The Laeriad
The Handmaidens of Khalerial, Hunters of Truth, The Red-Handed Veils, The Furies & the Adraestia
The Handmaidens of Khalerial, Hunters of Truth, The Red-Handed Veils, The Furies & the Adraestia
The Laeriad (OA: Handmaidens)
The sight of this triumvirate of hooded warrior women has haunted the night-travels of many a man's sleeping thoughts. They are the "ones who cannot be escaped" by those they hunt; the wicked, unjust and unpunished. They serve Khalerial as avengers and wardens of Hladmorna. They are known to be particularly outraged by crimes against women and the young by those who are inequal in strength, power or position.
The LAERIAD are often the patrons of vendetta-cults, Justiciars and martial sisterhoods like the Venatraxos. While the more common and publicly-known groups patronize the LAERIAD as a means through which to honor Khalerial without seeming to interfere with her dispensing of justice. In addition, the LAERIAD, as noted above, have a mythological reputation when it comes to the justice meted out to guilty males.
The LAERIAD do not provide access to Domains directly but prayers and offerings to their shrines or those of Khalerial lend their influence to tasks of justice, vendetta and wronging blood-crimes. In addition, as the conduits of KHALERIAL, they are less likely to take umbrage when one seeks favor in influencing Justice Herself.
The Maidenspite Prayer
Their reputation as bloody-handed angels of vengeance and justice as well as their many interventions on behalf of women has given rise to a dirty little 'secret' that is often passed down from mothers to daughters. It is said that, if a woman is taken forcibly by a man who escapes punishment in this mortal realm (as few escape the bleak eternity of Hladmorna at the end of their days) the LAERIAD grant her a boon. This boon may take many forms but the most common is a form of 'debt owed' to that woman and all females of her line. It is called by many names but is most often spoken of as The Maidenspite Prayer.
A prayer for direct intercession by the HANDMAIDENS in repayment for the debt of justice lost. There are entire generations of females from a descendant that have been protected from assaults in their small communities as all men know that their lineage has been granted such a promise.
Many versions of the MAIDENSPITE PRAYER exist and are taught to young girls in diverse communities, families and religions throughout the APPROACH and surrounding regions. Whether or not their maternal lineage holds such a debt from the LAERIAD is often immaterial as no local menfolk would dare take liberties with a female claiming such and risk being the subject of the Maidenspite Prayer.
Hear this Brute-
My blood your sin.
Never say a prayer for me,
Mark your cheeks ever thin, For this crime and treachery.
Oh Three! Carry our dark revenge.
Let it stop, make it end.
For with the power he has learned,
He will bear this stain again!
Oh Three, I call across the land,
Of maidenshead, flows maiden's spite,
A beg for merciless destiny at Your hand.
Brute will run but cannot hide-
See them black unto your sky,
My tears dry and strength returns,
Fall deep, to Maidenspite, I shall meet you there
You are mine. You are mine.
By this blood which flows,
and it will
until the Death of Time.
A COMMENTARY FROM THE HALL OF AGES:
This tradition is often passed down generation after generation with the tale of the wrong committed to their ancestor for the 'debt owed' often growing to mythical cruelties inflicted on them. While the LAERIAD, no doubt watch over those in need of a defender, it seems to me that the family claims passed down and gossiped about amongst the menfolk may also serve a very valid purpose in protecting a young girl from any local man regardless of the authenticity.
I feel the sudden urge to craft a terrible tale of a fictional female ancestor's fate at the hands of a man and speak of it most loudly at the local taverns here in Heraldsport...
Holy Books & Codes
The LAERIAD have little to no written tradition. In the Auredain Church, there are no officially ascribed texts or works in their name. In some of the vendetta-cults and amongst the hill clans it is believed that the LAERIAD keep an 'accounting' of their deeds and the sins of those they have punished along with the imposed sentence. It is also believed that this divine record holds the secret to entering Hladmorna.
It is also believed that they, willingly or unwillingly, shape a portion of the earth near a place where they have manifested to smite an offender. These symbols are nearly always in the form of a tangled triangle known as a TRIUMFYR.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
There are various ways to represent the Hooded Three but the most common is the TRIUMFYR: three triangles or spearheads enmeshed. The symbol is worn in main by those pledged to a vendetta-cult and/or sworn to the service of Justice or Vengeance. While it often serves as a shield, blazon and banner for dedicants to justice--amongst commoners it most often seen around the necks of young maidens with concerned mothers.
Many young girls are gifted a Triumfyr pendant, no matter whether carved of wood, stone or gold, upon their 13th year. Even among those families that do not hold such a tradition, the Triumfyr comes in handy as a 'surprise gift' to their daughter and an equally subtle threat to anyone courting the young lass. More than one insincere suitor has made his retreat when the young maiden of his designs arrived at their secret tryst bearing a new 'present' from her mother around her neck.
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