaena's embrace.

Wehnimer's Landing Cleric Guild

Located in the Antechamber of Others is a statue of Gosaena. This area is not considered a holy shrine.

This sculpture portrays a beautiful woman with pale skin, long silver hair, and ice blue eyes.  She is clad in grey robes and a grey cloak that fails to completely cover her brilliant white-feathered wings.  Upon the sculpture's base is her symbol, a silver sickle on a field of green.

Kharam Dzu Cleric Guild

In the room with Guild Master Kordrum is a statue dedicated to Gosaena. It is considered a holy shrine.

[Cleric Guild, Lava Room]

The room is filled with bubbling magma. A small island sits in the center of the pool, connected to the outside by a thin stone bridge. On the island stands a tall statue of a woman, her wings stretching high into the cavern. Pieces of skeletons ring both shores of the lava lake, some trying to crawl away, others towards the beautiful statue. A pedestal of stone rests at her feet. You also see a small tunnel and Guild Master Kordrum.

>read pedestal
In the Common language, it reads:
"Death is the ultimate journey."

Messaging

To add messaging, see deity messaging.

Spell/Ability	Messaging
CHANT (verb)	[1p cleric] You chant a reverent orison, asking Gosaena for the serenity that comes with the acceptance of fate. [3p cleric] CLERIC chants a short but reverent orison, asking for the serenity that comes with the acceptance of fate. [1p paladin] You bow your head and chant a short prayer to Gosaena, causing silver and green light to momentarily coalesce in front of you. [3p paladin] PALADIN bows her head and chants a short prayer, causing silver and green light to momentarily coalesce in front of her.
Major Sanctuary (220)	The world around you is swallowed in silence and a cascade of feathers obscures your vision... [Sanctuary of Final Embrace] Moss green marble walls rise from black-veined white floor tiles only to disappear in the shrouded darkness of the ceiling. Solace fills you in the deep silence of the sanctuary, while a slight breeze carries the odd feather past you. A faint luminescent light glows from somewhere nearby, its source unseen. Pale light floods your vision as all around you turns to black and the world dissolves...
Well of Life (308)	As you sense your souls have linked together, a sensation like feathers brushes over your face.
Condemn (309)	[Success] Silence falls, muffling TARGET in its velvet folds. [Failure] For a moment, all grows quiet around TARGET, but nothing comes of it. [Damage] The chill of eternity presses in, freezing TARGET for X points of damage! [Debuff end] The hush passes and the chill surrounding TARGET fades away.
Blind (311)	[1p] As your faith overcomes TARGET's weakened defenses, your skin grows cold as the calm, silent power of the Mistress of Eternity flows through you. [2p] CASTER's face shimmers and vanishes, and, in its place, you see a somber woman swathed in a grey cloak. Her face is as pale as alabaster, and her features are composed with perfect, unwavering serenity. The air grows cold as her ice blue gaze rests upon you. The intensity of the vision overwhelms you, and everything dissolves in a wash of grey, leaving you blinded.
Prayer (313)	[1p] Turning your thoughts inward, you ask for the impartial hand of your deity to protect you. A delicate sensation like the caress of a feathered wing runs over your face from brow to chin, and you sense that your prayer has been granted. [3p] Grey light fills CASTER's eyes briefly.
Censure (316)	For your transgressions, you will be judged in the land of death, where there is neither escape nor reprieve. The angels know when you will pass the gates, and their sickles are sharp enough to slice apart a soul....
Raise Dead (318)	[1p] Wrapped in an aura of chill, you close your eyes and softly begin to chant. As the cold air that surrounds you condenses you feel it slowly ripple outward in waves that turn the breath of those nearby into a fine mist. This mist swiftly moves to encompass you and you feel a pair of wings arc over your back. With the last words of your chant, you open your eyes and watch as foggy wings rise above you and gently brush against TARGET. As they dissipate in a cold rush against TARGET, you feel a surge of power spill forth from you and into him. [2p] Wrapped in an aura of chill, CASTER closes his eyes and softly begins to chant. As the cold air that surrounds him condenses it begins to ripple outward in waves that turns the breath of those nearby into a fine mist. This mist swiftly moves to encompass CASTER and slowly coalesces into a pair of ethereal wings that settle into a protective arc over you. With the last words of his chant, the wings surge forward and gently caress you. You feel a surge of power lance forth from CASTER into you, and moments later the fog dissipates, taking the chill of the air with it. [3p] Wrapped in an aura of chill, CASTER closes her eyes and softly begins to chant. As the cold air that surrounds her condenses it beings to ripple outward in waves that turns the breath of those nearby into a fine mist. This mist swiftly moves to encompass CASTER and slowly coalesces into a pair of ethereal wings that settle into a protective arc over TARGET. With the last words of her chant, the wings surge forward and gently caress TARGET, only to dissipate moments later taking the chill of the air with it.
Intercession	a slender silver sickle talisman A stillness steals over you, distancing you from yourself. A soothing peace seeps outward from your core and strips away the clamor of daily living. Sounds fade away, divorced from their meaning in the cool grip of complete and utter silence. In moments, the silence is broken as though it never was, but though that crystalline quietude passes on, the peace it imparted remains.
Divine Wrath (335)	[1p] As you pour your soul into an appeal to Gosaena, you know that you are heard. Everything around you seems to slow down as a deep, biting chill sinks through your skin and into your very heart. From the corner of your eye, you glimpse slight motion. Although you still can perceive sound, no sounds seem important when compared to the silence at the center of your being. The power of Gosaena has answered your prayer. An ethereal pair of feathered white wings materializes from midair and closes around TARGET. You realize that you had ceased to hear the sound of your own heartbeat only when you become aware of it again, and other sounds filter back into your awareness as well. Warmth returns to your body as your connection to Gosaena lessens. [3p] CASTER's expression grows calm and chill, and ice blue radiance flickers in the depths of his eyes. The ambient air temperature plummets, and every sound seems slightly muffled as the cold bites into your skin. An ethereal pair of feathered white wings materializes from midair and closes around TARGET. The ice blue radiance flickers one last time in CASTER's eyes before vanishing like a candle flame. Warmth returns to the air, and the sounds you hear no longer seem muffled. [Look Caster] Ice blue radiance flickers in the depths of CASTER's eyes, and his expression is like fine porcelain in its intense calm. [Manifestation]
Symbol of the Proselyte (340)	[Cast] You rest your hand atop your Gosaena talisman. A shadow envelops your hand, and the talisman. The effect is a sudden aging, as every line and imperfection in your skin, and on the surface of the talisman, is suddenly apparent. [Chant] You chant a reverent orison and lightly clasp your Gosaena talisman. A rush of divine power washes over you. Your talisman pulses once and you feel the quiet of Gosaena steeling your nerves.
Miracle (350)	[1p] Stealing all sound as it travels to you, a soft zephyr gently caresses your skin and you sense the frigid brush of final death near at hand. A tug on your spirit heralds the arrival of impossibly long feathers in shades of white, grey, and black, as they appear before you and coalesce into a beautiful insubstantial being. It lifts you up into its arms and you feel as if you have found home in its embrace. Wings that you did not notice before unfurl to cocoon you for several moments before you feel the chill air depart and all at once the feathery figure is gone. A rain of feathers falls around you, each dissipating seconds before it touches the ground. [3p] Stealing all sound as it travels, a soft zephyr gently sweeps through the area turning the air frigid. Impossibly large ethereal feathers in shades of white, grey, and black, drift in and are carried to the prone form of CLERIC. At once they converge into a beautiful insubstantial being. Kneeling beside CLERIC, it gently lifts him into its arms and cradles him there for several moments. Lowering its feathery forehead to CLERIC, the being unfurls a pair of pale wings and creates a cocoon around him. Suddenly, sound returns, dispelling the ethereal being and creating a rain of feathers, each dissipating seconds before it touches the ground.
Aid the Fallen (1613)
Repentance (1615)	[1p] A pillar of dusky silver radiance manifests around TARGET. [2p] CASTER's eyes glow with ice blue light, and then everything around you shimmers to a dusky silver hue. [3p] CASTER's eyes glow with ice blue light, and a glimmering pillar of dusky silver radiance manifests around TARGET.
Judgment (1630)	[1p] You briefly close your eyes, and a pair of brilliant white, feathered wings unfurl from your back momentarily. A faint silver-grey light builds up and emanates from your hand before it takes on the shape of an ethereal sickle! An arc of silver-grey tendrils spiral out from the blade of the ethereal sickle, striking TARGET! The ethereal sickle departs without a sound. [3p] CASTER briefly closes her eyes, and a pair of brilliant white, feathered wings unfurl from her back momentarily. A faint silver-grey light builds up and emanates from Paladin's hand before it takes on the shape of an ethereal sickle, and CASTER thrusts it forward! An arc of silver-grey tendrils spiral out from the blade of the ethereal sickle, striking TARGET! The ethereal sickle in CASTER's hand departs without a sound.
Divine Incarnation (1650)	[Cast 1p] You close your eyes, contemplating the march to death and every living being's place along it. You feel the cold touch of Gosaena as images of the goddess's white feathered wings sprout in your mind. [Cast 3p] As CASTER lowers her eyes in contemplation, a solemn look washes over her. CASTER raises her eyes, a cold determination behind them. [Expiration 1p] You close your eyes, contemplating the mysteries of what lies beyond life. Visions of your own death touch your mind, the moment itself almost coming into focus before vanishing into nothingness. [Expiration 3p] CASTER appears less solemn as the cold determination in her eyes fades away. [Zeal 1p] You beseech your patron for combat prowess as dusky silver radiance begins to take form, swirling violently around you. [Zeal 3p] CASTER beseeches her patron as dusky silver radiance begins to take form, swirling violently around her. [Armor 1p] You turn your mind to your patron, asking her for deliverance from an untimely death. A cold grey haze seeps from the ground and enshrouds you in its protective embrace. [Armor 3p] CASTER bows her head in prayer for a moment, and a cold grey haze seep from the ground in response. The haze enshrouds Piety in its chilly, protective embrace. [Smite 1p] You feel the cold touch of Gosaena gift you with the certainty of your enemies' deaths. A cold grey haze materializes around your WEAPON as you raise it to strike TARGET, ready to deliver on the promise of your patron's foresight. [Smite 3p] CASTER closes her eyes for a moment, and a cold grey haze materializes around her WEAPON. She raises her WEAPON, her face betraying neither malice nor pity as she strikes. The cold grey haze enshrouding CASTER's WEAPON lashes out at TARGET! [Onslaught 1p] You raise your arm into the air as a sliver of light engulfs your hand, forming the curve of a sickle. As a sense of perfect foresight touches your mind, you stride into battle, slicing down sharply as you anticipate your opponent's every move, ready to render Gosaena's final judgement. [Onslaught 3p] CASTER raises her arm into the air as a sliver of light engulfs her hand, forming the curve of a sickle. She slices her arm down sharply with a supernatural confidence, her every move gifted with an almost perfect sense of foresight.

Return to the top of this page.

Behind the Scenes

Gosaena was initially described as possibly an evil local goddess whose power was less than it had been in antiquity, but this was a summary description by players during a documentation gap before her modern lore was created. The only reference to her in the game was as "Empress Gosaena" on The Graveyard gate, a holdover from the Empress Kadaena who was not what we would now call an Arkati. Kadaena and Gosaena have no resemblance to each other on face value, except for their apocalyptic dispositions. However, The Graveyard and The Broken Lands imply that Kadaena had the power to see the future including her own death, and there is an account in the Shadow World lore where her body fell through the Gates of the Void. While the I.C.E. Age form of Lorminstra in the later Shadow World documentation had a serving spirit named Jon'no, who would cross the Gates of Oblivion, there was no one corresponding to Gosaena among the Lords of Orhan (Liabo) or the Dark Lords (Lornon).

The following scene in The Rift could be interpreted as alluding to the transformative demonic nature of the Kadaena theology. It is slightly older, however, than the modern Gosaena theology. The entrance to The Rift is a portal near the pole of the world, which was the formal analog of "the Eye" artifact that was used to seal the Gates of the Void. The Ebon Gate might be associated with Mount Aenatumgana.

[The Rift]
A woman stands at the head of the huge cavern. The right half of her is perhaps the most beautiful woman you have seen. Her skin is the color of milk, and blonde hair streams down over one feathered wing. The other half of her body is the opposite. The skin is rough, with matted hair tangled with a wing like leather. In her right hand she holds a staff of light, with which she gestures towards a field of surpassing beauty. Her left bears a scythe, pointing towards a pit of angry flames.
Obvious exits: east, west

This may be a meaningless coincidence as the rooms in the Rift are heavily based on Tarot cards, in this case possibly the Nine of Shields "Ragnell" card from the Arthurian "Legend" deck.

Resources

• Officials folder