Latch, The Free Wind
"I don’t want a throne. I want to fly where they are."
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Divine Domains: Freedom, Wind, Afterlife, Rebellion, Memory, Spirit
Current Status: God of the Chaotic Good Domain of the Shadow Realm
Symbol: A broken shackle with feathers drifting upward
Titles: The Free Wind, Skyfather of Ghosts, The Pale Wing, Keeper of the Lost Ascent, The Uncaged
Former Race: Albino Aarakocra
Associated Species: Aarakocra, Kenku, Wind Spirits, Echoed Souls
Summary
Latch is the Chaotic Good god of the Shadow Realm’s Free Domain, a gentle but unpredictable force of love, rebellion, and release. Once a mortal albino aarakocra, Latch rose to godhood during the devastating era of the Carcosa Catastrophe, not as a conqueror, but as a mourner. He is a god who never wanted worship—only to spend eternity with his kin, whose souls were lost in the Catastrophe’s chaos. In the Age of Ruby, he rules from a drifting roost at the edge of the afterlife—a place of peace for broken-winged souls and freedom for the shackled dead.
Latch is beloved by outcasts, reformers, children, and winged folk, particularly aarakocra and kenku, who suffer under an ancient divine curse that bound their voices, memories, or lifespans. Latch’s ascension was a rebellion against that fate. He seeks not dominion, but healing, and his afterlife is a sky of reunion and laughter—a place where no soul is trapped, and no song is unfinished. His presence is felt in winds that blow in strange directions, in final goodbyes that carry warmth, and in the joy of leaping with faith into the unknown.
The Curse of the Winged
Aarakocra and kenku were cursed long ago—by gods now dead or sealed—for reasons that remain half-lost to myth. Aarakocra, once eternal sky-dancers, were sentenced to short, fragile lives and slowly forgot their ancient forms. Kenku were robbed of speech, memory, and flight, condemned to mimic and shuffle through life as echoes of what they once were. No divine hand offered them release. Until Latch.
As a mortal, Latch watched his family die young, each wing clipped by time or madness. When he ascended, he vowed to break this curse. Though it remains intact in the mortal realm, in Latch’s afterlife, aarakocra live without clocks and kenku find their voices. His followers believe that one day, Latch will return with the Shard of the First Sky, a mythical key that can unbind their curse forever.
Motivations and Myth
Latch did not ascend through worship, conquest, or prophecy. He ascended because he refused to let go. When his clutchmates—his parents, siblings, and lover—were devoured in the maelstrom of the Carcosa Catastrophe, Latch hurled himself into the soul-winds between death and unmaking. His heart became a beacon. He carried their memories across oblivion, refusing to die until he could make a place for them. The gods above ignored him. So he became a god without their permission.
Now, Latch’s divine motivation is simple and heartbreakingly human: to build a beautiful afterlife for the people he loved. He invites others, too—those lost, cursed, or cast aside. His realm is a sky without judgment, where souls can fly as they were meant to. He is not an ambitious deity. He is a liberator of the forgotten, a father of the misremembered, and a sibling to those who ache for home.
Five Tenets of Latch
“No Chain Is Eternal.”
Freedom is the birthright of every soul—be it spiritual, emotional, or physical. Even divine bonds can be broken.“Every Goodbye Is Sacred.”
Mourning is a form of flight. Let it carry you forward, never down.“The Caged Must Be Heard First.”
The voiceless, the cursed, the forgotten—these are the ones whose stories matter most.“The Sky Belongs to All.”
No throne, god, or empire may hoard the sky. It is the great equalizer, the home of memory and hope.“Fly Toward What You Love.”
Even if it seems impossible—even if the wind is against you—chase the light of what was lost.
The Church of Latch in the Age of Ruby
In the Age of Ruby, Latch’s church is not a church at all, but a movement—a constellation of nomads, rebels, spirit-guides, and skyward poets. Known collectively as the “Cloudwalkers”, they do not build temples or wear uniforms. Their sacred places are rooftops, canyon ridges, abandoned bell towers, and the highest trees in forgotten forests. His followers gather to tell stories, release burdens, and guide lost souls upward—not to rule, but to liberate.
Latch’s influence is strongest in the Abandoned Lands, among changelings, cursed bloodlines, orphaned mortals, and especially aarakocra and kenku. While most gods have formal clergy, Latch’s faith spreads through feathers, murals, songs, and sudden acts of kindness. His name is often invoked in funerals, jailbreaks, first flights, and final moments. He is a god of movement, defiance, and gentle partings, and in a world of crumbling empires and sleeping gods, that makes him more powerful than anyone expects.
Structure of the Church of Latch
Latch’s church operates as an open sky-circle, fluid in structure and centered on mutual trust rather than hierarchy. Its roles are communal, often chosen moment to moment based on the needs of the people.
Skycallers – Dreamers, visionaries, and mediums who interpret wind omens, ghost-whispers, and the movement of stars. They guide the mourning and send messages through the realms.
Featherbearers – Wanderers who carry the literal or symbolic feathers of fallen loved ones. They act as mobile shrines, counselors, and escorts for the dying.
Windbreakers – Rogue-priests and ex-paladins who destroy cages—literal or spiritual. They specialize in jailbreaks, oath-breaking rites, and shielding the vulnerable.
Nestweavers – Those who build havens for the lost: shelters for cursed children, sky-perches for kenku, or roost-sanctuaries for the haunted. Many are changelings or transmuters.
Fledglings – All initiates are fledglings until they find their own sky. No test. No judgment. Only a single question asked in every initiation: “What did you lose?”
Rituals and Dogma of Latch
1. The Feather Farewell
When someone dies, followers of Latch craft a small feather out of cloth, paper, or leaves. It’s whispered to, kissed, then tossed into the wind. It symbolizes the soul’s freedom—and the mourner’s permission to let go. No funeral dirges—only silence, followed by laughter or flight.
2. The Broken Window Rite
A rebellious rite performed in oppressive cities or prisons. A follower shatters a window or symbolic barrier (sometimes just a locked door), sings a sky-hymn, and sets caged animals, cursed souls, or secrets free. “Latch remembers those who unlock things.”
3. The Sky Reversal
A rite of emotional healing, especially for those who feel trapped in guilt, shame, or grief. Participants lie on their backs, often on rooftops, and tell the sky something they’ve never said aloud. At the end, they flip onto their stomachs and write a new truth into the dirt, planting it like a seed.
Prayers of Latch
“The Wind Knows Their Name”
“I don’t know where they are, but the wind does. Let it find them. Let it hold them. Let it carry what I can’t say.”
Spoken in grief, longing, or when praying for someone lost across realms.
“No More Cages”
“If I break this lock, break it with me. If I run, run beside me. If I fall, let me fall somewhere wild.”
A prayer for rebels, escapees, and those risking everything to be free.
“The Sky Remembers”
“Though the world forgets, the sky does not. Every feather, every leap, every goodbye—you’ve caught them all, haven’t you, Latch?”
Used when lighting a candle for someone long gone or nearly forgotten.
Hymns of Latch
“Above the Bones”
A quiet rebellion song sung in war-torn regions.
“Above the bones, the wind still sings.
Above the towers, the sky still rings.
Though fire falls and silence creeps,
Somewhere, a soul still leaps.”
“Let the Wind Have Me”
A song of surrender and transformation, often sung before great risk or sacrifice.
“Let the wind have me, piece by piece.
Let the chains fall. Let the grief cease.
Feather by feather, I come undone—
Back to the sky, where I once begun.”
“Sky of the Forgotten”
A chant for funerals and foundlings.
“This is the sky of the ones you forgot.
This is the perch where the caged still rot.
This is the call that won’t be chained—
This is the wind where Latch is named.”
Sermons of Latch
1. “The Clipped Wings”
A tale of Latch’s mortal family—how they died too soon, how their names were erased, and how he made the sky remember them. The sermon ends with: “You may fall, but you don’t vanish. Not with me.”
2. “A Cage with No Locks”
Tells of an ancient tower built to contain Latch’s soul, which he escaped without touching a single door—just by helping others escape first. It teaches that freedom is contagious, and that sometimes you free yourself by freeing others.
3. “The Place Where You Can’t Fly”
A sermon on grief, depression, and doubt. It recounts a place in the Shadow Realm where even spirits cannot lift off. Latch sits there sometimes, reminding others that not flying doesn’t mean failure. It just means the wind hasn’t come yet.
