Helios Matriarch
Rosa Phireth squinted against the sun's glare as it crept over the colorful awning that covered the dais in Matriarchs' Square. The square was crowded with thousands of pilgrims who had come to hear the blessings of the Helios Matriarch. Cardinal Vittoria opened the service with a series of litanies, reciting invocations and supplications to Helios, with the echo of a thousand voices responding as one.
The sermon continued throughout the morning. As the sun reached its zenith and the time for Rosa's blessings approached, it was interrupted by a cry from the crowd.
“Bless the Brood Mother Yrsiss, true goddess of the Gloridax!”
The congregation let out a collective gasp. Halberdiers moved from their positions around the square as they sought out the interloper.
Rosa stepped to the edge of the dais, her gaze searching the upturned faces for the one that had interrupted her cardinal.
Near the center of the congregation, a brief scuffle ensued, and the crowd parted as a pair of halberdiers dragged an elderly dragonborn forward and dumped him on the cobbles before the dais.
She stooped to get a better look at him, and the elderly dragonborn traced a pagan ward across his chest.
“Yrsiss protect me.” His voice wavered under Rosa's gaze.
Shocked whispers among the congregation turned to anger and outrage. Halberdiers created a tight line as the crowd surged toward the dais. Rosa held up her hand, and they stopped. Silence washed over them.
“The dragonborn are free to choose our own path in this world,” Rosa said. She did not shout, but her words carried across the square. “But this choice must be made freely. No god or goddess should force their will upon their disciples. Helios teaches us this, and he knows our hearts like no other.” She narrowed her eyes at the elderly dragonborn. “He knows your heart, as well. If you follow Yrsiss without compulsion, Helios will not stop you. But if the Brood Mother has bewitched you, he'll turn her irreverence against her.” She lifted Ataraxia, the Dragon Warden Staff, to the sky before lowering it before him. “Place your hand on Ataraxia. Let the light of the Sun God reveal the truth.”
The dragonborn stiffened and rose to his feet, chin held high as he glared at Rosa. “Yrsiss protects me. She knows the truth of my heart.”
He touched the end of Rosa's staff. With unmoving lips, she breathed a word. A sharp crack resounded, and the elderly dragonsborn was consumed in a flaming pillar. The flames rose into the sky, and within seconds, nothing was left of him but ash. Screams and wails rippled through the onlookers.
Rosa lifted her gaze to the crowd. “Helios has spoken. Always trust in him to protect you from the blasphemous.” At five-hundred and ninety-three years old, Rosa Phireth was the youngest matriarch selected by the other cardinals to head the Church of Helios. Now, almost a century later, she has greatly increased the church's influence within the Gloridax Empire and developed a close friendship and bond with the Dragonach Shogun, head of the empire's mighty Dragonsguard.
Rosa carries Ataraxia, the Dragon Warden Staff. According to scripture, Ataraxia was gifted to the church's first Matriarch by Helios, the Sun God of Dragons, himself. The staff has the power to bend time to the will of its wielder.