Myrmidia

Myrmidia is the Goddess of War, and her worship has spread into the Empire from the southern Old World nations of Tilea and Estalia. She is a goddess from the classical age, depicted as the daughter of Verena and Morr, and is said to have been given to mortal parents as a child and then grew into a maiden warrior who rallied the people of both lands against all enemies. Myrmidia is commonly portrayed as a tall, well-proportioned young woman armed and equipped in the style of the soldiers of the southern Old World. She can also take the form of an eagle. Her symbols are the spear and the shield as well as a sun with a female, often smiling benevolently face upon it. Myrmida is also often associated with lions, and so many depictions show some of the great beasts resting at her feet. A stylised lion head with a giant mane looks quite similar to her sun symbol.

Followers
Where Ulric stands for strength of combat and the fury of battle, Myrmidia stands for the art and science of war, and she is venerated mostly by professional soldiers and strategists.

While worship of Myrmidia in the Empire is overshadowed by the cults of Sigmar and Ulric, she is worshipped with fanatical devotion in Tilea and Estalia, where people invoke her name as a ward against everything from illness to death at the hands of Dark Elf Corsairs.

Myrmidia is popular with both common soliders and mercenaries as well as their officers. Many Tilean mercenary companies adorn their banners with a portrait of hers (often using the Mona Licca or a portrait of Gossippa Lotta as inspiration) or one of her symbols. Her greatest temple is located in Magritta in the lands of Estalia, where she is also worshipped as the Goddess of Wisdom. The Great Book of Wisdom which is stored there was at one time the target of an assault by the Necrarch Nourgul the Black. The Vampire Count led a bloody campagin just to reach it, only to be eviscerated into dust when he touched the tome. Her main temple also houses the Archecclesiastium, a kind of ruling council of her cult whom all other temples have to answer to.

Additional temples are found in nearly every Tilean and Estalian city and in some cities in the south of Bretonnia and The Empire, such as Talabheim or Nuln. Smaller shrines are found everywhere Tilean mercenaries are in high demand. The architecture of Myrmidia's temples usually has an Estalian or Tilean style. They consist of quadratic or rectangular halls with high and pointy roofs. Rich mosaics of giant weapons or shields are usually adorning the outside of her temples, while real weapons and shields hang on the inner walls. Shrines are often miniature versions of these temples with statues of the goddess or sculptures of piled weapons, shields and armour.

Priests of Myrmidia traditionally wear white robes. They are held in high regard by generals and other army leaders for being nearly unmatched tacticians.

Orders
During fighting around a temple dedicated to Myrmidia in the town of Magritta, she is said to have intervened by causing an earthquake which toppled a large bronze statue on top of the temple. The falling statue landed directly on the enemy general, causing the Arabian forces to flee, and saving a group of Imperial knights from certain doom. Upon returning to the Empire, the veterans of that battle founded the Order of the Blazing Sun and built a shrine to Myrmidia in the heart of Talabheim.
 * Myrmidia is the patron god of the Knights of the Blazing Sun, an order of templars who were formed after a battle during the Estalian wars against Araby.

Trivia
that today form the Empire, as researcher Frobius of Nuln declared after finding an ancient relic of the Goddess near Wustburg.
 * In Tilea, Myrmida is also venerated as the patron of science and the fine arts.
 * Apparently, Myrmida was also worshipped by barbarians in areas