The Lady

(Sorry I'm taking so long to get the mechanics written up. To make up for it, here is some more fluff.)

She shines with holy light and her smile can command the hearts of even the most bitter, most hardened and most apethetic people amongst the lands of Arae Rul. Her beauty and grace is unsurpassed, for She is the Lady, the most potent Goddess and patron of the Island.

In ages long since lost, Nyghres and tainted creatures roved the landscape of Arae Rul. Small pockets of Monsters lived in the outskirts of the Great Dark Wood who viciously fought to keep their own safe. The oldest Ascendants built their first walled cities atop great hills east of the lowlands and they kept careful watch day and night for if their vigilance ever faultered, they would soon be no more.

It is said that on one holy night, the night that the Monsters celebrate today with their Latern Festival, a great light shone forth from the north and the earth shook with vigor. Monsters and Ascendants alike risked a dangerous journey to investiage, valiently meeting side by side and clearing a path through the meanacing black creatures that blocked their way.

When they reached the rocky Northern Plains, they found her atop the tallest of the sleet hills. Innocent and fair, yet wise and strong, none questioned the divine authority of The Lady; her love was nearly tangable, each and every one could feel it, warm, even and unconditional. Her soothing light kept most of the Nyghres at bay, allowing the wary and worn travelers rest under her loving protection.

She was the first and greatest god to make her presence known to the lands. She lent her powers to the best and bravest of the lands and they went forth on a mighty crusade to make the lands of Arae Rul safe for all of its residents. After the first valient journey by these warriors, they divided. The Ascendants began to persue methods to keep the Nyghres away completely, and ways to further aid their Monster allies in the fight. The Monsters remained impassioned in the fight and, with their greatest Warrior at the lead, they broke in to 15 groups of two or three vowing to find and destroy the black creatures wherever they hide. They were ordained under the light of the Lady, becoming the first of the Lanterns.

Many good and prosperous seasons followed. The Lady began to change those sleet hills where She had descended to the earth in to a glorious and beautiful paradise. Showing their appeciation for Her aide and love, many journied to those hills and together they began to build thier Goddess a palace befitting her beauty. The Great Keep was an enormous place that gleamed in the summer sun like platinum. It stood as a beacon of hope and comfort that you could see from any tall hill in the land. But before the palace could be completed, The Lady stood before her people and in a crystal voice, lovelier than the finest singing bird, she told them that she must leave Arae Rul, if only for a time. The people begged her to stay, but she could not. On the night before she left, she made her people promise that they would continue their righteous work to protect each other and keep their lands safe.

With a brilliant flash, The Lady departed from Arae Rul, but Her love echoed onwards. They say that on the night She left, the island iteself felt the chill of sorrow and for the first time ever, it snowed across the whole expanse of Arae-Rul.

Generations passed, and her devout diligently continued labors to complete Her palace. The Keep was one of the safest places on the island from any danger. Some speculated that the Nyghres remained afraid of the lingering power that bathed the area. Time stretched on, and some became fearful that The Lady would not return. Then, on one evening as the sun set, the sky lit with a golden cast, a star descended from the sky. A bright flash expanded to envelop the courtyard of the Great Keep. The few elders that were there before She had left immediately recognized the warmth that bathed them, and She had returned.

It was a golden era. The Monsters had purged most of the Nyghres that brashly pushed forth in to the light, and they were slowly closing in on the difficult to reach areas in the deep woods. The Ascendants had founded the first of many Great Libraries and their knowledge had grown impressively. It seemed all was good, and The Lady had returned, bareing a gift for the people.

The stories are conflicting here -- some say that She took the most devout of both the Ascendants and Monsters and changed them, a rare few say that She placed them together, and most say that She merely used Her power to create from the land itself. Whichever the case, that day the first Humans walked forth as The Lady's children. They were not favored or loved any greater, but they possessed a similar visage to The Lady, and they shared Her inquizitive nature and charming disposition, and they were welcomed by Monster and Ascendant alike as Kin of the land.

At least three generations felt the warmth of The Lady's love before she needed to depart again. Again, the sadness of the people was overwhelming, but nothing could be done. For the second time, a blanket of snow fell across every corner of the island.

The stories of the third visit by The Lady are less clear, but it is understood that it ended in tradgedy. There's dark and terrible stories of a traitor, an errant who could not feel the love of The Lady and resented his personal loneliness. Some terrible incident occured, and this time when The Lady departed so suddenly from the land, it with not merely with a flash, but with an explosion. The Great Keep was torn asunder, ripped apart and turned from a beautiful palace in to a sorrowful ruin. It is said to have snowed for days; ruining the crops and leaving the people terribly short of food for weeks.

That was a great long time ago. There are mixed beliefs as to what has happened and what the future holds in store. Many belief that The Lady is merely recouperating and will some day return to the people of Arae Rul. Some believe She now watches only from afar and will return only when Her people truely need her (or when the world is comming to an end, to save the faithful). Some believe She now resides in the kingdom beyond life and that the good and righteous will one day again bask in Her love. Some even believe that on rare occasions, The Lady visits in Secret, her return marked by a falling star and her departure bringing snow.

Few believe that She was struck dead that day, that some terrible demon weapon ended Her light permenantly that day. There's even a growing number of people who believe that The Lady is nothing more than an old story; a myth about the forgotten days. While most are convinced that She was real, the possibility that she was not is being considered with greater and greater conviction.

This doesn't stop some though. In the times of Tempus Tempera, there are many informal worships of The Lady, and a few particular organizations, some with conflicting beliefs. This includes The Church of the Lady, Her Divine Light, The Children of The Lady and The Righteous Devout.

Real or not, The Lady remains the only god who has ever been reported (or depicted) as setting foot on the ground of Arae Rul, and is generally considered to be the Creator, a protector, and the most powerful of all gods.

[End]