Her Children

[Sunsets over Moonlight]

♎︎ - Sae - 2nd Month, 2095 AC
 
The following rather lengthy set of letters finds itself mostly throughout Nemea's temple and sparsely around the realm of Delphina itself as it's likely been picked up and traveled around:
 
Dear curious reader,
 
For years have I tackled ideas of purpose, ideas of belonging, ideas of faith. It has been twenty-three now, years that is, where the ideas stained my hands and slipped through my fingers and I struggled to pick them up. It has always been me and these ideas, me and these questions. No one has the answers for me and I must find them myself. I wonder if the path I'm on is true- is it wrong to have doubt? I am wrought with doubt, perhaps more than tea or the sugar of donuts. There is more doubt that blood, uncertainties in my mind that are often loud. I have been told others feel this way, too. Such feelings are not ones I suffer in silence with. I wonder then, if people know my devotion to Nemea. Writing is the only place I've ever truly felt comfortable. I feel awkward talking to new people and not intelligent enough to teach. I do not feel confident in what I know to express it as my mentor has. I've only lived for twenty-three years- after living it, I realize how short it truly is. For days to turn into months that bleed into years and years and years. Twenty-three cycles of seasons. I do not feel changed, yet I am, isn't it curious? I've thought about the impact my mentor had on me and I wonder if I've ever done the same.
 
Likely not.
 
My name is Sunsets over Moonlight. Yes, it is unique; Yes, it is long; Yes, I get that a lot; No, not all Faeborne are named this way. For years now, I've tried to faithfully uphold my vows and follow a spiritual path with Nemea as my guide, my light, my sky, my everything. In my mind, She is the only thing I have ever felt so certain about, the only thing I do not feel doubt in. I may doubt my worth, my character, my place- but I do not doubt my devotion to Her. It's odd, such certainty has never had purchase in my mind, yet it does here. For some time now, I've kept watch of the people who come in and out of my life. Unfortunately, many have been under a scrutinizing, skeptic lens. Wary of their legitimacy, their truth... but I have been looking out for someone as my mentor did me. I feel compelled, even though I am far too young, far too inexperience, far too naive, to impart what little I know to another. Deep, my connection to Nemea spiritually. I watch over Her temple, safeguard Her message, and devote myself to Her as wholly as I can. I've never expected much, just Her embrace as Her child. I've never had a mother, only Her. I imagine many aren't aware. So often now are these truths about me forgotten: I am a healer, I am an author, I am a holy mage, I am a champion, and I-
 
Am Radiant in Her love and glow.
 
My favorite part about Delphina is the lack in structure for such worship. I am no leader, we have no church, and I am no one particularly special... but I can potentially be a guide and mentor should anyone feel a little lost as to where to start. My faith in Her is all I'm sure in. I hope this letter finds who it should, and if it's no one, then I will live and walk as I had. It is my promise to my people and to Nemea that I will carve a path forward to Elfame, land of the butterfly's last flight, when others could not. Decades in the making, it will be my greatest act of devotion to Her, and I hope others feel their faith renewed, feel their faith challenged.
 
Maybe it is lofty and ambitious, but it is something I am wholly prepared to fail at should that be the case. Thank you again for reading and I truly hope this reaches those who are ready to embark on such a journey. My mentor, King Camino de Caewynn, is often so occupied with his role and duty to our people and Nemea. Parts of me hope I can ease the pressure just a bit... I am not as learned as he and his [de facto] duties are not something I could ever replace. I am here, as always, should you have faith in me; We are Her children after all.
 
Sincerely,
Sunsets over Moonlight

[Sunsets over Moonlight]

♒︎ - Iberl - 5th Month, 2100 AC
 
Opposed to those intimate letters found mostly throughout Delphina, the fully blossomed Luminary ensures the following words are heard by all of Meranthe. It can be seen as Delphina's solidified stance in previous announced affairs within the realm, or the Luminary's own change in personal opinion:
 

---

To any capable magi, to anyone with regrets, to mercenaries in it for a quick buck, my offer to you is simple:
 
100,000 coins
 
In exchange for any notable occultist, cambion or kaor demon brought directly to Luminary Sunsets over Moonlight.
 
 ALIVE
 

To those with any interest in turning themself in willingly, such is no cheap trick
yet you will be under Delphina's mercy nonetheless.
You will retain your life,

willing or captive.

 
Sincerely,
Luminary Sunsets over Moonlight

---

[ Fulfilled ]

[Sunsets over Moonlight]

♎︎ - Sae - 2nd Month
2111 AC
☼ ☾ ☼
 
Simple flyers find boards around Delphina. Decorative and almost telling of its maker, the style floral and a little melancholy, Luminary Sunsets over Moonlight calls those of Nemea, those interested and those even a little curious. It extends, barely, to nearby larger outposts of friendly aligned nations:

---

 
"Life is best understood in cycles. Life and death, time trekking onward, peace and war. All at once, it is difficult to understand and grasp. Once broken down, not too neatly, but seen as it truly is, these transitions are eased. Join me at Nemea's shrine for a rite of my design and for a short lesson in Her cycles.
  
You will hear from yourself in five years. Come prepared with deep reflections of your life as it is now, how it was and what it will be. Who are you? What is it you value? What do you hope to accomplish? Winter, both quiet and bitter. We will embrace its silence and reflect fondly on what is to come.
 
It is simple. Guided by myself, you will write to yourself five years from today."
 
Such is no grand festival, but a gathering of those eager to reflect.
 

---

☼ ☾ ☼
 
Time: 3/28 Thurs 7P EST
Location: Nemea's Shrine (550, 822)

[ry0un0suke]

π - Yiel - 9th Month
2121AC
☼ ☾ ☼
 
The temple hums a sweet song, hymns of Her sung by independent devoted, their wings fluttering out of unison, yet creating a melody all its own. Her choir at different stages, growths, learning different lessons. Bits of the song finds Her halls, cleaned better than usual, open to Her children.
 
Her Luminary takes to the temple, sat on its floor and speaking to some- no sermon, but a lesson in favored, practiced, polished arts of a expression:
 
"Connectivity, understanding, compassion- Her gentle nature. Sit and listen to its song with me."
 
Luminary Sunsets over Moonlight beckons Delphinan residents to the temple, the light bright, perhaps a little cryptic. A seldom held lesson of sorts, one in their outlook and application of the holy arts through a Nemean angle specifically. Typical one-on-one teachings have been opened to those interested in joining. Subsequent lessons likely to follow:
. . .
Lesson One: Understanding the land and self (6/6 12P EST)
Lesson Two: Connecting to the land and self
Lesson Three: Applying the land to the self and blessing 
 . . .
Time: 12p EST Thurs 6/6
Location: Nemea's Temple, Summer Room (Western Wing, Second Door) (550, 800)

[ry0un0suke]

⚶ - Geist - 1st Month
2123AC
☼ ☾ ☼
Temple Cleansing
Winter Rites
 
Something has not felt right. Damage was swiftly repaired, the ceremony room and eastern wing closed for several weeks to comb through it all. Floorboards replaced, masonries contracted, glass cut and fitted. For a while, several cycles at this point, Nemea's temple operated normally... but something felt off to its localized keeper. As if wandering its halls still had echoes of demonic howls, a memory of victory stained in unspoken ways. Following an interruption of a particular ritual by an ambitious group of wolves and witches, the temple just hasn't felt right! Is it paranoia? Anxiety? No matter what, the phantom stench did not leave the air, so the Luminary took it into their own hands:
 
It is no sermon that guides the cleansing, no traditional lesson nor conventional approach. Delphina's citizens, especially the realm's Faeborne, are invited into the space, flowers foraged for the occasion, delicate twigs of perdegrine scattered about, rite prepared. Simple, faith and comradery, family and bonding in face of the wicked phantom energy the Luminary believes to linger in the air.
 . . . 
''Bring a friend, meet another.
Be open to connection.
Sharing in warmth this winter
in banishment of what lurks unseen.''
. . . 
Not so grand as other cleansings, but a small affair fit for Delphinans. Those interested in a deeper understanding of Nemea or Delphinan culture are encouraged to consider attendance.

Time: 6p EST Weds 6/19
Location: Nemea's Temple, Spring Ceremony Room (Eastern Wing, Second Door) (550, 800,1)

 

[ry0un0suke]

♈︎ - Syph - 4th Month
2128
☼ ☾ ☼
Within the ancient forest rich realm, where fae, Faeborne and faithful during the a rather troubling start to spring, a season most known for its renewal, rebirth, plagued now under its less regarded showers. Thundering storms sweep across Meranthe, oft ushering in rich bounties and bliss during the summer months, acting instead as a terrible omen. Even so, as thunder rages and shakes the land, the rain's heavy pitter patter dances across the tall mystic trees that encapsulate that ancient realm. Within the capital city, along its eastern, quiet parts, where the rain turns song that lifts the spirits of its citizens opposed to bringing them down, in Amarlyss within the recently purified temple, before Her scribed words sits the second of Her Luminaries.
 
Surrounded by potted flowers, each a bundle of a different season's bloom. Perdegrine, azilaena, saniskriti and marignolia- and in a protected vase, its tall shape constructed of a fine prismithium glass, a treasured golden bloom of a dozen different shades, safe guarded by they who holds it, a flower of a similar namesake, one not theirs to claim solely, in honor of king and flower and service.
 
Demonic influence stretches dangerously, seeping into closed cracks and infecting a deep sated rot cleansed only through a few means. Quiet... so, so quiet, without any booming remark or loud stance taken, no different than their prevailing Mother Goddess, intent known nonetheless. To the flowers, thus, to the land and to She:

---

"Despair's claws sink deep,

thinking man no different than sheep.

Our flesh for them to eat,

souls awaiting reap.

 .. .. ..

Take silence as thought, careful as it may be,

and through me

a path more than free."
 
- Heir Luminary Sunsets over Moonlight

---

Through poem, that path offered. Through prayer, an severed avenue of despair. Through they and She, freedom unlike any other. Bold, even in the most silent of ways, these offer given.
 As it has been for...
 
.....Saturn Yarrow
Tandava Meanderdog.....
.....Clementine Dominic
Yugram of Gotaalv.....

.....Janus
 
Dedicated to land's natural turn, its banishment of the occult. Weary, worn spirits need only wander, beings blessed 'neath its light at the turn of every cycle, begun anew with each year, this burden lifted upon them should they only the means to truly let go. Occultism, rumored Cambionism as well,
 
exorcised.

[ry0un0suke]

♐︎ - Hiero - 3rd Month
2135
☼ ☾ ☼

In the year 2111 at four locations around the capital city, a patch of marignolias appeared. Their new homes not so random, appearance no work of magic but planted delicately, each one that made up its new small field. Known as autumn's flower, no matter the season, these planted few remain in bloom, its bright, bell shaped petals only closing like all others for the night. Winter, spring, summer, these peculiar marignolias remain. At a point, but a cycle after their first plant, a simple seed nestled center of this field, roots digging and intermingling with the rest to grow into an unassuming oak sapling. Different from its long lived runeoak siblings or the great cleansing oak Euphaedra, this budding oak was simply that: a budding oak one may find out in any forest.

For now, for only so long. The saplings grew, all four, bearing green leaves that turned into a golden-yellowish hue as if stuck in a perpetual state of autumn, forever transitioning and never quite reaching where it may be. Its curious hue a result of holy magic. Day by day, week by week, its planter visited all four locations, imbuing the sapling in prayer, in poem, in magic. No miracles happened, nothing changed drastically causing these conspicuous oaks to do more than be a oak, but it sure was thoroughly holy, for its planter was no other than Sunsets over Moonlight, this magic holy's absolute pinnacle.

At roughly four cardinal points across Dal'Thala, each sapling and marignolia patch grew atop a buzzing hub of mana. Strong leylines studied and charted in decades past and taken advantage of now. Accounting for shifts and the introduction of a powerful tablet awash in the Mother Goddess' very own aether, these points can be found: within Amaryllis, north of the sparring grounds, near the cave that accesses Her Wondrous Woods, and near the gap between Dal'Thala and Nereides. Like an added vein to the connection of runeoaks already in place, its system complex and truly known to few, these a mage's vein and commitment to their people.

The year is 2135, twenty four turns of autumns since first planting. Crystals have erected around each oak, humming gently with dormant magic harnessed from the land itself. All is in place for... something. Any who near these oaks may note how similar they feel to Sunsets over Moonlight in regards to magical signature. Sorrowful, kind, intense, distant cries of holy's pinnacle clear even to a novice. The runeoak's complex system is the land's gift to man, and this string man's gift to land.

Soon, Atrellya's forces will run rampant on Meranthe. Thousands will die as they have in Aen before the demonic forces pulled out in favor of dealing karma to the heroes who bested the perfect demon Indras, stealing what was of its hoard. While some troops have been sent to the vassals and allies of Delphina, a vulnerability remains, even if marginal. Standing tall since its inception, despite its happenings in decades pass with the Greathive, its unification and defense is unmatched and will continue to be so long as the Lumin King and his heir draw breath.

---

"My devotion to Delphina, to the Mother Goddess, to the Lumin King goes beyond my body, my spirit and my breath. My breath and body and spirit in exchange for the longevity of all I will ever hold dear. I am not a hero and I regret not dying in exchange of slaying the Demon King Indras. Had I, had others, then we may have spared Meranthe the thousands that will die in our stead. I try to ask for little, but I ask for this only once:

 

I ask for your help and support, for your grief and hope. I ask for your spirit, your dreams, your nightmares, your love and your hate. Let me shoulder it, let it empower what will protect you, my people, for generations to come. I cannot protect nor inspire you as King Camino de Caewynn, but I can do this."

 

What might 'this' be?

---

The Heir Luminary Sunsets over Moonlight calls for the assistance of Delphinan citizens and those interested in aiding in the fortification of Delphina's defenses, ushering the ancient realm into an era of impenetrability through the magics of its barrier mage. Be prepared to heed their request for aid. This will be no mere ritual or blessing.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Location: Dal'Thala (550, 785)

Time: Sun 6p EST

[ry0un0suke]

♌︎ - Leo - 7th Month 2137
Samil'shann
☼ ☾ ☼
 
Summer's welcome during the final curve of spring brought skilled forces of Delphina to the remains of Prospera. Its people since vacated at its government's call, refuge found south in the Republic's united nations of Gloomlight of Goldlight. Knowing the demonic forces of Atrellya's march there after a victorious pushback against the Ruby Empire, its occupation of the Citadel, Prospera was next.
 
Led by the Lumin King himself, ritual and mechanics of his study of summer's total apex, followed by the notably deep purple of the Royal Guard and verdant cloaks of the Elzara. The countermeasure against the lone imperfect demon Ennui under the distance guidance of the Demon Sage Allinaes a success beyond measure. Land adequately scorched and cleansed but at a dire cost.
 
Contrary to Ents of the wild, three have been cultivated within the Realm of Delphina hosting an array of revered spirits. Of the most recent, like joy incarnate. A kindled spirit of Vanaheim supported the realm and Nemea's children without question. Kind to the land and spirits and creatures, Canopy, while a Warden of Nemea, embedded herself wholly into the realm's system. Her loss a terrible one even if in the name for Delphina's own. Thus her dedication blossoms in the Amaryllis district, public warming soon enough:
 
Canopy's Garden.
 
A repurposed personal garden given access to Canopy years ago, soon made into a public garden for any interested, Delphinans especially. Planting or harvesting in the garden keeps her memory alive in more ways than one.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date: 9/23 7P EST
Location: Amaryllis (555, 775, 1)

[ry0un0suke]

Sae - 2nd Month 2156

Corrected Bounty

☼ ☾ ☼

Lands arun with nature's bounty, once known at a part in time as Nylfheim has seen relative peace since the ousting of budding chaos by Heir Luminary's rare lead on the better part of the capital city's forces. Decades passed since then and since Nylfheim's peoples recollection to quieter parts, the forests have never truly been bothered. Native wildlife thrive, both on land and sea and its surrounding islets. Well within the realm's influence, dubious and otherwise disallowed creatures and individuals keeping away in fear of roaming patrol. These forests, after all, attuned with even the most green of Elzara.
 
Until recently.
 
Wildlife scattered, some even growing sickly at the legs, rotting at the hooves. The outbreak slow, yet reaching the capital city soon enough, circling in startling rumor before finding the Heir Luminary's ears in direct report. Investigated, executed, within days of ear's perk, a small squad consisting of rangers swordsmen and mages dawned in nature's colors patrol the perimeter. What caused this outbreak? This sudden attention?
 
Remnants of a ritual circle, its corruption responded to in full. The bloodied shape of a butterfly far too close to home, both human and demon given the correct level of retaliation.
 

---

"Attention wanted and granted," they've been heard speaking to Elzara who curiously ask of the nature of this day's security. "There is no stain upon nature's turn that will not yield to my hand."

---

 
Openly threatened by the royal's authority over both land and corruption, taunted in turn. The Lumin King's influence and control over his realm not one to test. It is his Heir whose pride manifests in the pinnacle of all holy magic has to offer humanity. Who answers this call?
 
Time: Tues 5p EST (you're welcome EU
Location: Old Nylfheim Forests (616, 924)
Attendees: Small, whoever wishes to witness the exorcist work.

[ry0un0suke]

2159
Butterfly over the Lake
☼ ☾ ☼
 

Stories tell history that even the victors cannot truly erase. Story through song, music, writing- story of man's spirit and soul through creativity. Since dimmed by the loss of Pantheon that heralds over it all, reality's truth dark and grim without the brightening shades of expressed story. Winter comes to a close, some months off from rising temperatures and budding blooms, with it melts away sin's influence upon the land. Cosmic shakes felt profoundly at all measures of existence, even if as subtle as a snowflake landing against the cheek and spilling away. Change occurs, story come and go and it is for a moment of indulged weeks of isolation that the Heir-Luminary takes to the stone image of the Mother Goddess Nemea at Her shrine, there, in the cold and freezing, holding a flower. It is no invitation. Mentioned in passing murmur after return from the hunt of millennia, where they confined themself in plain sight alone, unable to write while in rapid flux of emotion and thought. Dark petals in hand, its existence like bad omen, curse and sickness upon whoever may touch it. Imbued with nightmarish story that, even if only within their own wretched company, they will see it inconceivably 

 

changed.

 
Winter writes of past include reflection or sharing- a sort of openness that the season robs of one. Community fostered, yet it here they turn so deeply inward, into its reflection and silence, honing the deathly quiet of winter for-- what, exactly, are they doing with a lone flower? It happens so quickly and is finished before the 'news' could even leave the capital city. Lonely, cold, breathing shakily, they utter something new or something old, searching for verse that since diminished within them following the attempt on their life. You are not invited, per se, but will you search for them if they hide?
 
Time: 4p EST
Location: Nemea's Shrine