Priestess of Persephone in Winter
Priestess of Persephone in Spring
Priestess of Persephone in Winter
Worship: Persephone, Goddess of Spring, Death and Reincarnation.
A.K.A.: The "Queen of the Underworld"
Sacred animal: The Hummingbird
Attire: A red cloak and a carved jade skull during Fall and Winter.
A bright green dress and a golden scepter in Spring and Summer.
Bodyguards: The Redeemed, Eckenburg's Blackguard.
Main Temple: The Mausoleum of Persephone, Persephone's Plains.
Scope: The afterlife and reincarnation. Persephone is the Queen of the Underworld, so her priestesses tend the dead and the moribund, soothing the family's suffering in this grim time through faith.
Powers: They guide the lost souls of the dead amazons, holding the power to either condemn or redeem them.
Priestesses of Persephone
As the Goddess of Life and Death, as well as the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone is worshiped mostly in Spring and Fall, or whenever someone dies. Instead of shrines, groves or temples to her name, the amazons dedicate mausoleums, cemeteries and beautiful flower gardens to Persephone. She is worshiped everywhere in Arandolia, but in regions with strongly contrasting seasons, she is more worshiped than usual.
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That's because, long story short, Persephone is believed to be the cause of the seasons of Earth. Acording to the tale, she spends half of the year (Spring and Summer) in the world of the living, making the flowers blossom and the Sun shine brighter in her presence. However, on the other half of the year (Fall and Winter) she departs to the Underworld to care for the souls of the dead, making the sunlight dwindle and the flowers wither in her absence.
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For the amazon people, that's the reason why the seasons pass like they do, giving them the comforting idea that life is cyclical, just like the year. In their eyes, a beloved fallen amazon shall one day return as a newborn baby within the same family, just like the flowers always return in the next year's Spring.
As such, the Priestesses of Persephone are the highly respected keepers of the dead, taking care of the souls of the fallen amazons and guiding them towards the afterlife during their passage. During Fall and Winter, when Persephone herself is believed to be back to the underworld, the connection between the worlds of the dead and the living is intensified, so these priestesses wear dark red robes and never remove their hoods from their heads. During this time of the year, they are also believed to be able to contact the the deceased. For this, the priestesses carry a carved skull of jade adorned in golden runes, which is their instrument to reach the souls of those who are long gone. That, of course, if such souls haven't reincarnated or ascended to the Elysian Fields already.
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On the other hand, when the first green leaves return to the trees and the flowers get back to blossom in Spring, Persephone is finally back to this world and those same priestesses lock the jade skulls away, along with their dark red robes, wearing bright green garments adorned with many colourful flowers instead. During Spring and Summer, they bless the living and plant a lot of lovely flowers all over the cemeteries and mausoleums where they work and live. They fertilize the soil with the ashes of incinerated dead amazons, turning those places of grief and sorrow in breathtaking gardens full of life and beauty.