Before the Shattering of Ix, the concept of gender existed in the world, but it was abstract — present in the natural world, the behavior of animals, the structure of plant reproduction, but not yet given a face or a doctrine. It was not worshipped. It was simply part of how things were.

When Ix shattered, one of the Shards contained something that the other gods had not yet considered: the complete, undeniable power of the female. Not beauty, not seduction, not support — though Jusannia encompasses all of these. But specifically: the fundamental truth that life comes from female bodies. That creation is not an abstraction but a physical act of bearing. That the capacity to bear life is the most powerful force in existence.

Jusannia inherited this Shard and woke into it fully formed, already aware of what she was and what she represented.

Jusannia did not manifest as a single person in a dramatic moment. Instead, she appeared gradually to women across the world — to midwives, to healers, to women who had survived wars and abuse and come out the other side understanding their own strength. She appeared in dreams to women who were giving birth, assisting them through labor, ensuring the survival of mother and child.

The first priestesses of Jusannia were not chosen by her; they recognized her and volunteered. They built temples not from stone but from the materials they had access to — wood, cloth, simple materials — and they made these temples into places where women could gather, could heal, could give birth safely, could learn about their own bodies and their own power.

Jusannia did not establish hierarchy or law; she allowed the priesthoods to develop organically in different regions, adapting to local needs and local women's understanding of what their bodies and lives required.

As Jusannia's worship grew, the faith naturally attracted women with different perspectives. Some priestesses emphasized the maternal, healing aspects of Jusannia's nature. Others began to emphasize what they saw as a deeper message: that Jusannia represented not just motherhood but female power generally — the right to authority, to control, to make decisions that affected women and communities.

This created tension within the faith that persists to this day. Some sects argue for female equality with men; others argue for female supremacy. Some emphasize protection and nurturing; others emphasize active resistance against male authority. Jusannia herself seems to accept this diversity, finding ways to use even the most militant believers to advance her purposes.

Unlike some faiths that explicitly rebel against existing power structures, Jusannia's priesthoods took a different approach. They did not universally reject men or male authority. Instead, they established spaces that were female-led and female-controlled — and through these spaces, they created alternatives to existing male-dominated institutions.

Temples became places where women could go for childbirth instead of male physicians. Priestesses became healers and counselors when women had nowhere else to turn. Some communities developed into female-led enclaves where women's authority was not questioned. In other places, priestesses integrated into existing power structures while maintaining their own independent practices and beliefs.

This pragmatic diversity has allowed Jusannia's faith to spread across the world, adapting to each local context while maintaining its core commitment to female life and female authority.

Jusannia offers a compact that is fundamentally about bodies, survival, and the right to exist and thrive.

The teachings of Jusannia are built from principles that emerge from the lived experience of female bodies and female life:

(See also: claw/Soul_Coins_and_Divine_Economy)

Jusannia's economy is generated through acts of life-creation, protection, and healing — and through the devotion of women defending women.

Temples dedicated to Jusannia are designed as multi-purpose complexes reflecting the multiple aspects of women's lives and needs.

A typical Jusannia temple includes:

These spaces are traditionally built and maintained by women of the faith, with materials preferably sourced from female-owned businesses. The buildings themselves are conscious statements: women built this; women control this; this space is for women.

The power of a Jusannia temple is tied to the women who gather there. A temple that has supported the births of hundreds, that has healed thousands, that has stood as a place of refuge and resistance, becomes sacred in a way that transcends the physical building.

The priesthood of Jusannia is female-only at all levels, from lay workers to the highest leadership. No male clergy participate, though male worshippers may be permitted or tolerated depending on the individual priestess's sect and interpretation of doctrine.

Authority within the priesthood is distributed differently across regions, reflecting Jusannia's tolerance for diverse approaches. Some temples are led by a single high priestess who holds significant authority. Others operate as collectives where decisions are made communally. Some recognize formal ranks and hierarchy; others maintain loose associations based on mutual respect.

The priesthoods of different regions communicate through irregular councils and gatherings, but there is no central authority or high priestess who commands all temples. Instead, respected priestesses from major temples serve as informal arbiters when disputes arise.

The priesthood's internal discipline focuses on accountability to the women they serve and to each other. A priestess who harms other women, who betrays the sisterhood, or who abandons her duties is subject to judgment by her peers and potentially excommunication.

Conversion to Jusannia is meant to be natural and continuous — there is no dramatic entry point, though formal recognition exists.

Soft entry begins simply: attend a temple, participate in a gathering, learn from priestesses. Many women spend months or years engaged with the faith before ever formally converting. The faith welcomes participation without requiring immediate commitment.

Initiation typically occurs when a woman expresses desire to formally join and take vows. The ceremony varies by region but generally involves being recognized before the community as a sister-in-faith, making a vow to defend and support women, and receiving instruction in the faith's teachings and practices.

What makes an enemy rather than a convert: Deliberate betrayal of other women. Participation in structures that systematically harm women. Resistance to women's authority and self-determination. These are people the faith opposes directly and actively.

A devoted priestess of Jusannia is recognizable by her comportment and her choices.

Date: First full moon of the year.

On the Day of the Divine Feminine, the faith celebrates the power and value of femininity itself. Temples host festivals filled with food, entertainment, performances, and storytelling. The day emphasizes celebration rather than solemnity — women are encouraged to enjoy themselves, to display their strength and beauty, and to take pride in their identity.

Stories of heroic and influential women are shared and celebrated. The day reinforces the message that women's lives and contributions matter and are worthy of honor.

Date: Third full moon of the year.

The Fertility Rite is observed as a ceremony for women yearning for the blessing of motherhood. Women who seek Jusannia's favor for conception gather at the temple's privacy lodge. They engage in meditation, prayer, and ritual reflection. Then, if they wish, they return to their partners (of any gender) to complete the ritual through lovemaking intended to result in conception.

Children born in the following months are celebrated as specially blessed. Most are female, though the faith treats all outcomes as expressions of Jusannia's will.

Date: Sixth full moon of the year.

Jusannia's Day celebrates the birth of the goddess herself. Temples host their most lavish celebrations, and the entire community is invited to participate — not just women, but all people who support women's wellbeing. The day features storytelling about Jusannia and her priestesses, feasting, and the reaffirmation of commitments to women's welfare.

This is one of the rare times when male devotees are universally welcomed in temple spaces, though leadership and authority remain firmly with priestesses.

Date: New year's eve (beginning of the year).

The Day of the First Star initiates night-long vigils, stargazing, and prayers for guidance and growth in the year ahead. Women gather to contemplate what they wish to manifest and what growth they seek — both individually and collectively.

Date: Mid-year.

Observed mid-year as a time for introspection and reflection. Women gather to reflect on the year's progress, express gratitude to Jusannia for her guidance and support, and celebrate the growth and changes they have experienced.

When a woman under Jusannia's care gives birth, she is brought to the birthing center where the environment is controlled for comfort and safety. Warm water tubs or baths are used to ease labor. Midwives and priestesses provide continuous support, guidance, and encouragement.

After birth, the mother is moved to a private recovery room where she bonds with her newborn. Two doors lead out from this room — one internal (to the temple) and one external. Once the mother and child have bonded and the child has been fed, the external door is unlocked, allowing the father and extended family to meet the child.

Fifteenth Year Celebration

This ceremony marks a girl's transition into womanhood, typically around age fifteen for human girls (adjusted for other races' developmental rates). The temple hosts a celebration for the girl, her family, and friends. The ceremony acknowledges her new status as a woman, her connection to Jusannia, and her place in the community of women.

Depending on local custom, this may also be when families arrange marriages or celebrate the girl's eligibility for partnership.

Performed on the Day of the First Star, this ceremony involves creating a physical path laid out with small lights or candles. Participants walk the path while offering prayers, making personal commitments, and setting intentions for the coming year. The path symbolizes Jusannia's guidance of each woman's journey through the year ahead.

Conducted on the Day of the Second Star, this ceremony features a communal meal under the open sky. Participants gather in circles, sharing food and stories about Jusannia and her teachings. Prayers for continued guidance and support are offered collectively, reinforcing the bonds of sisterhood among the faithful.

During rituals and ceremonies, priestesses wear robes embroidered with Jusannia's 12-pointed stars and other symbols of life and femininity — spirals, flowers, crescents, representations of birthing and growth. The robes are colorful and vibrant, refusing the drabness often associated with religious vestments.

Worn by high priestesses during important ceremonies, this tiara is shaped like Jusannia's holy symbol (two overlapping 12-pointed stars). It signals the wearer's connection to Jusannia and her role as a spiritual leader and protector of women.

During communal rituals, all participants wear sashes made from cloth dyed in vibrant colors. The variety of colors symbolizes the diversity and unity of womanhood. Some sashes are passed down through generations; others are created fresh for each ceremony.

Worn by priestesses during formal ceremonies, these belts feature symbolic representations of the female reproductive cycle, life stages, and connections between women across generations.

Dennona was the earliest known devotee of Jusannia, a human woman whose life became foundational to the faith's understanding of itself. She authored the first holy text, a scroll titled "Deliverance," which established core teachings about childbirth, motherhood, and female power.

Dennona's teachings emphasized that Jusannia is not demanding or controlling; she offers women the power to make their own choices about their bodies and their lives. Her text became required study for all priestess initiates and remains central to the faith's theology today.

Shalva was a dwarven princess of great intelligence and ambition, but she lived in a kingdom where women were denied authority regardless of their abilities. Devastated by the systematic mistreatment of female dwarves in her society, she appealed to Jusannia for aid.

Jusannia granted her a unique gift: the ability to render her gender invisible to those around her while retaining her own self-knowledge. When the king sought a chief justice based on merit, Shalva competed and won, outshining all other candidates. Only when she took office and revealed her true identity did the king understand what had happened.

Rather than rescind his appointment (which would have dishonored his own judgment), the king allowed Shalva to serve. She used her position to reform laws regarding women's rights, property ownership, and authority, demonstrating that women could lead effectively when given the opportunity.

Shalva's legacy is the proof that women's exclusion from power is not natural or inevitable — it is a choice, and a poor one.

Gvanka was a red dragonborn of exceptional power and conviction, and she founded the first militant sect of Jusannia's priesthood. Incensed by what she perceived as the physical inferiority of women in a male-dominated world, Gvanka argued that women needed not just spiritual support but martial power.

She modified Jusannia's holy symbol, recoloring the stars from yellow to red, to represent the blood inherent in a woman's life — from menarche through childbirth to abuse suffered. Gvanka taught that this blood was not shame but power, and that women should be trained in combat and prepared to defend themselves and each other with force.

Gvanka's critique of Shalva was harsh: she believed Shalva's success through law and integration represented a failure of will, a capitulation to male systems rather than an assertion of female power. Her writings and teachings have attracted many oppressed women who find in her philosophy a path to active resistance rather than patient reform.

The mainstream priesthood is uncomfortable with Gvanka's militancy but has not been able to completely suppress her legacy, as her teachings genuinely inspire women who might otherwise feel helpless.

Endoan was born blind and lived in complete darkness for her first hundred years. Her mother was her closest companion, vividly describing the world to her, sparking in Endoan a deep longing to witness the wonders she had heard of.

When her mother died at a temple of Jusannia, she made one final request: that her daughter be granted the gift of sight. Touched by the mother's love and sacrifice, Jusannia blessed Endoan with a unique form of vision — the ability to perceive the afflictions and healing needs of those around her.

Endoan spent her life using this gift to heal both physical and spiritual wounds. She became known as a healer of exceptional ability and eventually penned "Rejuvenation," a text on healing practices that is integral to the priesthood's education. Her legacy is the understanding that those who have suffered and survived can become sources of extraordinary healing for others.

Elara was a renowned astronomer and priestess from centuries past who made groundbreaking observations about the movements of stars and their influence on life cycles — particularly women's cycles. She postulated that the stars mirrored Jusannia's divine order and life-giving power.

Her star charts and astronomical observations continue to be used by the priesthood in timing ceremonies and understanding the alignment of the cosmos with human life. She is remembered as a priestess who understood that the sacred manifests in the patterns of the cosmos, and that women's lives are connected to those cosmic patterns.

How they refer to themselves: the Justiciars or the Law-Keepers

The Shalvanists dedicate themselves to the meticulous examination and application of laws pertaining to women's rights. They work tirelessly to ensure that women have equal legal standing with men and that unjust laws are changed or circumvented.

They are identified by the addition of a gavel symbol beneath their holy stars. The Shalvanists are typically lawful in alignment and work through legal systems and councils to advance women's interests. Some critics argue they occasionally overstep, demanding special protections or carve-outs that exceed genuine equity. Supporters argue they are simply compensating for centuries of injustice.

How they refer to themselves: the Red-Blooded or the Militant Sisters

The Gvankanians embrace Gvanka's more aggressive approach to female empowerment. They respond rapidly to instances of women's oppression, often reacting with force when they perceive an imbalance against women.

They are identified by their modification of the holy symbol to red stars. The Gvankanians tend to be martial classes and often pursue multiclass paths that combine fighting prowess with priestess training. They are viewed with suspicion by other sects (do they pursue justice or vengeance?) and with fierce loyalty by women who have been victimized and find in the Gvankanians defenders who will actually fight.

A rare few priestesses follow both the Shalvanist and Gvankanian paths simultaneously (marked by a gavel beneath red stars), viewing themselves as combining legal and martial approaches to women's defense. They are often ostracized by mainstream practitioners but consider themselves the purest defenders of women's interests.

How they refer to themselves: the Star-Sisters or the Cycle-Keepers

This sect interprets Jusannia's dual-star symbol as representing the cycle of all life — birth and death, fertility and barrenness, growth and decay, joy and sorrow. They believe Jusannia guides women through all these stages equally, and that the faith should embrace the totality of female experience rather than focusing narrowly on fertility or motherhood.

The Twin Stars are known for their midnight ceremonies under the open sky, their emphasis on seasonal cycles and astronomical alignment, and their inclusive approach to women of all life stages — from menarche through post-fertility and beyond. They are sometimes called the most spiritually advanced of the sects, though others view their emphasis on accepting decline and death as insufficiently focused on actively defending women's interests.

Of the 32 holy relics derived from Dennona's remains, only 27 are currently held by the temples. The remaining five are lost or missing, and the Order remains committed to recovering them. These relics are circulated among temples, bestowing blessings during their tenure and providing physical connection to the faith's founder.

Shalva's original hammer, a tool of both craft and judgment, resides in the primary temple of the Shalvanist sect. The high priestess of that temple carries it on holy days, and Shalvanist priestesses sometimes use it in court proceedings as a symbol of the church's particular interest in a case involving women's rights.

Endoan wore eye patches during her non-healing hours to rest her miraculous vision. For the sighted, these patches function inversely — when worn, they grant the wearer the ability to perceive the needs of those seeking healing. They are kept at the high priestess's temple and accompany her on travels to communities in need.

These divine artifacts manifest to priestesses as two 12-pointed bright yellow orbs, conjoined like the holy symbol. Once a priestess is blessed with these orbs, she is typically tasked with a significant mission for the faith — facilitating a difficult birth, winning a crucial court battle, defeating a sex trafficking ring, or other major interventions.

Upon completion of the task, the orbs vanish, only to reappear when another priestess is in need of such blessing. The orbs are present and active, appearing and disappearing according to divine will rather than being kept in any fixed location.

This celestial globe, once utilized by Star Seer Elara in her astronomical pursuits, is a marvel of craftsmanship. Its surface is intricately engraved with constellations and stars, symbolizing Jusannia's life-giving power and the cosmic order that underlies existence. The sphere is frequently incorporated in ceremonies celebrating birth, growth, and renewal.

How they refer to themselves: the Healers or the Life-Bringers

While not a named sect in official doctrine, this informal grouping of priestesses has become increasingly distinct through their focus on comprehensive women's health — not just childbirth and maternal healing, but women's health across all life stages, including sexual health, reproductive choices, and aging.

They maintain detailed knowledge of herbalism, midwifery, and medicine, and they serve as primary healthcare providers in their communities. Many are identified by additional training marks or symbols beyond the basic priestess markings.

How they refer to themselves: the Supreme Order or the True Daughters

The Matriarchal Supremacists take the teachings about femininity and female power to an extreme, arguing that women are not just equal to men but superior, and that a just society is one in which men are subjugated or removed from positions of power entirely.

They argue that Jusannia's true message is female supremacy, not female equality. The orthodox faith rejects this: while Jusannia absolutely prioritizes women's lives and interests, the faith does not teach universal male inferiority or advocate for the systematic oppression of men.

How they refer to themselves: the Blessed Enterprise

This heretical sect believes that the divine aspects of motherhood and femininity can be commodified and sold. They produce and sell "blessed" fertility potions, birthing charms, women's health tonics, and other related items to desperate women seeking to become pregnant or to heal from childbirth complications.

This directly contradicts the taboo against commercial exploitation of Jusannia's teachings. The orthodox priesthood considers them corrupt and actively works to expose their practices as fraudulent and dangerous.

How they refer to themselves: the True-Seekers or the Hidden Order

Founded by a woman named Lysandra, this cult believes that Jusannia is not the ultimate Mother Goddess but a lesser deity serving a higher, unknown feminine power represented by a red star in the heavens.

They engage in secretive rituals aimed at contacting this higher power and deny the authority of the mainstream priesthood. Some scholars believe they are actually a corrupted offshoot of the Gvankanian Order that has become divorced from its original purpose.

How they refer to themselves: the True Path or the Restored

Led by a charismatic figure named Elowen, this cult claims to have discovered lost teachings of Dennona that were suppressed by the mainstream priesthood. According to them, Dennona's original vision included a far more interventionist role for women — not just as healers and protectors, but as arbiters of life and death.

They believe women should have the right and the sacred duty to execute those who harm women, to rule through force if necessary, and to reshape society entirely through women's will. This contradicts the mainstream teaching that Jusannia's focus is on protecting and supporting life, not on taking it.

(See: Cosmology/Physical Realms/The Shattered Domain)