Saint Eloisa of the River

"Her hair was the colour of golden fire, Her eyes lit with the spark of justice. Her voice could impart that spark to all within earshot... She breathed the spark of fire into the hearts of men when it was needed most, just when it was at its lowest ebb. She saved her people from the depredations of the wild, though the cost was great."

- The Hemerology of Future Phases -

Sacred text of Saint Eloisa of the River -

Early Life

Eloisa Bekk was the adopted daughter of Dagr and Eona Bekk, peasant farmers living some five hundred years ago in a place that is now the border between Casteidan and Nessenveld. Although she was named by them she was not their natural child. Eona found the tiny baby lodged into the crook of a tree just above the waterline of the river that passed through their farm on the day after 'Springfest'. They searched high and low, but even though the child was only a few days old, and had not been left out in the cold for long, there was no sign of the mother. They never hid the fact that she was a foundling, and it never seemed to bother her. When asked about it once when she was eight years old, she simply smiled and said, "It's alright, I am here for a purpose." This shocked Dagr, but though he asked more, she would not say what that purpose was. Growing up, she was much the same as any other child. She learned to shoot a bow at a young age, and she was very good at hunting and tracking the local wildlife.

Eloisa and the Brigands

The winter of her fifteenth year was particularly cold and long. The snows started to fall while the farmers were still trying to gather the harvest into storage. By the solstice, outlying farmers and their families had started to come into the town for protection. They reported scavenging wolves roaming the countryside, and worse... Two months later when the weather should have been beginning to warm up, there seemed to be no end in sight. People were starving, they were running out of even wood to burn. That was when a group of brigands raided the town in the night. They stole what little food they could find, attacking anyone who stood in their way. There were Orcs mixed in among the Human brigands, and even a few half breeds. The townspeople gathered together the next morning to discuss the situation. Many wanted to abandon the town and head downriver to the nearest city, many days travel away. Just when it looked like the majority were resigned to leaving the town, Eloisa stood up and started to convince them to stay. Rather than abandon their home, she said, they should gather and fortify a defensible area in the centre of town. If they left, they would prove easy pickings for the brigands and wolves. If the farmers would stay and defend the town, she would lead the few remaining hunters out to track and kill the brigands in the wilderness. Upon hearing her words the crowd cheered and were unanimous in their determination to save their homes and fight off the marauders. That afternoon as the farmers and other townsfolks were building barricades and gathering their belongings into the central area, Eloisa led the five remaining hunters out into the wilderness to hunt the brigands. By the evening they had tracked the raiders back to their camp in the forest. At nightfall, most of the brigands left to go back to raid the town once more. Eloisa and the hunters picked off those left behind in the camp with their bows. They then trailed the main group back to the town, when the raiders started their assault, Eloisa and the hunters started shooting them from behind. During the fighting, there was only one casualty on the side of the townsfolk, Dagr Bekk, Eloisa's adoptive father. The fighting was tough but short and in no time the raid was over, just three of the brigands managed to escape, but the town was safe.

Ascension

That summer the town recovered quickly and the townsfolk worked hard to create a barricade around the town to protect them from future raids. For the next three years, she worked in and around the town, training hunters, and helping farmers. Her natural affinity for plants and animals helped them learn new techniques for growing crops as well as hunting both game animals and dangerous monsters. The technique for planting fields known as 'crop rotation' is accredited to her. She taught them how to look for signs in nature that would help them predict the weather in both the short and longer term. That autumn in a conversation with her adoptive mother, she told her that she felt her 'task was almost complete'. The following winter was another harsh one and before long there were refugees turning up at the gates of the town. The news of the towns improved situation, and also Eloisa's part in that, had spread through the countryside and all knew it would a safe place to winter. As the winter progressed and the weather steadily worsened, more and more refugees came to the town. By 'Midwinters Eve' Eloisa suggested they open one of the now emptied, storage barns in town as a hostel to shelter the incoming people, who had nowhere else to go. Eloisa started to help feed and shelter those coming into the hostel. She would help provide them with food, bedding, and find them a place to sleep. Little did anyone know that one of the people being sheltered was, in fact, the leader of the brigands who had escaped on the night of the raid. When he found out who Eloisa was, and how she had been instrumental in the defeat of his band of raiders, he took out a knife and stabbed her straight in the chest. Brandishing the knife he tried to make his escape after attempting to set fire to the barn full of refugees. He did not get far before being caught by the town militia. Three days later he was hanged in the town square, no one ever knew his name. Two days later the body of Eloisa was burned on a pyre on the bank of the river, not far from where she was found as a baby, just eighteen years earlier. That very same night, she appeared as a glowing saintly figure before the gathered townsfolk in the town square. She told them that from that point forward she would be able to watch over them and help them for all time. The next day, the sun appeared through the cloud and the snow started to melt. There was no more snow that winter, and the following summer provided an extra bountiful harvest.