Hesistyra

*"Hesistyra is flesh and festivity."*
*- Deleomanus of Tedron, 1328*
**Hesistyra** (*hez-is-steer-uh*) is the Iotheman Goddess of hedonism, earthly pleasure, freedom, youth, beauty, love, desire, fertility, wantonness, ardor, wine, debauchery, revelry, feasts, celebration, blood, perfume, oil. Associated with salmon and amphorae (containing wine). In mythology her otherworldly followers are the female *succubi* and male *incubi*, spirits of revelry, sex, and passion.

## Symbols

### Golden Jar

Hesistyra possessed a magical amphora that had an infinite supply of wine which she carried with her through her carousing.

### Salmon

Her sacred animal is the salmon, a fish indigenous to Salavia, because of its hermaphroditic versatility and sleek, sinewy body.

### Blood

*"Blood is life."*
Iothemans and Westerland societies today regarded blood as an inherently powerful substance in and of itself.

* Love, vitality, passion, magic
* Same color as wine.
* Blood sacrifices
* Vampires

Because of blood's vital and prosperous qualities, it became associated with the goddess Hesistyra, also called the *Blood-Queen Hesistyra*.

Blood was later re-associated with death and the occult by Stephedists, to, quite literally, demonize the Iotheman pantheon and make anathema their worship.

Blood magic was a prevalent form of sorcery, its practice ramping up dramatically during the Sorjachani Invasion and thereafter falling out of favor as Stephedism grew in influence in the Esterlands.

## Cult of Hesistyra

*Hesistyri*, the painted ladies – the followers of the Goddess of Love presented themselves as more than human, otherworldly beings painted with vibrant colors—for a night in tribute to Hesistyra was an experience, not for future blessings. Disciples wore different colored paints all over their bodies and would service patrons with wine, debauchery, and sexual excess in her temple after they had paid an offering at her statues.

Some famous painted ladies add design features like stars or flowers (or faces twisted in horror and pain for a very selective clientele) as a personal trademark; popular painted ladies were known throughout cities and enjoyed their own form of celebrity.

Participation in the cult's parties was, for the most part, entirely voluntary. While the temples did employ slaves, the priestesses were fully engaged in the shenanigans, and women throughout the empire were invited to donate a night in service to Hesistyra as a painted lady, a successful recruiting tactic, since younger girls often dared each other to participate. The Hesistyri would then make sure their first few nights were amazing, providing them with wine, opiates, and selectively pairing them with attractive guests or male slaves of the temple. Pregnancies were a common occurrence and a successful means of keeping future acolytes, as the Hesistyri offered many solutions to those without means.

Hesistyra protects prostitutes (who wear veils; early Solemnites wearing *saccula* were mockingly referred to as whores).

### The Hysteria

The Temple of Hesistyra, or *Hy*s*teria*, was a massive complex of baths, wine cellars, feast halls, orgy pits, and gardens. The phrase "going into hysteria" originally referred to a visit to the Temple, which was akin to a modern vacation for the wealthy.

### Holidays

**Hesistyralia** — In ancient past, the Iothemans celebrated the fertility festival Hesistyralia every MONTH. For three nights, men and women (married or not) put on decorative masks and would seek each other out for festivity and sex. The Iotheman nobility and peasants alike hosted masquerade orgies during the holiday, with the imperial palaces in Column being site to some of the most extravagant and exotic debaucheries in recorded history.

The Temple of Hesistyra promoted the holiday's spiritual significance because it encouraged unmarried young persons to meet with strangers and pair off, settle down, marry, and procreate. For married couples, the Hesistyralia made permissible discreet experimentation outside of monogamy. Hesistyralia was outlawed by the Vistern because of its pagan origins, perversion, and heretical promotion of shapeshifting.

## Demonization

The Gap destroyed much knowledge of the goddess before Stephedist revisioning warped the image of the vivacious Blood-Queen into a vampiric, shapeshifting witch who fed on children and virgin maids. The demonic Hesistyra was said to possess both male and female sex organs, so that she may "defile both man and woman without distinction."

### Succubi & Incubi

In Iotheman mythology, Hesistyra's half-mortal offspring (conceived from her multitudinous flings with humans) were called incubi and succubi. They were debauched, licentious, and absolutely hilarious; in legend they accompanied their mother on her escapades, partying endlessly and passionately. They were incarnations of revelry and lust, said to inspire (and join in) parties, sexual encounters, and even managed to put the two together as the infamous orgies of Iotheme.

Because the fandray demons popularly utilized seduction as a control tactic in Late Iotheme, the Amaranthines labelled them with the name of the Iotheman goddess' salacious (although originally benevolent) progeny.

## Notes

'*Hesistyra | Vampistyra'*

**Hesistyri | Vampyri**

## See also

* Prostitution
* Fairies of Liashan
* Iotheman Pantheon

## Trivia

* The Hesistyralia is based on a combination of the real-world holidays of Valentine's Day and Halloween.
* Hesistyra is inspired by the Greek and Roman goddesses Aphrodite and Venus.