Name/Titles:Dihira, the Dark Librarian, the Serpent of Knowledge, Mistress of the House of Books, Mother of Serpents, Mother of Monsters
Gender:Female
Patronage:Knowledge, Learning/Study, Memory, Secret Knowledge (including ancient/lost spells), Blackmail, and reptiles in a loose sense. (she is responsible for this symbolism of reptiles hoarding in a nest and guarding treasures, metaphorically, as well as the serpent in the garden that tempted with forbidden knowledge.)
Parentage:Dihira is a divine entity born of a forbidden liason between her father, Svanus the Greenfather, a primal deity of the woods that long since has passed, and Iora, a queen of trolls and the like, still worshiped but of little power.
Pantheon/Affiliation:Deity, but one that only loosely owes her allegiance to Aroesus and Krona. She is technically one of them, but is an outsider.
Appearance:She normally appears as a half serpent/half woman(though her skin retains a greenish tint, most likely inherited from her mother); but can take the pure form of a serpent with a multitude of size variations.
Centres of Worship/Places of Power:Dihira has no specific centers of worship, such as an actual city devoted to her, but most scribes, scholars, wise women and others of that bent, the seekers of knowledge, at least offer a token of goodwill in small altars to her honor. These places tend to be well hidden, in alcoves and knots of trees, in underground grottoes. Dihira's worshipers often fear persecution, because they know things and those with knowledge and strange ways to the ignorant are often the scapegoats of others in their hysteria. It is sufficient so say that she is not the ruler of a city, but rather a widely but quietly revered figure in the pantheon.
On the planes, she inhabits the tree Athosvid which has roots in the firmament between Hevas and Malebazus and is present in both planes. It allows her to move along this narrow channel between the two planes. She sees no need to move beyond this limited area, and the tree itself is, according to legend, possessed of interesting, though terrible powers. In Hevas, the tree bears a flower whose petals soothe aches and pains, though too much creates a dependency. In Malebazus, the bitter fruit of the tree brings on a terrible knowledge, at a price of one's sanity, which is chipped away with every bite. Such is the price of knowledge. Dihira’s father, Svanus, dead and dreaming form makes up the heart of the tree where his bones entwine with the horticultural feat. Somewhere in the caverns within Athosvid (yes, large enough to hold caverns) is a great library that she slithers through eternally, though even she hasn't been able to read everything in her library -- though she would never admit that to any other being.
Servants, Prominent Followers and Worship Base:Scholars, wise women and others that thirst for knowledge. Musicians are known to be pleasing to her, particularly those musicians in certain places that coax snakes out of baskets with their flutes -- she likes that they make a show of the flute play when it's actually their movement and the stamping of their feet that bring these snakes out. Dihira loves irony. Among her followers are people that would kill and be killed for their knowledge, and so she is often paid tribute by those that value such things. Those that trade in secrets pay her considerable homage. Dihira's worshipers are not an army, but they are in many places.
Within the tree reside the
Knowles which are small insect like creatures of rumored high intelligence. They gather knowledge from both planes. The Knowles are said to have been born with the tree and thus predate Dihira. They don’t speak and seem to have a psychic connection with Dihira for no one else has been seen to communicate with them. They do, without a doubt, communicate amongst themselves.
The tree is also home to
Corks. As the library grew so did the number of Corks. The little rodent like tree dwellers seem to have a bond with literature and they help to maintain the library. It is assumed that the creatures have a grasp of written language. While the tree is their main point of residence they are occasionally glimpsed around other large collections of literature.
Dihira is a serpent, and therefore appreciates that knowledge often can have a bite to it. She doesn't merely enjoy knowledge that is on the up and up, dead languages and reputable sorts of studies, she also adores darker types of lore that ranges from secret histories of famous rulers (often unflattering to said ruler) to blackmail material, items best left destroyed and other such things. The items tend to range from amusing songs about tyrants long dead that were sung in secret, to accounts of religions practiced in secret despite persecution to the most disgusting and horrible experiment results possible. She relishes information and secrets, but also enjoys a good tale -- what pleases her most is the application of knowledge, the working of intelligence to overcome problems. And so she favors the subtle approaches, the cunning innovations and is a lover of creativity. But as a reptile, albeit a divine reptile, at heart, she is invested in her own survival and her own needs above others -- so while she may be able to dispense information, it often comes at a price.
As it were, she has a soft spot for humanity -- they were a bunch of hairy cave dwellers that figured out knowledge, often at great risk to themselves, and hoarded it. What plants to eat, how to make a spear, how to hunt a beast. She still enjoys humanity, though some humans have lost that creative spark that made them so special to her, and so she stopped doling out quite so many hints these days. Some mortals retain her favor, but it is often the ones that use cunning to their advantage, that use what's between their ears.
With the imprisonment and death of her husband and the attempted genocide of her children a corruption set into her mind, feeding into an obvious dislike and distrust for the majority of the Gods. This didn’t make her as resentful and hateful as one may believe, at least not on a permanent basis. Perhaps her lack of outward rage can be attributed to the calming influence of Svanus. Immortality effects the Gods differently. She possesses a wandering mind that often rambles but can slip extremely private knowledge into her off the wall conversations so it is worth paying attention. It can be absolutely aggravating to need a specific answer from Dihira. Questions are usually met with veering conversations that have nothing, or a subtly everything, to do with the question. This may be in part because she wants people to find their own answers, or she doesn’t want them to have the answer and she refuses to lie. While being extremely intelligent these qualities often make her appear naive and crazy; whether or not this is intentional is her own secret.
PsychologyAppreciates all knowledge; from the demented to the divine.
Knowledge often comes at a price, for ultimately she is self-serving.
Admires humans; specifically the creative, the innovators, the knowledge seekers.
Distrusts the Gods.
Has a rambling and wandering mind/conversation. Appears Crazy.
Does not lie and believes that needing to lie is a weakness of mind.
History:As her arrival into this world pressed forward, her mother, the Troll Queen, worried for the fate of her child; being that she was born of a forbidden liaison to a dying father and a mother who could not hope to protect her from the wrath of the Gods. Her father, tragically in tune with his dying shell made a deal with Athosvid and took the fetus of his daughter into his mind and aligned his own bones with heart of the great tree. His daughter’s growth continued in this solace, nibbling at the mind of her father and absorbing the unnatural venoms that coursed through the tree.
As humanity evolved and knowledge made them more than they were originally, so did Dihira gain considerable power and prestige. She did not entice the typical heroes; bronzed, chiseled and built for battle. Her heroes usually wore their greatness within, but they were heroes nonetheless and they did come. They were determined and strong willed, or filled with folly and hungry for truths that they could rarely stomach. Old women with crippled and knotted muscles would find the courage or need to climb amongst the flowers in search of Dihira. Young men puzzled and lost would seek refuge amongst the caverns, but it was known that in seeking Dihira death would be the pleasant loss, for insanity beckoned strongly and the knowledge she offered had easily claimed more addicts than the flowers.
Her power grew and so did her confidence and sustainability so that when the first great monster, a chaotic and misunderstood beast of terrifying beauty, came calling she was helpless from her heart. Titalarus was an old being, born of the chaos of creation and marginalized as a dying necessity. They were united under the love of truth and certainty that resounded from their allegiance to nature; Titalarus and Dihira, father and mother of monsters and serpents.
Their union caused a brow raise from the other Gods, but as their children began to roam the realms a true fear gripped at the Gods. From their unification came the hoarding dragons, the basilisks guarding treasure and secrets alike, and serpents of many degrees. The birthed the great Hydra, the Chimera and the Gorgons of legends passed. In the beginning her children, specifically the Gorgons, taught and shared knowledge with people, teaching them ancient secrets that the Gods guarded as special. The voices of the Gods grabbed and grated at the ear of Aroesus, complaining of the union, complaining of the offspring and rallying for justice. Something had to be done.
It was Titalarus that was first singled out by Aroesus. He knew that something so primal and vicious could not be allowed to roam free and so he offered Titalarus a deal, conform to the pantheon or be forever enslaved and fractured beneath Mount Hismues. Aroesus had no intention of allowing the beast to live, but he knew with utmost certainty that the offer would be refused. A mallet was taken to the frozen form and true to his word Aroesus fractured and buried Titalarus beneath the mountain. It was after this that he approached Dihira and he had hopes; she was knowledgeable and resourceful, she would conform. Dihira, still hissing and tense with rage at the imprisonment of her husband offered only a maniacal laugh in the face of “their” leader.
Aroesus urged her to reconsider as the culling of her children began. With her second refusal he took the voice from the Gorgons and the extermination continued. Dihira felt helpless and perhaps for the first time in her life, she felt fear. She went to Nihris, kin of her husband, and pleaded with her to hide her children. Nihris was sympathetic, but she had already seen how this plays out and she cautioned Dihira that it would do no good, that the God King was merciless and the only way to save her children would be to submit, for now. So when Aroesus returned to Dihira, her head hung low, she bargained her allegiance if only they would spare her children. It was now Aroesus turn to laugh for no promises would be set in stone. He did agree to speak with the others and Dihira knew that was the best she could expect from the frivolous and impulsive bunch.
A deal was struck. It is said that as she mourned for her loss the tree mourned with her, increasing the negative effects associated with both the fruit and flowers. Since then her moments of joy have been few and far between, though existent. There was a cruel uplifting passion as she watched the Gods eat the fruit of Malebazus, especially Aroesus. Exceptional humans could also claim a piece of her happiness and she openly cooed with delight as they asked the unanswerable questions and sought knowledge.
Relationships:& Nanaeios (Asuras)
& Mikazliqui (Dead Cruiser)
& Morios (MelonHead)
& Vael and Nys (Ruby)
& Metanoia (Crazy Guy)
& Dareos (Squrmy)
& Nihris (The Fair Lady) Titalarus, Dihira’s husband, was the elder brother of Nihris, born an outcast by misfortune, his siblings always seemed to have a soft spot for him, and he for them. Nihris was present at their union, braving a happy face for the couple. Nihris was the first, and only, that Dihira went to out of fear for her children when threatened by the God King because Nihris had suffered through the same. She feels indebted to the woman and they share a common bond of loss and hatred. Dihira has to be weary of spending too much time with Nihris because the woman’s sullen nature quickly rubs off on her, with obvious reason, and they often begin plotting. She finds it thrilling and painful to go down that road, especially when they both feared Aroesus.
& Lefredias (Hellis) The God's dominion over change, uncertainty and rebellion would occasionally intersect with her goals. Where they would disagree is in the way rebellions should be handled. While Lefredias calls for blood, she attempts to persuade him to use knowledge as a form of rebellion. He has come to her and asked for knowledge that will help drive a rebellion (dirty secrets on the rulers, weapons knowledge) and while she isn't always forthcoming with what he wants, she often gives him a piece of what he needs. She has also traded favors with him for his interaction and protection of the knowledge seekers whom come under disfavor of their rulers and are persecuted for their beliefs. She subtly encourages his interest in her to fulfill her needs of protecting her own followers. While uncertainty can led to seeking knowledge they are entirely at odds when his followers grow complacent with their uncertainty. He challenges her with uncertainty often and they do enjoy good conversation.
& Eskellon (ActraiserTheReturned)
& Sileon (HeySeuss) After the butchering of her children her rage toward Sileon was palpable, though even this paled in comparison for her rage against Aroesus. She was intelligent enough to know that Sileon was more a force of nature than a cruel force. Her conversations with Svanus quelled her anger as her father explained that his brother did as he was told, and following directions was the closest form of right and wrong she could expect. Over the years her feelings towards the God became more of reverent distaste than any sort of rage or hatred. They were natural oppositions, knowledge and pure natural action. She thought Sileon to be dull when it came to intelligence, but did not want to fall to the man's bad side again. She kept the secret of Svanus from Sileon, waiting until the right moment to play the card of withholding/offering the fearful God solace from his (only?) surviving brother.
& Phoebeus (Benevolette)
& Lathunis (singmesweetly)
& Mysia (Zacharius)
