Lunaria, Shepherd of the Dead

## Overview

Lunaria's only outfit.

Althulyx (Grandfather)

### Occupation

God of the Moon, Stars, Alchemy, Dreams, Peace, Shapeshifters, Wayfarers, Pagan witchcraft, Silence, Prophecy and Foresight.

## Physical description

### Gender

Genderless Typically goes by She/Her or They/Them

## Appearances

### Appears in

Book 1Book 2Book 3Book 4 Book 5Book 6

Lunaria is a goddess in Elegenian mythology, representing the moon, wayward souls, stars, alchemy, prophecy, dreams and peace. However, depending on the location, her names, titles, and meanings are different. In Stormanian mythology, she is the god of travellers and witches among her already existing titles. She is the child of Thzeraphis , the elder sister of Lumaria, and the grandchild of Althulyx. She is known for being extremely private, even with her fellow gods, next to never showing up at any meetings, or answering any prayers.

She is only really known for one festival: and thats the lunar eclipse. It's the one time in the century where she'll make an appearance apart from gazing down at the mortal world during the nights. Even then, its rare to gain audience with her.

It is a common ritual for mortals to fill a large, flattened bowl with water and place it in direct moonlight. Afterwhich, a circle conspiring to the moon phase will be lit, and mint or sage will be burned. This is thought to draw Lunaria nearer so she can guide the dead souls of their loved ones to the stars. Through this ritual, Lunaria and as such mourning, is associated with the burning of sage.

## Personality

Lunaria is described as wise, level-headed, rational and thoughtful. She is highly perceptive, but tends to lean on the borderline of apathy. Knowing the fate of the universe has made a matured Lunaria learn not to care too much, and to treat everyday as just another day. This is what has made her distant, cold and outwardly uncaring.

Younger Lunaria used to care deeply about the world around her. She interacted with mortals on the daily and loved the world that her father and grandfather had created for her. She loved the animals her father would create for her, and loved how she and her sister used to run around the world creating day and night. She was curious, and fell in love with every new thing she saw. And as she grew in beauty, power and grace, she fell out of love with the mundane. The endless cycles. She mourns the childish god she could have been, and now views mortals as selfish and uncaring of the world around them. She believes that none of them could ever change, so why even bother interacting with them?

She used to create beautiful art pieces in the sky with the souls she shepherds, and appreciated how the wayfarers used them to find their way through the night sky. However, she learned the nature of humans and their higher ups, and how they always hungered for more, how they could never be satisfied with what was given to them. She still makes art pieces, but they lack emotion, purpose, which is a reflection of how she feels.

#### The Moon Cycle

During the waxing stages of the moon cycle, Lunaria is what’s described above. Apathetic, but generally a positive force in the world. She does her job, still driven by a deep love for the mortals.

However, during the darker stages of the moon cycle, like new moon or any crescent stages, a different personality of Lunaria comes out.

This Lunaria is unstable, irrational, emotional and driven by a destructive force Thzeraphis never intended to happen. During the new moon, Thzeraphis rips Lunaria from the sky and brings her to the mirror dimension – a place where she can’t affect the real world or anyone. In this time, she is at her worst and full power at the same time. Her ties to the ocean and to the air are stronger, and she torments mortals that are locked in the mirror world as a way to experiment with what she can truly do and to find something new. What would happen if she took away all their power? Recycled only half of their soul? How much aurion could she give them before they would turn to ash? Of course, since this is the mirror world, their souls would reform. But it was the fact she could that thrilled her.

This Lunaria is outwardly malicious and if let out into the normal world, could cause devastating aftereffects. However, after the new moon, she slowly regains her normal personality and her memory is wiped by Althulyx. Normal Lunaria knows there's something fishy about the whole thing, but has never learned about her trip to the mirror dimension.

#### Appearance

Lunaria has been depicted as a few different animals. However, the most commonly seen one other than her more humanoid, smaller form, is a doe with the tail of a lion, spines, ram-like horns and mist-like legs.

It is unknown what she looks like under her thick robe.

## Relationships

* Due to her closed off nature, Lunaria has a pitiful amount of friends outside of direct family

* Althulyx
* Thzeraphis
* Lumaria
* Hydris/Aeris
* Ella Prim
* Tulio Hawthorne
* Cleo Hawthorne
* Marcus Riviera

> "He's ... interesting ... I suppose.
>
> *Lunaria about Althulyx*

While Lunaria harbors no ill-will towards her grandfather, she can't help but feel intimidated by his sheer power. She's never actually seen his full form, and despite her best efforts to look through Thzeraphis's mind, she has not found anything of value.

She wants to know more about him, since her powers are directly tied to his. She can see the future, and he is the future – but at the same time, she can’t see Althulyx, so she can’t see the past or the future, just stuck in his present. Though she’s not frustrated, it does leave her confused as to why no one but her father can see him. And unlike her sister, she tends to believe what her father tells them about their grandfather, figuring it would be easier than going down the rabbit hole of who he really is.

> "They're keeping something from me. If only I could pick both of their brains apart to find it.
>
> *Lunaria about both Life and Death*

Lunaria is very close with Thzeraphis, and specifically death. She can relate to deaths struggles and feelings of inadequacy when compared to the sun or his twin life. She works closely with Death, as once he ends the life of an organism, he gives her the souls to repurpose, and she ferries them to Life again. The particularly notable souls, be it good or bad, they’ve agreed to put as stars.

However, she knows they’re not telling her everything. About how she loses her memory for a good time each month, about why he won’t let anyone see Althulyx.

Even though gods can’t feel love, Lunaria and Thzeraphis do have the closest equivalent to a father/daughter relationship, even though they aren’t as close as Lumaria and Thzeraphis are. There is that layer of bitterness for him not favouring her completely (Death actually favours her more than Lumaria but usually just goes along with Life), and she prefers to keep him at arms length as she grows older and stronger.

> "What does she have that I don't?
>
> *Lunaria about Lumaria*

Lunaria is often sidelined by her younger sister. Being the more reclusive of the two, she is often forgotten, and there have been portions where her temples and sanctums were destroyed by her sister’s devout followers. Lumaria has wanted to patch up that wound Lunaria has, however, Lunaria refuses to get closer to her twin sister, preferring to let her resentment grow stronger. She feels that since everyone is awake during the day, she is appreciated more. All she gives are nightmares nowadays. The only time where the two interact are during eclipses once every 50 or so years, and even this is brief.

Even though she may not think it, Lunaria is in fact the stronger of the two. Thzeraphis knows this, and decided to dedicate most of his time to training Lumaria, as she had the most burden placed upon her. This lead to Lunaria feeling neglected, and sparked her more malicious, sadistic streak as a way to gain attention.

> "They need to work harder.
>
> *Lunaria about Hydris and Aeris*

Lunaria does not think much of her children. They're unremarkable and rather lazy to her, and she prefers not to talk to them. This has lead Lumaria to be more of a mother/aunt figure to them.
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