Laila By-the-Sea

The Sad Goddess. The Horizonwalker. Seal Woman of the Autumn Isles.

"I met her once, as a child. I was crying, and she stopped to ask me why. I then complained—Ah! The bracing arrogance of a child...!—I complained to this ascendant hero, this demigoddess who probably had monsters to defeat or kings to give counsel to, that my sister had stolen one of my toys. Ha! But instead of chastizing me for wasting her time, she... just smiled." The old man took a long drag on his pipe, thoughtful. "A simple thing, a smile, but after that sight... I've never coveted anything else since."

Laila By-the-Sea is a Material demigoddess of the lost and the tribeless, of wandering bards, naturalists and soothsayers, of “found families”, natural beauty and romantic tragedy. She's said to be a Seal Woman who was afflicted with amnesia and lost her seal skin, so she took to the land to pursue her fate, eventually to become a famed minstrel and hero alongside her loyal allies Ronom and Ranarim. The trio are varyingly called the Gods of Adventure, The Chorus of Seasky and the Trioscuri.

Laila By-the-Sea's alignment is Neutral Good.

Appearance & Heraldry

See also: Laila By-the-Sea Image Gallery (External)

Laila was breathtakingly beautiful (so much so it is said she could literally take one’s breath away, if she so desired), with skin of chocolate, hair of red wine and eyes a watery, gem-like emerald. She was master of a dozen musical instruments, though no instrument could compare to the heavenliness of her voice.

Worship

The Horizonwalker's worshippers are protectors and preservers of beauty, whether natural beauty, crafted or performed. They will ally with friars of the River Man Saint Frances Heronseye to protect unique ecosystems, or with Wardens of The Lady of the Mountain to protect important art, lore or literature from destruction. Most often they travel with the cedas of the Stormlords, Ronom and Ranarim, who are not only fellow gods of travel, but were direct allies and adventuring partners of Laila's in the First Age. The trio are sometimes even worshipped as a minor, collective pantheon of travel, adventure and heroism, known amongst other things as The Chorus of Seasky, the Adventuresome Pantheon and the Trioscuri. More than a few adventuring parties have been started by their inspiration.

Worshippers are almost wholly cleric-bards, -druids or -rangers, though she counts the occasional paladin among her ranks, when the enemies of beauty & family require a more heavy-handed approach. Though few in number they’re heavy with gravitasse or outright celebrity, bedecked with trinkets marking their journeys and always up for a pint and a tale.

Domains

Laila By-the-Sea's primary Domain is Travel. Her secondary domains are Creation, Freedom, Water, Passion, Family and Nature.

Favoured Weapon

The Seal Woman's favoured weapon is the shortsword. Her Relic shortsword is The Flute Sword of Ney.

History

Laila By-the-Sea is one of the most storied and therefore difficult-to-pin-down of the ascendant gods. As with Silas, Kaleva, the Stormlords, the Unwelcome Order and the rest, theologians have written extensively trying to separate fact from apocrypha, an exercise to which Laila's bardic "church" reacts with a mixture of exasperation and pity.

Some consistencies nonetheless: She is widely regarded to be the last surviving Seal Woman of the Autumn Isles, who shed her seal skin and left her ocean home to wander the lands of Waking Materia. She initially did this hoping to find more of her kind, for she found the post-Deluge oceans empty of all but sea monsters and their worshippers: the huge, black-and-white-skinned merfolk who called themselves the Näckros. An amnesiac, she didn’t know how or why her people disappeared. Stories of her finding them are rare and generally not accepted.

The Flamespeakers of Tong Deum

In one adventure, she became a student of the dwarven hero Galadnock mac-Kenzie, learning the ways of the Flamespeakers of Tong Deum, a monastic order originating from the plane of Pitravat. She would eventually become a Master. Both Laila and Galadnock have since become ascendant demigods of music, diplomacy and travel. Several of her churches continue to practice Flamespeaking to this day.

The Chorus of Seasky

Many stories place her as a long-time ally to the Stormlords Ronom and Ranarim, often combatting the old Colonial Gods of the Kelpeater and New Rozsan Empires. The Chorus would eventually come into direct contact with the Insurgent Gods as they themselves ascended. As such, the trio are often considered a “united god”, of sorts, of adventuring parties and the power of friendship. Some also include the Chorus's occasional allies, Galadnock mac-Kenzie and Valaan Blackblade, in the pantheon as well.

Clashes between Laila and the Lichlords are common in the canon, and indeed her magic shares some divine flavour with the ascendant Nireauan goddess of sea monsters, Shelas Ob'Silexia, leading some to wonder whether there is a shared history there, deeper than Laila’s memories could reach.

The Battle of Silent Sound

One of the Horizonwalker's most storied battles was outside the Kettite town of Silent Sound, where she, Galadnock mac-Kenzie, Valaan Blackblade and a few suviving soldiers held off an attack by Lichlord Chelicerax's scorpionine armies for a gruelling eight hours, long enough for Vierix Clymenikari and the Hecath Queen Raggedy Azra to summon the help of her Hecath Sisters, thus turning the tide of the battle and defeating the chelicerans.

The Näckros War

During the Näckros War of Valamon, where nearly the entire species rose from the ocean on transmuted sharks and manta rays to invade the island continent, it took a combined force of Valamon's humans, eladrin, dwarves, the Chorus and the Unwelcome Order to fight them back.

Laila By-the-Sea

Godhood
Ascendant (Late First Age) Alignment
NG Domains
Travel, Creation, Freedom, Water, Passion, Family, Nature Favoured Weapon
Shortsword Relic Weapon
The Flute Sword of Ney

Children