Gyronna

Gyronna

(Deity)

Titles

The Angry Hag, Hag Queen

Adjective

Gyronnan

Realm

Muravelara, Outer Rifts

Alignment

Chaotic evil

Areas of Concern

Hatred
Extortion
Spite

Worshipers

Fallen or destitute women, called Gyronnans

Edicts

Expose hypocrisy in others, make others miserable, demand bribes to spare others from your torments

Anathema

Allow others to slight you without retaliation, seek the approval of society, forgive those who have wronged you

Follower Alignments (1E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (1E)

Chaos, Destruction, Evil, Madness

Subdomains (1E)

Demon, Insanity, Nightmare, Rage

Follower Alignments (2E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (2E)

Ambition, nightmares, pain, zeal

Favored Weapon

Dagger

Symbol

Single bloodshot eye

Sacred Animal

Black cat

Sacred Colors

Pink, white

Images of Gyronna

Source: Inner Sea Faiths, pg(s). 52–57 (1E)
Gods & Magic, pg(s). 130–131 (2E)

Gyronna was the goddess of hags, as well of unabashed hatred and spite. She was known as the Hag Queen or the Angry Hag. Those who followed her valued wreaking pain and vengeance above all else. While she acted as a patron to mortal women outcast by society, she was no benevolent protector. Gyronna offered no comfort, only seething thoughts of revenge, spreading of misery, and the death of the hypocrites that society guards.

History

Few sources agree on Gyronna's origin and her cults quietly hunt down anyone who investigates it. Common theories propose that she was once a very powerful fey of the First World who crossed a powerful rival, such as Baba Yaga, and was left deformed and hateful; or that she was a trio of bickering mortal sisters who suffered the same fate and combined into a single, hateful whole. Regardless of the truth, Gyronna's faithful have existed since before the death of Aroden.

According to Amenopheus, after the death of Gorum in 4724 AR, Nethys and Thoth battled over a source of power in the Inner Sea north of Sothis. Nethys emerged as the victor and cast Thoth away from Golarion. A whirlpool appeared at the site of the battle, and a coven of the hag goddesses Gyronna, Mestama, and Alazhra entered it to begin performing a ritual of unknown purpose. This spurred the Osirian deities Ra, Horus, Anubis, Osiris, Maat, and Isis to rise in opposition of them, but the old gods of Osirion were unable to disrupt the ritual. However, Gyronna briefly stuttered while reciting the ritual, an error that offered enough of a chance for the Osirian deities to intervene. All nine deities vanished in a flash, their fates unknown, and prayers to Osirion's have since gone unanswered.

Realm

Gyronna claimed many realms as her own, including the Abyssal realm of Muravelara, a wooded hunting ground. Muravelara is an horrific forest with a bloodshot-red moon, stalked by giant toads and feral cats, alongside night hags and female vrocks. Gyronna's hags and petitioners enjoyed trapping mortals and trespassers for drawn-out disembowelments and sacrifices, only to be regenerated and tortured again and again until being burned alive as torches during ceremonies to the Angry Hag.

Appearance

Gyronna's appearance constantly shifted, even mid-conversation, with only one massive bloodshot right eye remaining constant. At times she variously appeared vibrantly young, beautiful, withered, dead, jubilant, weeping, or raging. Artwork typically depicted her as an old crone with tattered clothing and messy ink-black or snow-white hair.

Church of Gyronna

A cleric of Gyronna.

Gyronna was not a popular deity, as many feared her and her clergy, which was entirely female. These were usually castoffs of society: disfigured prostitutes, wives caught in adultery, or pregnant teenagers disowned by their parents. Priestesses were renowned for their ability to foster hatred and turn friends against each other, but they were not above simply killing someone in cold blood if it betters suited their purpose. Her priestesses were also known to swap young babies for hideous monstrous creatures birthed from their own womb.

The priesthood had no canon, book of scripture, or temples. They instead favored small shrines of simple piled stones. Some of these piles had cat's-eye gemstones on top or a painted representation of one, from which it was rumored that Gyronna herself could peer and curse defilers of the shrine. Later canon claims that Gyronnans did have religious texts: black ledgers filled with blackmail material, identities of fellow zealots, lists of enemies and the myriad wrongs they have committed. The most well known of these ledgers was the Black Ledger of Macy Swain, which contained the writings of a Gyronnan witch. Macy Swain's hatred was so legendary, even as she was executed via poison, hanging, disembowelling, drowning, beheading, and finally burial, she still screamed curses at her accusers all the while.

Organizations

The Black Sisters of Gyronna are blamed for causing the downfall of Heibarr in the River Kingdoms. The ruins of the town became a site of pilgrimage for some priestesses.

Relationships

Gyronna despised most other deities and busied herself with plotting their downfalls, enjoying tormenting and blackmailing the other gods' worshippers. In particular, she utterly despised the demon lord Mestama. The Lord of Deception and the Angry Hag both claimed that they were the true goddess of hags, causing the two to compete for followers. She also hated Pharasma for taking souls that Gyronna perceived as being rightfully hers.

However, the Angry Hag learned to tolerate Hanspur, another god popular in the River Kingdoms and among the Kellid. The Water Rat's followers were expected to allow followers of the Angry Hag safe passage and shelter along the waterways, while Gyronnans spared Hanspurites their usual violence and extortions. Lamashtu also saw Gyronna as a kindred spirit, and there was occasional overlap between the human worshipers of both gods.

References

Paizo published a major article about Gyronna in Inner Sea Faiths.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.