Airis

The religion of Airis was brought to the world of Rathnir with its people who have to this point been simply called the Airisians. The history of their race is long as it stretches far before the time they journeyed to the land of Rathnir, and their lore/religion has more depth than other religions in the world of Rathnir. Though their race has only been in the world of Rathnir for a short period of time their history this period is also packed with stories to tell.

Opening the Gateway
The Airisians do not originate from the world of Rathnir but then where did they come from? The story goes that they came from a world called Waracons though it is said that Waracons is not their world of origin, but how did they travel from Waracons to Rathnir? It is all because of a man by the name of Dell Airis Dalatrani, this is the story of how the Airisians came to the world of Rathnir.

Dell Airis Dalatrani had just moved to the city of Kordania in the Astyllean Sea. Kordania had just declared itself independent from the High Kingdom of Yimmu-Audal and after some tense moments and both sides preparing for war Yimmu-Audal backed down and Kordania was technically a free nation though Yimmu-Audal would dispute the claim.

Dell Airis Dalatrani
Dell Airis Dalatrani was a Rivfiana, if you've never heard of that race before it's because it's rare as hell and it's currently thought that Dell is the only one. A Rivfiana is a humanoid type being born from the world of Rathnir himself, they have a great love for nature and life in general. Dell would be given his full name at birth; it was like a random thought so he would always go by that name.

Born in the forest of southern Haven he would grow up in the forest and eventually when he was older began to travel around the world and eventually ended up in Yimmu-Audal there he became a priest of the Hukar Sharud Faith and then became mayor of a town called Duloc. Dell soon grew to dislike the way Yimmu-Audal was run by its leaders who mainly relied on allies and other powers to keep YA afloat and after being removed from the mayorship of Duloc due to government changes he would join Kordania who were attempting to become independent from Yimmu-Audal who was under the Certarian Empire.

Revelation
After the Kordanian independence Dell would get a house in Kordania and stay for a while, he would often go outside the city towards the border between Kordania and Tálor and sit in the green fields of grass and meditate to clear his mind of troubling thoughts and to deepen his connection with the world. During one of these meditations something would happen and according to Dell this is what occurred.

Dell would begin meditating one day and as he sat in the fields the setting sun shined on the grass which gently blew in the calm winds which blew the smell of salt water from the Astyllean Sea into Dell's face. As he sat there, Dell began to feel light as if he was floating and soon the sounds of the wind and ocean began to dissipate until he couldn't hear anything.

Opening his eyes, he found himself not in the field he was just in but floating in the empty void of space. Millions of stars surrounded him and there were what looked like clouds of many colors, orange, purple, blue, green, etc. Dell was amazed at what he saw as he had of course seen the night sky before, but it never looked like this.

Something caught his attention, out of the corner of his eye he saw what looked like feathered wings, then again, she saw a shadow but this time he saw the full creature it was a phoenix it flew around him in circles before it flew down Infront of him but then it seemed to disappear in the mist. a few seconds later Dell could see something coming out of the mist where the phoenix had landed.

It was a beautiful woman dressed in a plain white dress comes out of the mist, her skin was pale and hanging from her neck was a necklace with a purple gem in the shape of a phoenix, she had hair that was a mix of blue and purple that flowed like a gentle river down her back and waved gently as if there was wind.

Dell begins to feel a slight amount of fear as the woman gets closer and he tries to back away. "Do not be frightened, Dell", says the woman, her voice is calming and gentle but the voice echoes loudly, Dell begins to mumble religious chants, "Dell, I am no god, simply a creator. I am Airis in my language it means lover of life".

Dell realizing, he couldn't get away he decides to go with it. "How do you know my name?", he asked, he began to feel calmer around Airis and less afraid as her voice was calming.

"I know many things, but there are more pressing matters currently in need of attention. Dell, I need your help, my people (The Airisians) have for a few years lived in another world by the name of Waracons but bandits and thieves have destroyed their homes, taken their valuables and killed many of my people. ￼So now they wonder through space and time looking for a new earth to call home, I have chosen you Dell Airis Dalatrani to lead my people, to protect and care for them in your world of Rathnir", as Airis concluded the story her face turned from its cold stair to worry and a bit of sadness. ￼

Dell not knowing how series Airis was being tried to hold back laughing at the story which to his ears sounded ridiculous, "you serious? You want me to lead your people, I'm nobody, a simple man with a set of morals", he said chuckling to himself. ￼

Airis walked forward towards Dell, he didn't move, Airis then took her hand and gently moved it through Dell's hair until she found the 1 strand in his hair that was different from the rest, it was a light blue that was clearly different from the rest of his blood red hair. "For one you have the blood of a leader in you, rumor is not all that your name suggests Dalatra, and your middle name, Airis, my name given to you because deep down we share the same morals and ideal and that is why we share the name Airis. You may shake your head in disbelief but..."

"You created me?" Dell snaped as he interrupted Airis, "I never wanted to be anything special. I mean sure being possibly the only one of my kind but this, am I now the prophet of what most call a god, all I ever wanted was to be a good man because that's who I am, I don't want to be good cause I'm special".

Airis smiles and moves her hand onto Dell's shoulder and says, "I do see your point but let me assure you I did not create you and you are in no means a "god's prophet", your origin is still the same even if I might have given it a little push in the right direction. You are not kind because your special you are kind because you choose to be, and this Dell is why I have chosen you to lead my people because if not you who else would I choose? You are the one who can lead my people, not for power and riches but because my people are in our most desperate time of need and you as a person not anyone special chooses to help those in need."

Dell then looks at Airis, the words she says makes sense and he wants to help but he is afraid of what could happen, but he agrees and Airis tells him what he must do, "You must go find a place where my people can live peacefully and happy, once you find this place sit and meditate, calm yourself, once your mind is clear then will the gateway be open. Before you leave, I shall give you all my memories since you already have all my morals and maybe my memories can help guide your way"

Airis turned and walked back into the mist and disappeared, then the shadow of a phoenix flew up and away out into the field of stars. According to Dell he also saw the images of people with their heads down sad and worried, forever walking too nowhere, then everything went black. Dell woke back in the field where he had been meditating before, it had been hours and the sun was beginning to set, Dell tried to tell himself it was something he ate but suddenly his mind felt numb and when the numbness stopped his head began to hurt, then he realized he had new memories, Airis's memories of places and worlds and people and events he had never seen or heard of before. This meant the vision was real, after this he decided to go home and sleep and let his mind that was now racing and slightly hurting try and rest.

The Lore of Airisian Religion
The lore of Airis includes many stories from the origins of the Airisian people and tales from their homeland and not only that but it includes the stories that form the basis of the Airisian people's belief system, which is based off the teachings of Eldien, Airis, and Dorin. In this lore the Airisians originate from Earth (this could change later on). ￼So we will follow the journey of Eldien, Airis, and Dorin and their adventures with the Airisian peoples.

Breath of Life | Search for Balance
Our story starts with the spirit Eldien, she is usually depicted as a beautiful white Pegasus, she is a spirit of wisdom as her name suggests ( Eldien = Elder in the common tongue) and as far as we know she did not create the planet earth, but when she came to be the Earth was a large rock floating in space just like the other planets around her. Eldien had the vision to create a system of planets with life and beauty, but her pride would be the planet called Earth in the common tongue, but she knew it couldn’t be done alone, she created Airis, the spirit of life often depicted as a white phoenix, together they would create the rivers, forest, mountains, and all life that would call the planet earth home. Things would be peaceful for hundreds if not thousands of years until Eldien noticed something, forests were getting thicker, lakes and rivers were dry, and creatures were overcrowding, Eldien knew what was going to happen and why there was too much good that it was creating bad she needed to balance it out so she created another spirit called Dorin a spirit of darkness, Eldien also saw that creating a spirit of pure darkness could cause problems so she gave him a weakness, one spark of good inside of him, he made him and Airis brother and sister, Dorin would do as Eldien wanted and balance out the good and the bad, he would create death, rain, volcanos, and greed. Together they would build the world we know today as Earth, but our story doesn’t end here.

Power and Honor
Thousands of years have passed since our last story, man is the new kid on the block and rising nations are starting to take shape and so are its religions, Eldien, Airis, and Dorin enjoyed watching the humans taking what they had made and creating something of their own out of it, but there was one civilization that was going a bit too far with their religious beliefs. An island 700 km southwest of modern-day Ireland, they built many villages all over the island. Now, what was so bad about their religion, well it was the sacrifices if anything didn’t go as planned brutal sacrifices were held to “make things better.” I know some of you might be saying “well the Aztecs did sacrifices too”, and I know that but what the people of this island were doing with the sacrifices were worse and I mean way worse and DISGUSTING, it was so horrible that even the historians would not write it down and to this day there have been no written notes on the events other than “it was too horrid for words to describe”.

The sacrifices were getting worse to the point that the population on the island was decreasing by a huge number every day. Airis saw the horrific acts being committed on this island and decided that something must be done, she went to Eldien and Dorin and told them what she had seen.

“Something must be done for the sake of these people, they won’t survive much longer if they continue these wretched practices,” said Airis.

Dorin then walked towards Airis and said with a tone that sounded wise but was covered with his lust for destruction,” why should we intervene? Don’t these people have the right to lead themselves to their oblivion?” Dorin then found himself with a slight grin on his face.

With a bit of a harsh tone, Airis looked at Dorin and replied, “don’t let your lust for destruction brother block your path to wisdom”, Dorin was angered by this and lashed out at Airis “don’t let your love for life block yours!” Eldien decided to break up the fight, “Enough of this pointless bickering”, she said “Airis, Dorin does make a good argument. What right do we have to stop these people from their current course on this earth?”, Eldien then stared into the eyes of Airis as she said,  because we can, because it's right, and because its kind, if it is your wisdom to let these people have a long-suffering death that I will accept, but think about all those people who could have lived in peace, wisdom, love, and kindness, if we had just decided to do something instead of watching”, Eldien look at Airis a gave her a loving smile and said  if these people mean that much to you then we shall try and help, but we will not force them to change their ways if they choose destruction so be it”.

Two days had passed, and the time had come for the 3 to venture to the earth below, they decided to journey to the island's more populated village of Delriven, in the common tongue this translates to Deep River. It is named this because of the river Airowneth ( pronounced I-row-neth ), named after a woman who would spend all her days at the river singing up and down its shores, but where was I. Delriven was built inside of a forever silent volcano that blasted a massive hole in the top of the mountain, on a cliff next to the river Airowneth and the falls of Borihan (Bor-e-han). The only entrance to the city was a dirt road that climbed the side of the mountain to a large stone gate, carved straight from the rock. It was so architecturally beautiful that though the same color, it stood out from the jagged rock that surrounded it. After the gate was a tunnel, 20 feet long and 10 feet tall, the floor was stone bricks, the walls however were made from smooth white rocks that glistened in the glow of the lantern light, wooden supports would keep the walls from caving in on travelers.

The city itself was no less beautiful, after the tunnel, there is a garden, filled with

trees and flowers, a gravel pathway rides through the center of the garden till it meets a

The bridge that lies above the falls of Borihan, glows from the reflection of the new day sun on the gentle waters below. The city itself was made of cobbled streets and houses made from white stone and wood that shone yellow and orange in the new day sun. The main the road that led through the city ended at a wooded gate painted white, a white fence ran a full circle around the building, inside of that was a garden with some trees and lots of flowers that also circled the main building, a dirt path cut through part of the garden till it reached the main building, built in half a circle of white stone, on the other side was an open courtyard with 5 white pillars and a stone in the center, but with a building that sounds too bright and beautiful, it is left in shadow, for this building at the time was the sacrificial stadium for the city, few flowers grow and the tree branches hang with a look of sadness and the center stone, stained red. How could a group of people that created something so beautiful do something as awful as the sacrifices? They delve too deep into the bowels of their minds and take a religion that should have never seen the light of the earth and made it the ruling aspect of their lives. It is now the time of reckoning, whether Eldien, Airis, and Dorin could change these people for the better, or if it was too late to save them from the ultimate oblivion.

Scribes would take records on this day, some of which still survive in the city's archives as its most precious records. The light of the new day sun began to break over the crest of the mountain, 3 shadows loomed above the city that was not part of the mountain, the people looked up but were blinded by the sun's gaze, the shadows got smaller and smaller until the shadows broke from the sun and revealed a Pegasus, a Phoenix, and Dragon. The people looked up and saw what they thought were the gods they had been sacrificing to and ran to the sacrificial building. The people were not frightened by the sight of these creatures, they were almost excited, they thought that all their sacrifices had finally brought their gods to them and that they would be greatly rewarded with their godly powers.

Eldien, Airis, and Dorin landed in the courtyard of the building, Eldien looked around to see the dead gardens and sad trees, she then turned to see the sacrificial stone and the stone floor around it stained almost completely red with blood. Eldien almost shed a tear as even she had underestimated the true brutality of what Airis had described. The townsfolk then burst into the courtyard and stared at the 3 who stared back, no words were said for a few moments until one of the townsfolk singled for something, and a woman dressed in brown, almost potato sack looking, cloth, her hands were bound by ropes, she did not look directly at the 3, but hinted a glance now and again. A man then stepped forward slowly towards the 3, they stood their ground as he approached. He then turned to the people and said,  our sacrifices have brought the gods to us, and now we may finally have the power of gods, to shape and mold the earth as we so find it, the power is now ours, but one more sacrifice is needed to complete the transition, bring the sacrificial forward”, they began to bring the woman to the podium when Airis flew down on top of it to block them and shouted  STOP”, the people looked at Airis in the wonder of why their god had wanted to halt a sacrifice. "why?” said Airis looking at the crowd,” why take the life of someone else, someone so young, why end them in brutal suffering, is it really for Power? What would you do with this power, hmm? You would use it for good but at some point, greed, hatred, and anger would consume you all. Is this truly what you want?”

A man steps forward and looks at Airis, and says, “why would we fear these emotions, with the power of gods we can demand the respect of the peoples of the earth.”

Eldien glanced at the man and responded, "power does get respect, it might for a short time but it does not last, honor brings respect, honor brought from wisdom, not to rise above the people and life around you, but to be one among them,” the man looked at the 3 with a smug look on his face as these gods had just told all the townsfolk that their beliefs were wrong.

The man scratched his chin questioning what he would say next when he looked up and said,” if what you say is true then prove it, one of you remove all powers and become like us, if they earn our respect from honor then we will change our ways.”

The 3 spirits looked at each other when Airis stepped forward and accepted the challenge, Eldien questioned Airis to make sure if she was sure about her decision to which Airis responded,” I am not about to step away from these people when there's something I can do” Eldien nodded, and then backed away and said “very well, you will lose all gifted abilities and become human for however long you deem fit”, Airis then glided off the stone and behind one of the pillars, her wings disappeared, and when she came out from behind the pillar, she was human, dressed in a white dress, eyes like the stars and nebulas of space, her hair a shining mix of purple and blue, and around her neck a silver necklace which at the end had a blue gem, surrounded by silver, had a white phoenix on its face.

“When you feel your task is complete or that you have done all you can, simply place the palm of your hand on the side of the gem with the phoenix”, Eldien then walked over to Airis and whispered, “you will be missed, but may you find good fortunes on your journey”, and with that Eldien and Dorin took to the skies and disappeared into the still-rising sun.

Airis would spend 40 years as a human, she traveled from the east coast to the west coast many times telling the stories of how the earth was formed and also spreading Eldien’s wisdom of power and honor. She was content with a simple life and didn’t look for adventure, thought adventure seemed to look for her as she did go on several, she enjoyed the simple life, farming, building, and being kind, and after 40 years she had earned the peoples respect, not only of the city of Delriven but of the whole island. After all those years she returned to Dellriven, to say her final goodbyes.

The people of Delriven joined her at what was once the sacrificial chambers, now a house of meditation, peaceful and quiet, the sun now shines brightly on the stones and pillars of the courtyard, the trees no longer hang their branches in sadness and more flowers grow in the gardens, more than anyone could ever remember. Airis went behind one of the pillars and placed her palm on the rune and with that, she transformed back into a white phoenix, she flew up on top of the pillar and looked at the people of Delriven and said, “The moment may be sad but do not mourn for long, for I will return to see your smiling faces once again”, and with that, she burst into the sky, the parents lifted their children upon their shoulders and they all waved goodbye as they watched her fly up into the setting sun. She did keep her promise and returned to the island and its people many, many times over thousands of years and though the people of Ilapadmeirus are referred to as Airisians, after Airis the spirit of life, their flag is a white phoenix, Airis, on a field of blue and purple, the color of her hair when she was a human on the island all those many, many years ago.

Short Tales from the People of Airis
The people of Airis when they came to the world of Rathnir not only brought their beliefs and the teachings of our 3 spirits but also stories about the land they once called home, the island of Ilapadmeirus (ila-pad-mere-us). Short stories of how the rivers got their names, history of towns, peoples and languages all long gone, but the stories live on just as the people do.

Lady of the Weeping River
I will spin you a tale of old, from lands no mortal man of known Earth has seen, an Island called Ilapadmeirus ( ila-pad-mere-us ), a tale with no happy ending, the tale of the lady Airowneth, the Lady of the River. Our story takes place in the 1st century, a great city is being constructed in the mountain of Wreil (Wreel) or wounded mountain, next to the falls of Borihan that flowed to the river Airowneth, the village of Delriven would be built. During its construction the families of the men who worked in the city would live in the finished houses, some of the 1st in the city. In one of these houses lived a lady named Airowneth and her husband Borihan, a worker, their house sat just a few feet away from the falls. The work would continue for days, weeks, months, and years without a flaw, then on one day, in the birth of spring, Borihan was placing the stones along the river just before the falls when he would slip and be dragged down the river, he would put up a struggle but could cede for the current was stronger and more determined than he could be, he would be dragged over the falls to his death below. Airowneth had heard the screams of the men on shore who couldn't do anything when she got to the window. All she saw was all the workers looking over the falls. She would mourn the loss for a week, not to leave her house or to speak with even the neighbors, she would leave Delriven as she could not stand seeing the place of her beloved's death out her window. She would head into the wilderness away from the mountain, she would build a house near the river, and spend the rest of her days away from everyone other than the occasional traveler and the birds. She would spend days walking up and down the river singing, most say when they saw her, she didn't seem unhappy at first glance but with a closer look, a deep sorrow could be unmasked. On the final day of her life, she would travel one last time to the river, take off her shoes, and lay down in the river and would peacefully pass away at the respectable age of 126. When she was found she no longer had a look of deep sadness and was left in the river to once again be with her beloved.