These "mists" are a trick, designed to make us feel isolated and weak. Be'ari and their minions would have us without allies. By the light of Yisair, I will dispel this illusion, and Be'ari will fall.— Lisha Deluarach to the crowd in Ovanua
Lisha Deluarach was a promiment priest of
Yisair in the country of
Isachir. Most well known for her opposition to the earth god
Be'ari and the country of
Naonad, she disappeared in the year 9229 while sailing in the ocean east of Yutromorch.
History
Lisha was born in 9197 to a family with a long history with the
Church of the Just Sun, the most prominent religious institution in Isachir, with one parent being a local preacher and another the High Priest for the city of Ovanua. With such a lineage, it surprised very few people that Lisha regularly volunteered at her church and was devoted to learning and reciting church teachings.
When Lisha was 12 she formally lodged an application to become a priest, being accepted in short order and brought to the commune to begin her years long training and official education. She was rarely seen in public during this time, and many priests reported that she rarely left the commune's library or looked up from the books on theology and history.
At 18, she was finally ordained as a priest, and began her holy work of enforcing the church's teachings in earnest. Her wealth of knowledge, and her desire to share it, led to many an impromptu sermon to members of her designated church, and many discussions on how to apply the church's teachings.
These discussions are what made her well known in her city, as she would gather people in her church to debate them on various topics. Through these, her intense dislike of Be'ari and that god's many adherents spread quickly, with only a slight pass granted to the members of the
Sleeping Waters Church present in Isachir. She firmly believed that their belief hid from them the truth of Be'ari's manipulations, which were intended to prevent duanam from reaching their true potential.
As she rose through the ranks of the Just Sun, she began to speak more and more of concrete actions that could be taken. While she never encouraged actual crimes such as theft and assault, her congregations were known to sign frequent petitions to the Isachirach parliament and participate in spirited meetings on how the country and church could best combat Be'ari. Though some progress was made through her influence, Lisha never felt it was enough.
During the early 9220s, Lisha became fixated on the walls of fog which smothered the horizon and the distant
eastern mountains. Rather than being some curious meteorological anomaly, she believed they were a conjuration made by Be'ari or generated by
Be'ari's Heart which was intended to make the
Orchene people feel isolated.
To that end, later in the decade, she began preparations for a voyage out into the fog at sea. Her goal was to prove that the fog was a mere illusion, and that all the sailors lost to its grasp throughout the ages had fallen victim to its trickery. But she, with the power of Yisair and a holy conviction, would dispel the mists and bring about a golden age for Isachir and its people.
She set sail alone from the port of Ovanua in 9229 on the night of the double lunar eclipse, as she believed that the dimness of the moons would weaken Be'ari's illusion.
During the eclipse when all was dark, we sat on the cliffs outside Ovanua. Off on the horizon, above the dark waters, we saw a brilliant flash of light. And then, nothing.
The next morning, the fog remained, and Lisha did not come back.— Just Sun congregant
Aftermath
In the days and weeks after Lisha's expedition, many attempts were made by members of her church to find her or to trace her footsteps. Most of those returned, being too scared to enter the mysterious fog, but quite a few did not. No trace of her ship, or any sign of the magic she had cast on the fog, were ever found.
Theories abound as to what happened, ranging from Lisha being attacked by spies from
Naonad to prevent her revealing the illusion, to that she successfully broke through the fog and sailed on to gather the people beyond for the final battle against Be'ari. Others believe more mundane ideas, such as that Lisha's ship was sunk during the eclipse when she failed to see an incoming wave due to the darkness, and that she lacked the sailing expertise to protect herself.
Comments