Iiiiit's that time again!
No, not session time. Demon time!
Mwaa haa.
Rathan, the Martyred Moon, the Ice-Handed Judge
Sixth Soul of Keris
Principle: Pay Each Man Back In Kind.
Means: Looking innocent and righteous.
Theme: Social capital and the justice of the streets.
Attitude: Ululaya (Hatred)
A moon hangs over the Direction of Sea; a huge body of crimson ice in the shape of a human heart. It beats a steady rhythm in the sky, and with each contraction a trickle of silvery blood leaks from a wound in its side. It is reflected below by the liquid mirror at the bottom of the ocean; a second ocean of mercury that forms an Undersea beneath the waters. This is the home and landscape-form of Rathan, the Martyred Moon. When the lord of the waters walks the world below, his avatar is a boy on the cusp of manhood with pale, perfect skin and veins filled with quicksilver. His eyes and teeth are pearls, and his hair is a dark red waterfall that hangs to his knees when he stands. A pair of three-tined antlers top his head; as yet immature and covered in icy velvet. His horned fiancée Oula is his frequent companion and lover; a demon of the First Circle who has won his heart and whose own heart he keeps in a beautiful silver box that is always with him. He will invariably demand she be summoned and left unbound when he enters Creation; for their separation grates at him and he will tolerate no other's claim upon her.
Rathan's subjects know of his approach when the surface of mirrors ripple like water and the air chills. Those who have hearts full of guilt or false accusations on their tongues cannot help but shiver uncontrollably in his presence. He is the Crown Prince of the Sea in Krisity, and water strains towards him; spilling over the sides of containers and trickling uphill to reach his feet. Rain turns to hail when his mood is sour or shifts to fluffy snow when he is happy, and when he is overcome by strong emotion the sound of his heartbeat spills out; a crashing of waves that flows in and out like a tide around him. Orca pods are drawn to those ships he has blessed, and consider them kin.
Seldom has the Martyred Moon admitted fault, and rarely does he shoulder guilt. He is an innocent scapegoat who others blame for their misdeeds - or so he will tell you in heartbreaking tones both brave and achingly vulnerable. In person he is vain and hungry for attention; eager to be at the centre of any happenings of note. His propensity for giving lavish gifts lets him enjoy the praise and gratitude he seeks - for to love and be loved is his nature, and he would waste away in isolation. Rathan has a darker side, however. An icy judge who rules always in his mother's favour, he holds grudges fiercely and forever until he can repay them in kind. When he envies others the acclaim of the masses; it is not the fiery greed of his sister Haneyl that leads her to build her assets ever higher, but rather a cold and sapping jealousy that tears his rivals down.
Rather than action, Rathan reacts in proportion to intent when slighted - and so a war with his siblings meant to annoy him garners only irritation, while a doomed attempt on his life by a mortal with a broken sword would earn a long and pitiless demise. Unlike his siblings, he prefers not to dirty his own hands - indeed, he is somewhat lazy in his tastes; a delicate academic who prefers to read or be pampered while his subjects handle any hard work that must be done. This is perhaps reflected in his court, where he refrains from micromanaging in favour of trusting skilled subordinates to use their own judgement and govern themselves. This trust, should it be abused, results in the most excessive of his punishments - for betrayal is a crime that he can never forgive.
One thing the Ice-Handed Judge prides himself on are his differences from the Blood Red Moon of Kimbery - a bitter foe whom he has hated since childhood. Rathan considers any comparison between the two of them to be weighed in his favour; for he repays like with like and kind with kind. Sometimes this payback is grand, while at other times it is subtle. When his subjects praise him in adoring voices, he rewards their minor gift of devotion with a similarly small boon; descending to walk among them and allowing them to gaze upon his beauty. When they flock to live under his dominion, he ensures they are fed and housed that they might have a place there for as long as they acknowledge him as prince. This casual generosity is half born of principle and half calculated to win hearts and minds - for Rathan believes it is far better to be loved by one's people than feared.
Six is a number sacred to Rathan, and sixfold are his powers. First and most clearly, he is a beauty to break the hearts of men; delicate, effeminate and akin to the aesthetics of Air and Water. Second, while he affects daintiness and softness of hand, his implacable will and conviction might sustain him through any pain and hardship. And third, while not a talent innate to him; he is an academic and an occultist by virtue of patient study and wondering curiosity - which often compels him to seek answers in the black skies of his home or delve into mysteries with no reward save satisfaction.
The greatest strength of the Martyred Moon is his sheer overwhelming presence. The tides of his innocent charm and charisma are ever-quick to pull in the unsuspecting or weak-willed, and his sweet words and uplifting smile can put even the most bitter, aggressive or cynical at ease. He is Lord of the Waters in his home, and the waters of Creation - as well as liquid quicksilver - obey him as their beloved prince; moving as he dictates and concealing what he wishes to be secret. He might call up swift currents to speed ships, stymie the efforts of the law to find smuggling routes and dens of inequity, or trap ghosts within circles of ever-flowing water. The mercury that lies under his sea is the source of his potent drugs and tinctures, for Rathan is an alchemist of great skill. His many recipes use quicksilver and vitriol to grant strength of limb, speed healing, numb pain or allow men to go without sleep for days on end. His nature demands a cost for such things, though, and drawing too heavily on such gifts may leave a man weaker ever after or wrack them with mad vicissitudes of the mind.
Rathan is vain and committed to his own form of justice. He holds court under a thousand enraptured eyes, passing out rewards and punishments to those beneath him - and to those equals or betters he despises, such as the Blood Red Moon. Left to his own devices he ever seeks to expand his lists of praise-names, encode his law across his lands and proclaim his own innocence and virtues. The mysteries of the cosmos intrigue him, and he abides no other's laws in his pursuit of answers; passing any misdeeds under the eyes of those watching for them. Summoners who take care not to offend him may ask him for his aid in spreading word of their righteousness and integrity, his blessings in hiding their underhanded dealings from investigation, his alchemical expertise or his authority as Lord of the Waters. Those who offer him occult lore or an advantage over Ululaya will be assured of his patronage, and he has never failed to aid those clans of orcamen or dolphin-friends who call upon him with respect.
To have his judgements questioned incites a cold rage in the Ice-Handed Judge, but when his proclamations of innocence or guilt are struck down against his efforts, he is shaken enough to gain Limit. He can grace Creation with his presence when a great gathering fail to prove or disprove a suspect's culpability, and argue long into the night under the light of the waning moon.
Notes:
Rathan is no less gorgeous at Calibration than at any other time, though his eyes become a pale blue and the icy velvet leaves his horns. He is warmer and more flushed with life at these times; though still as pale as any Northerner.
Rathan is associated with ice, pearl, coral, orcas, dolphins and other marine mammals, cattle, moonlight, waterfalls, deep reds and pinks and pastels, mirrors, mercury, alchemy, judges, criminal law, innocence, martyrdom, grudges, revenge, wounded hearts, bleeding wounds, acid, rain, freezing cold, many hands (especially multiples of six) and halos (both discs and rings). His symbol is the six-sided snowflake; its fractal branches tipped in cinnabar.
Rathan's relationships with his sisters are fraught. He has many times judged Eko to be arrogant, cruel and guilty of false accusations; picking on him for no reason but heartless bullying. Haneyl and he are frequently at odds in a cycle of offence and revenge, though their disputes have calmed with the Isles between them. His feelings for Calesco were once a mutual hatred, but have come to a teasing and turbulent exchange of banter and insults since the pair played midwives to their mother. On the other hand, Vali was a delightful surprise for him, and Rathan adores his younger brother despite reservations about the level of roughhousing and brawling Vali is prone to. That Zanara inspires mixed feelings is no great surprise - the Artist drives him to indignant fury, but he mentors the Art in critique and things of beauty. Though female, his grandmother Dulmea is not as threatening as his siblings; meriting dutiful obedience and frequent complaints about his many victimisations. Surprisingly, this attitude of deference carries over to the Serpent-Queen also, and Rathan is perhaps the only soul of Keris to respect and honour both Queens of Krisity.
