Meri'Diana
Goddess of Storms, Winds, the Seas
Goddess of Ships, Sailors and Pirates
Sacred Symbol: An anchor crossed with a rapier
Sacred Animal: Sea Hawk
Colors: Dark Blue, White and Grey
Sacred Weapon: Rapiers
Meri'Diana is the first of the Nature Deities, made by the Aether of Stell'Arya, to be the shepherd of the Seas. Depictions of the goddess often reflect on her adventurer spirit. This includes her garments being weatherworn, well travelled in, usually with symbolism of sailor clothes or uniforms worn by mariners and seamen. Popular pieces of many artisans usually show a young woman, with windswept hair and garments worn by many sailors, carrying an anchor on her back and wield a duo of rapier and pistol in her hands. These images serve to inspire the wild and free spirit of the goddess, who is worshiped by sailors and mariners. In her seaside temples, however, the goddess may be depicted differently. Statues of the goddess may show her more aquatic nature. As goddess of the Seas, she is worshiped by fishing towns and cities as the half human, half fish goddess of calm and dangerous waters alike. In this form, her statues are often gilded with mother of pearl scales along her long and graceful aquatic form, and she carries in her hands a compass and winds that feed that sails of ships.
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Goddess of Storms, Winds, and the Seas
When Meri'Diana was first formed from the Aether, she was placed on Lumis to be the shepherd of the Seas and all that they encompass. The earliest scriptures speak of her descension into the waters of the Material, and how she made them her domain. It is said that every last drop of water belongs to her and all things that reside within the seas are hers to lay claim over. This dominion over the Seas also meant that she was the reason for its ebb and flow. She sails across the vasts waters and gives the gift of winds to all.
In the beginning, she taught the Children the secrets of seafaring. As a goddess of passion, like Nissa'Lune, she believes that seeking the horizon is gift of life and one that should be embraced by all. As giving as the goddess may be, she is also known to have a temper. Meri'Diana, being the shepherd of the Seas, shares a deep connection to the mercurial and every shifting nature of her domain. The Nature Divinities all share this in common: they are just as much influenced by their domains as they have power over them. On the darker moments of her demeanor, she can make the seas swell and form waves and powerful gales that break ships and make sailors drown. This unpredictable behavior is why she is also recognized as the master of the Domain of Storms. When the goddess is insulted by those who would do harm to her domain and its denizens, she would produce violent storms to teach a valuable lesson to all. The goddess of the seas may also demand appropriate compensation for her bounties, and so it is said by many sailors and fishermen: it is wiser to give back to the sea. Scribes who have studied the traditions of many seafaring tribes and peoples have recognized that they all perform sacrifices of fine wines, food and even gold and other treasures to the altars of Meri'Diana, lest they suffer the wrath of the goddess that gave them those fine riches to begin with.
The goddess of the Seas is also famously known as the progenitor of the mystical creatures known as Merfolk. The legends tell us that the first Merfolk were a tribe of children that worshipped the goddess and they were beloved by her. Their ancient homeland was struck with a calamity, and the mountains began to erupt and fire and poison threatened to wipe them out. In their moment of desperate need, they prayed to their goddess for sanctuary in her domain, forgoing the desires to ever live on land for fear of the horrors that may strike them. Meri'Diana blessed those ancient children, and gave them the ability to enter her domain, and there live sheltered under her protection from the dangers of the surface world. She gifted them her spirit and her nature, making them graceful and dangerous. Til this day, descendants of the ancient children owe they fealty to the goddess and they are her most fervent worshippers, servants to her will.
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Goddess of Ships, Sailors and Pirates
In the earliest days, Meri'Diana was a mere whisper on the waves, an unseen force that guided fishermen and merchants to safe shores. But as time passed, the sailors began to speak her name, and the pirates—those audacious wanderers of the sea—began to feel her presence in every gale and swell. She became a goddess of both the known and unknown, a protector of those who charted the vast, untamed oceans. Since the goddess' domain stretches far beyond the shores and coasts of any kingdom, and the open ocean, where the horizon fades into mystery and danger lurks beneath the surface, she is the patron of all who sail, from humble fishermen seeking fortune to legendary pirates who seek freedom, power, and glory. She can summon winds to guide ships safely through storms, or she can conjure tempests to swallow the foolish and the greedy. Her favor can turn a ship into a swift and unstoppable vessel, or her wrath can leave the strongest of ships broken and adrift.
Her divine influence is strongest during the night when the moon is her divine companion. Sailors often leave offerings of rum, fresh fruit, and silver coins at the prow of their ships, hoping to curry favor with the goddess. Pirates, ever the opportunists, pray to the sea goddess before embarking on raids or treasure hunts, seeking luck and cunning in their quests. These offerings and observations by those who often call the sea their first homes is why the divinity of the Seas receives power over the Domains of Sailors and Ships. Some of her followers are simple sailors, others are fierce pirates, and some are mere wanderers drawn to the sea's wild nature. Among them are powerful sea-witches, who claim to have learned their magic from Meri'Diana's own whispers, and the feared Pirate Kings who rule the roving fleets across the oceans.
Her most devoted followers wear charms of sea shells, coral, or tattoos of waves and ships. Every year, they gather for a festival known as the Tide's Embrace, where they celebrate the goddess with feasts, music, and offerings of rum. Some even risk the perilous open waters to reach an island said to be blessed by Meri'Diana herself—where the seas are calm, and the winds favor even the most inexperienced of sailors. To invoke the sea goddess' favor, a sailor must live with respect for the sea—never polluting her waters or abusing her creatures. Pirates, while often lawless, must honor the goddess with tributes, for it is said that a pirate who breaks his oath to Meri'Diana will never find safe harbor. Though she preaches passion in freedom, her wrath is fierce. When a sailor turns his back on the sea, abandoning her gifts or showing cowardice in the face of a storm, Meri'Diana is swift to punish. Ships are lost, crews are scattered, and those who survive are often driven mad by the endless waves, their minds broken by the goddess’s fury.In the end, she remains both a protector and a destroyer, as capricious and powerful as the seas themselves. To sail under her blessing is to walk the fine line between glory and ruin, knowing that the same waves that bring a ship to fortune can just as easily drag it to the abyss. While she has many temples dedicated to her in seas-side towns and cities, the goddess doesn't have organized institutions. Her followers are myriad and as colorful in their ways of worshipping her as they are diverse. For this reason, she is recognized as a universal goddess of navigators, and those who seek freedom. Symbols to her are kept and worn even by those who do not traverse the sea as often as her dedicated sailors. Hermits may see to carry a symbol of the anchor on their persons, so they find safe passage and be able to navigate the perils of routes on land and sea.
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The Heart and the Sea
Long ago, in a coastal village where the cliffs met the roaring ocean, there lived a woman named Elira. She was the wife of Caden, a seasoned sailor who spent more days at sea than at home. Though he was a charming man, Elira’s love for him was steadfast, and she waited for him patiently with every return. Their love had once been the envy of the village—Caden’s smooth words and bright eyes matched Elira’s beauty and kindness. They were inseparable, or so she believed. But, as the years passed, the call of the sea began to pull Caden farther away. The salty air, the endless horizon, the promise of treasure and freedom—he found himself growing more distant. It wasn’t long before Elira began to suspect something was amiss. When Caden returned from his voyages, he was less affectionate, more secretive, and his eyes carried a certain guilt that Elira could no longer ignore.
The truth came to her one fateful evening when she overheard Caden’s laughter from outside their cottage. He was in the tavern, toasting with his crewmates. Elira, curious and seeking answers, crept closer, her heart heavy with the dread she knew she would find. Through the window, she saw him—his arm around a woman who wasn’t her. The woman was draped in the softest silks, her hair cascading in dark waves. She laughed with a seductive sweetness, and Caden’s eyes gleamed as he kissed her cheek, his lips lingering far too long. Elira’s chest tightened. The moment shattered her. Her love for Caden turned to a searing, unforgiving anger. How could he betray her, not just once, but again and again, with women from port to port?
In her grief and rage, Elira ran to the cliffs by the sea, her heart storming as violently as the waves below. As she stood on the edge, the wind howled around her, as if the sea itself mourned with her. That’s when she heard the voice.
The voice of Meri'Diana spoke. “I hear your pain, child of the shore. Your heart is broken, yet you yearn for vengeance. I can offer you a way to make him regret his betrayal. But it comes at a cost.”
The voice was soft, like a whisper in the wind, yet it carried a weight that made her soul tremble. Elira turned to see nothing, but the sea before her seemed to swell with a strange, divine energy. It was then that she knew—this was no mere voice. It was the goddess of the waters, Meri'Diana, who had heard her cries.
“What would you have of me?” Elira asked, her voice raw with pain.
“I will grant you the power to make him feel what you feel,” the voice answered, “To drag him back to the sea and make him regret his every sin. But in return, you must become something new, something born of the sea, something that can never return to the land.”
Elira’s breath caught in her throat. “Something new?” she whispered in response.
Meri'Diana’s voice hummed through the waves. “Yes. You will become one of my children, and when your sailor husband returns, you will sing him to his end. His heart will be yours to tear asunder, and he will drown in the very sea he loves.”
Tears welled in Elira’s eyes, but they were not tears of sadness—they were tears of something darker. “I accept.”
At that moment, the sea rose in a crashing wave, and Elira felt herself pulled into the water, swallowed whole by the depths. As the waters closed around her, her body shifted, her skin growing smooth and scaled, her legs fused together into a long, sinuous tail. Her hair turned to flowing seaweed, dark and tangled, and her eyes became pools of the deepest blue, shimmering with an otherworldly glow. Meri'Diana’s power surged through her, and Elira felt a strange hunger deep in her chest—a hunger for revenge, for justice, for the man who had betrayed her. When Elira emerged from the depths, she was no longer the woman she once was. Her voice had become a haunting melody, a song that could sway the hearts of men to madness. The village no longer recognized her, and the once-shoreline she had loved now felt foreign to her. She was a creature of the sea now—an immortal being who could never again walk the earth.
It wasn’t long before Caden returned to the village, as he always did, with a hearty laugh and a swagger in his step. His ship anchored off the coast, and he stepped ashore, thinking only of the comforts of home. But there was something different in the air. The wind had changed, and the villagers whispered of a haunting new presence on the cliffs. No one dared venture too close, for the songs carried by the wind seemed to call to something ancient, something dangerous. That night, under the light of the full moon, Caden walked alone along the beach, unaware of the danger lurking just beneath the surface. His mind was filled with thoughts of Elira, wondering why she hadn’t greeted him with her usual warmth.
Then, he heard it—the haunting melody on the wind. It was soft at first, a gentle hum that beckoned him closer, like the call of a lover. He couldn’t resist. He followed the song, his feet moving of their own accord, drawn toward the cliffs where the sea churned and foamed. There, standing on the rocks, was Elira. But she was not the woman he had left behind. Her long, dark hair flowed around her like the waves themselves, her body wrapped in shimmering scales that caught the moonlight. Her eyes, once filled with love, now glowed with a cold, vengeful fire.
“Caden…” she sang, her voice a deadly lullaby.
He stepped closer, mesmerized by the beauty of her song. “Elira…?”
Her lips curled into a wicked smile. “Do you remember the promises you made to me, sailor? The vows you swore?”
He frowned, confused. “I… I’m sorry, love. I—”
But before he could finish, she sang again, the melody rising with the wind. It was no longer a sweet song, but a spell, wrapping itself around his heart, his mind, his very soul. Caden felt his knees weaken, his chest tightening, as if the very air around him was choking him. The ocean roared with fury, and he found himself drawn to the edge of the cliff, unable to pull away.
“Elira, please…” he gasped, his voice breaking as he reached out toward her.
But Elira only laughed, a laugh that echoed like the crashing of waves. “You are nothing but a fool, Caden. You thought you could abandon me, that your lies would go unpunished?”
With one final, devastating note, her song swept through him, pulling him to the edge of the rocks. His vision blurred, and as he stumbled, he felt himself falling—down, down, into the cold embrace of the sea.
Elira watched him disappear beneath the waves; her heart still full of the anger that had turned her into something otherworldly. She had been wronged, and now she had taken her revenge. But as she turned to vanish into the depths, a single tear fell from her eye. The sea goddess had given her power, but it had come with a cost. She was no longer a woman who could love. She was a siren, a creature of vengeance, and the sea would always be her only companion. And so, Elira sang her song, not for love, but for justice, and the sailors who heard it knew: no man could escape the wrath of the sea, nor the vengeful heart of the one he had betrayed.
