Five Ladies
The Five Ladies, also known as the Great Sisterhood, are the pantheon at the center of the Cetrain Elementalist faith. Each of the Five Ladies has mastery over a particular High Element, and is said to grant its favor to the practitioner. They are intrinsic to the practice of Cetrain Elementalist magic; one invokes a High Element without its Lady at one's peril. As a pantheon they are unique, as legend states that all five were once mortal Sorceresses who ascended to Godhood through unlocking the mysteries of their High Element. It could be said that the ultimate goal of Cetrain Elementalist religion is immortality through union with the Lady of a particular High Element, and many of the rites associated with Cetrain Elementalist mystery cults have this as a central theme.
They are very rarely if ever worshipped in tandem. They maintain a friendly, but professional relationship and see each other as friendly rivals for the most part (though some Ladies are close to each other than others).
Lady of the Light
The Lady of the Light is none other than the Goddess Chrystalis, hailing from the Mana Dimension. To certain Kildean tribes, including the Orphaeus Clan which came to rule her Hallowed Bastion, she was known as The Mahadevi, or Supreme Goddess. Her cult is strongest in the Bastion, where she and Tahran reside as Lord and Lady.
Chrystalis did spend a mortal incarnation as a human Kildean Sorceress named Shakti Dinakarya, and Kanta Bhadhra, an incarnation of Tahran, was her Knight. Shakti was the first Sayadina of the Light, and ascended to her birthright shortly after achieving this.
Her relationship with Mullenkamp is one of wary alliance. Neither particularly trusts the other, but they get along well enough to work together. Chrystalis is closest to Silmeria.
Lady of the Dark
The Lady of the Dark is the Goddess Mullenkamp, from a lost and fallen Dimension. She was a mortal Kildean priestess and court dancer named Amanatra, renowned for her great beauty and graceful dancing. She was a tremendously gifted Sorceress who unlocked the secrets of the Dark, becoming its first Sayadina, and her Knight was a Kildean priest named Bel-Marius. Unfortunately, her ascension came at a terrible cost. When the Ivalese conquered the Kildeans, the Ivalese priests of St. Iocus began a pogrom to stamp out the "pagan" practices of the Kildeans. Amanatra was seen as a supreme spiritual leader by the Kildeans, regardless of whether they were aligned with the Dark or not, and she was captured, tortured, and burned at the stake by Iocan witchhunters. With her final breath she ascended to Godhood, cursing her tormentors.
Mullenkamp suffered a tremendous setback when her Dimension was destroyed, and today her cult is scattered but still thriving in various corners of the Web. It is strongest in the Bastion, where many of her descendants and followers fled in the wake of the ethnic cleansing campaigns.
She is closest to Veradisia and Tsukiyomi, treating the latter much like a younger sister, and has a friendly rivalry with Silmeria.
Lady of Order
The Lady of Order is the Goddess Silmeria, of the Mana Dimension. Silmeria is the only Lady who was not a human in her mortal incarnation, rather a Taznikanze Valkyrie named Lenneth. She was beautiful and stern, and deeply devoted to her duties. Her Knight was Lucian, a common thief, whom she fell in love with during a brief time where she suffered the loss of her powers.
Silmeria's cult is strongest in Tasnica, where she is worshipped mainly by groups of Taznikanze Recontructionists.
Silmeria is closest to Chrystalis, with whom she feels a great kinship, is somewhat distrustful of Mullenkamp and is just this side of openly hostile towards Veradisia.
Lady of Chaos
The Lady of Chaos is the Goddess Veradisia, of the Esper Dimension, and was the last of the Five Ladies to undergo ascension. As a mortal, she was a young aspiring opera singer named Melisande Palladino. Melisande was a frail young woman, born with a variety of health problems, who studied under the famed soprano Maria. Like many Jidooran noblewomen of her day, Melisande dabbled in the occult and briefly joined a secret society devoted to Chaos. During a seance, she channeled a primordial spirit named Eve, scared herself silly, and never touched magic again. However, Eve remained with Melisande, and took her body over completely after she underwent a kidney transplant and the medication she was on weakened her immune system. As Eve, she became Sayadina of Chaos and eventually ascended.
Her Knight was Talia Brendon, an Imperial soldier stationed in Jidoor who often visited the Opera House and grew infatuated with her from afar. Talia saved Melisande from the magical Cataclysm set in motion by Kefka Palazzo, and vowed to care for her for the rest of her life. Veradisia is unique among the Ladies in that her Knight was a woman.
Veradisia is closest to Mullenkamp and Tsukiyomi, and has little use for Silmeria, whom she feels is entirely too uptight.
Lady of the Void
The Lady of the Void is the Goddess Tsukiyomi, from the Gate Dimension. She was a human woman from the El Nido archipelago named Harle Tsukuyomi, tremendously gifted with Shadow Magic, who was said to be the Seventh Dragon of Draconicist lore. Tsukiyomi is the only one of the Five Ladies who ascended without ever finding her Knight. It is widely believed than an El Nidan adventurer she travelled with for a time was her Knight, but he never awakened to his purpose, as she died in an act of self-sacrifice to save his life, thus completing her ascension -- even though she ultimately failed in her appointed task as Seventh Dragon to reunify the One Dragon God.
Tsukiyomi is closest to Mullenkamp and Veradisia, and is oddly fond of Silmeria.
