Drusilia

Portfolio: Love, Flowers, Fertility.

Drusilia was killed by an Evil version of Bregan on 6/3/220. Drusilia returned on Interdie 346 when Sakura no kaze died and was reincarnated as a woman. The vessel proved to be the right one for the Spark of Drusilia.

Full details about the Avatar of Drusilia can be found here.

Overview

Drusilia is the goddess of love, fertility, and vitality. Where Ishtar is a heavenly goddess devoted to all life and a number of domains, Drusilia is more focused on the love between two people, rather than specifically childbirth. However, she is definitely in conflict with Ishtar in places and people rarely honor both goddesses.

Drusilia is a young, winged woman commonly associated with birds. She surrounds herself with a large retinue of swans and maidens, which she calls lasae. The lasae are spirit guardians who follow people during life and guard their graves after death. Each person has his or her own lasa. They carry mirrors which are used to hold a person’s best memories.

Her aim is not to help others procreate, but rather to aid lovers in finding one another. In this regard, she is quite a naive goddess. In a violent world, her aims are almost comical, but this does not stop young men and women from worshipping her, and continuing on until a first child is born.

She is a gossamer lining of silver amongst a world of dark clouds.

But there is a dark, seductive part of Drusilia that only the wisest rulers have come to understand. In fact, in most cities, Temples of Drusilia are not allowed within city walls. Young men, women, and even mothers are so enthralled by the goddess’ allure, temples must be kept from one’s sight, "lest those who are easily beguiled be brought into the temple every day."

Dogma

Drusilia's primary duty is to bring lovers together, tempting a heart here and there to make a man or woman fall for their destined love. But she is not above using more powerful magics on the fated, when necessary. In defense of true love she is a fierce guardian. Many tales exhibit her violence against aggressors who stand in the way of who she deems fated for true love.

Another of her darker aspects is seduction, and all followers are secretly knowledgeable about the seductive arts—including tactics and compelling magic.

Once a year prior to spring, Drusilia's followers engage in rites which encourage coupling. Gifts and sweets are often exchanged during these pairing rituals.

Clergy and Temples

The temples of Drusilia are dominated by female acolytes and priestesses. Their primary goal is to find the proper marriage of a man and woman, based on love and not based on wealth or land acquisitions. They use cards and dice to augur the fates in order to match men and women properly. Afterwards, a magical charm or elixir might be used if one of the parties does not see they are right for one another.

Acolytes of Drusilia make and sell cosmetics and clothing to help women attract a mate. Paladins of Drusilia follow similar thinking, but mostly defend the temples from attacks by local authorities who want to see the temples removed far from the cities. Drusilia's paladins are great diplomats for this very reason, focusing on debate rather than the sword to solve problems.

Worshipers

No one grows up worshipping Drusilia, in fact house Hanada is often treated as strange because of their outward devotion to her. She is the goddess men and women turn to for aid in finding true love—and later help in making children. But once people find Drusilia, they find it hard to stop following her. They come to temple daily and make offerings, praying for more and more guidance, perhaps to keep their marriages strong.

Perhaps because they can't pull themselves away. Families are buried together in underground tombs, which are built to look like living quarters. Paintings adorn the coffins, showing couples in loving embrace (forever).

Clerics of Drusilia

Renowned for their sense of fashion and beauty, the priestesses of Drusilia never turn away a person searching for their one true love. They are maker and purveyors of salves and other cosmetics which are used to make people more attractive to a mate. When they are called to adventure, usually it is for the cause of preserving beauty and purity in the world. To them, love is the most important and powerful force in the universe, so naturally, anyone who wishes to destroy or interfere with true love is automatically an enemy.

Knights of Flowers

A paladin of Drusilia takes the Oath of the Beloved with the understanding that they are life-long protectors of the temples and various smaller shrines throughout the lands. Many cities have banned and even destroyed temples in the past, so the organization has taken to arming themselves to keep the few remaining large temples in major cities from being overrun.

Others take the Oath because they have suffered the loss of true love: a husband who mourns the murder of his wife, or a daughter whose father was killed leaving a forlorn wife behind. Whatever the cause, these warriors pledge to prevent these things from happening to others. All the while, these paladins honor the tenets of true love and treat all people justly and lovingly.