Gratia
Gratia, the One at the End, is a goddess of Mirrorspace and the sole diety of the Dailist religion. While attributed as the sole creator diety of Mirrorspace, Gratia is mostly recognized by her followers as the ender of all things material, providing comfort to the dead and remembering the objects and people otherwise forgotten by time.
Divine Domains
Grave, Peace, Order
Tenets of Faith
According to her followers, Gratia is responsible for the creation of Ahno and the entire Mirrorspace system. However, doing so came at a great personal cost to the goddess, as creation could only be spun out of her very own existence, which inexorably seeks to be made whole. That is why creatures and people age and die, as the material of their bodies and their spirits seek to be reunited with their creator.
Due to the self-sacrifice inherent in the creation of life, Dailists revere Gratia. However, whether or not she should be directly worshipped is a source of eccumenical strain. Old Dailists, confined mostly to the western shores of Ioya and the Expanse Desert, directly revere Gratia, displaying her visage in temples and homes and giving offerings to her directly.
Far more populous are Modern Dailists, or just Dailists, who view any attempt to directly commune with Gratia as heresy and a sign of ill fortune. While humanity owes their creation to her existence, to speak with her directly risks a premature death, as the spirit and soul of the beseecher will inevitably be drawn back to the goddess. Instead, Dailists worship Gratia through intermediaries, called saints, whose dedication to Gratia in life canonize them in death. Though not gods themselves, the saints are often mistaken as such by outsiders, as their individual rituals and followers vary based on the saint's actions in life. Because of their mortal origin, saints are also numerous, with each nation and settlement generally having one or a few that hold more sway than the others, and non-canonized local saints are also quite common, especially in rural provinces.
Holidays
As is typical for dieties on Ahno, the Confluence, the day in the year when the planet passes through its spectral mirror, is the largest holiday of the year. For Dailists, both old and modern, the event is treated as a massive celebration, with partying in town streets, large feasts, music, and other activities.
Dailists believe that the Confluence is a reminder from Gratia about the impermanence of all things, allowing people to come face to face with their very souls that will one day be returned to Gratia's being. Rather than somber, this is treated as a joyous occasion and a reminder to all about the sacrifice Gratia made to create all life. Dailists also encourage one another to directly confront their mirrored self, believing that doing so while speaking aloud one's greatest wish for the coming year will help enable that wish to come true.
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