The Lady

Goddess: The Lady
Alignment: Natural
Holy symbol: A silver star

"Worship The Lady, for all our lives and souls are but counters in the great game of chance that is existence, and it is Her ivory hand that rolls the dice of fate. She is beautiful to behold beyond all earthly women. Yet speak not Her sacred name, lest thou draw Her terrible blind gaze upon thee!
"The Lady needs no temples, for wherever people meet to gamble, or wherever a great risk is being taken, there is a temple to Her name. The Lady demands no offerings, for every hexa staked upon the roll of a dice or the turn of a card, every belonging gambled, every life risked, is an offering in Her name. The Lady seeks no prayers, for every jump of the heart and every indrawn gasp of breath when a great gamble is taken is a prayer in Her name. Where better to worship Her than here on the borders of Nocturne, where great danger may come upon us at any moment? Many of us here in this city, and in the settlements and bastions within Nocturne itself, serve as adventurers, whether in the noble defence of the realms of light or in search of fame and fortune. As such, we stake our lives and fortunes daily upon our skills and those of our comrades. Thus who better to turn to than the patron Goddess of risks and gambles?"

Aspen Greyve - First Prophet of The Lady

The cult of The Lady is a new one, first spoken of by the young orphaned scout, adventurer and gambler Aspen Greyve. After entering Nocturne on a dangerous mission for the Lorewarden's Guild in June 900, he found himself hovering on the verge of death in an ancient temple, and it was here that his first vision of The Lady came to him. This vision inspired him to begin worshipping Her, and on his return to Outpost he joined the Lorewarden's Guild and began to proselytise Her religion among his usual associates of gamblers, scouts, adventurers and street folk.

The Lady quickly gained a small following, and although She has no shrines or temples, people can now occasionally be heard to invoke Her name before taking a great gamble. The Lady is said to be fickle and capricious in Her favours, with a wicked sense of humour and a munificent measure of mercy.

The only strictures upon the worship of The Lady are that Her followers must never pass up the opportunity to take a gamble in a game of chance when invited to do so, unless the outcome is clearly rigged or otherwise treacherous, and that they must never ever cheat at any game.

It is said that anyone who cheats after invoking The Lady's name will meet with a swift and terrible demise from an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances.

In keeping with its nature, the religion has no formal hierarchy or membership, the clergy being distinguishable from the laity only by the supernatural powers which The Lady has granted them and the fact that they are usually members of the Lorewarden's Guild. The Lady's followers are encouraged to respect all other religions, whatever their creed.