Verena

Verena is the goddess of knowledge, science, learning, wisdom, law and justice in the Old World Pantheon, and one of the most commonly cited of the Classical Gods who were introduced to the early Empire by the nations of the south. She is in several myths said to be the husband of Morr, god of death, and as unlikely a pairing as it would seem at first, the two are united by the common themes of judgement and simply oversee different aspects of the concept, Morr judging the dead and it falling to Verena to judge the living. She and Morr are the parents of the goddesses Myrmidia and Shallya, deities of warfare and mercy, respectively.

Verena is known by many titles, including "Lady Verena," "Wise Verena," and the "Goddess of Learning and Justice." The majority of the Cult of Verena's's priests revere her as "Verena the Wise," and practice a balanced approach that both uncovers injustice and shows she is a goddess of wisdom and intelligence. Most temples favor "Verena the Judge" and prefer to follow Imperial law, while some controversially espouse that all that matters is what is right and not necessarily what is legal, calling on the aspect of "Verena the Just."

As scholars rightly believe, Verena was once a member of the pantheon known as the Gods of Law in her ancient aspect of Daora, the representation of pure, total knowledge and patron of ultimate wisdom and enlightenment. It is also believed by some scholars that Verena could be a Human aspect of the Elven god of wisdom Hoeth, their worship potentially instituted among Men by the High Elves through the ancient scrolls left in their Old World colonies, which were then translated in the southern realm that is now Tilea.

Verena is worshipped throughout the Old World, especially in the south. Her devout followers include scholars, lawyers, and magistrates, as well as some wizards of the Colleges of Magic, particularly of the Grey Order and Light Order. Some of her followers focus on her aspect as the judge and arbiter, believing justice is more important than learning and acting as mediators, while others focus on her apect as the guardian of knowledge, believing learning is more important than justice and usually acting as librarians and scholars.

Verena is especially popular among the learned and studious. She is regarded as a wise teacher, for it is said that she lifted Mankind from its barbarous roots with the giving of writing. It is for this act that she is also held as the mother of learning, reason, and discourse. The illiterate masses of the Old World have little interest in Verena despite her cult sometimes organising missions to educate them.

At the same time, Verena is the patron of just decisions and impartial balance. She is in all her aspects concerned with absolute fairness and balanced judgement and so is popular amongst peoples of all social classes. Her cult is responsible for the Imperial magistrates who travel on a circuit through villages and towns seeing cases and passing judgement on minor crimes. It is a matter of Verenean dogma that magistrates are always as even-handed and as fair as they can possibly be, and though Verena is revered as a guardian of the laws that maintain privilege by the nobility, her creed holds even if it means making enemies of the powerful and influential. For this reason, the judgement of Verena is held in higher regard among the common folk than judgements made by the more enthusiastic followers of Sigmar.

The Old World faces calamity with disturbing regularity, and it is the rule of law and ordered society that enables the mortal nations to not only survive, but thrive. Yet as the patron of justice, Verena is concerned with fairness rather than the letter of the law, and she opposes oppression as much as crime. Those who venerate Sigmar are to some extent concerned with violence and war, and while Verena (as a deity of justice and in spite of her benevolence and civility) has a definite martial streak of her own, it is the philosophical doctrines of justice espoused by her priests that prevents the Empire from sliding into complete tyranny.