Valley of the Laughing Hearts
(Realm/Site; Mt. Celestia,
Mercuria)
written by Heiner de
Wendt
Character. The gift of an honest, happy laugh is one of the greatest
wonders of the multiverse. It can bring emotional wealth to all
who hear it, yet belongs to no one (for even the person who laughs
grants this gift to the whole multiverse by releasing it). It is
a symbol for how everything should be like: Happy, true, innocent,
and belonging to all, yet being no one's property. A laughing heart
can defy all fear and evil, embracing the joy that is life.
Power. Filja is usually depicted as a young girl, somewhere between
seven and ten years old. Her golden hair turns into silver dolphins
swimming around her shoulders in a wonderful dance, and her eyes
are nothing but stars. The demigoddess is always seen smiling or
laughing (the latter far more often), trying to bring joy to
everyone who accepts that gift. Filja, the child-goddess of innocence, happiness and light, is
strongly allied to both Mitra and Surya, two sun-related powers
sharing the realm of Goldfire in Mercuria. She is worshipped only
on certain worlds where her more powerful allies have "introduced"
her to the mortals, and the child-goddess seems to be pleased with
the situation, longing for no more worshippers or power.
Description. Most people come upon the Valley of the Laughing Hearts
the same way: As they walk one of the mountain paths, they turn
around a large curve, and suddenly stand in front of a gargantuan
valley, about five miles straight down the mountains, stretching for
miles and even more miles, farther than even dragon eyes can see.
The realm is only a relatively small part of this valley, but as it
doesn't seem any bit different than the rest of the valley, it's
hard to tell the two apart.
The whole valley is filled with light woods and measures, small
rivers and wonderful great streams. Birds, dragonflies and other
animals seem to be everywhere, and it's said they all have an instinctive knowledge about whom they can trust and who wants to
harm them.
There are no true settlements here; the archons and few other
inhabitants of this realm live in the naturally occurring places of
the valley, and it seems there's a place for the taste of everyone.
Caverns inside the mountain walls might somewhat resemble a natural
fortress, trees seem to grow to provide protection and shelter,
and so on.
While the valley itself is a sight that fills a pilgrim's heart
with happiness and beauty, there is even more to the child-goddesses'
realm. Those of good alignment experience at least one good thing
every day, something that makes the person happy and supports the
belief in true, unblemished innocence. Beings of lawful good
alignment even experience three such things every day.
Of course, this is only the minimum: If things don't happen by
itself, Filja makes them happen. This definitely doesn't mean,
though, that one cannot experience such situations a whole day
long.
Principal Towns. There are no real towns in this realm, and most
settlements aren't that exceptional. Three sites, though, should
be mentioned in particular:
The river-city called Dancing Dolphins is built upon a giant float,
swimming down the slow, broad Lujah-stream. Every fifty years, the city reaches the great
Aggencorr-lake, where a great festivity
takes place. Two weeks later, the archon-mage Phudah, who watches
over the city, casts a powerful spell, and the whole city disappears, beginning its travel again on the
Lujah-stream.
The city's mostly inhabited by mortals, most of them being humans.
They're fishers, artists, and craftsmen, living a life of simple
beauty, filled with poetry (literally and metaphorically) and
happiness.
The Floating Star is actually a tower built with sparkling jewels,
and as it reflects the bright sunlight, it can be seen miles in
the distance, hovering along the sky. About five hundred lantern
archons live within this tower, and they obviously have a reason
for it, though they don't tell anyone. It has been speculated
that they're all on a kind of shared path, and will all together
achieve promotion to hound archon when they finish whatever
they're doing in the Floating Star.
A halfling dwells in the third exceptional place of the realm. Lillirr
Rabbit-healer is a petitioner of Yondalla, but has been sent into this realm for some reason. He's built himself a home
that all halflings would call "simply wonderful", being
something like the perfection of typical halfling homes. The halfling is a kind of master gardener, and he's doing nothing
but caring for his plants all day long. Lillirr is a friendly
dude, and happily chats with everyone who comes along, but doesn't
stop working during that. If asked, he explains that he's searching
for a secret that Yondalla herself has lost, but he doesn't give
any further information.
Special Conditions. Notable conditions within the valley are, of
course, the animals which don't seem to know fear, and the fact that those who seek for a place for shelter always find something
fitting to their nature. Within Filja's realm, there's also the
"experiencing something good every day"-thingy.
Furthermore, probably due to the alliance with the two sun gods,
the sun within Filja's realm affects undead differently than
usual. It doesn't harm or destroy undead or other beings normally
harmed by it, as long as they keep to the ideals of Mt. Celestia.
Whenever they even think about acting evil, though, this protection fades immediately.
During the night, all undead and/or evil creatures shine with a dark blue gleaming; after the first night, this gleam
keeps active
as long as the being is within this realm. During daylight, it's
hard to notice, but still active. All affected beings feel that
they may be granted a change in nature, if they accept it. Undead
are turned into living beings again, and evil beings become good
(though the law/chaos-part of their alignment doesn't change).
Sages are sure this is connected to the Crucible of Light within
Mitra's and Surya's realm of Goldfire, and that Filja somehow
"channels" the Crucible's powers to achieve this. Considering
that Filja is just a demi-power (though, some say, at the edge
to becoming a lesser power), and such changing of a being's whole nature supposedly draws much divine energy, this is very
probable indeed.
Principal Non-player Characters. There are no outstanding servants
of Filja, at least none generally known. The child-goddess seems
to send her proxies to mortals in the Prime Material Plane
very often, subtly aiding them in times of sorrow and grief.
Sometimes, the human duke Forrice of Thun visits the realm. He
might be the most exceptional servant of Filja, for he's the
only paladin serving the child-goddess at all. It's said that
in his thirty years of servitude, he's drawn his sword only
five times, and killed only two opponents. Yet, he's succeeded
in all of his quests, and there seems to be nothing that can
make the Duke become unhappy.
Services. Now, the archons would say that the happiness granted
in this realm is far more than visitors could at all hope for.
But many planewalkers aren't that virtuous, of course, even if
they're good-aligned. Those seeking even more are able to find
exceptional animal familiars here; often, they even approach
those who unconsciously long for one without a spell being cast.
The familiar is always something the character loves, an animal
that, by its very nature, brings happiness to its new friend.
A secret that few people know is that within Filja's realm,
there are many portals to Sigil. Interestingly, there are mainly
those of the temporary kind. Archons and proxies of the
child-goddess seem to be very reluctant in telling others about
portals they know about; it seems Filja herself isn't really
happy about all those portals. Chant has it she's even sent a few proxies to Sigil to make sure this dark doesn't get
well-known. Only one time did a proxy of Filja destroy such
a portal, though, and that was when a small army of Yugoloths
tried to storm the Valley of the Laughing Hearts (fortunately,
the deva already destroyed the portal on the realm's side before
the fiends could get through).
Finally, one should not forget the most exceptional "service"
available in this realm: Purification. Cutters who fell
victim to a vampire and turned into an undead creature
themselves get a chance at returning to their former state,
maybe even to their former life here. Those who are evil, yet
know, deep in their hearts, that this is wrong, are granted the understanding of goodness here, having their souls filled
with the light of innocence. And those who're hopeless or
cynical often learn here how wrong they are even without the
child-goddesses' divine help.