Saint Helene d'Orville

St. Helene is paid homage to when prayers are made for safe travels. She is also venerated by those seeking redemption for past actions.

Having founded the Order of Open Palms, she produced a code which is still used today by her order. Summarized this code reads:  

1. Grant mercy for those seeking
2. Be the light which guides towards redemption
3. Forgo harm for its own sake
4. Go with Pelor's Grace, and you will find comfort

Helene is often associated with lanterns as she was particularly fond of carrying one hooked to her staff.

The 10th day of the 4th month is known in The Radiant Empire as St. Helene's Day. Prayers are made in her name, merchants will begin large trade expeditions and prisoners are sometimes given extra meals.

Born into nobility in -45 AN, Helene was plagued by visions and prophecy as a child. She would dream of angelic voices calling her to the heavens and she would be seen staring into the sun, muttering words to herself. She always claimed she was talking to the man in the sun. Her family, like any good Radian noble family, would try to beat the evil tempting voices out of her. Yet, the more they beat her the stronger the voices would become. By her 12th birthday, she fled her childhood home, never to return—not that she could return, as a week after she had fled, the mansion burned to the ground, leaving no survivors.   She disappeared from the historical records for a time, reemerging as a young woman during a duchy tourney. She had become quite physically capable, beating sergeants in arm wrestling and outrunning the fastest scout. Yet, she also had a quick wit which could dull even the sharpest tongue. This seemingly peasant girl was quickly becoming the star of the tourney, despite not even being a contestant. A small posse of jealous nobles sought her out to put this upstart in her place. The next morning, they returned to the tourney changed men. They renounced their noble titles, laid down their arms and armour, and left. When questioned, the formerly noble knights merely said, "I have found a higher calling, and with it, comes peace."   Helene returns to the records during the Plague Summer, which was incited when a group of druids, angered and insulted by a small city, devastated the countryside with sickness, vicious animal attacks and slaughter. Helene, accompanied with a small band of acolytes and an apprentice, put a stop to the horrors. Her miraculous abilities, partnered with her mercy and compassion, caught the attention of the Church of Pelor and she was canonized in her own lifetime in -5AN.   She was given commission to build the Condat Abbey where she trained apprentices and acolytes in her unique unarmed and unarmored fighting style, which became known as the Order of Open Palms. She would do this until her death in 2 DN.

Helene believed in faith, charity, and always attempting to find a peaceful solution to problems. Though she was a very capable combatant, she had an almost mystical way of diffusing tumultuous situations. After she founded her holy order, she would teach her unarmed martial skills to those she deemed deserving at another chance of life.