Suggestion: Kirva's Pet Goddess, Xi'Hum

[Infernis]

Name: Formerly Ailestree, Goddess of the Moon and Night. Now known only as Xi'Hum.

Titles: The Humbled, The Shackled, Bent But Not Broken, The Chained, Disgraced Xi'Hum.

Power: Intermediate Goddess, formerly Patron Goddess of the Night and Moon, Dance and Swordplay. Now, the Patron Goddess of the enslaved, Suffering and Acceptance, and Subservience to Kirva.

Position: Directly controlled by Kirva who draws upon Xi'Hum's power and the energy of thousands of Moriel slaves who pray to Xi'Hum for strength, both to endure and to accept their new station.

Symbol: The Silver Shackles, a matched pair of silver wrist cuffs that are typically kept on a necklace or attached to a collar.

Alignment: Good aligned, former ally and friend to Gaea.

Portfolio: Her former portfolio of Swordplay was absorbed by Aden'Ver in ancient days. Gaea absorbed the rest of her former portfolio, that of the Night, the Moon and Dance. Now, she is empowered by demonstrations of masochistic endurance of punishment, enduring pleasure and pain administered by a stronger hand.

Allied Gods: Gaea secretly aids Ailestree's former followers on the surface, but her power to aid them ends at the boundary of the Nethergloom.

Enemy Gods: The former Goddess of Dance and the Night is now owned whole and complete by Kirva who destroyed her Nethergloom worshippers and spent a part of Her own power, permanently, to shackle the former competitor Goddess and adversary. Xi'Hum is now Her pet and plaything and Kirva actively encourages her worship as a Goddess of the Enslaved and the Tormented and draws power directly from the enslaved Goddess.

Appearance: Unlike Kirva, who delights in having so many forms, Xi'Hum is trapped in the form of a High Elf who greatly resembles Gaea, a great jest perpetrated by Kirva on the only Goddess that Kirva both fears and hates. Xi'Hum is never portrayed as wearing clothes and wears cuffs at her wrists and ankles and a collar of black thorns wrapped around her throat that constantly pierce her skin and drain her powers, to be siphoned off and given to Kirva. She is the very image of Elvish beauty, heavily curved and adorned with ancient elvish text from nape to ankles, filled with the many hundreds of names of Kirva. The thorn collar she wears constantly has her bleeding droplets onto her pale flesh and she is always portrayed as either humbly contrite or weeping.

Backstory: Ailestree was once a competitor Goddess to Kirva many thousands of years ago when the Moriel Goddess was first rising in power to unite Her people under Her one banner. Ailestree embraced the support of Gaea, who was quick to help the Dark Elf Goddess in Her fight against the wicked Kirva. Empowered, Ailestree rallied Her cults to open war with Kirva. After a bitterly long war that broke the power of the Moriel for many centuries, Ailestree and Kirva fought on a vast open plain in physical combat. Ailestree's prowess in Swordplay, as the Goddess of Moriel martial skill, overwhelmed Kirva who responded by conjuring a shadow across the Moons overhead, casting the plain into darkness. In that darkness, Kirva spent a permanent bit of Her divine essence and created a set of silver shackles that were used to trap the former Swordmistress Ailestree. Rumor says that Ishtar aided Kirva in learning how to do this.

Ailestree was cut off from the empowering worship of her temples and cults, and so she was thrown down at Kirva's feet and stripped bare before being dragged down into the Nethergloom while Kirva's armies rampaged on both the surface and in the Nethergloom, targeting all of Ailestree's followers who were now powerless and demoralized by the fall of their Goddess.

Now, Kirva has perverted Ailestree's worship and broken the Goddess to seemingly sincere contrition, humbled and ruined. Very few realize that Xi'Hum's worship empowers Kirva. Fewer still realize that Ishtar is also empowered in turn.

Rites and Rituals: All Moriel-owned slaves in the Nethergloom learn of the Shackled Goddess and her promise of succor and strength to endure. It is believed that Xi'Hum takes on the pain and suffering of those slaves who call upon her and sincerely regret their transgressions.

The simple act of being punished and showing open humility and contrition is a holy thing for those of Xi'Hum. Calling upon her name while suffering will have a chance of earning the penitent a touch of her power, dulling the pain and even bringing pleasure from agonizing torture and punishments. This only comes to those who are sincere in their regret. Shackled or not, you cannot fool a Goddess with fake tears.

Offering one's self in exchange for another, to take on their sins and punishments is a sacred act for Xi'Hum. Even if refused, it is said that this and this alone is enough to make Xi'Hum smile through her perpetual tears.

Kirva does not allow organized temples to Xi'Hum, but it is tradition to give a small corner in established Temples of Kirva to those who wish to petition Xi'Hum, usually a small altar marked with the Silver Shackles.

Adherents of Xi'Hum are expected to be humble and to accept their station, to revere Kirva as well as Xi'Hum and do their best to learn from Disgraced Xi'Hum's mistakes and never challenge the power of their owners and the power of Moriel society.

[CallieO]

I love everything about this suggestion and request that the development staff look into making Xi'Hum an official part of moriel lore.

[miyuka]

I should prolyl mention that I sent this to other members of HC to take a look at. Quite interesting.