Gisei
"The answer to every question that will ever matter to you was planted inside you a long time ago. The key to finding them, I have found, is silence."Gisei
Gisei is the goddess of simplicity and sacrifice. Her earliest memories were of being a slave in the Underdark. She grew fast, and her captors soon realized that the little girl they had stolen away was something they had never seen before. They fed her a steady stream of lies and drugs in an attempt to keep her compliant, and she silently accepted their cruelty, even in her moments of clarity, believing that this was her lot in life and if she behaved, she could improve things for herself. It was a few years before the slave ring she was a part of was destroyed completely by Lesh, god of freedom. He recognized her immediately as a fellow Meydra, but she scurried off in the chaos and was gone before he could apprehend her. Given her freedom, Gisei wandered for many years, learning about Evendur and hearing stories of the Meydra and feeling deeply connected to it all, but not daring to believe she really could be, even hoping she wasn’t. She desired only to have a quiet life and be connected to Evendur through peace and prayer. Eventually, she met a mortal man with whom she fell in love. They planned to marry, but one day two gods approached her, telling her their names were Lekatash and Tekina and they were her parents. She asked questions, the most important of which was “Am I needed?” They told her she could do whatever she wanted but in a world as fractured and chaotic as this, another Meydra on the side of Evendur was always needed. That night Evendur came to her in a dream and told her that she could help tremendously through simple prayer and quiet sacrifice. She knew then what she had to do, and bade her beloved a tearful goodbye so she could go into the silence of the mountains and meditate. She is said to have invented the monastic way of life and as such is portrayed as a woman in monk’s robes with a partially shaved head, grey eyes, understated gold face paint, and a light blonde braid.
Gisei is also commonly known as Jeka, the name given to her by Lekatash and Tekina.
Relationships
Though she grew up without them, by Evendur's mercy Gisei came to have a relationship with her parents in the quiet of prayer. Beyond that, she had no real interactions with any other Meydra, not even her brother Kallistos, who was born in the same moment she died. The identity of the man to whom she was engaged is unknown, but he is thought to have resided in what is now southern Vundkrag.
Followers
Most of the monks, clerics, and hermits who dedicate themselves to Gisei's teachings are celibate, though a great many others respect her teachings in smaller ways, setting aside moments each day to be quiet in the presence of Evendur and offer up their prayers, works, joys, and sufferings.
Relics
Two books thought to be written by Gisei's own hand are housed at Emendin Monastery in eastern Jeltir, which is built into the same mountainside where she spent most of her life alone, and a piece of a quarterstaff thought to be hers is kept at her temple in the Thesséliasell town of Liasa.
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