Sarenrae

Sarenrae, also known as Raei, the Dawnflower and the Everlight, is a goddess of redemption, healing, and temperance. Pike Trickfoot is a cleric of Sarenrae, who redeemed the Trickfoot family line.

Personality
Although Sarenrae shares influence over certain domains with other gods, she is neither jealous nor territorial. She could expand her influence by taking a more interventionist role in mortal affairs, thereby accumulating more followers, but she remains somewhat aloof from the world. For example, she sent visions to Pike in the Underdark and even manifested an avatar of Pike to aid Vox Machina in Whitestone, but Pike is rather private and non-proselytic about her devotion to Sarenrae. Sarenrae could have chosen another worshipper that would have praised her before the masses and encouraged the building of temples, but Pike simply completed Sarenrae's objectives and moved on.

Sarenrae is also willing to forgive and redeem the transgressions of her followers. When Pike unnecessarily slit the throat of an unconscious duergar foe with her Mace of Disruption in Emberhold, her holy symbol of Sarenrae cracked, and her connection to Sarenrae's divine energy became strained. However, when Pike later sought to atone for her cruelty, Sarenrae not only restored the connection but empowered her with stronger divine energy (completely healing Vax'ildan's lava-damaged foot) and chose her for more important tasks in the future (including the Whitestone Rebellion and pursuit of Vestiges of the Divergence).

Background
Sarenrae is a minor deity with spheres of influence that overlap some of those of more influential deities, such as Pelor with his Sun and Healing domains. Her belief that the corrupt can be redeemed led to a betrayal by the Lord of the Hells that left most of her following decimated in the Calamity. After the Divergence, Sarenrae's influence diminished even more, with her ancient temple in Vasselheim falling to ruin.

Sarenrae's faith has only recently been rediscovered. Her holy days have been long forgotten, and her followers have yet to reach a consensus on how and when to celebrate her festival.

For followers of Sarenrae, religious activity and worship is mostly private and passed down through tradition rather than centralized at temples and institutionally trained.

Pike spend six hours out of a couple of days in the temple of Sarenrae, to go in a silent prayer and reach out to her, reconnect and to tune in and apologize and confess.

Returning to that place, is a very solemn experience, after her recent journeys and near brushes with death. There’s a part of pike that just feels internally cold. She returned there because of her fractured connection with Sarenrae since she delved into the Underdark and tapped into her darker side since traveling abroad on the ship.

After an intense communion with Sarenrae, she feels all of the steps and missteps that she has gone through over the past six or seven months, trying to find her path, rediscovering herself, and explaining to Sarenrae that the love never left and that this was all with the ultimate purpose of achieving her ultimate purpose as her instrument, and Pike wishes not to cross that again, and if there’s any way to redeem herself, to let it be known.

At the end of that, Pike feels the thread reconnect, the warmth fills her, and the sweat stops as her entire body seems to be humming with energy. For a brief second in Pike sees Sarenrae smiling at her as she reaches down and touches the side of Pike's cheek and says, “Be forthright. Be grand. Burn bright and beautiful, and I shall always be at your side.” And with that, she releases Pike's cheek and vanishes.

In the battle with Vorugal, Pike steps out and uses Divine Intervention, praying to Sarenrae for assistance, and succeeds. Sarenrae's hand comes down and punches Vorugal out of the sky, knocking him to the ground.

When Pike is affected by Feeblemind she enters the anti-magic field from the orb in Whitestone, to be able to pray to Sarenrae for guidance. Sarenrae grants her a vision of the world beyond the orb: a desolate, gray landscape with a single obsidian tower at its center.

When Pike tries to contact Sarenrae, she kneels at an altar to pray. She is rewarded with a vision of the goddess, who tells her to come visit and gives her a tuning fork attuned to the plane of Elysium.

After Vox Machina arrive on the Island of Renewal. Only Pike and Scanlan are able to enter the crystal palace where they see from the flames a vision of Sarenrae, who speaks to both of them. They tell her that they have fought Vecna, and that he is seeking to ascend to godhood, much the same way as the Raven Queen once did.

Sarenrae responds that the Ritual of Seeding, used previously by the mortal who became the Raven Queen, is forbidden knowledge that has been sealed for eternity by Ioun. However, if Vecna is indeed able to complete the ritual and ascend, it will fall on Vox Machina to seal him away. She recommends that they visit Pelor to learn how to do such a thing.

Sarenrae thanks Pike for her role in restoring worship at her temple, and shows her how the pearl-like granules on the beach are actually the souls of worshippers come to live with her. As a parting gift, she grants Pike the Blessing of the Everlight.

After a bit more discussion, during which Pike and Vex give back the pearls they had taken from the beach, Sarenrae offers to transport them to Pelor's realm. With a flash, they find themselves in an orchard, no longer on the Island of Renewal.

Pike calls on Sarenrae in Pandemonium to grapple a dust titan. It didn’t last very long, but long enough, assuring that Vox Machina avoided taking three slam attacks and possible an engulfing.

Known Followers

 * Pike Trickfoot: A member of Vox Machina and devout member of Sarenrae's clergy, following in her great-great-grandfather Wilhand's footsteps. Led the effort to restore the Temple of Renewal.
 * Wilhand Trickfoot: Coming from a long line of thieves, Wilhand's life (and the destiny of the Trickfoot family line) changed forever when Sarenrae came to Wilhand in his dreams and redeemed him.
 * Father Tristan: Head cleric of the Temple of Sarenrae in Emon.
 * Gesyra: A painter who met Pike at the newly-discovered Temple of Renewal, accompanied by the only two other followers of Sarenrae she knew in Vasselheim: a blond young man in simple clothes and an older gnome with a crutch.
 * Acolyte Sheila: Helped Pike restore the Temple of Renewal and became one of the first acolytes there.
 * Acolyte Vincent Clor: Keeper of knowledge and scripture at the Temple of Renewal.

Trivia

 * Although most of the primary deities in the Critical Role campaign are from the Dawn War pantheon, Sarenrae was imported into the fifth edition D&D game from the cast's original Pathfinder game so Ashley Johnson wouldn't have to switch deities.
 * Sarenrae punched Vorugal to the ground when Pike used Divine Intervention during Vox Machina's battle with the ancient white dragon.
 * Sarenrae is never mentioned by name in the Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, as she is considered Product Identity of Paizo under the Open Game License. Instead, she is known exclusively by her title, The Everlight. She is also renamed Raei in the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, as the book was published by Wizards of the Coast.
 * In Pathfinder, Sarenrae is a former angel and the niece of Asmodeus, the Lord of the Nine Hells, but it is unknown if this is true in Exandria.