DREAMS of a CLOUD
Peruse the many random ramblings of a writer-in-training as I build stories and develop my craft.
4 December 2022
“The Lady of the Lost?”
Cordelia nodded. “The twin sister of the Eternal Rose. Some refer to her as the Queen of the Forgotten or the Shadowed Princess, as well, because she’s become the patron goddess of the downtrodden.”
Towards the end of November, I started thinking about this story and about my homebrew D&D setting. This story is loosely set there, with the Eternal Rose being one of the core pantheon. There’s another member of the pantheon that is basically the patron goddess of the lost and the forsaken, and also has ties to death and things, which I feel like fits pretty well with the butterfly theme in and of itself.
While I was thinking, it occurred to me that the adherents of these two goddesses don’t necessarily follow what their goddesses actually desire, and it’d be easy to see how feuds between their believers might form, even if the goddesses themselves are on good terms with each other. Then it occurred to me this might be why Aislin becomes a knight; war breaks out, a mutual crusade of sorts, and she represents the third option, taking the ideas of both and blending them together. And becomes the champion of both, which is where the symbol of the butterfly comes in.
One day, as she came in from working on the garden, Aislin realized something. “Where are all the poor people?”
“Poor people?” Cordelia asked.
“Yes. Don’t they, more than anyone, need that spark of beauty to get them through life’s difficulties?”
Cordelia looked away in shame. “They…Many of the priests here consider them ‘unclean’. I’ve also heard ‘inelegant’ and ‘course’. According to those priests, the poor detract from the beauty of the temple when they visit, and turn them away. Most of the poor in the city have to make do worshipping the Lady of the Lost.”
Aislin suspected Cordelia herself had once been one such priestess. Based on the guilt and shame in her voice and expression, though, that was no longer the case. Aislin didn’t press her on it. “The Lady of the Lost?”
Cordelia nodded. “The twin sister of the Eternal Rose. Some refer to her as the Queen of the Forgotten or the Shadowed Princess, as well, because she’s become the patron goddess of the downtrodden.”
Aislin cocked her head. “And she has a temple in the city? Where is it?”
“Well… more of a shrine then a temple.” Cordelia gave her a concerned look. “You’re not planning on going, are you?”
“Why should I not? They still need help, and offering that help will in turn make the world a more beautiful place. Am I wrong?”
Cordelia reluctantly shook her head and gave her directions. Aislin headed out and began walking to the shrine.
The closer she got, the worse the streets became. First, it was all the dirt and mud that coated the streets and building walls. Then she noticed broken windows here and there. This was obviously a far more dangerous part of the city compared to the areas she’d been living and working in.