Myketa
She Who Waits, The Patient Lady
Goddess of Soldiers, Waiting and Darkness
Worshippers: Soldiers and their families
Domains: Community, Night, Time, War
Favored Weapon: Longspear
Favored Animal: Dog
Favored Instrument: Fife
Legend
After The Calling of the Lost Gods a thousand years ago, war ravaged Porphyra, between the Landed people that came with their gods, and the native Porphyrans, threatened by the newcomers. The Words of Waiting tells of a Porphyran woman named Luisa, whose husband was called to war in the armies of the local warlord. She worried, because he was not a skilled warrior and knew nothing of tactics or soldiering. Waiting in her home, she sat and cried in front of an ancient fetish she called Myketa. This prayer, and the prayers of others waiting at home, or waiting in the trenches to die, reached the sluggish soul of the world of Porphyra and coalesced it into the spirit of Myketa, The Patient Lady, She Who Waits. Luisa saw a figure silhouetted in the doorway, but showed no fear of being visited by a god. “Help my husband! Help us, who wait in the dark, afraid!” “I shall help you both,” came the voice of the goddess, “The tactics I teach will increase your chances of life, to carry on,” “But I miss him so,” the woman said weeping, “How will I carry on?”
In the darkness of the doorway, Myketa smiled, and took time in her hand, and pulled it forward. Luisa lifted her eyes to her husband’s funeral bier, slain in the war and returned to her side. Myketa is a goddess of loss, as well as family, and teaches the arts of war to the enemy as well.
Church
Myketa’s church is loosely organized—Her priests are counselors and soft-spoken advisors, and it is rare that there would be a situation which would call for more than a few of them to gather in a single place. Some of her priests travel to war to provide strategey and strength of arms. Others act as ‘part—time’ religious figures, donning their black-and-white clerical robes when necessary and spending the rest of their lives pursuing other roles. Myketa has little in the way of temples or shrines, due to the mobile nature of her clergy and the variable levels of demand for her aid. She is, however, active in the mortal world, and often shows her hand in mortal affairs or sends visions to communicate with her faithful. She always appears in doorways, lit from behind so that the details of her appearance are never seen. Myketa maintains neutrality in all things, even the intrusion of the New Gods, and prefers to create opportunities for mortals to assert themselves, rather than force an agenda of Her own. Those forced into soldiery might prosper by her hand, as might those who work to foster strong communities.
Spell Preparation Ritual
The rites for Myketa are nocturnal, including vigils for distant loved ones and midnight memorials for those times when bodies are lost or missing. It is said that if a Myketan funeral is held for someone who still lives, the candles at the service will all go out at the same time, revealing the subject of the rite will return to his prematurely mourning loved ones.
See Also