Hiku Matsune
The Exalted Muse, Hiku Mastune
When the crescent moon sits alone in the sky, Hiku is made regent of the world.
Hiku is the celestial muse, first and greatest of all learned spellcasters, and first bard.
It is often said that to contact Hiku is to give her magical power over you, so skilled is her mastery of manipulation. Most who do contact her find more spectacle than manipulation- if you ask a "boring" question and have nothing much to offer, expect a spectacular but not particularly helpful answer. After thousands of years of questions, most mundane questions have since become boring to Hiku, so unless you are planning something truly creative, it is best to have something to offer. The most common thing is oneself- if Hiku notices a great deal of potential (particularly as an artist, writer, or spellcaster), Hiku may choose to withstand the boring questions to provide a great deal of assistance. Hiku's chosen artists and spellcasters become her (sometimes unknowing) agents over the years, as she directs them towards greatness over the ruins of her rival Lunar God's pawns. Sometimes, her patronized artists even become her paladins. Those spellcasters or patronized artists who try and break away from Hiku often find themselves failing tragically- hence the belief that Hiku can curse or control the fate of those who commune with her.
Aside from spectacular individuals she uses as pawns or agents, Hiku mostly provides assistance to those who worship her. Cults devoted to enacting her whim can be found around the world- often composed of those desperate to be granted potential, inspiration, power, or fame. In some areas, this is even part of mainstream religion (the largest such group being Hiku's personal international church: The Singing Church of Orisha in Nafena and Maradia ). Many cultists never the attention and patronage they seek from Hiku, but she always makes sure to promote them just often enough to have hope.
Paladins of Hiku are expected to be three things: ambitious, creative, and loyal to Hiku. They are typically characters of some kind, who bring her amusement or who have interesting stories. While Hiku typically avoids those who are not kind and good as well as interesting, she has increasingly been willing to select candidates based on entertainment over morality as the years have gone by. Paladins who stop being amusing, interesting, and loyal can retain their powers if they become Mentors- basically scouts and trainers for the next batch of Hiku paladins, usually supported by Hiku Cults.
Those loyal to Hiku- even those who do not reach greatness- are welcomed into her personally modified section of Paradise, known as The Illumination- a dance of eternal spiritual commingling and worshipful ecstasy.
Divine Domains
Hiku is known as the Deity of Art, Bardism, Beauty, Communication, Magic, Memory, and Prosperity. She is often associated with sapphires, turquoise, ivory, and hallucinogens.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
- A single (often blue) crescent moon
- A crowned dolphin
- A mouth or eye emitting a beam of light
- Four arrows pointed in the same direction
Divine Goals & Aspirations
- The acceptance of Hiku as the leader of the Lunar Pantheon
- Power to the Hiku Cults
- The flourishing of global art and creativity
- The acceptance of every race as equal
- The mastery of knowledge and magic
- The destruction of restrictive cultural norms
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Hiku began life in a coastal mountain commune in Nafena composed almost entirely of prisms. While many of the others focused on mining, construction, and warfare with local competitors, Hiku was unusual- she preferred to create beautiful works of art for their own sake. Over time, she drifted from the community to become a hermit, living in a coastal cliff-cave system she had discovered full of nutritious salt and minerals. She focused instead on the beautiful view and worked to capture it in her artwork and dye-making. Her work began to attract other prisms and humans over time, and an art colony of sorts formed in those caverns while the world inland was trapped in conflict.
Halcyon looked upon her work and from the natural beauty of the world inspired within her Bardism. Nearby prisms who had a similar desire for peace and art over war were directed in their dreams to Hiku's Cove, and her colony grew. She taught her magic to them, and they became her disciples. She was revered as a bard, an artist, and a voice of co-existence when she died and ascended to the Lunar Pantheon.
Relationships
Divine Classification
Demigod
Religions
Current Location
Species
Life
1390 DE
1190 DE
200 years old
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale grey with green-blue crystals
Height
6'1"
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