See also the Cult of Shallya
"You think mercy is for the weak? 'Twas Shallya's mercy healed my broken arm so I could lead the vanguard against the Beastmen in our last campaign. You saying that makes me weak? Think carefully before you answer, lad..."
- —Sergeant Marcus Orton to a green recruit.[2a]
A representation of Shallya, the goddess of mercy and healing in the Old World Pantheon.
Shallya, known as the "White Dove of Mercy" and the "Lady in White," [1a] is the goddess of mercy, compassion and healing in the Old World Pantheon. She is one of the family of Classical Gods, the daughter of Morr, the god of the dead and Verena, the goddess of knowledge and justice, and sister to Myrmidia, the goddess of war and strategy.[3a]
She is portrayed as a fair, young maiden whose eyes perpetually well with tears for the sufferings of the mortal world. Ever-merciful, she is characterised in myth by an almost naive trust, displayed when Ranald, the god of fortune, tricked her through a romantic entanglement and a claim of a mortal illness caused by Nurgle into allowing him to gain apotheosis as a god, or when Manaan, the god of the sea, trapped her at the bottom of the ocean.[3a]
The Old World is a hard place in which to live. Disease, injury, or extended bad fortune can drive a man or woman to the brink of despair, bereft of any hope. These people turn to Shallya, who cries tears that bring the promise of mercy and comfort. To those confined to prison or a sickbed, to people condemned to death or who are dying on or off the battlefield, Shallya and her priestesses and priests -- for a few men serve her order too -- bring peace and forgiveness, and a promise of a better life in the next world.[1a]
The Cult of Shallya has a presence throughout the Old World, and her temples double as hospitals for those too poor to afford a physician's house calls. In the Empire, each of the cities and major towns has a whitewashed temple to Shallya and, even in small towns and villages, the temples and shrines to the other gods will often contain a small chapel dedicated to the Lady in White.[1a]
Mythology[]
Birth[]
It is said in myths and legends of the Old World that Shallya was born from the tears of her mother Verena, goddess of knowledge and justice, when she saw all the suffering and loss suffered during the war against the Chaos Gods and their Daemonic and mortal minions during the Great Catastrophe.[4a]
When the goddess of knowledge's husband Morr, the god of the dead, was so weakened and wounded by the battles against Chaos that he was forced to retire permanently to Morr's Realm, Verena, the Queen of the Gods, fell to her knees and cried. Her tears flowed over the battlefield, and from them came the newborn goddess Shallya, patron of compassion, bringing her mercy and healing to the injured and despairing.[4a]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Sigmar's Heirs (RPG)
- 1a: pg. 38
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition: Tome of Blessings (RPG)
- 2a: pg. 14
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 3a: pg. 209
- 4: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Children of the Horned Rat - A Guide to Skaven (RPG)
- 4a: pp. 24-25