Írmu
Írmu, called Írmu Who Weeps or the Weeping Lady, was a nature-spirit and goddess venerated in the Ikorbân Valley and especially in Ambarûl. Her cult was among the oldest of the valley, remembered by the Nartáni in the First Age and persisting through the time of the Shârate until it was largely supplanted by the faith of Barkhûsh in the Time of Pyres.[1][2]
Origins
According to the account Of the Nartáni, the first Men of the Ikorbân Valley venerated Írmu, who was regarded as a spirit of the marshes and of sorrow. The Elves of the Tárthai are said also to have revered her, though by another name now lost. In those early centuries, Írmu's worship was communal and tied to the fertility of the land, taught alongside practical knowledge of farming by the Elves and dwarves of the Temámir clan.[1]
Írmu was remembered as the divine patron of Aburûn, the first Nartáni kingdom in the Broad Marsh. Shrines to her were maintained in wetland groves, where sacrifices of water and flowers were offered to honor her tears.[1]
Worship and Rites
Írmu was chiefly invoked in times of grief, drought, or flood. Her priests and lay attendants were often women who tended her shrines, pouring libations into the marsh-water and chanting laments that were said to echo her eternal weeping. Pilgrims sought Írmu’s blessing for fertility of the land, healing of loss, and protection against the ruin of floods.
Her rites were simple compared to later religions: flowers, reeds, and bowls of water were the customary offerings. Later traditions also describe the "Night of the Lamps," when mourners set afloat candles or oil-lamps upon the waters to mirror Írmu’s tears.
Decline
The influence of the Empire of Ordâkh in the Ikorbân Valley, even before their conquests, brought the spread of the Barkhûshim, who worshiped Barkhûsh under the title He-Who-Sees-All. As Barkhûsh’s cult grew, Írmu’s temples and faithful came under attack. The Dubarâkh record describes this era as the Time of Pyres, when the Barkhûshim burned the shrines and persecuted the Weeping Lady’s followers.[2]
By the later Third Age, Írmu’s worship had been almost extinguished in Hamât and Erêsh, surviving only in scattered hidden circles and family rites in Ambarûl. Her name endured, however, in laments, place-names, and oaths spoken by the people of the valley.
Legacy
Írmu remains an emblem of Ikorbâni identity and memory. Even among those who do not worship her, she is remembered as a symbol of mourning for the lost unity of the Shârate and the sufferings of its people. Chroniclers note that her name is still whispered in secret prayers and invoked in poetry as the Weeping Lady of the Marshes.