Priestess

Priestess (女神官) is the main female protagonist of the Goblin Slayer series.

After Goblin Slayer saves her life during her first adventure, she becomes the first member of his party and frequently accompanies him during adventures.

Appearance
Priestess is a young woman with long blond hair and blue eyes. She is usually seen wearing white robes over blue garbs, both laced with golden outlines and wielding a golden-colored staff decorated with blue jewels. Unseen, during adventures she also wears protective chainmail under her garb.

Personality
Priestess is a kind and empathic person who has no problems making new friends, although she can be rather shy at first. She is always noted by others to be frail and delicate-looking, and is rather prone to shedding tears and going red-faced when troubled; this usually happens whenever Goblin Slayer is being callous. Still, she can and does maintain her assertiveness while tearing up all the same.

However, her passive behavior can render her emotionally vulnerable to extreme life-threatening situations. When her first party was slaughtered during her first adventure, she broke down and was too frightened to move. Priestess reacted the same way when when her current party members were about to meet the same fate in Water Town's catacombs.

Occasionally, she has shown confusion and anxiety over the way her miracles were being used under the instructions of Goblin Slayer, who makes full use of its effectiveness in brutal tactics. This only gets worse when she returns to the temple and receives more miracles, making her wonder why the Earth Mother would grant her these protective miracles if they were being used in such a contradictory manner.

Background
Priestess was an orphan who was raised in a temple into the priesthood along with other orphans. Since coming of age, she decided to leave the temple and help adventurers in need.

Year One Volume 1
As a young acolyte, she was busy washing bandages for injured adventurers when she noticed a fatigued adventurer during a hectic day at the temple. Recalling the precepts of the Earth Mother, the acolyte cast a healing miracle on the adventurer, but became disoriented as a result.

Goblin Slayer Volume 1
Priestess first appeared as a newly registered Porcelain rank adventurer. She agreed to join three other newbies in eradicating a goblin nest. After her first goblin hunt almost turned into a near total party kill, she was saved by Goblin Slayer and joined him on his quests. Despite the events of her first adventure, she still wished to be an adventurer and to help her party however she can. As she fought alongside Goblin Slayer throughout the story, she learned how to use miracles alternatively, gained new miracles, and increased her ability to survive under his tutelage. After defeating an ogre, she was promoted to Obsidian rank.

Goblin Slayer Volume 2
The party members took Goblin Slayer on a quest to exterminate goblins beneath Water Town, while also meeting the legendary Sword Maiden. While bathing in the Temple of Law with Sword Maiden, Priestess was told that Goblin Slayer would disappear one day. After she saw the numerous scars riddled across Sword Maiden's body, Priestess deduced that Sword Maiden knew about the true threat that goblins represent.

As she and the rest of the party ventured into the sewers again, Priestess discovered in a room what appeared to be an adventurer in chains. However, upon discovering that the adventurer was long deceased, they were suddenly locked in by goblins. Shortly after they managed to avoid being poisoned by the subsequent toxic gas, Priestess cast Protection in front of the door to prepare for their imminent battle with the goblins. Her spell managed to hold through the initial stages of the battle, but once Goblin Slayer was dealt a major blow by a goblin champion, Protection wore off. As the rest of her party became overwhelmed, Priestess cried in anguish as the goblin champion bit and tore off a portion of flesh from her arm. Fortunately, Goblin Slayer recovered just in time rescue her by strangling the goblin champion, which also allowed the party members to push back the goblins. On the ground, Priestess apologized, but Goblin Slayer assured her that these types of situations happen sometimes, before he collapsed.

Priestess and Goblin Slayer recovered from their injuries sleeping together as part of the Resurrection spell. She briefly panicked and covered herself with a blanket after seeing that Goblin Slayer woke up, but calmed down after he told her that there was no scar on her arm. After they met up with the rest of the party, Priestess reminded Goblin Slayer to oblige on their promise to have a meal together after they got back. That evening, the two went out and ate ice cream, while also picking up armor Goblin Slayer ordered.

Priestess and the party then went back into the catacombs down a secret staircase that Goblin Slayer unintentionally uncovered. There, they found a gate mirror and confronted its guardian; right before Goblin Slayer set off a dust explosion to kill it, Priestess cast Protection to shield the party from the blast. When the goblins came back, she helped Lizard Priest pull off the mirror before escaping with the rest of the group.

Goblin Slayer Volume 3
During the Harvest Festival, Priestess wore special garb to recite the Call God miracle. When Goblin Slayer told her and the rest of the party that goblins were approaching from the east and west, she and High Elf Archer fought the goblins on one side while the rest fought them on the other.

When the party fought Dark Elf, Priestess used Holy Light to blind him, allowing Goblin Slayer to wound him with a poisoned blade before finally killing him.

Goblin Slayer Volume 5
As Goblin Slayer had taken a quest to rescue a noblewoman from goblins, Priestess and the rest of the party accompanied him. On their way north to the mountain village, Priestess figured that since the harvest was over, the village storehouses would be full of resources for the goblins to steal. The party arrived at the village currently under siege, where Priestess kept watch of Goblin Slayer's surroundings and supported him with her miracles. After the party saved the village, Priestess relaxed in a hot spring along with High Elf Archer and the two talked about being a human and elf. The party regroups shortly after and decides to storm the goblin nest further north.

Once the party reaches the goblin nest, Priestess took the initiative by casting Holy Light, allowing the party to kill the blinded goblins with ease. High Elf Archer suffers an arrow to the thigh however, forcing Priestess and the rest of the party to perform a painful extraction of the arrowhead. After further exploration of the area, Priestess is the first to find the missing noblewoman. Priestess points out the mark of the green moon had been burned on the nape of the noblewoman's neck, identifying it as the symbol of the God of Wisdom. This information makes Priestess and Goblin Slayer realize that their opponent was a goblin paladin.

As part of a plan to infiltrate the paladin's nest, Priestess along with High Elf Archer and Noble Fencer are disguised as captives of the Evil Sect inside a cage. Priestess tries to bond with Noble Fencer by giving her a Breath ring for warmth, but puts it on for her after Noble Fencer proves to be stubborn. Priestess is harassed by the goblin escorting them, which provokes Noble Fencer into killing the goblin. When High Elf Archer becomes furious at Noble Fencer's lack of control, Priestess and the others get her to calm down. The party frees the captives inside the fortress, before destroying the goblins' equipment stored in the armory.

The party watches the goblin's ceremony in the central courtyard, but their cover is blown when the goblin paladin's magic activates the mark on Noble Fencer's neck and causes her to scream in pain. Priestess, Goblin Slayer and Noble Fencer act to keep the goblins busy while the rest of the party goes to free the prisoners. As soon as the goblin paladin confronts them, Priestess and Noble Fencer are taken by Goblin Slayer down the fortress wall. The paladin and the goblins pursue the regrouped adventurers with his army, but Goblin Slayer manages to kill the paladin in a duel and Noble Fencer uses a Lightning spell on the mountain to create an avalanche that swallowed the goblins. Immediately, Priestess casts Protection to shield the party and the prisoners from the snow.

The party later returns to the frontier town to celebrate the new year. During the festivities, Priestess promises to write Noble Fencer plenty of letters, and the latter promises to do the same. She finds Goblin Slayer keeping guard outside the frontier town, and scolds him for prioritizing goblin slaying over enjoying the festivities with everyone else. To her surprise however, Goblin Slayer agrees, though he admits celebrating wasn't part of who he was. After Priestess prepares a stew pot, Goblin Slayer tells her he looks forward to another year of adventuring with her.

Goblin Slayer Volume 6
Having just started her second year of adventuring, Priestess was ecstatic to receive a promotion referral to Steel. To her disappointment, however, Priestess was unable to pass for promotion. Her party members figured that the Adventurer's Guild thought she was piggybacking on a party of silver-ranked adventurers, so they suggested that Priestess adventure with another Porcelain or Obsidian. Overhearing their conversation, Wizard Boy slandered Priestess for her failure (though he himself was only a day old Porcelain himself) and demeaned the role of support for hiding in the back, which earned him the ire of most every surrounding adventurer, specifically other surrounding clerics. Female Knight, who decided to intervene, proposed that he slay some goblins on the condition that Priestess would lead him. During an adventure into a goblin-infested mausoleum however, Wizard Boy refused to heed Priestess' directions and had to be rescued by Goblin Slayer's party. Unable to come up with an action plan of her own, she was forced to hand leadership back to Goblin Slayer for the time being. When the party feasted after completing the quest, Priestess was unsettled after learning Wizard was Wizard Boy's older sister.

Once her fellow rookies finished training with Spearman and Female Knight, Priestess arrived to hand them refreshments. Making small talk with Wizard Boy, Priestess mentioned she knew a wizard who wanted to slay dragons; when Wizard Boy deemed that goal would be nothing more than a dream, Priestess responded that dreams didn't have to be anything more than what they were. Some time later, while eating with Lizard Priest, Priestess asked Rhea Fighter to adventure with her, which the latter accepted.

When the goblins attacked the training grounds three days later, Priestess figured the goblins were also hunting the rookies who did not stay for night training. As a result, Priestess took Wizard Boy, Apprentice Cleric, Rookie Warrior and Rhea Fighter with her to rescue the rookies, while her party and other silver-ranked adventurers dealt with the goblins. Priestess used her miracles to stave off goblins so that the others could rescue the injured rookies, before letting Wizard Boy deter them using his spell. After the battle was won, her accomplishments enabled her to be promoted to Steel. Recalling her experiences since her first goblin-slaying quest, Priestess questioned if she was actually strong enough for her promotion.

Goblin Slayer Volume 7
Priestess, the party along with Guild Girl and Cow Girl were invited by High Elf Archer to her sister's wedding. Before they went, the party killed some goblins in a church, recovered several clay tablets and rescued the surviving nuns; with her new miracle Purify, Priestess cleaned off the dirt, blood and gore from the nuns' clothes. Once the tablets were delivered to Water Town, the party set sail on a raft to the elves' home. When they were soon attacked from the banks by goblin riders, Priestess used Purify to clear the river of debris the goblins had tossed in.

After she and the group were escorted to the elf forest, Priestess bathed in an underground waterfall with Cow Girl and Guild Girl. When Mokele Mubenbe attacked, Priestess healed the beast of its injuries after the party managed to knock it unconscious and kill the goblins riding it.

As Priestess and the party later set sail toward the goblin hideout, she vomited in disgust after they discovered a forest of corpses impaled on sticks. When the party sneaked into the goblins' fortress and picked up the sound of a person's voice, Priestess urged the adventurers to head towards the source in case the person was a captive. Unfortunately, they made their way there only to find the remains of an adventurer crushed under a millstone, which unnerved Priestess once more. When the adventurers took a moment to rest, Priestess struggled to lay still.

When they finally battled the goblins and their shaman leader and to Priestess' horror, most of the party were incapacitated due to the shaman casting Sleep Cloud. Acting upon pure instinct, Priestess used Purify to turn the goblin shaman's blood into water. Priestess was snapped back to her senses when the Earth Mother denounced her usage of Purify, breaking down into tears upon realizing what she did. However, this stalled the shaman long enough for the party managed to regain consciousness, retreat and then flood the fortress, killing the goblins. When Priestess questioned if she was still worthy of the Earth Mother and her miracles, she was prompted by a murmured voice to behold the sight of a rainbow.

At the wedding, Priestess was asked by High Elf Archer to say a prayer to the Earth Mother for the elves. Initially doubtful she was still fit to pray to the goddess, she was pleasantly surprised when her prayer reached the Earth Mother. She and the group returned to the frontier town after three days.

Goblin Slayer Volume 8
Priestess and her companions took a quest under the assumption that "sea-goblins" were attacking the fishing grounds, but instead discover that the "sea-goblins" were actually gillmen, and that they were being blamed for a sea serpent causing a shortage of fish. When Goblin Slayer prepared to head home, Priestess and High Elf Archer persuade him to slay the sea serpent.

Sword Maiden requests the aid of Goblin Slayer, which has Priestess and the rest of the party accompany them on their trip to the capital. When they are attacked by goblin riders, Priestess was prompted to cast Protection around the carriage and themselves; this allowed Lizard Priest, who had moved to another position beforehand to use his Dragontooth Warriors to press the goblins toward the barrier and to be killed by the rest of the party. After the goblins' and wolves' stomachs open, the party learns that their stomachs were full despite not travelling with provisions. This leads Priestess to guess that the leader was still somewhere.

Upon arriving at the capital, Priestess visits Wizard's grave. There, she tells that she'll keep hunting goblins even with the skittish behavior she was scolded for, and also tells her about the time she met her younger brother. When asked by High Elf Archer if her former party members were all deceased, Priestess reveals that Fighter was alive, but she does not have enough courage to visit her. When she goes with High Elf Archer to a public bathing facility, another girl who looked like her inquired into her equipment, rank and class. She is soon distraught upon discovering that her equipment was stolen by the girl, and the loss of her chain mail causes Priestess to break into tears.

The next day, she and the rest of the party are called to rescue the princess, who had been taken captive by goblins. She felt resentment toward the princess for taking her valuables, but was able to acknowledge that she didn't deserve whatever the goblins might do to her. When the party stumbles upon the site of the kidnapping, Priestess discovers the remains of her vestments and recovers her sounding staff. Once the party manages to infiltrate the Dungeon of the Dead and take the elevator down to fourth floor, Priestess uses her Purify miracle to eliminate the miasma surrounding the area. She soon locates the captive princess and identifies the enemy leader as a goblin priest, who uses Protection to block High Elf Archer's arrows. Priestess soon figures out that the princess was to be used as a living sacrifice, which also leads Goblin Slayer to learn that the blood of the deceased was being used to fuel the priest's magic. She promptly uses Purify to turn the blood into untainted water, cutting off the goblin priest's supply of magic, and allowing Goblin Slayer to club his head.

The party is barely able to relax, as a greater demon's hand emerges from the goblin priest and assails the adventurers with a blizzard. After Goblin Slayer soaks it with slippery gasoline, Priestess uses the Blue Ribbon to open the elevator doors so that Goblin Slayer could slide the hand inside. She then casts Protection above the hand and raises the elevator chamber to crush the hand between it and her Protection barrier.

She and the party prepare to face off more goblins when they return to the first floor, but Sword Maiden and reinforcements arrive to kill them all. Priestess notices that Sword Maiden was barely able to hold herself up, and that her gaze was focused directly onto Goblin Slayer. After reluctantly pulling her hand away from Goblin Slayer's, Priestess resolves to be a source of strength to him.

Later at the tavern, Priestess is told by Guild Girl that the princess has recently converted to a belief in the Earth Mother after meeting a cleric, and that she wanted to grow up like her. Priestess finds herself speechless upon hearing the news, and cries tears of profound happiness.

Abilities
Priestess possesses defensive and support miracles granted by the Earth Mother. She has been noted as having more miracles than those her age. Travelling with Goblin Slayer has also shown her unconventional ways of using her miracles, allowing her to be a more useful ally in combat. She possesses five miracles: Minor Heal, Protection, Silence, Holy Light, and Purify. Priestess can only cast three miracles a day.
 * Strategy: Priestess has become very resourceful and clever under Goblin Slayer's tutelage. Against stronger enemies, she will outsmart them by take advantage of their weak points to defeat them. Her party members compared her to Goblin Slayer in this regard.

Miracles

 * Holy Light《聖光 (ホーリーライト) Hōrīraito》: Used to temporarily blind opponents with a large flash of light.
 * Minor Heal《小癒 (ヒール) Hīru》: Used to heal minor injuries, but cannot cure anyone suffering from poison or restore lost vitality.
 * Protection《聖壁 (プロテクション) Purotekushon》: Allows Priestess to create a magical barrier that shields her (and her party members) from attacks and projectiles. However, she has also used it to confine goblins in a burning fortress, to restrain Goblin Lord, and to crush a greater demon's hand against an oncoming elevator car.
 * Purify《浄化 (ピュアリファイ) Pyuarifai》: Enables Priestess to remove impurities from people and items, such as cleaning off the clothes and body of one or more people and purifying water or air to a certain extent. She can also use it to disrupt evil spellcasting mechanics that are using spilled blood or other impure substances, by transforming the substance into pure water. During a desperate situation against a goblin shaman, she has also used it to turn the goblin shaman's blood into water. However, using Purify this way is considered a transgression against the Earth Mother, a deity of mercy and compassion, and while the deity granted it Priestess was directly warned by her not do so again.
 * Silence《沈黙 (サイレンス) Sairensu》 : An area effect miracle that removes all sound within a certain range. Priestess used this in conjunction with Dwarf Shaman's Stupor to allow the rest of her party to kill a nest of goblins without them being alerted to the act as it happened.

Equipment

 * Sounding Staff: Used to cast her various miracles.
 * Chainmail Armor: Taking advice from Goblin Slayer after her first ordeal with Goblins, Priestess bought and equipped some chainmail. She treasures it as the first thing Goblin Slayer praised her for.
 * Sling: She has been seen using a sling, though she still needs development with the weapon.
 * Flail: Priestess used it as a ceremonial item during the Harvest Festival. During the battle against Dark Elf, she uses it to cast her miracles.

Trivia

 * On the textboard version of the series, Priestess' placeholder design was the Female Priest from Dragon Quest III.