Faustina

Dicey Dangers, Core Rule

Game by Joel Hills

Faustina, Deity of Luck

Faustina is the Deity of Luck and the last phoenix alive. Her body is warm to the touch, and her feathers are capable of turning up in flames when she chooses to do so. As the Deity of Luck, Faustina is the patroness of those that take risks. Many adventurers out there wouldn’t had been able to keep living without her blessing. However, her luck spell doesn’t work for everyone. It is said that if you find one of her feathers and it burns down in your hands, you’ll be cursed forever.

History

Expelled from the rest of the world

Centuries ago, a race of gigantic birds with the ability of producing fire through their feathers lived in harmony in a volcanic zone known as the "Devil's Cauldron." The area was so hot that any life form that entered it would die instantly. Contrary to this, phoenixes were able to survive perfectly in such hostile conditions, but their lifestyle was deemed as “chaotic” by others due to their destructive nature.

Phoenixes left a path of ashes at any place they flew through. As the Devil’s Cauldron was surrounded by a gigantic forest zone covered in snow, Pavlossus expelled them from such an area and forbid them from leaving that zone until they learned how to control their powers.

However, phoenixes never learned how to stop producing fire and weren’t able to leave that volcanic area in centuries.

A snowstorm at the Devil’s Cauldron

All phoenixes lived in harmony without an established hierarchy. Nevertheless, there was a particular family that had lived longer in that place. Hernia and Gungnir had been a couple for several centuries. However, they hadn’t been able to hatchlings.

While other mothers cared for their hatchlings and taught them how to fly, Hernia looked at them from the distance, wishing that one day she would be blessed with one. Still, time continued passing and her nest never became a home for a new phoenix.

One day, it started snowing unexpectedly at the Devil’s Cauldron. It didn’t make any sense for anyone – how it was possible that an active volcanic zone where only clouds of ashes appear would experience snowfall? As each family retreated to their nests, the volcanoes started calming down. All of sudden, the lava levels started going down and the heat was less.

Gungnir inspected the volcano’s surroundings and saw many phoenix corpses in the area. As a phoenix is covered in flames most of the time, when something extinguish them their life-force disappears and they die instantly.

The hail became a snowstorm in little time. However, there’s always something good out of a crisis – Hernia was capable of laying an egg! As their nest was in the deepest zone of the volcano, she and her child were safe from the snowstorm’s effects. Gungnir hadn’t come home in days, and although Hernia was worried, she couldn’t leave her egg alone.

A miracle

Overtime, the snowstorm became stronger and phoenixes started dying one by one. The snow melted and hardened the lava, which eventually became solid rock. Hernia continued taking care of her egg, even if she was mourning her long-time partner. She started dying slowly and the fire in her feathers started disappearing.

As her heart stopped beating, the hatchling was finally strong enough to break the eggshell. Before her heart stopped beating, Hernia named her hatchling Faustina, and with her last breath she was able to ignite the fire in her newborn’s feathers.

The patroness of those that take risks

A phoenix’s fire is the strongest when it is a hatchling. Although she saw her mother die, Faustina flew out of the volcano and spread her wings at the top of the mountain, causing the snowstorm to stop. To her surprise, a buffalo was standing there, Pavlossus.

Faustina, still mourning her mother’s death, attacked Pavlossus, only for him to resist the hit. However, her fire was strong enough to penetrate through his deep hair layer and burn part of it. This marked the first of many encounters that Pavlossus and Faustina had over time, but the former decided to retreat as he already complied with his objective: erasing from existence a race that put in danger the rest of the world.

As people witnessed Faustina’s courage, they baptized her as “the patroness of those that take risks” as she battled against a powerful deity even if that put her life in danger. Her new worshippers granted her a place as a deity, and since then, Faustina continues flying through the world blessing or cursing adventurers based on the decisions they take in their journey.

Appearance

Faustina is a humanoid bird with glowing orange wings. She uses a white dress adorned with golden patterns and ornaments. Her presence transmits warmth and refuge. Still, her big size is quite intimadting and lets everyone know her imposing authority. The shine emitted by the gold ornaments on her dress gives the illusion of a shooting star whenever she's flying through the skies.

Abilities

Faustina is capable of combusting her wings and covering herself in flames. Unlike regular fire, it is impossible to extinguish. A power of similar caliber is required to shut off a phoenix's flame.

She's also capable of breathing flames. However, once the flames penetrate the common land, they start losing their magic slowly.

Each feather is alive and connected to Faustina, allowing herto bless or curse adventurers, based on what she senses on their souls. If someone encounters one of her feathers and it continues to burn even after they grab it, that means the adventurer has earned her protection. However, if the feather turns to ashes, the adventurer is about to experience a series of unfortunate events unless they find a way of breaking the curse.