Emeli the Vort

Emeli Cherqevign /ɛ.ɱə.li ʃɛɾ.kʷə.ˈvɪːn/ was a sailor and ship’s captain from the Vortic Isles. She lived in the 800s. She, along with her partner Saint Navassa, brought Euluskan religion to the Vortic Isles, for which they were both canonised.
== Story ==
Emeli was born in the early 800s to a fishing family, and joined the Vortic Navy at the time it was beginning to explore the Wolcott Straits. She rose to Capitan and sailed a ship called the Golden Dawn eastwards, mapping the Lakayan east coast and the Fallonese coast properly. She was the first Vortic person in written history to be invited willingly back to their homeland (but probably not the first ever, just first attested).
She and her crew spent some time in the city of Luskan, learning the language and culture - and importantly, the religion. They identified heavily with the goddess Malini, lady of the water. Here, Emeli met and fell in love with the sailor Navassa. Emeli was inducted into Euluskan religion and the pair married.
Now married, Emeli and Navassa returned on the Golden Dawn (hence Navassa's epithet the Dawnbringer) to spread the gospel of Malini - who even in the modern day is the primary god in the Vortic version of Euluskan religious tradition. Whilst Euluskan religion has always been a minority in the Vortic Isles, it's still the second most common form of theism there. 
== As Saint ==
Emeli was made a saint, one of the few Vortai people to be one - hence her epithet as 'the Vort'.
Her saintly day was 27th Helkoalda, and her holy symbols were maps, compasses, sextants, and other sailing equipment, or ship’s wheels too. Followers of Saint Emeli often felt a connection to the sea, cartography, and/or exploration.
Finally, the capital of the Vortic Isles was renamed to Sant-Emeli (Saint Emeli in Vortai) in her honour about fifty years after she died, when the capital was rebuilt following a huge earthquake and tsunami.
Category:People