Infobox

São Tomé Marto

Saint of Hot Waters

Species	Human
Born	3'3163
	Sagacidade, Iberys
Died	3'3251
	Conexão, Iberys

São Tomé, a sainted high priest, served as the mortal representative of the goddess Bástea at her primary temple in the mountain village of Conexão. He held this post for over fifty years, having been given the position in 3'3199 when he was only 36 years old - the youngest person to ascend to High Priest in the temple until his successor, Adro Novo-Caelão.

Tomé was born in Sagacidade to a family of learned scholars. He entered the academy at the age of 16 and studied theology of the Time of Chaos. As his masters thesis, he decided to devote himself fully to a temple for a decade and record the process of indoctrination. He chose to serve Bástea almost arbitrarily, and relocated to Conexão to enlist in the monastic life. During his second year of service, he nearly drown in one of the sacred springs of The Western Pools, only to be saved by the Goddess. After this incident, he abandoned his academic studies and devoted himself fully to the religious order.

Under his leadership as High Priest, he restored the sacred springs to their former glory, devoting much of his time to fundraising in Luavila and directing labor into landscaping the famous steam gardens and building the temple of the Great Pool.

Highly attuned to the whims of the Goddess, he headed a campaign to recruit promising young priests that were hand selected to serve. Though many promising members of the clergy were recruited during this time, the most devoted of these was Adeline das Flores, who was promoted to the priestess of The Western Pools when she was only 16. Tomé saw her as the daughter he never had, and believed she would carry the future of the temple on her shoulders.

When the priestess came to him in 3'3237 seeking council about a prophetic dream that troubled her, he knew that she would soon walk a path that would lead her outside the temple. This suspicion was confirmed when, after a meeting with a young poet, she again came to his chamber to ask if she should heed destiny's call. In spite of his devotion to the Goddess, he also respected her autonomy and encouraged her to follow the path her heart called her to walk. She left monastic service to join the Fellowship of the Seven Petals, but became the priestess of her own temple in the House of Blossoms - a blessing he immediately recognized as Bástea's will.

Through Adeline, he was tangentially involved with the fellowship, and was a frequent guest of the House until his death in 3'3251. Adeline performed the passing ritual and returned to Conexão to lead the temple in the wake of this loss. She was surprised to find that Tomé had named her as his successor until the Goddess appointed a permanent replacement for the office of High Priest. This position was later filled by a son of the Fellowship, who walked away from his responsibilities to the family to serve the Goddess. Adeline insists that Tomé would have seen the humor in this cyclical exchange.

Tomé was sainted by the high council of Bástea when he was 60 years old, and his body was interred in the holy crypt of Her temple. He remains a prominent legendary figure in the Valley, even to this day. A statue in his honor was erected in the steam gardens of the Western Pool, overlooking the spring in which he nearly drowned, reminding all the devout that the Goddess watches over all of us.