Lydia is the Suel goddess of Music, Knowledge, and Daylight. She is a wise and benevolent goddess who seeks to instruct trough music and to recover old lore and separate fact from fiction. She is very similar to Lirr.
Lydia is favored by musicians, bards, sages, and by women seeking fame. She supports womens' education and her church helps women who want to travel.
Many followers of Lydia are lawful neutral bards who use stories and songs to promote ideals of Suloise racial supremacy and resentment, though a few are good-aligned and more closely follow their goddess's true ideals.
Lydia's church has an open policy on all records, for the goddess hates secrets and those who would hoard information to the detriment of others. Her teachings are presented in song form so that they may be easily remembered, and her church often converts current and historical texts into ballads.
Most of her clerics are women (80%). They are constantly driven to learn and discover, and many travel in the company of clerics of Fharlanghn. They use education to uplift women from lesser stations in life. This tends to make her church unpopular with patriarchies. They help women in need of education, and they spend much of their time in villages teaching women and children how to read and acting as midwives. They travel to discover lost caches of information and song, preferring historical accounts of actual deeds rather than fictionalizations and hearsay tales.
Vestments
During services, Lydia's priests wear white robes trimmed with silver and gold. Higher-ranking priests have more elaborate trimmings on their robes.
When adventuring, priests wear clothes or armor appropriate to the task at hand. They often wear their holy symbols on a necklace, and trim their armor with silver.
Hierarchy
Priests of Lydia are known as hymnmasters, a term used for either males or females.
Temples
Small shrines to Lydia appear in many towns and cities. One such shrine is adjacent to the temple of Pelor in the City of Greyhawk.
A large wooden temple of Lydia can be found in the city of Leukish north of the business district, greeting those who enter the city from the lake. Apart from that, Lydia has five notable churches in the Flanaess: in Lo Reltama, in Niole Dra, in Gryrax, in Nellix, and in Pitchfield.
Rituals
When praying, priests of Lydia are required to give their patron updates on the things they have learned. Services at Lydia's church are always held in the morning. The service consists primarily of singing hymns, telling tales of heroism, and sharing tidbits of knowledge. Many adventurers attend these services to learn about potential adventuring sites to explore.
Many of Lydia's teachings are presented in song form to aid memory, and her church often converts historical texts to ballads.
People must gain knowledge to better themselves. Music is a key to learning, and the light of day lets one see their own ignorance.
Lydia usually manifests as a white-haired woman with bright blue eyes, wearing a robe trimmed with silver and gold.
Lydia is closely allied with Pelor, god of the sun. She also has ties with Celestian and Fharlanghn. Lydia's priests often travel with priests of the brother deities. Finally, she supports her fellow Suel gods Jascar and Phaulkon in their efforts to aid the cause of good. She is an enemy of the evil Suel deities, primarily Wee Jas, Beltar, Pyremius, and Syrul. She is also an enemy of Iuz, as are most good-aligned deities.
