Elairus
"In all my days I have never seen a god act so very... human."Na-Ima
Elairus is the god of loss and memory. He was a wanderer for a short time before he decided he wanted a stable home, so he helped a wandering tribe form into a village, called Bluehaven. He made many friends, including two brothers who became his best friends, and fell in love with a mortal woman from the village. They were married and had three children. One day Elairus came back from a week-long hunting trip to find Bluehaven ravaged by illness. One of his children had already died, while the others remained uninfected, but his wife and all his friends were gravely ill. He removed his living son and daughter from the village and sought the aid of his father Perennitus, but by the time he had developed a cure, Elairus’s wife and best friends had all perished. Overwhelmed by grief, Elairus wandered in a daze for some time before he went to plead for the help of Madjei in developing an elixir that would ease his grief, at whatever cost. Madjei offered a potion that would erase his memories of his family, and Elairus accepted. For many years after this he wandered, alone and directionless. Eventually, through parlay with the other gods, especially Nenrë, who was very concerned about him, he realized he was missing memories. He spent several more years trying to fill in the blanks, though none of the other Meydra had been in contact with him during his life among the mortals, so this was a long, hard process that relied heavily on the mercy and counsel of Evendur. Finally he found his way back to Bluehaven. When he arrived, he discovered that both his children had perished in war the previous summer. He vowed to remain there, keeping their memory alive in whatever capacity he was able, and so Bluehaven was his home until the Death of the Meydra. Elairus is depicted as an ordinary-looking middle-aged man with tan skin and a blond beard and hair, and a tunic or suit of leather armor bearing the crest of Bluehaven.
It is said that when a person sends up a prayer to Elairus to catch and preserve a memory, he accepts it and plants it in his Garden of Memory in the Outer Planes, which is filled with memories he has gathered together in observing other planes. Each memory takes the form of a beautiful flower, and his followers have hope that one day they will be able to walk through this garden.
Relationships
Elairus's parents were Perennitus and Na-Ima, and his sister Rōz-El. His wife was an ordinary human woman named Lei. His daughter who perished was named Emilla, and his children who survived were the Simrae Jia and Lind. His family still lives in Bluehaven, which has grown into a large, bustling city.
Followers
Elairus's legacy teaches that grief is not something that can be ignored; it must be worked through, the bereaved given the respect and care they need and deserve, and above all memory must be preserved. Followers of Elairus have biannual feasts celebrating the lives of all who have gone before, on March 14th and August 26th, and clerics—who are not particularly common—are especially attentive of families and groups who have suffered a recent loss.
Divine Domains
Loss, memory, grief, regret, gardeners, Bluehaven
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