Elise Falls
Geography
The Coquet Heights are known for their innumerable waterfalls, and Elise Falls is perhaps one of the most prominent. Cascading rapidly down the mountainside next to the Vestrial Tower, Elise Falls has greeted everyone from the most humble pilgrim to the most decadent noble in their trek to the onetime home of the goddess Vestria, and current seat of the College of Vestrial Priestesses. Elise Falls feeds the Pilgrim's Run, the river on the doorstep of the Vestrial Tower. Its waters are revered as sacred, more so than the many other waterfalls of the region, and has been affectionately praised in song and story since Anhara's earliest days.Mythology
Elise Verdi was one of the first High Priestesses of Vestria, and the last of the Ten Authoresses. Sworn to chastity and held as sacrosanct, as with the rest of her order, Elise Verdi should have been able to lead a life safe from the tumultuous nature of that early period in Anharan history. Alas, that was not to be the case. The Vestrial Tower was an island of neutrality within the vast domain of House Mira, long before their fall from grace after the Crossing Over. One of the strangest of Anhara's houses, House Mira has always played fast and loose with the laws, living a life of decadence and ruling Meridia with an iron fist. In 58AR, the heir to House Mira turned his sights to the High Priestess, and sought to court her. When this failed, he pursued the most sacred servant of Vestria to the base of her very home. The tragedy that ensued, whether it truly happened or not, became a parable for early Anharans, and emphasized obedience to the goddess and the maintenance of one's social obligations. These lessons were communicated like so many other stories in Anhara, through song, a medium held particularly sacred there.Elise
The High Priestess strodeThrough flowerful groves
Her robes billowing out around her.
Her servants stood by
With a downcast eye
Avoiding her thrice-blesséd splendor.
As she contemplated the law
And praised Vestria with awe
She wandered higher into the mountains.
Along the snow capped peaks
And past rock strewn creeks
She prayed near the goddess' roaring fountains.
From his palace upon the Eye
That cruel lord of Mira did spy
The Priestess dressed in silks of dazzling white.
With a veil thrown back o'er her hair
And her silks buffeted by the air
The unworthy lord's passions it did excite.
Thus the knave crept
Up the ancient stone step
To the top of that sacred peak.
He peered into the Tower
And spied the land's highest power,
The divine Vestria on her couch did sleep.
Past the blue-peaked spire,
The lord climbed higher and higher,
Until behind the High Priestess he appeared.
She let out a startled shout
At the boldness of that vile lout
And her handmaidens all shook afeared.
Over chasms and rocks
And ancient stone blocks
The High Priestess ran for her life.
"O guard me or hide me!
Vestria I beg of thee
Save me from my desperate strife!"
Then Vestria arose
In her pristine robes
And looked about her with a start.
She heard her servant's call
Echo throughout the halls
And to the parapet she did dart.
"What sacrilege is this
And who dares resist
The lawful orders of the divine?"
But she was too late
For Elise had escaped
Her pursuer by jumping into the brine.
Vestria let out a shout
For her servant devout
And hurled a lightning bolt high.
The vile lord was struck
As he tried to duck
None can hide from the goddess of sky.
Elise's tattered remains
Were washed of their stains
In the Pilgrim's Run far below.
There it would rest
In the waters it blessed
Where the falls named for her now flow.
But her spirit soared high
Into the azure sky
To serve Vestria forever more.
Past heroes' winds it rose
Higher than even the snows
Destined for heaven's very door.
For her devotion she was rewarded
And eternity she was accorded
As the fifth wind, Vestria's holy servant
And the disgraceful young lord
Shall never his family ward
For of Vestria's laws he was unobservant.
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