[ Eladrin ] [ Aestetica | Paragons | Court of Stars ]
Black Butterfly
The Silence Between; Desna’s Shadow (planar goethi / mairne eladrin empyreal lord [she/her] / CG)
Portfolio: Distance, silence and space
Realm: Arborea / Arvandor / The Stair of Stars or Wildspace / The Stair of Stars
When you look up into the night sky of Arborea you see so many stars. They say that every one of the constellations up there tells the grand story of a hero or the legend of a monster. But what most cutters don’t notice is the empty space between those points of light, the silence between the stars. It is in these dark and lonely spaces that the Black Butterfly dwells, the quiet guardian of the void. If you’re the sort who finds comfort in the calm between moments, or if you’ve ever felt the weight of distance and the solace of solitude, she’s the eladrin lord you’ll want to tip your hat to.
The Black Butterfly is the patron of parted lovers, Wildspace wanderers, and anyone who’s ever just looked up at the night sky and felt small and finite. For the Black Butterfly, distance isn’t just about separation—it’s about creating the space to let yourself breathe and grow, to reflect and to heal. She’s also the embodiment of silence. Not just the literal absence of noise, mind you, but the profound hush where true understanding and self-discovery happen. Her followers meditate in absolute quietness, finding wisdom in what’s left unsaid. And finally, she’s the patron of the literal and metaphorical void—the space between stars, between thoughts, between people. She teaches that the emptiness isn’t something to fear, but a canvas for possibility and introspection.
The Black Butterfly appears as a silhouette of a lithe elven woman with butterfly wings, all formed from shifting shadows. Her hair and eyes are stark white, while her body and wings are roiling inky black. Her wings are quite a sight—each one holds the reflection of the Dark Tapestry, speckled with its constellations. One of those stars is actually her starknife, Voidsedge, which is ready to be summoned to her hand with a thought.
She’s the quiet sort—never rash, never hurried, never flashy. The Black Butterfly is patient, contemplative, and gentle, but there’s a steel beneath that silence. She despises evil, especially the nameless horrors which lurk out there in the Dark Tapestry, and she’ll act without hesitation when such threats rear their ugly tentacled heads. But don’t expect grand speeches or showy heroics—she prefers subtlety, indirectness, and the quiet strength that comes from knowing when to act and when to wait.
For the Black Butterfly, goodness is found in the quiet acts—an anonymous kindness, some gentle guidance, the space you give others to find themselves. She teaches that true virtue doesn’t require an audience. Her followers perform daily acts of charity without seeking recognition, believing that good should simply be, not be trumpeted from the rooftops. She believes that in the silence between breaths and thoughts, that’s the time you can glimpse your true self—and that’s where her spark of goodness lies.
Among the eladrin, the Black Butterfly’s a bit of a mystery—she’s not one for revels or wild tales, but she’s respected for her wisdom and her tireless battle against cosmic horrors. Some say she was born from Desna’s own shadow, or a dream she forgot, a reflection that took on life when the stars were first set in the sky. And Black Butterfly is the blood the other eladrin look to when the noise gets too much, or when a threat is too alien for even the bravest to face alone. She rarely clashes with her peers, preferring to let her actions—and her silences—speak for her.
The Stair of Stars
Black Butterfly’s realm is found in the hush between the constellations, hidden along the Stair of Stars that leads to Cynosure, the palace of Desna. Chant goes that it’s a quiet void, with breathable air and pockets of solid shadow for those who want to plant their feet. No one agrees exactly where it is—graybeards argue endlessly whether it’s in the skies of Arborea or the Dark Tapestry of Wildspace, or somehow both, or neither—but nonetheless desperate travellers sometimes stumble into it, finding a brief, peaceful refuge before returning to the tumult of the planes. The Black Butterfly keeps a smaller, secretive court within Cynosure itself, where her shades dwell in perfect silence.
Planewalkers say if you ever find yourself lost in the Void—be it the Astral, Wildspace, or the literal blackness between the stars—and you hear nothing but your own heartbeat, that’s the Black Butterfly watching over you. Some bashers claim she’s the only one who truly understands the madness lurking out there in the Dark Tapestry, where things from the Far Realm slip through the cracks of reality. Either way, she’s the one you’ll want on your side when the darkness start whispering.
Her temples are found in the quietest places: mountaintop monasteries, underground sanctuaries, even shrines on drifting asteroids. On holy days, her followers shun loud spectacles, preferring silent meditation and anonymous good deeds.
Source: Chronicle of the Righteous [PF1e] p9; Bestiary 6 [PF1e] p113; Planar Adventures [PF1e] p210; Divine Mysteries [PF2e] p193,308–309; Gods & Magic [PF2e] p83,128–129; Jon Winter-Holt.