Nicha
Goddess of deception and darkness
Nicha, the Night Mother, is a Prime deity of the Renegades' Pantheon. She is the goddess of night, oblivion and arcana. According to elven myths, she brought the first sparks of arcane into the Yav realm, starting the rapid spread of magic across the lands. Ruling over the chaotic tunnels of the Deepworld, she is known for weaving a complicated web of schemes and treachery through her worshippers. Her worship is widespread among the drow societies all across Mriyar, as well as some marginalized goblinoid races. Some small communities of Old Believers among different races pray to Nicha, calling her by her ancient title Night Mother and asking for good fortune and safety on the night travels.
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While in the Era of Rebirth she shared the role of Guardian of Destiny with her sisters, Mokosh and Zorya (according to legends, they weaved the fate for newborns, predicting their talents, attributes, lifespan, path and death), in Era of Searching that role belongs entirely to Mokosh.
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Appearance
Nicha usually portrayed in two forms: elven and moth. In elven form, the Night Mother appears as an exquisitely beautiful female dark elf, sometimes covered in dark red silk and obsidian armour pieces.
In her moth form, Nicha takes the appearance of a giant black half-insect, half-elf. A female drow, crowned with a mask that adds additional 3 pairs of red eyes to her face, a set of moth antennas, a fur-like collar, a large wing-cape, and alongside her humanoid arms there are another 2 pairs of similar arms. Pieces of dark obsidian cover her body in complex armour set, and shell-like plates cover the insectoid part of her form.
History
Lunar Discord
The information about the split in the elven society is known only from the official records of the wood elven Kingdom and the underground libraries of the drow Empire. Moreover, the testimonies are quite different, but the fact that the split began with a quarrel between Nicha, Zorya and Mokosh is an integral part of this legend.
From the drow chronicles:
Back when the Alfaren people lived under the same banner and were only settling in new lands, other deities of the Creator Pantheon turned to their divine leaders, the 3 sisters - the Night Mother, the Morning Star and the Moon Lady, hoping to create close ties between the Alfars and other peoples. Although their cultures and views were very different from those of the short-living races, Alfaren leaders agreed to the proposed alliances.
Some of the Alphars, who favored activity under the sun, forests, nature, and mundane activities such as hunting and farming, easily found common ground with the primitive races. But those who preferred things beyond the ordinary understanding, were greeted much colder, often with apprehension and distrust.
They called themsleved Dakialfs. Their lives were much more esoteric and strange to the human eyes. The way these Alfars searched for knowledge, strength and wisdom was percieved as dark magic and curses to ignorant people. Even though the Dakiralfs were patient and ready to wait until humans find an understanding of their ways of life, humans did not respond with mutual understanding. These differences of views led to many conflicts and it seemed there would be no end to them.
The Dakiralfs were the first to realize that this was not going to end well. They tried to convey their fears to other Alfars, but their words fell on deaf ears.
After years of this fragile coexistence, human hatred made itself known in full. Driven by fear and disgust for what they did not understand, the human tribes attacked the Dakiralfs settlement. Their shrines were destroyed, their people killed, and their pride blackened by mortal ignorance.
When they turned their well-deserved anger on the human tribes, the Morning Star stopped them, appealing to the light in the Alfaren hearts. But it was not the depravity of the Dakiralfs, that caused so many deaths and destrusction, no, it was the constant abuse and mockery of everything that was dear to them.
Didn't the Morning Star see how they suffered? Did she put strangers, who did not understand their traditions and lives, above her own children?
Then, feeling the suffering and turmoil in the hearts of her children, the Night Mother descended from the heavenly palace. Sharing their pain, she showed them mercy and gave them a thin veil of invisibility and gifts to deal with strangers. Under cover of the night, the Dakiralfs made their way into the human settlements, finally taking justice in their own hands after so many years of dealing with their abuse.
When the humans came with the accusations against the Alfars, the Night Mother again stood up for her people, appealing to the compassion in the Morning Star and her duty to their people. Instead, she betrayed them. The sly Goddess joined the human rulers, sold out on their promises of power and strength, and ordered the arrest of all Alfars who opposed them. The Night Mother turned her gaze to her sister, the Moon Lady, but she, living in her dreams and illusions, did not care to oppose the Morning Star. Then the Night Mother, in spite of this betrayal, once again stood up to protect her people. Leading Alfars, tired of long years of injustice, she entered a long battle with the Morning Star.
However, not everyone supported this justified anger. Many Alphars sided with the humans, turning their blades towards their fellow people. Many simply turned away from the war for justice, and left in the light of the Moon Lady, leaving their people in the darkest of times.
This war lasted a long time, a lot of Alfaren blood was shed because of the greed, pride and blindness of the Morning Star and her supporters. Many cities and shrines were burned, many families were broken. And when it seemed that the Night Mother had almost defeated the Morning Star, when she held her on the edge of her blade, the Moon Lady, a deceitful supporter of the Morning Star, turned the divine power against the Night Mother, staining the holy moon Rudatül with her blood.
After that, wounded and tired from long years of battles, the two sides signed a fragile truce. However, neither the Dakiralfs nor the Night Mother wanted to stay by the side of those, who betrayed everything they held dear.
The Night Mother gave her followers a vision, revealing to them the secrets of underground caves, and under the cover of the night they all went deep underground, where, far from the merciless Morning Star and their deceitful relatives, they could find a new home. Pure from the lies and hatred of the surface dvellers, completely belonging to them.
Only the red moon Rudatül remained as a reminder of the war between the Alfars and sisters, once a year covering the moon Hores and enveloping the world in its red glow.
Worship
The sacred symbol of the Night Mother is the red moth, that in myths are believed to carry the night on their wings.
Surprisingly, among the drow the Night Mother is considered a guardian of truth, who hides truthfulness from the vein and the selfish in her nets.
by Felixora
Prayers to Nicha, always made in Elvish, frequently feature the phrase, "Profasu mig, Nichaa" which means "Test me, Nicha". Many arcane practitioners among different races try to get on her good side and receive her blessing, though the Night Mother is tricky and cunning, quite often playing tricks on these mages.
Nicha's temples among the drow generally dominate (in every sense of the word) the communities that surround them. These temples are extraordinarily defended by capable and clever worshippers, but also serve as storehouses of dark lore and powerful magic. Additionally, it's a common practice among Nicha's followers to participate in a number of competitive rites to prove that they are the worthiest followers and receive her blessing. Those who succeed in her rites — which involve competitive spellcasting or all-out combat — get access to more powerful magic. Those who fail are demoted, killed, or turned into horrible mindless creatures, which makes these competitions extremely risky.
Holidays
Ceremonies dedicated to Nicha are held on the Blood Lunar Eclipse - event, which happens only once a year on the first weeks of Radogosch and is believed to have correlation to battle between Nichar, Zorya and Mokosh. On this day, moon Rudatül covers moon Hores, blocking it from the view for around an hour. For that time, most of the Sarmatan continent is covered in the reflective reddish light from Rudatül, symbolizing the blood of Nicha and elves that was spilled in the events of the Lunar Discord.
First part of ceremonies on this day feature praying in the Nicha temples and sacred places. The second part involves the celebration of drow liberation from Zorya and Mokosh, as well as expressions of gratitude to the Night Mother, in the forms of dramatic performances, dancing, feast and carnaval. A unique part of this celebration is a Light dance of Moths - a semi-combative, semi-artistic dance performance with the inclusion of luminescent moths and strings, and the shadow show.
Commandments of the Night Mother
- Magic is the greatest gift that this world posesses. Help it spread and grow.
- The only way to relieve yourself of pain and anguish - is to let yourself drown in oblivion.
- You'll find safe haven in the shadows and darkness.
Links
- Nicha is based off of Nyx in Greek mythology (wiki link) and Spider Queen from dnd (dnd tools wiki link )
- The concept of "Destiny sisters" is based on Slavic legends of three sisters, Sudenitsy, that predict fate of a newborn on the 3rd day after their birth. The youngest sister predicted the wedding day, talents, gifts and future family of the newborn, the middle sister predicted the illnesses and troubles that will happen in their life, and the oldest predicted the day of their death. The legends of three sisters is present in the legends about Zorya as well - Zorya among many was considered to have 3 different aspects, or 3 different star-sisters (Morning Star, Midnight Star and Evening Star). These three women are often aspects of time (past, present, future) or age (young girl, mother, old woman) or life itself (creator, guardian, destroyer).
General Information
| Classification | Greater Deity |
| Titles |
|
| Province |
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| Common symbol | Spider with red
stones for eyes |
| Gender | Feminine |
| Pronouns | she/her/hers |
Worship
| Worshippers | Almost all Drow,
except for surface drow refugees; some elven groups that abide by the old traditions; marginalized goblinoid races. |
| Holy day | Ceremonies are held
on the Blood Lunar Eclipse, on the first 2 weeks of Radogosch |
| Associated domains |
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Spouses
Children
by Felixora
Alignment chart
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