THE DIVINE

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Saints of the Twelve

INTRODUCTION

Just as the stories of the Twelve differed (and still differ) from telling to telling, so too those of Their humble servants, their Saints. These heroes of faith are remembered across Eorzea for their simple but great acts that changed the course of history, if not for the whole of the realm, then at least for their communities. From children's books to songs and plays, they are memorialized in the hearts of the people.

This does not stop the smallfolk from lifting up their own heroes and saints, of course; but it is those who are approved by the Council of Loetstym who are memorialized on the stained-glass plates given to adventurers by levemetes. (1)

(1) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 26

Some five centuries ago, just as Lewphon of Sharlayan did for the Twelve Themselves, his countryman by the name of Loetstym Merlzyrnsyn went forth to seek out the tales of the saints, and perhaps pick out the true warp and weft of the stories from the inevitable embroidery. These he compiled into a single book, The Saints of Eorzea, and this in turn made the foundation of the canonization council. Every seven years, the members of the Council of Loetstym (named in his honor by his successors) convene to investigate and confer on potential candidates for sainthood, and approve some few by vote.

The Saints, by patron

Byregot

Saint Basqual

Recognized by the Council of Loetstym

As mentioned before, not all saints revered in Eorzea are canonized by vote of the Council of Loetstym. This listing will attempt to include as many as are recognized both regionally as well as generally, however scant the information may be about them.

The saints are recognized--or assigned--to their respective patrons by vote of the Council. Though the councilmen do their best to align the deed in question with the tenets or values of some god or other, it is fair to acknowledge that their methods seem sometimes obscure. Natheless, this catalogue will be ordered according to what is, not what this author tries to make of it.

Rhalgr

Azeyma

Saint Norvelle
Saint Anselmet

Nald'thal

Saint Zozonan
Saint Adama Landama
Saint Bodenolf

Nophica

Saint Tothor
Saint Allene

Althyk

Saint Meryall
Saint Rhita
Saint Coinach

Halone

Menphina

Thaliak

Nymeia

Llymlaen

Oschon

saint Gafryde

The mighty Gafryde was a knight of his realm, fighting valiantly for lord and loved ones. Wounded one day on the field of battle, he was rescued from death by a mysterious hermit. Seven days he lodged with the hermit, who would take no payment nor even thanks. Rather, the hermit revealed that he had failed to do justice when it was within his power, and in remorse and shame, he had betaken himself to dwell apart. No payment would he take from Ser Gafryde, but instead charged him to do seven great deeds of justice.

Ser Gafryde embraced this charge, and seven years he spent striving to save a nation from destruction. At the end of this, he returned to the hermit, bleeding from wounds mortal. Seven times, he told the hermit, he had felt righteousness guide his sword arm, and seven times he had triumphed. In finally discharging this oath, he breathed his last. (2)

(2) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 27

Patron: Oschon, the Wanderer
Virtue: Justice

saint jerhomme

Jerhomme was a mighty warrior who traveled the realm, his sword and shield ever at the service of the fearful and hunted. Many a man, woman, and child did he save from the ravening beasts, and thus was he welcome in every town.

So too were welcome his friends, but no warriors were they. Rather, they were fishermen, craftsmen, cooks, all desirous to lend hands and hearts to this celebrated hero, who was friend to all of them. Their harmonious and joyful company was the thing Jerhomme most desired, and so he felt himself fully recompensed for his travails, no matter what they might be. (3)

(3) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 28

Patron: Oschon, the Wanderer
Virtue: Concord

saint ascya

In Limsa Lominsa, the highest loyalty is not to state nor goddess, but to one's crew--whether or not they understand the form one's loyalty takes. When the Astalicia's rudder was shattered in battle, she drifted upon the ocean, at the mercy of current and wind. When the ship's navigator estimated three weeks to landfall, all despaired--save the cook's apprentice, Ascya. She laid a plan to ration out what remained of the ship's stores, and by night sat by the mead kegs. Though they begged and pleaded and threatened, though their suffering was writ plain on their faces and bodies, Ascya held steadfast, knowing that if they ate their fill, they would perish before they could be saved.

Not all heroes go clad in mail and bearing arms; some are heroes because they endure in the face of unreasoning hatred from those whom they most love. (2)

(2) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 27

Patron: Llymlaen, the Navigator
Virtue: Temperance

saint dhyata

Brass loaches are a populous and nigh ubiquitous wavekin throughout the Black Shroud and Thanalan; so when the nets of a fishing village found fewer and fewer of them, they knew something was awry. Thus, they summoned Dhyata, known as a wise woman, to find out the trouble. Swiftly, she realized that they were taking not only the full-grown, but also the spawning females, who would thus lay no eggs and never replace that which they took; the fishermen, in their desperation, had simply kept all the catch they could find. She bade them cast not their nets during the spawning season, and throw back the small and egg-swollen they caught, and though the catch would be fewer today, it would increase mightily in the days to come. Trusting in the wisdom given her by Llymlaen, the fishermen did as she told them, and very soon they found their favorite catch fully restored. (3)

(3) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 28

Patron: Llymlaen, the Navigator
Virtue: Piety

saint llafymae

There is something delightful in the idea of the invincible hero, one who can stand alone and slay foes unnumbered and come away unscathed and untroubled. But such stories ignore the truth that courage can only shine in the shadow of fear; so believed Llafymae, a wandering bard. In her day, most preferred the tales of effortless triumph, but hers spoke of the doubt, the daunt, the pain, and the scars that heroes endured. Even though many scoffed and even were enangered by her insistence upon showing heroes to be only human, many young hearts were emboldened to become heroes themselves; for knowing now that one need not be perfect to be great, their own flaws could no longer stay their hands, and much good was done. (2)

(2) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 27

Patron: Nymeia, the Spinner
Virtue: Wisdom

saint lathme

For some, greatness comes in a single moment of splendor. But for Lathme, that heroism was a lifelong pursuit. In her day, times were harder yet than ours, and a widow could easily find herself in poverty, or worse. Lathme, a weaver of great skill, took pity upon them, and did more than give them coin to buy food; she taught them the means to earn coin forever, by sharing with them every trick of her trade. Spinning, weaving, sewing, the bereft ladies now could feed themselves and their children while tending their homes. When asked why she refused all payment for her teaching, Lathme answered that she, too, had been widowed young, and desired others' burdens to be lessened, as hers had been. (2)

(2) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 27

Patron: Nymeia, the Spinner
Virtue: Charity

saint nonoya

There was a general celebrated for his brilliance upon the field of battle. Boastful was he, but seemingly with cause; for such was his reputation that his foes would flee the field of battle as soon as his name was known. The king was well pleased with every such victory, granting him riches beyond compare...but Nonoya, one of the general's soldiers, wondered at how the general's mere name was enough to sweep aside these desperate enemies. After another predictable "victory", Nonoya slipped into the retreating enemy camp...and there beheld her own general, toasting his coming bounty with the enemy commander! An elaborate scam! Nonoya presented this truth to the king at great risk to herself, and in so doing, ended the general's villainy. (4)

(4) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 26

Patron: Thaliak, the Scholar
Virtue: Veracity

saint leseraux

Knowledge is itself a great treasure, but the worth of it is had in its application. Leseraux, a scrivener, had spent his entire life copying manuscripts and scrolls with painstaking attention to every detail, that not one jot of them should be lost to time and moth and flame. Later in his life, he began to set his own, original work to parchment, and from his pen flowed forth not those manuscripts, but fables in which the wisdom he had gleaned over decades was set anew like precious gems into new jewelry. Many a young soul and not a few lost souls found instruction, even hope, in his tales. Thus did he attain the highest dream any scholar can hold: that what he had learned in difficulty, he could teach to others with greater ease and clarity. (5)

(5) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 29

Patron: Thaliak, the Scholar
Virtue: Providence

saint tataroon

If ever there was a notion that "beastmen" are men, not beasts, it is refuted in the tale of Tataroon, saint of Thaliak. An itinerant trader, Tataroon the Qiqirn's path took him through a village beset by a raging goobbue. The lord of the land refused to commit his troops to hunting and slaying the great beastkin, even though the goobbue was breaking down storehouses and eating the people's winter stores. Tataroon, unlike the lord, could not close his ears to the cries of the starving; and so, went himself to draw the goobbue's wrath unto himself. But he did not stand still, leading the goobbue through a series of carefully-laid traps that wore away the beast's strength. At last, Tataroon lured the beast into a storehouse, one whose supports were so weakened that it collapsed during the monster's wild thrashing; Tataroon himself slipped out through a back way. So was ended the threat, and the children of that village did not go hungry that winter. (5)

(5) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 29

Patron: Thaliak, the Scholar
Virtue: Sapience

saint Thalysa

It is said that an army marches not on its feet, but on its belly; that is to say, food is always the first concern of any body of fighting men. Such was the reality that a city faced when the sellswords they hired to ward their crops began to complain of the shortness of rations. It was not something that could be readily helped, though, for no matter the ratio of swords to plowshares, only so much farmland can be kept safe for the growing of grain--and for a city at war, that much was not near enough. However, a baker by the name of Thalysa took thought, and devised new recipes that made much of little: heavier, denser breads that required more chewing and conveyed more nutriment. Though they did not make for a pleasant meal, the food was satisfying, and the sellswords' complaints were quieted. (3)

(3) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 28

Patron: Menphina, the Lover
Virtue: Ingenuity

saint Mocianne

Let none say that greed is good, nor that the governors of a land will always be free of it; for in days of old, a guild of alchemists was given sole right to sell apothecary goods in return for "generous donations" to the king. In no time, even the simplest of poultices became too dear for any but the wealthiest.

Mocianne, granddaughter of a wise woman, knew well the many herbs that could be compounded for the relief of the sick, which grew in the fields and forest and even between the paving-stones of the roads--but even those were forbidden to be gathered and brought into the city. Knowing this, she wove the herbs she gathered into wreaths with well-loved wildflowers, and thus slipped them in past the watchful guards to cure the ills of many a suffering soul. (3)

(3) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 28

Patron: Menphina, the Lover
Virtue: Benevolence

saint Randolfe

There was a king whose firstborn child was not to his queen, but to a common woman; this bastard prince was named Randolfe, and when he was old enough, was given charge of a flock of sheep. Though illegitimate children were not counted heirs to their wayward fathers in those days, it was thought "better safe than sorry", and so an assassin was hired to end the lad's life. The assassin sought Randolfe out, and found that the boy had led his flock away from the others, to guard them against a pestilence. But even as the assassin prepared to fulfill his contract, he saw young Randolfe lead his flock back into town, stopping on the way to give ewes and rams freely to those of his neighbors who had lost their own. Touched to the quick by the lad's honor and generosity, the assassin pledged at once his loyalty to the one whom the law would not recognize, but whose virtue had proven had the most rightful claim to the throne. (5)

(5) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 29

Patron: Menphina, the Lover
Virtue: Hability

saint Daniffen

Many have heard the blessed name of Ser Daniffen, a knight-errant of enormous valor and great deeds. That which made him a saint of the Fury, however, was the slaying of the mighty Basilisk of Velodyna.

When the fishermen who customarily caught the trout of the river began to disappear, mercenaries were sent to find out whey; and when those mercenaries did not return, many despaired. Daniffen, however, saw the many new "statues" that had be carved by unknown hand upon the bank of the river, and knew at once that a terrible beast with a gaze of stone lurked there. Recalling the adage that it is better to pluck out one's eye than to have the whole body plunged into death for its sake, he covered his eyes with a thick padded cloth, and tracked the beast with his ears alone. Not merely his courage but his faith was rewarded with victory. (4)

(4) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 26

Patron: Halone, the Fury
Virtue: Valor

saint endalim

In these days, "Archbishop of Ishgard" is a title that makes people look askance; but as with anything that involves Men, there are the good and the bad alike. There was a lord of Ishgard who was cruel to his people and his servants, to the point where the smallfolk at last had their fill of him and took up arms. He rallied his men-at-arms, but as the two sides stood, fearing the fatal command to attack, an elderly knight stepped into the field betwixt them, announcing that in order to fight, they must get through him. Some of the lord's men jeered, but others recognized what the circlet about his brow meant; it was Endalim IV, then the Archbishop. He had heard of the lord's injustices, and had come to judge between them--not robed as a nobleman in finery, but clad as a lowly knight, to show whose side was right. Chastened, the lord stood down and mended his ways. (3)

(3) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 28

Patron: Halone, the Fury
Virtue: Candor

saint Finnea

Despair had found a place in the hearts of a castle's valiant defenders; for the dragon horde had not abated nor even seemed to diminish, no matter how many were slain. Ser Finnea, a novice knight, had refused to believe the day would be lost, and had volunteered to seek reinforcements--but as time went on and she did not return, her comrade began to lose hope. But just as the hour seemed darkest, the pennon of the white swan--Finnea's--appeared over the crest of the mountain path, along with a host of fresh troops. Their spirits uplifted, the defenders rallied, and with new fury they drove away the horde. (5)

(5) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 29

Patron: Halone, the Fury
Virtue: Conviction

saint basqual

Fear can seize the heart and freeze the arm of even the most hardened of warriors; so it was when the gates of a city had buckled under siege, and the enemy's forces began to pour in. Captain Basqual saw the fear in the eyes of his soldiers, knew that their shields were no firmer than the arms that held them up; and so, resorted to the wildly inappropriate to break the grip of that terror. He stripped down to naught at all, and pranced about--not mad, but irreverent. There was nothing to fear! Amused despite themselves, the moment brought the soldiers back to themselves, and their shield wall held until the breach could be restored. (5)

(5) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 29

Patron: Byregot, the Builder
Virtue: Devotion

saint moergynn

It is the blessing of blacksmiths to make weapons that defend their owners--and the curse that that defense must sometimes be more than just a threat of harm. Doubly so for Moergynn, a village blacksmith tasked by not one, but both brothers who had decided their dispute could not be settled save by bloodshed. However, he saw his chance to turn aside the curse, as each brother came to him again and again, demanding alterations and additions to the blades. When the day came for their duel, they found that the swords had been forged and reforged entirely too many times, and now were worthless, unable even to keep an edge. Angered, they came to him, but he replied calmly that he had only done as they bade--it was their own doing. (2)

(2) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 27

Patron: Rhalgr, the Destroyer
Virtue: Constancy

saint wargbhar

Some say that it is only the shrewd and the selfish who can succeed at commerce and, indeed, at life, but this is not so. There was a man in a frontier settlement by the name of Wargbhar; his name meaning "Truthful Bear" in the Roegadyn tongue, he strove to live up to it, to be as honest as he was large and imposing. All did he welcome, be they Wandering Tribe or "beastmen", and with all did he deal forthrightly. For this reason, the neighboring tribes did not raise their hands against the people, and there was peace during all his days. When at last he left this life, all mourned him together, their differences forgotten in their honor of all the good he had done. (3)

(3) Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol. 2, p. 28

Patron: Rhalgr, the Destroyer
Virtue: Sincerity