The lights
The Lights of Meia, or The Lights, are a set of beliefs prominent in the The Meian Sea region. There are three competing sources of authority in the doctrine of The Lights, but the core tentants and mythology surrounding The Lights remains consistent.
It is also worth noting that the lore of The Great Void does not conflict with The Lights and many believers of The Great Void use shrines of Greandor as a proxy for their own deity.
Many belive The Lights to be the only “true” religion, as there are frequent stories of interactions with beings that claim to be the gods, or emissaries of them, and certainly those who follow The Rites are shown to manifest godly powers.
There are some, however, that simply believe that The Lights are a set of unproven legends, not properly established with evidence and reason, that have been imagined to explain multiple distinct phenomena. This belief, common amongst practitioners of the arcane, states that all apparent ‘divine’ magic (and for that matter, primal and occult), is simply arcane magic that is not yet fully understood or documented, much like a baker knows how to bake a loaf of bread, but not how the loaf of bread is baked.
The Rites
The Rites are a set of traditions held by followers of the lights of Meia that seem to bring the favour of the divine. The majority of the population follow The Lesser Rites, small rituals and ceremonies that are said to bring luck, prosperity, and good health. The Lesser Rites usually include daily prayer and a monthly ritual in which followers spend a full night staring at the sky, usually accompanied by a priest or other holy figure. Other Lesser Rites include burning gifts, celebrating special events in a patron God’s story, and paying respect to the deceased.
The Patron Rites are a set of more advanced and much stricter rituals that are usually kept secret from regular followers. Those who follow The Patron Rites begin exhibiting supernatural powers after about 1-2 years of training. Depending on the patron chosen The Patron Rites’ requirements and effects vary dramatically.
For example The Rites of Solarum (one of the most popular patron deities) include writing down every sin you have ever comitted and burning the parchment with a magnifying glass. This ritual is repeated each morning if the follower has performed any sins. The follower must also look up at the sun at midday each day and pray to Solarum to ask for wisdom and forgiveness. There are other less frequent traditions in The Rites of Solarum also.
Pantheon
The lights of Meia encapsulates a set of over 50 deities though the exact number varies by region and other factors. The most prominent are listed below, along with common titles. The titles often vary by region but the names remain mostly the same.
Greandor the Father of Light / Greandor the Mother of Light
Stories of Greandor vary dramatically between regions but the most common depict them as a wise old patriarch or matriarch who keeps a parental-like over the other gods. Some refer to them as Greandor the Warden.
Verbunor the Shadow
God of shadows and the night, seen as a protector of those who travel through the night and a guardian of sleeping people.
The Forsaken Whisper
Sibling of Verbunor, the Forsaken Whisper was disowned by their family and their name was cursed to never again be spoken by mortal kind. The Forsaken Whisper is a god of nightmares and visions, often attributed to those with hallucinations or strange dreams.
Elsuthim the Caretaker
God of plants, farmers, the wild and nature. Elsuthim is seen as a benevolent yet wrathful god, blessing farmers with good yields while cursing others. She is also followed by many Druidic orders, sometimes as a deity but more often as a role-model. There are regions of the world said to be under the protection of Elsuthim, where the wilds must be left untamed for fear of angering her.
Verbrut the Diseased / Verbrut the Sick
Verbrut is the god of disease. It is said he is lonely as the only god able to become sick. Those who are “blessed” by Verbrut are said to become fataly ill, joining Verbrut in his manor in the sky as guests to keep him company, before moving on to their final resting places.
Solarum, the golden light
God of justice and truth. Along with their little sister Luneum, Solarum is a god of truth. While solarum brings light to the crimes of the guilty Luneum pierces through the disguises of liars. Solarum is often followed by paladins of justice.
Lunaem, the silver light
God of Secrets and Revelations. Luneam is one of three of The Lights who isn’t associated with a particular star or constellation, but instead she represents the moon.
Trax the Beast
God of wild monsters. Those who follow The Rites of Trax often exhibit minor shapeshifting abilities and are able to communicate with animals.
Aleia, the Hunter
God of hunting and archery. Despises pointless death and firearms.
Heeda of the sea
Goddess of Water, seas and rain. Unlike most of The Meian Lights which are said to have come from the sky, Heeda of the sea is said to have risen up from the oceans and taken her place among the gods, after pleading with Solarum to have mercy on the world. It is said that in the days before recorded history the light of Solarum was so intense that along with burning all sinners, it harmed the innocent and boiled the earth. Heeda of the sea pleaded with Solarum to let her cool the plants and the people so that they would not die from the sins of the few.
The Far One
The Far One is not a god, but rather a supernatural creature of some kind. It is said that The Far One lives outside of the multiverse and seeks to enter it, using it as a nesting ground for its endless spawn. It is said that many thousands of years ago, there was an empire of The Far One’s children who enslaved every creature they came across and devoured those they could not enslave. It is said that Greandor pushed the Far One out of the world and tasked the other gods with hunting down each spawn and eradicating it.
Valia the Creator
Goddess of life and birth. See Valia, Vesille and Vyre.
Vesille the Destroyer
Goddess of death and the afterlife. See Valia, Vesille and Vyre.
Vyre the Returner
God of the undead. Vyre is a neutral god who does not care for her sisters Valia and Vesille. She seeks to undo their work for those who ask, and she requires little in return. Vyre is kept imprisoned somewhere far away from the material plane, and so those she returns are usually approximations of their previous lives, as though an artist, seeing them only from a distance, failed to recreate the complexities of the soul. Vyre is said to have created the first vampires, but when their behaviours began to offend some of the other gods, Solarum was tasked with hunting them down. This is why vampires are harmed in sunlight.
Appelyn, the Traveler
God of journeys, roads and horses.