Lethe

Name: Lethe
Titles: The Last Lady, Gentle Caress, All That Must and Will Be, The Lady of Time
Nature: Lethe is an austere but not unkind deity. Her primary responsibility is to make certain that time flows as it should, and that nothing lives forever. Lethe also focuses on preserving all knowledge, some say as a favour to Ephaesus.
Gender: Female
Time of Power: Dusk
Portfolio: Time, History, Preservation of Knowledge, Strategy, Memory
Favored Alignments: N/A
Restricted Alignments: N/A
Allows Druids?: No
Allows Spirit Shamans?: Orcs
Allows Paladins?: Yes
Favored Weapon: Katana
Symbol: A Closed Book, aged by time
Domains: Knowledge, Dream, Time, Protection, War

Lethe has changed much in the last few decades, some say splitting in twain. The current Overseer keeping the name of Lethe is very different... and yet very similar, from her predecessor. Lethe is now known primarily as the protector of all knowledge. Where Ephaesus discovers new ideas, Lethe records them and preserves them for all future time. Lethe's other duty is to make certain that time flows forward, and all things suffer the slow decline they should. While Lethe's slow march has destroyed countless civilizations, people, ways of life and even entire races in the past, these losses always make room for the next great steps of progress. In this way, Lethe performs a necessary duty.

Lethe is often depicted by mortal artists as a hooded figure with a slight smile, wearing a dark robe or clothing, with a bastard sword or katana firmly planted before her. Her build and shape varies widely. Clocks are frequently worked into her shrines and temples.

In the wake of Lethe's internal conflict, it is said that her sword Corrosion shattered. The Last Lady picked up the handle and the cleanest, sharpest shard and sharpened it further until all rust on it had perished. She attached that shard, edged as leaf-thin obsidian, to the handle and polished it by dragging it slowly across the void. At length, she had Nightfall, a blade of pure darkness that resembled her previous weapon, although it's single, razor-sharp edge and slight curve remind savants of the more exotic katana. The merest cut from Nightfall offers the wounded a minute's worth of staredown with Oblivion in a single moment, enough to cause most mortals to go mad and other entities to contemplate the meaninglessness of a singular existence. Its swing will not be stopped by anything of finite existence when Lethe aims it towards someone or something that has exceeded its allotted time, ending anything in its path including weapons, armors and wards. Were it to be found by mortals, Nightfall would be quite useless as a weapon with only a couple of inches worth of blade and a disproportionately large hilt. Should Lethe's blessing go with it, however, it is said that the shard is covered in blackness to form the blade, nigh invisible in dim light but sharply contrasting daylight.

Lethe's Holy Symbols are typically made of onyx, obsidian or cold iron, shaped as a circle and painted in ashen or light gray, and/or brown to display a closed book. Despite the technique or materials used for the painting, the image always appears to change, imperceptibly upon examination but evident over the course of years. No attempt to distort the image succeeds on the symbol of a devout cleric, but it will eventually be changed, the book that is portrayed growing both older in appearance, and thicker. It is believed that this display is a sign of favor.

The church of Lethe is one of the most diverse in the world. Her clerics are often positioned within the armies of the world as strategists and tacticians. The church hosts a sect of paladins, the stern and grim-faced order seeking to put a violent end to all the world's evil with efficiency and ruthlessness. Her church also finds and stores as much knowledge as they can, often opening and running vast libraries which are sometimes open to the public.

The Lady of Decay is often followed by strategists, loremasters, bards, and sages of all stripes.