Nilafelletar

Goddess of Childbirth, Childhood, Ignorance, Miracles, Romance, and Hope

Though I was not made for anything special, something special was made for me

Greatest of Evils, Forest of Dreams, the Keeper of Youth, the Last Light at Midnight

Hope is the greatest of Evils, for it alone prolongs the torment of they who hold it. Nilafelletar was the Great Demon of Hope Betrayed, third in stature among the lords of the World Below; her doom is to forever hope that this time, things will be different. Her touch is optimism, her presence grace; and where she passes, it seems that surely any prayer could be answered, if you had the courage to ask.

Nilafelletar is the patron goddess for childbirth as well as protecting the resulting children. Children always stop being children, either because they die or because they survive for long enough to stop being children; and Nilafelletar will, for as long as she can, live in denial that the child she once protected is no longer one of hers to keep. Most cultures have some form of ritual or coming of age ceremony where Nilafelletar is formally barred from the new adult’s life.

Despite her importance in private life Nilafelletar is the bane of anything public or meant to last. Miracles cannot come forever, lest they cease to be miracles; and ignorance of pain does not undo the damage it signals. Nilafelletar’s cult is primarily underground, though widespread; and while no kingdom can thrive without her, neither can she be acknowledged publicly without her acknowledging the public in turn. There is only darkness at midnight; and imagined light, no matter how vivid the image, cannot illuminate.