Anahita
The Immaculate; Aban; Ardvi Sura; Haurvatat
LG lesser power (yazata) of prosperity, justice, liquids (She/Her)
Pantheon: Persian
Realm: Mount Celestia / Lunia / Purifying Water
Anahita is an ancient water goddess of the Persian pantheon, who’s also associated with fertility, prosperity, justice and healing. She manifests as a young woman with flawless alabaster white skin, with subtle blue scales. She’s always surrounded by a gentle swirling mist of soothing coolness, no matter the weather. She has cascading blue hair woven with water lilies, flowing blue-and-white silk robes that look like rushing water, and she move with the grace of a river.
Anahita wields power over rivers and water sources, especially welcome desert oases. Through her grace and mercy flows the vitality and abundance that water brings to the land, its plants, animals and mortal inhabitants.
However, her importance extends beyond just water-related matters. She’s also revered as the deity who brings fertility to the crops each Spring, a protector of animals, and is devoted to the well-being of the natural world. Her realm Purifying Water on Lunia, located on the banks of the River Eunoë, is always bursting with abundance of fruits, honey, vegetables, and free-roaming healthy livestock.
In the Persian Pantheon, Anahita is considered a yazata, a divine being worthy of worship and devotion, while (of course) subservient to the great Ahura Mazdah, the ultimate leader of the pantheon. Some sages believe Anahita, as with the other yazata, may in fact be an aspect of Ahura Mazdah. Indeed, she may well be both at the same time; powers can be tricksy like that.
Anahita’s petitioners are renowned for their festival celebrations in the name of their goddess, where bountiful food and drink is freely available to all and the revelling continues for days. And this is not just useful for the morning after the festival, Anahita’s faithful are also held in high regard across the planes as healers and herbal medicine-makers.
Sources: Jon Winter-Holt, inspired by A Tiefling’s Exultation by Alex Roberts.