Ostara

> ***"Ostara bears long with those who wrong her. She is patient under abuse. But when abuse has gone too far, when the time of reckoning finally comes, she is equally slow to be appeased and to turn away her wrath" - Yalkaeth***
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### **Description and Depiction**

Ostara's full title is Ostara the Ostensible and she is the goddess of blood, life, order, tempest, and zeal. Ostara teaches that we should be grateful for the precious gift of life, strive for perfection and take advantage of every opportunity. She doesn’t allow you to change religion. She is the second youngest out of the four gods of Huldain. She is depicted as a young maiden wearing a long white robe covered in moss with a hood over her head. She has long curly ginger hair and pale white skin, in all depictions of her the top half of her face is hidden by her hood, but she is shown smirking. Over the top of her veil is a headband of vines with leaves and bright magenta berries growing from them. Her common symbols are apples, candelabras, earthquakes, floods, volcanoes and wildfires.

### **History**

Ostara was born before Huldain like the other gods. Jólnir was the one who created Huldain, Aestas, however, was the first to start a religion, then Ostara copied Aestas but perfected it with the use of candles, Aestas and Jólnir then copied Ostara. The three gods then convinced Lord Samhain to join in. As the second youngest of the gods, Ostara feels less powerful than her brothers. She gains this power from the candle ceremonies. The candle ceremony is the only holiday set out in Ostara’s religion, and it is a very formal event with invitations sent out, bouncers and such. Ostara can access Huldain through a tower built by Jólnir, called Otsum Tower. Ostara’s following began when she introduced herself to a wood elf in Essapin which she then convinced that she was a goddess. The wood elf spread the word and although Jólnir and Aestas had started a religion in Essapin, Ostara stood her ground. She pushed all the other religions out resulting in very loyal followers. Her religion changed since then, becoming much stricter, and with more rules. Ostara didn’t believe had enough of a following at the start, for her to crack down because it would scare people away, but that has changed. She intervenes the most out of the gods, granting her followers secret knowledge and instructing them with her wishes. Though she is happy with her followers, she wishes for more.

### **Relationships with the Other Gods**

Ostara has a love-hate relationship with her brothers, as she loves them because they are her family, but she also hates them for that same reason. She quarrels with them often. When Ostara started she struggled to keep her following in Huldain, unlike her brothers, but because of that struggle, her followers are more loyal than other followers. Ostara followers believe that Lord Samhain is equal to Satan, Jólnir is a god for savage/uncultured brutes, and Aestas is a combination of Lord Samhain and Jólnir.

### **Ostara's Congregation**

The members of Ostara’s congregation are the Oracle, the Seers, the Arch-apostles, the Apostles, and the Deacons. Being a part of the congregation is a full-time position though while in that position you are supported by the white lilies. The Ostara religion is not directly a part of Essapin’s white lilies, it is just heavily supported by it financially and with other matters. The leader of Ostara's religion is the prophet known as the Oracle, they are picked by Ostara herself during candle ceremonies. The Oracle can speak directly to Ostara with unique candles. The Deacons wear long white robes with a large flower design on the back. The Apostles wear a golden necklace with golden petals, they wear trunk hose pants and a white long-sleeved shirt. The Arch-apostles have the same outfit as the Apostles except they have a dark green poncho over the top of their shirt. The Seers wear silver-white chainmail over a green long-sleeved shirt that hangs down to their knees, and a dark green cloak with a fur collar. Their pants are just pure white trousers. The Oracle wears a Seer outfit except with a Papal tiara that has a green jewel at the top, a raised collar, and instead of a shirt and trouser, he has a dark green robe. The whole congregation has ceremonial garbs which are very similar to their usual outfits but with more jewellery and gold embellishing. The holy sites of Ostara are the temples people worship Ostara in. Ostara has a few sacred songs and but a lot of holy texts. Essapin’s main temple holds the original versions of Ostara’s holy texts. Ostara’s teachings are passed mainly by scriptures. According to these tome the main sins are gullibility, impatience, inaction, self-hate, complacency, asperity, and indifference. The books outline righteous action as converting someone or sacrificing something to Ostara. The hierarchy of the congregation is the Oracle at the top, then below them is the Seers, then the Arch-apostles, then the Apostles, then Deacons and then Essapin residents at the bottom.

### **Worshippers**

She is worshipped mostly by the inhabitants of Essapin, and though it is incorrect, they believe Ostara created the world in her image by growing it like a plant and tending to it. People worship Ostara by praising her in music and speech, reading from scriptures, prayers of various sorts, a sermon, and various holy ceremonies such as the Naretor. The Naretor is a ceremony where Ostara’s followers list what they are thankful for and then thank Ostara for those blessings. They then tell Ostara what they desire and what they are willing to sacrifice for it. The follower than drinks some blood from a holy bowl and says “Ostara I am here to please and I hope you choose to please me in return”. Ostara followers have to pray once a week at mass at the temples but can also time go to pray there at any time. Ostara believers are taught that life shouldn’t be wasted worshipping false prophets, and you should enlighten heretics at any time in any way possible. The followers are required to make sacrifices, not necessarily sacrificing life though. When Ostara's followers die if they are worthy they get to go to the Garden of Ostara, this means eternal bliss of taking in the sights. If Ostara deems you not good enough, then you shall be used as fertilizer for future life to thrive. Her followers are very loyal to her, but because of this her followers are less accepting of other followers going as far as to make them "disappear". Ostara's followers have many enemies that they attack such as heretics. Birth is celebrated by thanking/praying to Ostara, cutting the parents hands for the baby to then drink of their blood. Marriage in Ostara’s religion is celebrated by thanking/praying to Ostara, then the groom and bride cut their partners hands and press them together, creating a blood bond. Ostara does not allow divorce. Death is celebrated by thanking/praying to Ostara, then donating organs and anything left is either used to feed animals or cremated and used as fertiliser. Ostara believers say that bad luck and bad days are a failure of that person.