'God of Winter' Hymn to Ludovic, War of the Moon

The polecats are survivors.
A land of giants- of moose, of bobcat, lynx, wolf, osprey and eagle, the polecat is tiny.
It is tiny even to its prey, the rabbit, the deer’s fawns, goose, and fowl yet it persists. An unexpected predator, stronger than it appears, faster than its small legs would lead one to believe, and it persists.
The polecat persists against the hungry, empty, snarling cold. It persists against the dry burn of ever consuming summer, the bounty of spring and the dying light of autumn.
A creature that reminds it is not the shy ermine nor the friendly ferret.
It has teeth that sink into flesh easily and claws that rend through skin unkindly.
The Polecat is a survivor.
A beast of winter, fur uncaring to the cold, pouncing just as the storms that wrack the north do, its fury a storm just as threatening as the blizzards it bears with little mind.
It is the incarnation of winter.
The never full, the hungry, the creature of those wailing snowy nights with no moon and no stars.
The Polecat is winter. The Polecat is hunger. The Polecat is blood shed on pristine snow.
The Polecat is the God of Dead Night, God of Overcoming, God of The Unlikely Survivor.
The Polecat is the one who will live.
The Polecat will live.

Historical Basis

Ludovic was thrown overboard from Soliairs' ship during the Battle of the Moon's Rage during the War of the Moon and suffered severe injury from frostbite and hypothermia from being plunged into the artic waters by a dragon attacking the vessel. In addition to severe frostbite to his ears, fingers, toes, and nose, Ludovic sustained pneumonia from inhaling sea water, lacerations from sea ice, bruising, and a broken wrist due to the force he hit the water with. It is thought that were it not for his persistence and determination to live alone, had he fallen unconscious or been discouraged, Shia may have considered him already dead and reaped him, the closest a god has come to death in recent memory without willing their own death aside from Ferventi later on in the same battle.

Spread

Primarily, the hymn spread among the crew of the Temple of the Crane and Ludovic's own followers, who likely were the ones who created the hymn in the first place as a form of rallying cry following the incident in which Ludovic was thrown overboard from the vessel into the arctic waters. The hymn functions as both a wish for Ludovic's swift recovery by not just demanding but stating he will survive, but also as a threat to the Lunar Dragonflight.

In Art

Alongside this hymn, Ludovic's image is made different to other depictions of him, instead showing his hair falling from its braid and fading to white, the fur of his robes longer and rimmed with ice, the god more pale and more angry than usually depicted, much more in line with his depictions as the god of hunger.

Date of First Recording

20020, 15 Luna

Date of Setting

20020, 15 Luna