My beautiful transfem elk daughter who lives in Cerebria
lore beneath the cut
Chronic wasting disease is a disease that affects cervids in Cerebria. The fauns see it as a curse from the gods
it causes them to experience
-Drastic weight loss (wasting)
-Stumbling or lack of -coordination
-Drooling
-Listlessness (appearing "out of it")
-Excessive thirst or peeing
-Drooping ears
-Lack of fear
-repetitive motions
Fauns are a tribal folk. they migrate within a certain area, and live out their lives within the clan. Nora is a priestess at the temple of truth, a secluded temple dedicated to Noverralei, goddess of reality and identity. It’s located on a cliffside overlooking the ocean, about a weeks travel away from the nearest town for the average traveler.
The reason Nora isn’t with her tribe anymore is because most of them got infected by the curse.
The people around her family start going insane, getting weak and thin. Her brother starts zoning out. Her parents are almost certain they are infected. At this point Nora isn’t cursed, but if she stays here she’ll almost certainly will be
Her entire tribe is almost wiped out by it, succumbing to injuries, dehydration, or the disease itself.
Her mother tells her to run. To get as far away from here as possible.
The only thing they know to do to stop the disease is to pray to Noverralei. This thing destroys their identity and their life… what did they do wrong. Nora dedicates herself to Noverralei praying that her mother survives, that the curse on her camp gets lifted… but it’s too late. So she becomes a priestess, to try to learn how to stop it and to save the others. Because this isn’t a thing that you can be protected from normally. This is the domain of the goddess of reality and identity. Fauns become physically mentally and socially adults at 15. Nora is 12 when she leaves (and she hasn’t transitioned fully yet, but that’s not super relevant)
There is one other faun at the temple of truth. Mara. She’s about 4 years younger than Nora. Shes a fallow faun, not an elk faun, but it’s strange she’s also not with her clan.
Nora found her lost, she had wandered away from the group during one of their migrations, and gotten lost. It had been months since she’d seen her family. Nora helped her find the camp, but as they approached she saw the zombie like deer, and she took the young child and ran. The little girl probably didnt realize why Nora was making her run.
She saw the camp, and started running excitedly to it. Nora had to grab her, pick her up and restrain her, and carry her the opposite direction
She’s crying hard. She wants to find her mother It takes a few days for her to calm down enough to stop and listen to Nora explain what was wrong. They spend some time in the capital of the temple of reflection. The only other temple dedicated to Noverralei. But they don’t have a home and the city is a rough place to not have money.
They go to the temple of truth for the same reason as anyone else. To ask why. It’s rumored Noverralei will appear to people who make the journey to the temple. They don’t get an answer. They decide to stay another day, and another day, and eventually start helping with temple tasks, and it slowly becomes their home. After almost 3 months at the temple, longer than any other guests, they’re asked if they want to become acolytes. When Nora is old enough, she decides to go through the process to become a full priestess.
I haven’t decided Nora’s deadname yet but it’ll have symbolism. Nora is a name stemming from Noverralei. This worlds equivalent of Christine or Christian or Jesús.
Mara’s name is based off of a few things. Its direct meaning is bitter. It’s also the Slavic root word for nightmare, associated with death and winter. Also in swahili is a word that refers to “a time.” Talking about things happening suddenly, frequently, or at a time. So her name means bitter about the death that occurred suddenly. Bitter about her past.
oh also she gets really excited every spring when she sheds her antlers because then she passes. Spring is her favorite season bc of gender euphoria. Also like, Noverralei is goddess kid reality and spring being life and there’s celebrations. But yeah.
