BRCS:Chapter four/Gods and religion/Laerme

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Lesser Goddess
Goddess of Fire, Beauty, and Art
Aliases: Laerme (Anuire, Brechtür), Leira (Khinasi), Lara (Rjurik), Ayairda (Vosgaard)
Symbol: Silver harp against a red flame
Alignment: CG
Portfolio: Fire, love, art
Domains: Chaos, Charm, Flame, Good
Favored Weapon: Shortbow
Laerme (Lair-ME) is the goddess of warmth and passion. The goddess of art freely rewards or inspires any who seek to create art and beauty. She provides artists, composers, and artisans with the inspiration to transform a work of art into a masterpiece, and provides guiding dreams that help young lovers find bliss. She is neither jealous of other deities, nor vain. Instead, she is content with the fact that nearly every intelligent creature on the continent honors her at some time or another, whether they are aware of it or not. Even those that worship her foes are blessed with her favor. However, she has been known to punish as well as reward. Those who destroy beauty or deny love will suffer from her wrath. Barbarians that destroy art and literature or fathers who prevent their daughters from eloping might be struck down with a strange illness or be cursed with haunting dreams of Laerme's displeasure. Apocrypha suggests that Laerme is romantically linked with Cuiraécen.
Laerme was born by Avani and Erik toward the end of the second century after Deismaar. Her faith does not have a a widespread and organized church, and she does not encourage her priests to actively convert followers. Temples to Laerme are rare; churches of Avani and Cuiraécen often have small shrines devoted to Laerme and her priests tend to them itinerantly. Her priests are more likely to be found in artisan shops, music houses, bardic colleges, or as wandering courtiers. Each priest's worship is unique; every work of art, every love in bloom, and every fire lit honors Laerme. All priests of Laerme must practice some form of art, although they need not be skilled; all Laerme requires is that her worshippers give something of themselves to their art.
The most important ceremony in the church is the one that brings two people together in a marriage of love. Not all wedding ceremonies are presided over by a priest of Laerme, but most that are fueled by true love, rather than convenience or convention, ask for Laerme's blessing. Priests of Laerme may pick any regular time of the day to pray for their spells; the time of day varies based upon the priest's chosen art, for the priest normally engages in their chosen art as part of their worship.
Dogma: The rational creation of beauty for its own sake is the most spiritual task that a being can undertake; the creation of spiritual beauty is the greatest task of all. Help spark the flames of love, and fan them so that they will burn brightly. Patronize the arts. Create art to enliven and beautify life. Appreciate natural beauty where you find it, and leave it unspoiled for the future. Embrace the fire of life and live each moment to its fullest.
Allies: Our mother, Avani, is our acknowledged superior and we honor her, for passion and the appreciation of beauty are the products of reason. But passion also surpasses reason; embrace too the passion which defies logic. Cuiraécen , our love, embraces passion in his every act. We would not change him, even if we could, yet must help him keep in mind that violent death is always ugly - a permanent quenching of expression, the discordant end to the song of life.
Foes: Kriesha despises us, though we wish only to bring warmth to her heart. Where she could create beauty, she instead sows discord and destruction. She leads an entire people astray, and thus the Vos need our aid more than any other. Belinik is accursed, evil, and vile! He strips wholesome passions from the hearts of men and returns to them darkness, rage, fear, and spite. Flee from him, for he cannot taste beauty, only crush it.
Others: Our father, Erik, appreciates the harmony of natural beauty, but he has so much more to offer! We shall be relentless in our efforts to encourage him to be more than a simple caretaker and to take a more active hand in cultivating beauty. Haelyn teaches duty and service before all else ? even the enjoyment of life such service protect. Men cannot act from duty alone, but must also act from love of country and family. We must keep Haelyn mindful that duty without love is a stern and unrewarding thing. Poor Nesirie! Her heart is torn by her grief and she is blind to joy. She mends, but no longer creates. We must help her find hope; in the act of creation she can transcend her sorrows. Ruornil hides places of natural beauty from the eyes of the world. Beauty must be protected, but it is wrong and selfish to cloister it away unappreciated. Sera has passion only for coin, and no creativity, only the urge to possess. Be wary of her, for she rarely has the potential to see beyond her own self-importance. Eloéle is mysterious, never to be understood, and certainly not to be trusted. She creates nothing but lies and shares nothing of her secret joys. Worse yet, her machinations interfere with the happiness of others to no good end. Avoid her, else you may become a pawn in her ceaseless plotting.