Ludasa

(a.k.a. The Lantern Bearer)

"Feel your dreams in the day, feel your death in your life, feel hope in your darkness, these are the ways of Ludasa, for us to unite the aspects of our lives. Life is more than what you feel in the day, look up at the great moon of Luma and think about what shall happen when you reach your demise. Do not worry though, Ludasa will guide you, she will guide you away from Laeriss, beyond the scarred surface of Luma, to what lies next. "
-Alanis Galasilir, musician and priest of Ludasa

Ludasa is a god of Law and balance. For her what matters is that the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, death and birth, are all in balance with each other. Though her main thing is the idea of unifying the seven realms of life. The realm of day is what you experience on a surface level most of the time when you are awake. The realm of dreams is what you feel when your body goes to sleep. The realm of hope is what you experience when you daydream about the future. The realm of mind is the world existing only within your thoughts. The realm of passion is the feeling of when your extreme raw emotions overtake everything else. The realm of death is when you reach your end and pass onward to the afterlife, many will partially feel the impact of the realm of death when they are in extreme danger of dying, though its unlikely that you can go back once you feel this close to death. The realm of void is perhaps the darkest of the seven realms, it is the feeling of true emptiness, when your true consciousness is completely and irreversibly annihilated. The deeper you are in the realm of void the less of "you" still exists, one who's entire being resides in the realm of void for all intensive purposes no longer exists. These realms are abstract concepts, not existing within finite boundaries, instead being more of concepts describing the nature of life. The symbol of Ludasa reflects this, a seven petaled flower mirrored by the mark on Luma and on the face of Ludasa herself.

Divine Domains

The domains of Ludasa are Death, The moon, High elves, the afterlife, winter, snow, doves, hope, mirrors, and dreams. She represents spirituality and the other sides of life whether your dreams, your spirit, or your death. Those who feel their passing coming soon often pray to Ludasa so as she will safely guide them to the afterlife. People also pray to her in times of need when nightmares fill their mind and muddy their spirit.

Holy Books & Codes

The holy code of Ludasa is known as The Dove's Choir. It is a series of hundreds of complex songs, some representing events, some representing people, some representing ideas, some representing basic concepts. While no follower of Ludasa who isn't an Elf or being with a similar lifespan will ever master every song, devoted followers of her will most likely end up singing every single one throughout their lives. Churches of Ludasa will usually contain a singular, quite rare Anthology of the Choir, a book containing every song of Ludasa. When all of these songs are sung together at once during The Divine Synchronicity it is said the great chorus has the beauty to be heard by the dead.

Divine Symbols & Sigils

The symbol of Ludasa is a seven petal white flower with a curled dove in the shape of Luma behind it. It is a simple symbol but a meaningful one, representing the passing of souls past the planar barrier of Luma by the watchful eye of the lantern bearer. The seven petals represent both the seven pronged star on Luma and the seven mirrors of life: the realm of dreams, the realm of day, the realm of hope, the realm of death, the realm of mind, the realm of void, and the realm of passion.

Tenets of Faith

The rules followed by all worshippers of Ludasa are:
-Treat the dead with respect, do not stomp on their graves, do not decimate their bodies.
-Do not attempt to elongate the time between your birth and your inevitable demise, punish those who seek to stop the flow of death.
-A proper burial is in order for those who die, don't allow their body to rot alone in a dark dungeon.
-Do not resurrect those who died when the time came proper, only those who were unjustly severed from their mortal bodies prematurely with something important left to accomplish. Allow spirits of good to return to their bodies and spirits of evil to pass onto whatever lies in store for them after this world.

Holidays

The holiday of Ludasa is called The Divine synchronicity, a day where hundreds of Ludasa's followers come together in one place to sing all the songs of Ludasa under the moon together creating a great chorus said to be so beautiful as to reach souls from the afterlives. During this singular night the followers of Ludasa can commune with the dead, some pay great amounts to clerics of Ludasa to mediate messages between them and their loved ones.

Divine Goals & Aspirations

The goal of Ludasa is for all to be in tune with the seven realms of life and merge every aspect of life in their existence, accepting the force of death as an eventual fate no matter what. She also hopes the forces of necromancy by used in harmony with the forces of radiance, creating balance in the world. This is the main thing separating her ideals from the absolute no necromancy ideals of Vallusios. When the seven mirrors of all beings are in perfect harmony with each other and the forces of life and death have reached true equilibrium is when Ludasa will be satisfied.

Physical Description

Body Features

Ludasa is shown with elegantly soft features accented with flowing black and silver robes. Compared to the other gods Ludasa is fairly short, with grey skin covered in cracks and craters. Swirls of cyan, yellow, and pink run throughout her clothes which billow out from her frame.

Facial Features

The face of Ludasa is very soft, usually affixed with either a gentle smile or an angry glare depending on the circumstance. A blueish-grey birth mark shaped like a seven pronged star rests on her cheek. The iris's of Ludasa are extremely striking, shining primarily cobalt yet running with streaks of yellow, cyan, and pink. Her pure spiraling platinum hair shines with a bright blue color, the light moving through the air like it's watercolor.

Identifying Characteristics

The main hallmarks of Ludasa are the seven pronged star mark on her face, her strange colorful eyes, her grey skin, and her platinum shining hair. She is very clearly not a human, an Elf, a Dwarf, or any other race found on Laeriss.

Divine Classification

God

Religions

• The Noble Creed

Alignment

Lawful Neutral/ Lawful Good

Species

The gods

Realm

Bytopia

Church/Cult

The Noble Creed

Eyes

Cobalt eyes streaked with color

Hair

Flowing curled silver with blue specks

Height

6' 1''

The church of Ludasa

The church of Ludasa is a part of The Noble Creed and plays a large part in the cemetery and morgue systems of places all across the world. The church buildings themselves are usually large crescent shaped buildings with entrances on each end. To reach the central room one must walk through one of the great curved hallways filled with art, music, and prayer, sometimes somber in nature and sometimes joyous. In the central room of the chapel is the most important, a huge circular or seven-pronged star shaped window on the wall amplifies the light of Luma into the room. Usually people will sit on either some sort of cushions or the floor, meditating or singing the songs of Ludasa. As a god, Ludasa is very similar in nature to Vallusios, the god of stars and life. Though while they are allied, Ludasa is a god of death and balance while Vallusios is a god of birth and extreme radiance. The main enemy to the church of Ludasa though, is the church of Enfranis, god of chaos and storms.

The Followers of Ludasa

Ludasa's followers mainly consist of High elves, her chosen people, though many humans, Aarakocra, and other Elves follow her as well. The High elf disciples of Ludasa usually will spend their Elvish trances in deep practice, trying to merge the seven realms of their lives and unify their spirit. Followers who are not Elvish will usually spend a few hours a day in meditation since they cannot trance. Society often looks at followers of Ludasa as being too grim or too scary, though this is not truly accurate. While her followers can be quite intense, they mainly have good intentions in mind.