Melous
“Where the sunlight breaks through the storm, Melous watches those she left behind.”
Epithet: The Cloudwalker[edit]
Introduction[edit]
Early on in Rhyst’s history, Eschen’s strength, and more notably how he used it to maintain his place above the rest of the spirits, went against Melusine’s use of elemental water, the substance by which the world was to be created and shaped. Her first son, constantly warring and thrashing throughout the seas, lacked the beauty and the care that the Dragon of Water wished to see within Rhyst, and so while Eschen was busy battling, Melous was formed, and she was given all that the Dragon could muster in terms of care and devotion.
Background[edit]
Melous is said to have filled the world with rivers and lakes, and within them she shaped the first forms of aquatic life that did not call the vast oceans home. She tried to treat each location equally, and in the beginning, she could manage it with ease. However, as the world grew and changed, it became harder and harder to maintain each and every pond and stream. Melous, though a water spirit, asked Ai and Phee to share with her the secrets of flight.
The twins granted her request, and so Melous was able to take to the air. There, high in the skies, she provided rainfall around the world, and as she did, she came to know more and more about the people spreading across it. Melous is said to rival Delta in her knowledge of people, for she walked among them, laughed and loved with them, and found mortals that were genuine and true to call her friends. Early civilizations thrived under her gifts, for their harvests were watered and their days were cool.
Yet such times do not last forever, and as mortals’ knowledge of magic grew, so did their ambitions and greed. Melous was the first spirit to actually be attacked by mages who believed that if they could harness her power, they could control the weather. Though their rudimentary rituals could have never truly bound her, the spirit’s view of humanity was forever scarred, and for the first time, she brought down the ire of the heavens on those she have believed to be her companions. It was said that Melous’ anger rivaled even that of Eschen, and a hurricane manifested not from the ocean, but from the skies. The kingdom was brought to ruin, submerged under a flood that the spirit had wrought upon them.
When the storm had subsided, Melous realized what she had done, and racked with guilt that none of her kind could empathize with, she vowed never again to set foot on land. Melous carried herself into the heavens, and she has remained there to this day with the promise that she will continue to care for the world as best as she can by ensuring none go without rain. Those who have met the spirit are those who have climbed to the tallest points of Rhyst where the clouds brush the earth, but even they only communicated with her from afar.
Trivia[edit]
It was said that where Melous ascended into the clouds, the first rainbow formed, and that when one is spotted after a heavy rainfall, it signifies other spirits that are bound to the Cloudwalker returning to her realm
Though Melous vowed never to set foot on land again, she still despises mortals who seek to bind or harm spirits and the natural world. Storms are often believed to be omens that someone has upset the Cloudwalker, and the worse the trespass, the more violent the storm
Some believe Melous’ tale teaches that joy and peace may not last forever, but when the storms of anger and pain do pass, they will return like the light of the sun