Luelenvati

Luelenvati was a merchant, a scholar and dabbler in the magic arts from the now-destroyed city of Shellback in the world of Undersea. Before coming through the Door, Luelenvati had a tumultuous career in his home world. Beginning life in the most destitute and spirit-abandoned streets of Shellback, Luelenvati worked uncommonly hard as a simple merchant, attempting to secure for himself the life of leisure common amongst the Apsara.

Having established a small fortune, Luelenvati decided to travel amongst the cities of Undersea. Traveling up the currents, he met all manner of Apasara and Spirits, making friends and business contacts along the way. Eventually he came to Pearl Spire, where he met the woman he would fall in love with. Their affair began casually, but quickly grew to something deeper. Unfortunately, her father did not approve of his lowly origins, and strove to keep the two apart. What follows is far too tragic a tale to tell, save that it ended with Luenlenvati’s fortune gone, his beloved dead, and himself back on the destitute Shellback streets of his birth. Hearing rumors of Doors opening to another world, Luelenvati made his way to Forest, hoping to make another fortune, larger than his last one, and one day return to Undersea to extract revenge for his misfortune.

Once in the Forest, Luelenvati resolved to put the past behind him for the time being, not allowing his old life to weigh down his new one. Once becoming accustomed to life in the Forest, Luelenvati started his tread with gusto. In addition to his merchanting trade, Luelenvati was responsible for giving the town of Nexus it’s name, coming up with the name while eating ‘cow-fish’ sandwiches in front of the Tavern. He and Andre wrote ‘Nexus’ over the ‘Here’ portion of the Here/There sign, and the name stuck.

After spending a few gathers in Nexus, Luelenvati decided to see what the rest of the Forest had to offer, and wandered for a year. He returned in the Spring on the Champions Mountain on the year the Herald of Love was chosen. Intending to make Nexus his permanent home, Luelenvati has set up shop and continued to ply his merchants trade. He specialized in metal ore and magical artifacts, and usually made a tidy profit in those markets.

Among his more notable accomplishments, Luelenvati was in the right place at the right time to facilitate the defeat of Festering Lies, a major foe of Nexus and member of the Nightmare Host. He claims to have ‘gotten all of his boasting done’ on the day of the battle, and tries not to overstate his role in the battle. None the less, some refer to him as the ‘Slayer of Nightmares’, including some of the Nightmare Host.

In the years since Luelenvati has been known to be a pivitol factor in a number of wide ranging events. He served as arbitrator in the quickly diffused economic conflict between Albriecht Coinpress and the Merchant Prince. His adversarial relationship with the Host spirit of Deception, Thorn of Lies, caused no end of concern and scandal even amongst his own people. Although tensions were mostly resolved between him and the Airwalkers, a stigma remained due to his desire to use the Host spirit as a dubious but useful source of information on the enemy. As time moved on and Thorn of Lies used more subtle methods to influence Luelenvati, their game became one played through intermediaries.

As his struggle against the Nightmare Host and the cosmic unbalance they represent continued, Luelenvati dedicated himself to the principles of the Vathriagnishesham in order to better understand on an intuitive level the spiritual forces at play. Eventually he reached the point in his meditations that most Vathriagnishesham chose to reincarnate, however Luelenvatis mastery of the techniques and the influence of the Forest opened up an alternative route. Rather than re-condense his mixture of starlight and sea foam, Luelenvati found that he was able to embrace in full his Spirit heritage.

Over the course of a weekend gather, he was offered three paths: Thorn of Lies tried once more to corrupt him, offering the dark power and terrible temptations of the Nightmare Host. In the face of dire consequences and heartbreaking choices, Luelenvati rejected the Host, counter offering the redemptive peace of slumber, which was sadly rejected by the Thorn of Lies.

Later, Luelenvati was given the chance by the Man Under the Mountain to become a powerful and influential Spirit of the Terrestrial courts, capable of understanding both the Spirit and Wanderling condition enough to reshape the strictures of the Old Laws and make them a fair and equitable arrangement between flesh and spirit. This offer was tempting indeed, and if it were not for earlier visions leading Luelenvati to believe that Vathriagni was pushing him towards a higher, more abstract goal, he would have very likely taken it.

After formally saying farewell to those he considered his pupils and peers, Luelenvati set to dispersing his considerable wealth amongst those he felt most worthy. After dividing his assets between the Nexus Apsara, the Scholarship Society and the Air Walkers, Luelenvati was a total pauper by the end of feast. He was heard to comment, “So this is what freedom feels like…”

Finally, as the stars shone down on Nexus, Luelenvati began to flicker randomly in and out of the material realm. His sea foam began to drain away as the omnipresent currents of Vathriagni gave him a final, violent push towards a greater destiny. Once free of his mortal flesh, Luelenvati embraced the Celestial incarnation of Hope, becoming the embodied Spirit of that idea.

For a few hours he was able to spend time with the people of Nexus, spreading uplifting words, granting the Shard Bearers a moments peace, and choosing for a Scion Tahgd of the Lodge. Together they laid the groundwork for the future, but soon Hope felt a calling to move on.

Hope now resides in the White City of the Celestial Spirits. There he learns the cosmic enlightenment of the Virtues and acts as an advocate for the Material Worlds. Only time will tell if he can sway them into action, and perhaps one day his presence will be felt in Nexus once again.