Moon Goddess
Protector of Nys
The Moon Goddess is a powerful being inhabiting a magically sealed valley in eastern Doujate. Damparo protects the entrance to her land from the Garden of Memories.
Vidris is her name, but it is forbidden to spoke it aloud.
Rumour has it, during the sixteenth century, a scholar claimed this taboo had a linguistic origin, writing an essay about the topic. In fact, Doujatar people would transform the name into Vidruch (IPA: /vidryʃ/), which is more similar to Doujatar phonology. The Church promptly destroyed any evidence and kindly asked the scholar to stop his non-sense.
The story is widely believed to be fictional, possibly of imperial craft, and to have the purpose of stressing the past rigidity of the Church, which has now totally overcome it. In any case, her divine guardian and champion Damparo is the only one allowed to pronounce her name, though nobody has ever witnessed him do it.
Existence
Nobody has ever seen the Goddess, except for Damparo. High priestesses only have the right to access her valley, if called upon or when they need a pure place to meditate. In rare occasions, they can listen to the Goddess words, without seeing her. For some time, especially before the abyssal crisis, many doubted her existence. She would have been Damparo's invention to control people through her Church. When asked, he would only say that, had he wanted to found a cult, there was no need of creating a fictional god: he was already powerful enough on his own to have worshippers. Interestingly, and somehow paradoxically, her existence was never doubted in the Empire. In fact, researchers can easily detect powerful magical oscillations in her alleged location using their magitechnical tools. However, during the crisis, her actions were so evident that no one could ever doubt her again.Divine Symbols & Sigils
Vidris' main symbol is, quite obviously, the moon. Why it is so, is a mystery, since there seems to be no relation whatsoever between the astral body and her goals. Many scholars and philosophers speculate on possible connections, but they have yet to find a convincing theory.
Each of its four phases (new, crescent, full, falling) have a meaning in her cult. The colour associated with her is silver.
The crescent moon is the primary emblem of the head priestess. During their investitures, Damparo entrusts them with the Crescent, a silvery magical amulet that will protect them until the end. It is said to be the same jewel the Goddess presented to Eleise.
The full moon is associated with the Goddess herself and represents her presence and power in simple paintings and engravings. Major ceremonies only happen during full moons.
The falling moon is a blasphemous symbol. The Movement for Demons Rights Recognition chose it as a symbol to provoke the Church, since it is the major political organization opposing them.
The new moon represents weakness. Its deep meaning is that even Vidris is not all-mighty. If people do not support her and her decisions the Abyss will find a way to prevail, casting Nys into a new second era. According to the Nogry Węsz myth, the Dark Lands were a prosperous region, at the beginning of the third era, but they fell because they lacked faith in the Goddess.
Iconography
It is not forbidden to graphically represent the Goddess. Though nobody knows her aspect, assuming she has one in the sense we mean it, her representations resemble a statue in the Garden of Memories. The piece is close to others concerning the second era ending and seems to not be related to any known myth, so people widely assume it must be the Goddess. Damparo not answering questions about the subject seemed to further prove the point. It would be a simple bust from the waist up of a common young naked woman in her twenties, with rough edges instead of smooth surface, but interpretations came. Since all the other statues in the garden are smooth and refined, the rough aspect of this one could not be a coincidence. They claim the Goddess has a crystalline aspect, represented with fidelity in the statue, which would be realistic as all the other pieces in the place. To further validate this thesis, the pedestal on which it stands clearly resembles a massive crystalline formation. The bust seems to come out of it, and, by analogy, it must be crystal too. The Church firmly supported the claim. Damparo does not answer questions about the aspect of the Goddess.Divine Goals & Aspirations
Though it can sound weird, there is no unanimous consensus about what her real goals are.
Someone thinks the Goddess has no other goal than protecting Nys and her believers, which seems unlikely to most people. The majority supports a much more offensive version, with Vidris wanting to actively fight the Abyss. Within them, someone believes she has a secret plan in motion and is waiting for the proper time to strike directly at the heart of the Abyss. This belief couples well with rumours of a coming new lunade, where a new type of magic currently under development could allow for a decisive victory.
More exotic currents also exist. A notorious one claims the Vidris is a fallen god from before the first era, like Uphi and Tikhuphri, dethroned by the Abyss. To regain her full powers, she must gather people under her protection and with them destroy it. Others believe almost the same, but guess her to be a powerful mage from the first era, not a preternatural being.
There is no lack of people thinking the Goddess wants to reign over all Nys, just as the Abyss and the Empire, only in a less gruesome and oppressive way. However, this is in direct contrast with the Church and the general opinion, with the result that nobody in their sane mind would publicly state something on this line.
The official position of the Church consists in not questioning about her divine origin and goals. Believing in her heavenly design and following her commands is all people need to do to ensure Nys does not fall into the Abyss.
Relationships
Divine Classification
Goddess
Religions
Realm
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Related Myths
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