The Everlight

The Everlight, also known as the Dawnflower, the Cleansing Light, and the Lady of Renewal, is a goddess of redemption, healing, and temperance. She shared influence over certain domains with other gods, but she is neither territorial nor jealous. She is willing to forgive and redeem the transgressions of her followers. Her faith is ancient; there is evidence of her worship among the ancient humans of Oliad and even in distant Casmaron.

Overview
The Everlight is not one of the most widely worshiped deities on Tyrind, but all faiths respect her power, dedication, and generosity. She is both a warrior, one who led the charge into the Abyss itself against the worst of the evils that the Titans had to offer, and a healer, whose grace cleansed much of the lands that the Titans had tainted.

She is kind and loving, a figure of light, guidance, and healing, and has great patience with those who choose to be blind but may one day see. Yet for all her compassion, the Everlight is a powerful force against evil, and strikes down the irredeemable without mercy.

The Everlight is a goddess of boundless love and exquisite kindness, a caring friend, and protector of those in need. She delights in healing the sick, lifting up the fallen, and shining a guiding light into the darkest hearts and lands. She brushes off insults and deflects attacks, patiently trying to convince those who perceive her as an enemy that their belief is false.

For all her patience and gentleness, however, she is no victim: if it becomes clear that her efforts are wasted, she responds to violence and predations upon the innocent with cleansing fire and scorching light. She detests cruelty, lies, needless suffering, and thoughtless destruction. She stands fearlessly against the full tide of darkness, promising that there will always be a light even in the darkest of times, and with it, hope, truth, and kindness will triumph.

Dogma
The Everlight values redemptive powers of compassion and patience, and extends them to all who might be capable of good. She offered grace even to the Deceiver, Lord of the Nine Hells--chief of the Titans and the leader of their attempted coup--so her followers are encouraged to offer help, healing, food, and forgiveness to strangers and even to one's enemies; forgive a debt or transgressor even if you don't want to. To ere is mortal, to forgive divine. Doing so will help you become closer to the Everlight.

The Everlight's faith is one of kindness, healing, honesty, peace, and forgiveness. Her clergy believe wholeheartedly in redemption and are patient and compassionate in attempting to persuade evildoers to mend their ways. Hers is not a passive faith; the Everlight's servants teach that goodness is more than simply doing no harm. They no point in punishment for its own sake--loving kindness and acceptance draw the lost back to the path of goodness far more effectively than threats or pain. However, that does not mean they confuse patience with allowing evil to work its will unopposed. Force may be a last resort for a priest of the Everlight, but when she draws her scimitar, her justice will be swift, implacable, and complete. Those who wage war in the Everlight's name ensure that it is as clean as they can make it, and that it ends as quickly as possible.

Worshipers
The Everlight's faith is a broad one, and the majority of her worshipers are everyday folk who recognize the power of hope and compassion, and take comfort in the idea of a goddess' love, and believe strongly in both redemption and righteous action. Her faith attracts those with kind hearts who are nevertheless willing to harden them when kindness is a dangerous weakness. The faith make few demands of its everyday adherents beyond these tenets, and its clergy are usually seen as trusted, wise guardians and enlightened teachers.

Faith is not merely a theory but an active force in that underpins their actions; they try to see things in her light, which reveals the hope and potential for goodness in the people they encounter. The Everlight encourages her faithful to speak out and take a stand for what's right--a practice that can sometimes lead to her clergy being labeled as firebrands or zealots. In truth, however, the other half of her teachings, that one should always seek first to understand and redeem rather than draw steel or write them off, means that while worshipers of the Everlight may be passionate and outspoken, their finely honed sense of right and wrong is tempered by compassion.

The halflings of Dharrenal, most notably, have become passionate followers of the Everlight. Her teachings align with the natural leanings and traditions of their culture. Halflings are optimists at heart; they are generous, peaceful, and prefer to find the silver lining in bad situations. They are drawn the radiant power of the Everlight, whose teachings only reinforce what they were already doing to begin with.

Clergy
The Everlight's acceptance of all who strive toward virtue attracts a diverse clergy; clerics, inquisitors, rangers, druids, and even monks or bards all have a place at the table. All that is necessary is a desire and willingness to defeat evil, bring light and hope to the beleaguered, and aid the sick, poor, and downtrodden. Her paladins tend to be adventure-seekers, many of them searching out downtrodden innocents to defend or questing as penance for past failures or perceived flaws.

Her clergy are devoted to serving their communities, administering to their flocks with a gentle hand and wise words. They provide healing and counsel to those who need it, listen to the confessions of those who wish to bare the wounds of their souls to the Everlight's healing radiance, expose injustice where they find it, arbitrate disputes, and rehabilitate criminals. They promote law and peace as long these benefit everyone, but are not afraid to help organize communities against unjust rulers or to raise their voices against arbitrary new taxes or other laws that could hurt the commonfolk. They understand that goodness takes practice, and regular daily acts of kindness and virtue aid one in building the moral strength to do what is right when it's not easy to do so. Such kindness vanishes, however, when the church is stirred to action against an evil that cannot be redeemed. At such times, the Everlight's priests become dervishes, dancing and darting among their foes while their scimitars mete out final justice, and even lay worshipers may take up arms. Swordplay, particularly with the scimitar, is considered an art form among the Everlight's priests.

The church sometimes use magic, like a Gaes or a Mark of Justice to help guide malcontents toward goodness. They do not wish to remove or interfere with free will, but they aren't adverse to providing extra encouragement to help others to the path of righteousness.

Most non-adventuring priests live on donations from their congregations. By tradition, a priest of the Everlight will not refuse any who come seeking aid, counsel, or healing. They are trained to discern who needs immediate medical attention and who will recover naturally, which prevents exploitation and allows priests to reserve any healing magic they might have on those who truly need it.

The Everlight's church allows its priests considerable autonomy and mobility between churches, especially in Dharrenal where less than a half dozen temples exist to begin with. In the cold lands of Dharrenal, most priests of the Everlight are constantly on the road and many become adventurers out of circumstance. They are usually skilled in negotiation and first aid, at the very least. Many carry Herbalism kits and may sell healing potions (where legal to do so) to get by. A priest usually gets up around dawn and salutes the rising sun with a prayer to the goddess. A quick meal follows, as does a short period of introspective prayer, no longer than an hour, after which the priest goes about their work. Priests pause to pray for a few minutes when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, and again before sundown--priests who cannot see the sun, such as those who are underground, estimate the appropriate times for these prayers.

Temples & Shrines
Churches to the Everlight are often open to the sky, though the largest temples may be enclosed buildings surrounded by an open central courtyard. Most hang large brass or gold mirrors on high points to reflect more sunlight toward the altar, though they are carefully positioned so as not to blind worshipers. Light, fire, and sun motifs are all common, as are white wings and images of doves and hounds. Light blue silk hangings evoke sunny skies. Sunflowers and beautiful gardens surround many of the Everlight's sanctuaries. In poorer communities, these sunflowers' seeds are often eaten, or dried and ground into flour to make bread. Believing in charity and supporting the community, churches often bake small loaves of filling, nutritious bread marked with an ankh on top, known as "Dawnflower Bread", to distribute to the needy, free of charge.

As grand and evocative as her temples may be, in truth they are few and far between, and mostly found in Maezar; the Everlight does not have many full-fledged churches in Dharrenal. Many smaller shrines exist, however; typically a stone marker with a sun-ankh, though trios of carved standing stones may mark the summer and winter solstices. Shrines often have niches for candles or small handwritten prayers, and visiting pilgrims typically scatter sunflower seeds, or other flower seeds, at the base. In hotter lands, the stone is often a part of a small shelter, or perhaps a series of standing stones that create shade for weary travelers no matter the time of day.

Holy Texts
The one book common to all churches of the Everlight is Light and Truth. This ancient text includes stories that date from the Dawn Era, explaining the beliefs of the church and offering advice on dealing with sin and temptation, and providing parables of evil creatures turning to the light of the Everlight and living good, productive lives. The book also contains simple folk remedies for common illnesses and injuries, suggestions for dealing with undead and other evil creatures, and advice to aid those who have strayed that wish to return to a virtuous path.

Rituals
Services are joyous events incorporating singing and dancing, accompanied by upbeat music. They always take place outside and during daylight hours. The church is very supportive of marriage, and a wedding in the temple is always cause for celebration. There is no stigma attached to divorce, and the delight over second or third marriages are just as heartfelt as the first. Worshipers within the church reconsecrate their vows every 10 years.

Orders of the Everlight



 * The Redeemers: This group of summoners and exorcists exist with the sole purpose of seeking out the wicked, summoning devils and unclean spirits, and attempting to redeem them. They purposeful try to find the possessed, or a location with a violent haunting in order to bring the culprit back to the light. Even demons, literal demons from the Abyss, are thought to be worthy of redemption. Their overall success rate is questionable, but their motives are pure and they are always on the cutting edge of modern exorcism and banishing rituals and techniques. The Magic Circle Against Evil was said to have been originated by a cleric of the Everlight that belonged to the Redeemers centuries ago.
 * Cult of the Dawnflower: As might be expected in a faith that teaches its followers to speak out and take action, not all followers of the Everlight agree on her teachings, or even get along. The most prominent example of this is in Slazka, where a militant sect known as the Cult of the Dawnflower is rising in influence and power. As tribal nomads say, "there are no second chances in the winter", and the Cult of the Danwflower has taken this lesson to heart. These hard-edged priests offer mercy once and only once to their opponents, and if refused, they are merciless and ignore offers of surrender or parlay. This severe stance only applies to enemies and sinful folk--among friends, family, and respectable members of the community the members of the cult are kind, generous, and forgiving. In a large part, the Cult of the Dawnflower has risen due to the instability and danger inherent in that frozen land. They offer a hope of safety and light in a dark place. The main branches of the church are at an impasse as to what to do regarding the cult. While they aren't doing anything yet, there are rumors of certain high ranking members of the church that wish to eliminate them.

Appearance
Religious art depicts the Everlight as a woman with bronze skin and hair of dancing light. One of her hands offers the light of hope and redemption, while the other wields a scimitar against those who would spread darkness, hatred, and pain. The church does not teach that she is the sun or that she is responsible for its light; that is the work of the Dawnfather. Rather, she is its guardian and a conduit for its cleansing power.

History
The Everlight is said to have come to with the first light of the sun, providing warmth and comfort to all the sun touched. Where the Dawnfather is the sun, the Everlight is the halo and the warmth that it provides. She was radiant and beautiful, and some sources claim her to be the daughter of the Dawnfather.

She is most commonly seen at the Dawnfather's side, riding into battle alongside him time and time again. During the Dawn War, she smote Thrym, Father of Giants and turned his bones into the Dawnrise Mountains. During the Sundering, her blade wounded the Mother of Monsters and drove back the deprivations of Father Skinsaw. Alongside the Stormlord she helped to drive off the combined might of the Midnight Lord and the Devouring Flame, and she defeated the Devouring Flame a second time in single combat. She stood with the Dawnfather and aided him during his legendary bout with the Chained Oblivion.

Perhaps her most famous deed during the Sundering was when she led an army of angels into the Abyss itself, waging a battle that lasted seventy days through the winding, howling canyons of Hell until she slew the Ashen Hate and gravely wounded the Deceiver himself.