Leucothea and The Selkie
06-17-2024, 01:18 PM
![[Image: lewcothe.png]](https://nyannyehmyehmyohworld.neocities.org/lewcothe.png)
Leucothea was the first of Sirenia, made by Yama's hand. She was born with a beautiful voice which could pacify woe and bring around peace. It wasn't until the war between Land and Sea, caused initially by Inki provoking the Land Gods, that she died after being kidnapped by Inki. She was cursed with the fur of land mammals, and her ability to breathe underwater was taken away. In the last weeks of her life, she lived in deep fear, leaving her children behind to brace the seas in an attempt to find Yama and stop the war, drowning in her attempts.
Since her death, she has taken the form of an undying spirit. She resides within a desolate part of Uraheim, residing atop a sheet of ice that separates land and sea. She is situated above a reflection of Yama, who guards the coral gates all sirenians must pass through in death. She accepts a tragic version of existence wherein she considers herself 'reunited' with him regardless of the separator between them, forever sorrowfully longing for his reassuring word and guidance, while professing deep within herself that she is 'by his side.'
Following the example of Yama, but also regretting the abandonment of her children greatly, she wishes to watch her children in life, just as Yama watches her children in death. Bound to the desolate realm she inhabits, she is unable to watch her children in their myriad numbers, and laments each and every story she is unable to chart. Worshippers of Leucothea often learn about Sirenia and the Selkie, sing a song about their stories, and then drop a stone into the water with hopes that it will sink and find her in a symbolic re-enactment of her drowning.
Leucothea's domains are Love, Sacrifice, Sorrow and Empathy.
Inki’s Curse
When Inki inflicted a curse upon her long ago which took her gills, a piece of his vengeance joined her. He intended to weaponize it, trying to lure Yama to the surface with her imprisonment on land. It was unsuccessful, as he did not foresee her trying to reach Yama regardless of her lack of gills. When she died, she died in great agony, and shut away the self-destructive part of herself in fear it would rebound and cast pain onto others. When she did this, that want for vengeance was locked away too. In their sealing, these emotions gradually rose and compounded upon themselves, their desolation like an echo-chamber.
In a ritual on Nereides in Delphina headed by Leucothea's chosen priestess in 2123AC, this curse was unleashed on the shores of the island. The repressed part of the spirit was unsealed, with the priestess given the task of cleansing it with her song in exchange for a greater connection with the spectral and herself. Inki's vengeance threatened to overtake the repressed spirit of Leucothea, which was a coalescence of self-destructive grief. After the combined efforts of individuals from all corners of Meranthe, including magi from The Frontier, Gloomlight and Ten's Citadel, much of the damage to the island's Temple of Yama was prevented after Inki's vengeance sought to destroy it. The repressed spirit was appeased and faded after a combined song from the priestess and others in attendance, empowered by a blessing from Nemea, specifically in the form of channelling of Her aspect of grief, invoked by King Camino de Caewynn.
The Selkie
The Selkie are the children of the first Sirenian, Leucothea.
Nearly all Selkie live inland, in rivers and mainly the swamp. Their creatures are of aquatic mammal nature, seals, otters, walruses, manatee. Sea Selkie often have traits of orcas or dolphins, and are the rarest of all Sirenia. They are the only Sirenia who cannot breathe underwater.
The Selkie previously found it easier to take up practices of dark magic such as occult, attributed to the fact Leucothea drowned in the sea after her gift of water breathing was taken away. Her despair was so great that all of her children were affected, the Selkie prone to sadness and longing, but also exceptional kindness and a want for peace.
Occult magic of the Selkie often involved the gathering of energies formed by Leucothea’s grief, but since the self-destructive, repressed part of Leucothea’s spirit was appeased and faded, those occultists have found it harder to grip ahold of the dark practice. Many now struggle to attune to occult through her grief.
The First’s Wardens
A highly niche sect of religion within Sirenia.
It is the direct worship of Leucothea, the first Sirenian. Believers perceive Leucothea as a martyr of love, sacrifice and empathy, and sympathize with her want for resolution of hurt and suffering.
Wardens aim to be her eyes and ears, ritualistically overlooking the Selkie and Sirenia, upholding her desire to watch her children in life, as her Father, Yama, looks over her children in death.
Wardens are guardians of the land in essence. So that the Selkie may thrive in-land, they pursue peace. Wardens practice scholastic pursuit of the land's many truths, so that there can both be education and mediation. For the Selkie, especially one that is bound to the land predominantly by their curse, the world is full of different cultures and people deriving from the very Land Gods that Inki encouraged to wage war. To continue mediation and empathy through understanding, knowledge of them is important.
Wardens also have an appreciation of inland swamps and rivers, and may collect various artifacts from them, alongside meditating within their confines. Protection of them is paramount.
Like how a worshiper of Yama might send one's soul to him so that they may help him count the stones to weigh the sins of life with, a worshiper of Leucothea often etches sentiments and memories into the face of stones and other artifacts of land, and casts them to the sea so that they may reach her drowned spirit and appease her with their story.
Wardens are often songstresses, songsters and bards, often looking to mitigate strife and chaos through song.
![[Image: green%20water.png]](https://nyannyehmyehmyohworld.neocities.org/green%20water.png)