Cerilla, Goddess of Sorcery and Witchcraft
Rules over the realms of Sorcery, Witchcraft, Vampires, and Snakes
Minor involvement in the Realm of Nature.
Stories tell of a beautiful woman, one whose skin was as pale as the moon and hair as dark as the night. Her eyes shined like they themselves were stars, ever bright and ever different in color. Her name was Cerilla, the Night Mother, Goddess of Witchcraft and revered for her beauty. None can say what race she was for she possessed features of Fey and Humans alike, appearing as whatever she wished before those who called her. Some of those less fortunate met her as a great snake, a devourer of all who did not call upon her properly.
Cerilla is the Goddess of Sorcery and, by extent, of Witchcraft. It is unknown when she came into being, perhaps she always had been or perhaps she had been created by the minds of those who lived on the earth. It was by her that the earth could be blessed with a bountiful harvest and by her that a curse could be placed on another.
Her blessings to man and fey alike depend on the extent of the ritual used to contact her. For those who merely worship her and perform the yearly ritual sacrifice to her, she grants them minor magical feats. Things such as lighting a fire from afar or a blessing of health upon them.
Then there are those who offer their own blood or the blood of another to satiate her hunger. The larger the being given as a sacrifice, the more powerful the magic provided to the one whom performed the ritual. This can range from being able to speak with crows and snakes to conjuring flames and summoning certain beasts. Some of her more devout followers even offer other humans or fey to her, in hopes of a great blessing.
Within her domain lies the dark secret of vampirism, a ritual by which the Goddess may bless her devout so long as they continue to consume the blood of others. Those who perform it successfully are granted a life longer than all those of their race, they are slightly faster, tire slower, and need not sleep. Whether this is a blessing or a curse is up to whom one asks as those who suffer from vampirism must consume blood daily or their powers are lost and their body succumbs to their true age.
Cerilla had long wanted to wander the world of mortals, wishing to run through the forests at night and the flowers during the day. She came as a fair woman, always beautiful and kind whilst possessing humbleness- one which she wished to bestow upon those who worshipped her. She wished only to live the same as them, to experience their lives. Through them, she had been a noble woman whose husband had been cheating on her, whom she cursed for his failings.
The Night Mother eventually grew tired of the life of a mortal and retreated to the forests in which her cult worshipped her, a small place called the Ebonvale Forests. From there, people flocked to her for advice on their lives, to see if the bones would roll in their favor or if any bad omens were to plague them. Where she went, the people would flourish. That is, until those of her cult used their blessings for their less savory desires.
It wasn’t long before her cult began to spread the bless of vampirism that she gave them, that they forced it upon others without the proper ritual. Those who were forced their blessing died more often than not, a select few surviving to an unnatural thirst for blood which drove them to kill others. She became a Goddess no longer revered for blessing people but for cursing and harming others,
She retreated even further from those who worshiped her, driving them off till few knew her name and even fewer remembered her curses.
Cerilla was to be forgotten except by a select few covens who studied her, praised her and sacrificed to her for her good will.
When the time came to fight the Forsaken, Cerilla contemplated whether or not to fight.The misuse of her blessings had lead to death, to the pain of others. Yet the Forsaken was something she knew would require her powers to beat and the powers of the other Gods. So, she granted her blessing once more to her people and lead them into battle. Many were killed or fled for battle with their blessings, few survived and even Cerilla didn’t not escape unharmed.
Her own body was damaged, marked by a brutal scar on her right arm that ran to her neck. She retreated to her own Realm, to live as the imperfect and scared being she became. Cerilla rarely converses with her worshipers anymore, rarely blessing them with her mark of a crescent moon. Even more rare was the sight of her as anything but a snake.