Alaya
"The sea is beautiful, dangerous, and mysterious, all at once. So too was she. Most of us cannot quite explain why we are drawn to it, or her—but drawn we are."First Captain Terrence Lindr
Alaya, goddess of water and the moon, loved the sea the moment she first saw it. She observed how the moon pushed and pulled the tides and longed to enter into the eternal dance between the water and the moon. She spent many years at sea, traversing between the material plane and the water plane, and it is said that in this time she both created the first merfolk and founded a grand kingdom somewhere at the bottom of the Datric Ocean. Throughout the age of exploration, many ancient natural wonders have been found on remote islands which are believed by many to be her handiwork, and it is speculated that a great many more may be found at the bottom of the sea. Eventually she found her way back to Talazic, but little is known of the time she spent there, apart from her introduction of lakes and rivers to the continent. Alaya is almost always depicted in the midst of action, splashing or flinging water around, and is shown as a human woman in a flowing blue dress with curly blue hair. She can also frequently be seen depicted as a mermaid or a sea elf.
Relationships
Alaya was daughter of Kaeli and Synékia and sister of Kishike, Lesh, and Dagmar. She formed no particularly strong relationships with Meydra outside of her family, as she spent much of her time alone at sea, with the exception of Kress, with whom she became very close after he sought her out to learn the secrets of the sea. Though she fell in love with him, he did not return her feelings. It is unknown if she ever took a husband, though some merfolk tribes steadfastly hold that she did, and further, that her bloodline lives on.
Dagmar
When Alaya returned from her journey across the seas, she realized how little water Talazic really had, and how much those who could not live near the coast suffered for it. By this time her sister Dagmar had a system in place which had been working for many years with minimal death, but Alaya saw a better way—creating bodies of freshwater within the land, if Dagmar would create places that could hold them. Dagmar denied her requests, leading Alaya to travel around, distributing water where it was needed. However, the longer she spent away from the ocean, which had now been her home for so long, the weaker she became. Upon realizing the connection, she began to travel to the seaside, but became too weak to move 150 miles from shore. She lay there, dying, until Dagmar appeared, and, seeing what she had done, she pushed all the land between them and the sea down below sea level. Water came rushing in and saved Alaya’s life, repairing her relationship with her sister in the same motion.
Followers
Alaya has many followers among sailors and in port towns, as those who love the sea tend to think as she did. Clerics of Alaya are not particularly common, but they tend to wear lightweight blue garments and travel frequently between the temples that stand along the coastlines of Talazic, usually by ship. Alaya's followers love all forms of water as well as the moon, and consider the full moon each month a feast day.
Associated Customs
Feast of the Full Moon: A monthly observance taking place on the full moon and generally celebrated with a special dinner, usually seafood, though specific dishes vary by the region according to what is available.
"To saltwater": A common toast. The full version is "To saltwater, the cure for all ails—whether it be sweat, tears, or the open sea."
The teal flag: A practice wherein a teal flag is flown above or next to any given body of water, whether it be the village well or at the coast of the ocean itself. It is in reference to the notion that, while humanoids sail the ocean on solid ships, Alaya navigates the world via bodies of water.
Aspects
Osheanine: When Alaya appears as a mermaid, she is referred to as Osheanine. This is the name by which all her merfolk followers refer to her.
Yune: Alaya is seen by many as the goddess of winter. She had many dealings in the far north and oftentimes snow and sleet were seen as her doing. She was and is called by the name Yune in association with this patronage.
Divine Domains
Water, the moon, winter, the ocean, sailors, ice, the north
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Ocean wave
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