Leandra, the Twin Queen

Leandra, also know as the Twin Queen, is a Talgur deity of Death and Magic.

Holy symbol: a necklace made of copper or silver coins

Worshippers: undead hunters, caretakers, magi, a lot of monks, those asking favour for dying loved ones

Portrayal: a pale woman in a blue dress, her eyes deep as ocean and flowing hair - the hue of a raven's wing. Half of her face (which one depends on the aspect) is covered in blue tatoos.

Church: only nominally a unified organisation, each of the numerous temples of Leandra operate as an independent entity, with the most experienced clerics serving as their Archons for life.

Associated domains (5e): Knowledge, Magic, Death, Life

Legend: 

Leandra was engaged with Galador long before the new life came to the life-less Realm and they were wed whilst the gods walked among its men - a celebratory feast lasted seven and seventy more nights.

Leandra gave birth to Navka, sometimes known as Mara, the lesser goddess of Sun and Moon, a cheerful and lovely girl who comforts the recently departed souls and accompanies them, together with her numerous flocks of wild birds, to the Evening Lake, where they rest eternally.

Initially, Leandra was whole and stood as a spark of the World's creation - she governed its basic cycles, rules and forces that originally brought the land and the living into existence - and the ability to alter them to one's will, known among mortals as "magic". She was joyful and powerful; where Galador led and gave hope, she followed through, willing his designs into existence.

This continued for long decades, until Strevnir, the god of Death, fell due to Payton's mistake, during a friendly sparring. Devastated with grief and sorrow, having accidentally caused the death of his best friend and compatriot, Payton gathered the Talgur and beseeched them to use their immense power to return him to life.

Leandra resisted the request, knowing full well that the great Cycle should not be broken and none can return from the shores of the Evening Lake having tasted its waters, not even gods themselves. Yet she held the power to force their return if neccessary and it was to that power Payton appealed. So heartfelt and sincere was Payton's desire to revive his friend, that even Galador acceeded to it and asked Leandra, who could not refuse her beloved husband. However, she warned the gods that naught but regret shall come out of Strevnir's return and that she, not Payton, will be the one to suffer the most from it.

At a lone island within the waters of Eyr Innter, far from the prying eyes of the living, she made her spell. So potent it was that the ground quaked and shattered and the great lake greaw into a sea overnight. Yet the result of it was every bit as disastrous as Leandra herself has doomed.

The entity that arose had none of Strevnir's compassion, good will and honour - it was a twisted, aberrant being, neither living nor dead, whose every breath brought unimaginable pain upon it and whose visage even the gods of Talgur could not behold without flinching in disgust. Payton was the first one to shout out in terror and abscond from the rite, cursing the moment he asked to defy the great law.

Thus Axxerarat was born and Strevnir was no more. More than anything - even Payton, his killer - he hated the Law that doomed his demise and the one who betrayed her sacred duty by violating it. Axxerarat's entire existence is meant to twist, corrupt and shatter the World's order, wishing naught but its ultimate destruction. To that end no means were too drastic. He corrupted some of the ancient geists, the first to see the Realm's waters, into servitude - they became known among the mortals as demons. At the same time he tirelessly works to malform Leandra's power over the Realm's forces of creation, inflicting upon numerous victims the same fate he suffered from - the curse of the Undeath.

With Axxerarat's transformation, there was no one to govern the Evening Lake and accompany the deceased on their last journey. Feeling responsibility for what she has done, Leandra abandoned her seat at Galador's site and became the first deity to depart the Realm as a goddess and stuart of death.

Notes:

- Leandra is probably the only deity on the Horizon who's worshipped a lot in two of her aspects: either as a goddess of death, or a goddess of magic.

- Her followers believe in the Cycle of life and death - a natural progression, a road that everyone should eventually walk. While they do not seek death on purpose - neither do they resist it when it comes. A consequence of these beliefs is that the temple of Leandra will never fight for those whom they deem destined to die soon - i.e. terminally ill or wounded, extremely elderly etc., although they will ease their suffering as much as they can and arrange their passing and funeral with dignity and respect.

- The one thing that Leandra and her servants truly despise is the Undeath - and the one god who encourages and assists such existence. The Undeath perverts the cycle of Life and Death, moreover, it often does so with Leandra's own instrument - magic. Leandra's Undead Hunters - the Benefactors - are ever vigilant for the Undead and necromancers who dare create it.

- Leandra's ordained servants are easy to distinguish among common folks - they have very peculiar blue tattoos covering a side of their body: left - for servants of Leandra the Joyful, and right - for servants of Leandra the Whisperer.

- Servants of Leandra often oversee mortuaries in big cities and very rare places of arcane learning outside of Thessea. In Thessea, large notable temples of Leandra are on the Northern shore of Eyr Innter and in High Castle.