Loviatar

Loviatar, also known as The Maiden of Pain and The Willing Whip, was the evil goddess of agony and was both queen and servant to the greater god Bane.

Personality
Loviatar was a cold-hearted bully, calculating and despotic; she was the master of inflicting physical and psychological suffering and her portfolio included pain, hurt, and torture.

Relationships
Once a follower of Bhaal, Loviatar was affiliated with Malar and Talona and had fallen under the sway of Shar, though the return of Bane changed this, as she once again served as his consort. Loviatar's portfolio conflicted most with that of Ilmater, because Loviatar despised those who helped others. She also hated Eldath and Lliira for offering rewards without any suffering to achieve them.

Symbol
Her symbol was a nine-stranded whip, with barbed strands.

Worshipers
Bringing pain and suffering was the aim of all Loviatans, either through physical torture or sometimes more subtly and psychologically. Beauty, intelligence, and acting were useful attributes of a Loviatan, but the ability to fully understand someone was the best skill a Loviatan could acquire, as knowing someone fully could help a Loviatan inflict maximum pain, one way or another. Loviatar's followers were encouraged to wipe Ilmater's followers from the face of the Realms.

Loviatans often engaged in self-flagellation, often in the morning when praying for spells. They celebrated each season with the Rite of Pain and Purity, a ritual that involved followers dancing on glass, thorns, or barbed-wire while being whipped by higher-level Loviatans. A smaller ritual occurring every twelve days involved followers passing their bodies through the flames of candles.

During warfare, priestesses of Loviatar scourged their naked shoulders or tore their cheeks with their nails to evoke magic.

"Pain" was the title given to a high-level Loviatan cleric.

The faith of Loviatar was the state religion in the country of Dambrath. The Crinti priestesses there had their own secret religious language, known as the "Maiden's Tongue".

Orders

 * Disciples of the White Rod: These monks of the faith of Loviatar were named in honor of the token granted to their founder by Loviatar and held in the home abbey near Calimport as a relic.

Background
Loviatar is named for Loviatar, a Finnish goddess of death and pestilence of the same name, originally appearing in the 1-edition Deities & Demigods.