V I N S H A THE FOX GODDESS

While Vinsha is one of the deities that are widely regarded as minor gods in most of Ansus, despite the fact her powers are no less than any of the great gods. That is partly to blame on her nature, Vinsha is known as The Trickster of the gods. This goddess has a fickle nature and loves to play tricks on everyone, as such she has little to no worshipers among the civilized lands. Quite often unusual events are blamed on her and some extremists even go as far as blame her for spreading disasters among mankind for her amusement, but that's simply not the truth. The other reason for this is that the fox goddess doesn't often show her influence outside the forest of Atma, one of the oldest great forests. As such she is considered by some to not even be a true goddess. No one really knows why it is like that and no one really want's to know that answer.

For her appearance, Vinsha is often depicted as a giant silver fox, that roams the forest along with her fox followers to play tricks and pranks on those who entered the forest. Another image she is often given is that of a beautiful woman with long silver hair, piercing gray eyes, fox ears and a long elegant silver fox tail. She is never depicted, holding a weapon, instead it's said that she can control a wide variety of magic to confuse or destroy her enemies. It's also said, she can see through the eyes of all foxes if she wants and that they will follow her commands.

Unknown to most, Vinsha does have a cult to her though. Deep in the forest of Atma, exist a small glade where there is a shrine dedicated to her. Her worshipers are referred as the Daughters of the Fox. It's a small all female cult, that is rarely more than 5-7 people in number. Those women who serve Vinsha, were all human girls who for some reason or another ended in her domain and chose to stay. Some got lost as small children and were never searched for, some were abandoned there to be eaten by wild beasts and were taken under the wing of the goddess... many and different are the stories of those mysterious women who roam that forest. They are rarely seen as all of them have mastered some for of illusion magic so they can better carry the will of their mother and play as many tricks and pranks on the unexpecting travelers who cross the forest. They make the forest seem thicker, make it look like the trees are moving or simply make it that the wanderer walks in circles until he can walk no more. Never are those tricks deadly or end in a tragedy though. Those who have passed through the forest, while saying they will never return there, also state than when all their strength have left them and they lost consciousness, all state that later when they came about, they often found themselves at the edge of the forest with their bags full of supplies. All of them also state that as they were moving away from the forest, they could swear they've heard the laughter of women.

The cult themselves all bear a gift from their goddess, to each of her daughters, Vinsha had given a blessing in some form. Some have magical robes that allow them to vanish into thin air, others the trinket that allows the user to walk up trees and so on, to allow her children to carry their duties better. As final note, those who have done the near impossible and have seen those women even for a moment, state for the records that they all look like they belong to another world, with all of them almost too beautiful to turn away from, wearing long near transparent robes with long hairs.

Still the existence of the cult is considered just a myth by most, as few want to risk it, to venture in the great forest to verify it. Even as to this day, traders who travel along the borders of the forest, swear they've heard the voices of women, voices as if they are whispers of the wind, trying to lure people into the forest so they can carry out their duties.

There are many stories told at the villages around the forest, stories of young men venturing there for one reason or another and getting lost in the seemingly endless sea of trees. Then played with as the daughters of the fox trick him into their traps for their amusement. Some stories even go as far as to say that sometimes those young men meet of the the fox daughters and fall in love, spend time together, but when the man falls asleep, he then wakes at the edge of the forest alone, stocked on food and sometimes gifts. No of those men ever see those girls again, many men spend their lives roaming the forest afterwards in search for their love, but never found them. A few stories do exist of a cases where about a year after the man's adventure in the forest, a baby will be left at his doorstep, a baby wrapped in fine almost transparent cloth, in a beautiful basket woven by what would appear to be fine metal threads. Some claim they had seen many foxes to roam the streets in those nights, but again none of that is proven and those stories remain only a story... for now.