Nophica

Nophica (pron. No-fee-kah) is one of the Twelve and the matron deity of Gridania. She is known as the Matron, the Tender of Soils, and the Tender of Harvests.

Early History
Nophica was born to Thaliak and Azeyma, and is the younger sister of Llymlaen. In Her youth, She was ever lonesome; to fill the vacancy, She bent Her divine power to the creation of playmates, which became the living things of Eorzea. Those of Gridania hold that among these dear playmates were the elementals.

Alas, many of Her creations would not long survive the birth of Halone. The Fury, traveling with Oschon, wished to try Her strength, and fell upon every living thing She encountered--and showed no mercy, slaying them all. Nophica, horrified that Her beloved creatures must now wander the void alone instead of rejoicing with Her in the world, hastened to stop Halone. The Matron challenged the Fury to fight Her, but Her challenge was rebuffed and ignored.

Oschon, thinking Himself responsible for the rift between the two, caused a volcano to erupt, and from the flowing lava created Nald'thal, who would tend to the dead and usher them into an afterlife. The two goddesses, Their grievance now moot, came to an uneasy truce, which continues to this day.

Depiction and Worship
Nophica is often depicted in art as a rejoicing, jovial farmer woman, carrying a steel scythe and sometimes an armful of nature's bounty. Her symbol is a seedling or a leaf.

While Nophica has devotees in all places, as most of the Twelve have, Her worship is most prominent in the city-state of Gridania. It may seem to be otherwise, as reverence and placating the elementals is the primary focus of Her priests, but it is, in fact, intended as true worship of Nophica, for they believe the elementals are among Her early creations. In Old Gridania can be found Her altar, which stands before Stillglade Fane; there, regular festivals are held, and offerings of grain, fruit, meat, and fish made to Her and the elementals. It is written that Nophica is a ruler over the Heaven of Earth, which was formed when She planted a tree, and Her grandfather Althyk bent time that it might grow suddenly and abundantly. Under its boughs rest farmers, naturalists, historians, and archaeologists. Its leaves, as they fall, drift into the Hell of Earth, and their collective weight eternally crushes liars, thieves, defilers of nature, and corrupters of history.

The Hymn of Nophica runs as follows: Sun's sweet smile and wind's cool breath, Both of these I send thee, To ripe thy fruit and spread thy seed, And nourish those that tend thee. She gives Her name to the eleventh moon of the year. Nophica's Wells in Western Thanalan and the Matron's Lethe in the Central Shroud are both named for Her as well, as is Matron's Mistletoe--named for Her as it appears to embrace the tree on which it grows.

Mark of Nophica
The Mark of Nophica, appropriately, can be found on the Skyserpent's Egg, a great stone embedded atop the entrance to the Stillglade Fane. It is believed that the stone was cast down from the heavens by the Matron Herself.