Hadyn

Few gods are more misunderstood than Hadyn, as few mortals are comfortable contemplating their own mortality. As the Lord of the Final Court there are some beings who are inclined to think Hadyn an evil deity, when he is in fact one of the most neutral. His is not the neutrality of the innocent or nature, but rather a well practiced, constant honed neutrality subservient to the highest concepts of Law. On the Pale Throne, a petrified yew tree shaped into a grand seat marbled with frost and the dust of ages, he sits in judgement over the newly deceased, weighing their deeds against the toll of their passing through the world. Little is known of the exact nature of the process, but legends tell that he lays the souls of the dead down to their life's rest. If the soul has been found wanting, their final rest is fitful, disturbed by nightmares of their misdeeds visited back upon them in a timeless prison of their own construct. If he deems the soul to have lived well and done right by the others whose paths it crossed during their life, he kisses their eyelids close and blesses their sleep eternal.   Patronage: Amongst Hadyn's devouts are those one would expect given his domains; the graveyard keepers, the tomb builders, and those who prepare the dead for their final rest. Many are often surprised to learn of the priests and priestesses who have also felt a call to his service, walking the slums and the sick wards to provide aid and comfort to the destitute and dying. These include plague doctors who delve where others fear to tread in his name, acting as comforting guides for the scared, sickly souls as they take their final rest. His devouts do not revel in death, but instead seek to limit the suffering it brings while helping others become more comfortable with accepting its inevitable arrival. For those who are ready to welcome death, either because they feel they’ve lived too long, seek an end to their pain, or simply wish to choose the manner in which they embrace death, his devouts and temples are ready to help ease them into the final embrace. Once a mortal has departed the mortal realm, the services of his devouts do not end. Some of the most noted eulogists are trained in the halls of the Palatine Court, sought by the rich and powerful to act as speakers for the dead.   Symbols and reliefs of Hadyn decorate the courts and halls of justice that dot the lands of civilization alongside those of Shiva-Nys. He is after all the ultimate judge, and his court divine is what all lesser judges strive to emulate. As a deity of both law and death, it should come as no surprise that his devouts often include executors and executioners alike. Where wealth gathers, executors act to ease the burden on those left behind by overseeing the transition of the departed’s estate, and settling any necessary debates on inheritance. Where power gathers, Haydn’s own often act as executioners trained to deliver swift, merciful justice to limit the pain and provide what dignity can be found under the headsman's axe.   He is also beloved of those who seek to experiment with dreams, who see sleep but as a prelude to death's eternal slumber. These devouts believe sleep can be used as a window into the afterlife, to the dreams of others, or even to potentially foretell the future. In this last possibility there is some overlap in devouts between Hadyn and Amber-In-Green.   Worship: As a god of the grave Hadyn typically receives the most heartfelt worship as devouts or their loved ones near death's embrace, or very recently after their passing. Prayers to spare the dying, for a painless passing, or a peaceful afterlife; all are common by the lay folk who worship the pantheon. Burning incense is a popular manner to start prayer to the Lord of the Final Court; if the prayer is to ease pain before death, the incense will often be mind altering in nature. For the recently deceased, if they or those they left behind favored Hadyn over Phoenix Sol, their bodies would be committed to a grave, tomb, or mausoleum, according to what’s affordable, for their final rest. The act of laying loved ones down to rest one last time can be so sacrosanct for devouts that every effort will be made to recover their bodies if at all possible, and often even the poorest graves dug will be lovingly covered with rocks carefully organized to form a protective yet appealing shield from the world above. As time, effort, and talent allows, even the act of arranging and laying common rocks will create simple, beautiful designs in their own right as compared to the more costly artisan options available. Tending to graves is as important as their design, if not more so, to ensure the dead’s continued comfortable repose as well as an act of continuing respect and love from the living. Graveyards dedicated to Hadyn will oft serve as quiet commons for the local community to gather not for a singular purpose, but in solemn solidarity with both the living and the deceased. These green parks, dotted with rock and stone, are the final most lasting link in the chain connecting the lives of the community with their predecessors. Additionally, actual links from a chain will usually be broken and melted down and reforged into rings, one to be buried on the deceased’s body and the rest split between their closest living friends and family. Often a spouse, if they wore wedding bands, will replace the bands of precious metal with the new iron or steel ring while keeping the former to pass down to their children. When used in this fashion, the chain ring will be referred to as a widow(er)’s ring. While the original chainlinks are now broken, symbolically allowing the deceased freedom from their mortal duties and concerns, granting the freedom to move on into their afterlife, they still serve to spiritually link them to their living loved ones.   Before bed, parents may oft recite a prayer with their children for peaceful dreams and protection whilst they slumber in order to calm or reassure frightened youth. For those who grew up only to never quite escape the grasp of their youthful irrational fears, a small prayer to Hadyn may be used to steel their nerves as a vestigial act of their youth. Those devouts who awaken from a pleasant slumber might give thanks for a refreshing night, whereas those who awaken from nightmares may seek to perform penance for somehow angering The Lord of the Final Court. Particularly religious, or paranoid, devouts might even fight off sleep for days until they can perform a deed or service to their deity of what they perceive as sufficient gravitas, lest they fear they might not wake from their next rest.