Myshala
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| |
|---|---|
| Aliases | Stitchmother, Dark Lady, Lord of Flesh |
| Portfolio | Bargains, Wishes, Lust |
| Race | Mistlord |
| Status | Alive |
| Realm | Palace of Plenty |
| Symbol | Spiderweb with a spiral at the center. |
| Cult | The Orbocant |
In rage and sorrow, I threw myself at the mercy of our gods, begging for our people to be saved. But still our lands burned. Our cities toppled. So, I screamed. Why? I asked. Why had we been forsaken so? Tearing at my flesh in grief, I spilled blood seeking answers. And on the winds there came her voice, speaking softly.
"You shall have them."
Many are her names but chief among them on the lips of mortals is the name, Myshala. She is the Lady of Wishes, the Mistress of All Pleasures, the Spider Most Elegant. Of the Mistlords who dwell beyond the Land of Nod, making their home in the Aethereal Sea, few are as revered or as powerful as the Lady Most Merciful and Stern. Myshala, as with all Mistlords, did not partake in the creation of the mortal world. She did however aid Thiovan in the creation of the veil that forms the boundary between the Land of Nod and the Aethereal Sea. Her reasons for doing so are as enigmatic as the goddess herself. Myshala has remained one of the Mistlords that mortals are most familiar with. Her influence is such that there are shrines dedicated to her across the world. She is without a doubt one of the most active Mistlords in Ransera, going so far as to even having a hand in the creation of several of the mortal races earning her the title Lord of Flesh.
Perception
Myshala is one of the Mistlords that frequently appears in stories across all cultures of Ransera. Stretching back to the Age of Dreams, she has remained an active participant in the events of the world. This had lead many to both love and hate her for as many reasons as there are stars in the sky. Like many of the Mistlords she is a morally ambiguous entity. As the Lady of Wishes and Bargains, she is renowned for giving mortals what they desire most, for a price. Myshala is patient but she will claim what is owed to her for boons that are granted and none will stand in her way. A debt owed to the Stitchmother is not one that can be escaped, as many a clever and powerful individual have found out across the millennia.
While there are those who do, moving against Myshala is not something done lightly. Myshala is not known for being a wrathful goddess but earning her ire condemns one to a terrible fate. The Spider Most Elegant weaves her web well. History is littered with stories of wizards, kings, spirits and commoners who believed they had gotten the better of her only to have their entire world come crumbling down upon them, crushed by the weight of their own hubris.
Earning the favor of Myshala is rare but once given, it is a thing to be guarded and used wisely. The Stitchmother will make use of fools in a manner befitting their foolishness. She will curse those who spite her but she will guide and nourish those who are deserving of such things in her sight. Mortals be wary of invoking her name. She knows what you want and she knows what you need. It is on the mortal to make the distinction between those two very different things.
The Lord of Flesh is without a doubt one of the most powerful Mistlords. She is reputed to have a bitter rivalry with Vymeshis and she has little tolerance for Yggrakas and his followers. Among the gods, she is one of the few that walks between Mistlord and Dragon God having confidence with both groups.
The Palace of Plenty
Myshala’s realm borders the Land of Nod and the Aethereal Sea. An endless palace of rooms that stretch on for eternity. Each of them are filled with delights, horrors, and wonders so painfully incredible that mortal minds can scarcely comprehend them. Within her palace, Myshala entertains gods, mortals, spirits and all manner of entities. Visitors to her palace are free to wander wherever they like. They are free to take part in any of the pleasures that delight them for as long as they like. Only the foolish do so without first bringing for the Lady a gift. While the Lady will accept any gift given from the heart, there is one gift in particular that will grant whoever gives it to her a boon: a flower by the name of Eikaen’s Tears. Upon receiving a gift of this flower, the Lady will present the giver with a key.
The key that the Lady gives will open two doors somewhere within her palace. Behind one door will be that which one desires most. Behind the other door will be that which one fears most. The flower is exceptionally rare, said to bloom only once every fifty years and is reputed to grow “where it is needed most”.
Stories tied to Myshala
As stated before, Myshala has been an active presence in the lives of mortals since the dawn of time for Ransera. She has played the role of nurturing mother or scornful villain across many ballads. Her reasons for moving and acting are her own but wherever she does insert herself, interesting things are bound to happen.
The Story of Eikaen's Tears
In the Age of Dreams, when gods walked the land and the divide between mortals and the divine was thinnest, there lived two demigods. Arcas and Shaeoth. The demigod Arcas, beloved son of Eikaen, was brave and just. Shaeoth, was cruel and despotic. The two demigods warred and in the final conflict, Arcas was killed. So stricken with grief was the Dragon King that he fled the mortal realms and journeyed beyond the veil, returning to the Aethereal Sea. There the Dragon King wept for the loss of his son, whose soul had been robbed from him. Myshala came to Eikaen and seeing his tears, ushered him to her palace where she distracted him from his grief. For her kindness, the Dragon King fashioned for her a flower from his tears which he gifted to her. Myshala thanked him for his gift and in accepting it she made a promise, that one day a trail of Eikaen’s Tears would lead his son back to him.
The Dreamer’s Confidante
Myshala and Thiovan, the Dragon God of Dreams are well known to be close associates. Much to the chagrin of Lyren, the Mistlord of Mysteries, Myshala has often been granted freedom to step into the Land of Nod where she walked side by side with Thiovan. It is said that the Dreamer shared much with Myshala and it is because of this friendship that she was able to fill her palace with so many curious things.
The Blightseed
When Aedrin first forged the creatures that would inhabit Ransera, they were monstrous and horrifying to behold. The beings that were fashioned by the Dragon God of Nature were volatile and a poison to the infant world of Ransera. The gods were new to fashioning mortal life and so their creations ran wild and without restraint. Seeing the harm in such beings, Aedrin gathered them up and bound their essence to one of his magnificent scales. So poisonous were these creatures that they marred the beautiful scale and Aedrin cast the scale across the world to be buried. Myshala caught this scale within her hands and in it she beheld an opportunity. With the scale in hand she visited Thultu and she offered it to him in exchange for a fathom that would be hers and hers alone, one only she could find and only she could enter. Seeing the power locked within the scale, Thultu accepted her offer and henceforth became the Father of Monsters.
Religious Factions
While Myshala has many shrines and temples devoted to her across the world, her most widely known followers are members of the Orbocant. A shadowy organization whose members are threaded throughout all levels of society in all corners of the world. Exactly what they want, what they work toward, and why Myshala favors them is entirely unknown.
