Halia

Titles: 

Arbitrea, Halia’toth, Wanderer

Inspiration: WuG, stoicism, ungifted, big scoob

Biography:

Living relics of a time forgotten, Halia’toth and her brother Halia’taal are believed to be the only two remnants of life on Eideiri before its current iteration. As children, the two of them bore witness to total catastrophe and served as Eideiri’s caretakers while they nurtured life to form again. Lost and uncertain in an extremely hazardous time, the children helped restore societies and ecosystems to the best of their fleeting memories. Instinct taught them to tend to life on Eideiri but experience taught them to fear it. Together, however, they were unstoppable and they managed to bring peace to the bond between society and nature. The other gods, young and eager to spread their influence, felt powerless in the presence of Halia’toth and Halia’taal. 

Plagued by jealousy, they conspired against the siblings. They knew the only way to weaken the brother and sister was to separate them. Thus, the gods gifted to society the ability to form the great cities of Eideiri. Grand bastions of magically protected refuge drew the peoples away from their homes in the wilds and suddenly life on Eideiri was no longer listening to the inclinations of the siblings. The cities found themselves in constant territorial disputes which bled into the already disrupted habitats of the natural world. 

Wanting to once again bring peace to their home, Halia’toth and Halia’taal urged the world to mend the divides and to meet at an island at the center of a great lake. Fearing the end of their transient reign, the other gods seized the moment to divide not just the life on Eideiri, but the very lands themselves. Those who traveled the great lake found it to be an impassable ocean. Those who traveled around the great lake found that the lands no longer connected. Halia’toth and Halia’taal, each on divergent continents, were alone again for the first time since catastrophe. This time without each other.

Halia’toth, who had first brought the gift of language to the peoples of Eideiri, has since spent her days trying to again bring peace to those peoples. Alone and weakened, she roams the lands of Eideiri solving disputes amongst its peoples. This journey has aged her immensely and by the time she had found her brother, he could not recognize her and fled. Halia’toth, now known to the world as Halia, has since abandoned the great cities and focused on continuing her work with the common people of Eideiri. Her teachings of respecting the laws of nature and the universe beyond one’s control are the most commonly practiced spiritual and ethical beliefs across Eideiri. 

Worshippers:

Common folk, diplomats, travelers, tramps 

Places of Worship:

Homes, town monuments, markets, cities

Worship:

Worship of Halia is strictly a matter of living one’s life with virtue. It is recognizing the world is a terribly unfair place and that the responsibility of the individual is to make it better within their own means. There are things that can be controlled and those that cannot. Those of high moral caliber improve the former and acknowledge the latter. It is an ascetic path which emphasises the importance of deeds over thoughts. Nature is to be respected, and in some cases feared, so as to preserve the sanctity of life in society and otherwise. 

Several behaviors are to be expected by any good worshipper of Halia. Halia teaches the strength of wisdom and passive cooperation as a core tenet. By improving the world one small step at a time, there is an understanding that the world will be improved further and more easily in the future. Passive cooperation is the notion that helping a situation today enables those involved to help another situation tomorrow. It is the duty of all good peoples to find these situations and assist where they are able to do so, unless it would impede themselves personally. 

Worshippers are expected to never turn someone away who would ask for shelter, food, or other basic necessities. This is done in honor of those in the world who have harboured Halia on her journey. Their lifestyle is not to indulge or to complain, but to understand that the world is a dangerous place and to mitigate those dangers for themselves and for others. By living without anything that can be taken away, one can accept their role in the universe and be immune to suffering. It is also imperative to accept the decisions of others as ultimately their own choices, and to respect those decisions as one would respect one’s own. Similarly, it is not the role of the individual to judge another, but rather to think of what they could do to better the situation. 

Violation of these principles is considered natural as it is in the nature of the peoples to deny themselves the laws of the universe. Penance for doing so is the lesson learned from such a moment of weakness and reparations to those who might be harmed in the future by further acts of weakness by others. For instance, denying shelter to a traveler may be absolved by building a bridge to shorten the journey of travelers who would come from the same place. There is emphasis that the guilt must come from within and the restitution must be done by the duty of a pure heart. Those who cannot feel guilt for their wrongdoings or will not follow the teachings exactly are also merely another unfortunate reality of the universe and cannot be changed. There is a soft social contract amidst all but the most devoted followers that the philosophy is greater than the peoples and all they can be expected to do is to try their best. All things else must merely be accepted. 

Servants:

Alina, the Spark of Friendship

Although most feline servants are attributed to Prism, Alina delivers friendship in the name of Halia. Alina represents the symbiotic relationship between domesticated animals and the peoples of Eideiri. She acts as the bond between the natural world and the teachings of Halia, appearing as a friend to those in need across the world.

Czimi, the Firstborn

Czimi is the last of those born first after catastrophe. She appears to those who are able to master the teachings of Halia and offers them an immortal life totally immune from suffering. Although most notable recipients of this offer have been revered ascetics, few have ever accepted the deal as the shortest path to ascendance is the total contempt of it.

Gait

Known for his uncanny ability to mimic another, Gait serves Halia as her angel of portals, gateways, and destiny. Gait lives eternally on the fine line of what can be changed and what cannot, often pushing the boundary further to the side of possibilities.