Name: Kyraeos
Titles: The White Wolf, The Traveller, The Lunatic God, Wolf-father, The Lord of Ways.
Gender (if applicable): Male
Patronage: The Moon, Journeys, Rivers, Lunacy and Wolves.
Parentage: None are sure of how Kyraeos came to be. Even he himself doesn't know, or doesn't tell if he does. Some time, early in the stages of the cosmos, before Aroesus rose against Ventu, Kyraeos appeared. Some say he was born of the collective movement of all things. Others say what seems most apparent; that at first, he was not, then he simply... was.
Pantheon/Affiliation: Deity, current Pantheon.
Appearance: Usually, Kyraeos takes the form of a male of indeterminate age. He is quite vain, but in a way that he generally does not show his face. Usually, when he appears, he is cloaked, hiding his face with a mask, seemingly made of porcelain. This mask is a replica of his own face, and is devoid of blemishes, much like his own appearance, humanoid yet inhuman; uncanny and disturbing due to it's text-book perfectness. Despite this perfectness, his visage does not inspire lust or awe: His visage is merely generic, or bland. It is this reason why he wears a mask; the picture is completed by the inanimate features shown on his veil. Kyraeos' mask always veils his eyes in shadow, though they are known, in heights of his emotion, to shine through the dark a bright silver, with pupils like those of a wolf.
Occaisionally, however, Kyraeos will take the form of a wolf. This wolf is unique, even amongst all others, as it has a coat of purest silver, matching it's eyes. This form lacks his near-characteristic bland perfection, seeming like merely any other wolf, albeit one of purely silver colouring.

Centres of Worship/Places of Power:
Most rivers fall under the category of 'places of power', for him, though a special exception is the River Craeos, one of the largest rivers in all of creation. It symbolises the Way, the metaphysical river which Kyraeos calls his, a path through all creation, to those who can access it.
Kyraeos has few temples, usually situated along much-used roads and highways.

The Way is his true seat of power. It represents all journeys, and is a pathway through creation, allowing one to reach near or far. There are various ways to get to the Way, and the places it can take one is only limited by the places to go. The Way takes the form of a grand, wide river, stretching on seemingly for eternity. Every now and then it branches off, arriving at a destination, coinciding with the mortal plane.
The realm around the Way, however, is a featureless plain, covered in mists which obscure vision past a few meters. Whenever anybody, even another God arrives within the Way, Kyraeos will warn them to not stray from the banks. Even he is not guarenteed to be able to find one who does such.

Kyraeos also holds an isle near Krona. This is the closest thing he has to a home.

Servants, Prominent Followers and Worship Base:
In the way of servants, the first and foremost that should be mentioned are the monstrous Wolf-Spirits, known as 'Werewolves'. They are the children of Kyraeos, spawned of his act of defilement of a demigod. These creatures draw power from the moon, connected to Kyraeos as they are, and walk in both in shape of wolf and in shape of man. He may also command the spirits of the Way, though they reside only within the Way.
In the way of prominent followers, Kyraeos only has an order of Warrior-Monks, nomads who wander from place to place, in order to refine their philosophy and preach their moon-worship.
In the way of worship base, Kyraeos is worshipped by nomads, as well as hunter-societies, as the wolf is usually an idol of the hunt. On a smaller scale, he gets worship from any attempting a journey, often from travelling merchants as well, which has brought him into slight conflict with other gods at times.

Psychology:
Kyraeos' state of mind is curious. It isn't set in stone, like most. Rather, it cycles, the moon reflecting his conscience. When the moon hides it's face is when Kyraeos is the most collected, calm, and apathetic. But as the moon shows more and more of itself, so does Kyraeos' emotions. He grows to feel his emotions more intensely, whether they be positive or negative, until at the peak of the lunar cycle, his emotions govern his actions.
When the moon hides itself, Kyraeos is numbed to most things, detached. He stays within the Way, content to mind the great river that is his realm.
When the moon shows it's full glory, Kyraeos indulges himself in what he pleases, whether it be as tame as talking to a companion, or as wild as indulging himself in the bodies of others, consenting or not. His desires are based around his sense of aesthetic, his vanity. He lusts after the perfect human form, be it male or female. He is protective of his children, but not so much of his followers. Those messing with the Way, entering without permission, draw his wrath.
Kyraeos tends towards neutrality, when politics and other gods are concerned. However, he can be swayed, especially on the full moon, if he desires something.
When it comes to conflict, the White Wolf tends to try and avoid it. He is not a god of war, nor battle, nor blood nor metal. This is not to say that he is not formidable. As the patron of wolves, he is able to call upon the savagery and power of said animal. He simply prefers not to.

History:
When creation was simple, when Ventu destroyed as Svanus and Aroesus created, Kyraeos appeared. He was not created, nor was he born, nor was he forged or carved. He merely appeared. This is the first memory Kyraeos claims to have. Movement, journeys. These were his protectorates, his spheres of influence. He was content to watch, as Ventu destroyed and Aroesus created. He was content to watch, as Ventu fell and Aroesus rose. He was not content to be cast out of his reason for existance. It is for this reason he claimed alleigance to Aroesus, bending his knee, so to say. He became a part of Aroesus' Pantheon, and assisted in claiming dominance over the other forces wishing to rule in place of Ventu.
At some point, he sired the wolves, claiming them under his protection, his influence. Soon enough, the Moon, due to it's incessant path across the sky every night, became his also.
The most telling event of Kyraeos' personality is the Defilement of Astacia. Astacia was a demigod, connected to nature, and was beautiful. Some even called her the perfection of the female form, however, she was dedicated to a mortal man, whom she loved with all her heart. He was a soldier, and he went to war. Her heart could not take it, when she heard he was injured gravely, and could not fight any more, and could possibly die within weeks. She had no way to reach him, so she entered the Way, using her parent's power to gain access. As she stood on the banks, Kyraeos was enraptured. She told him her plight, causing jealousy and rage to fill Kyraeos, as it was the full moon. He denied her access to the great river, meaning she had no way to reach her lover. She began to storm off, determined to make her own path through the Way. Kyraeos didn't bother, however, to warn her. He merely followed her progress with a Way spirit. When she was sufficiently lost, far from the banks of the Way, he converged on her. Primal urge overflowing, his mind taken by lust, it was this vile act which spawned the Werewolves. The day after, as Kyraeos realised what he had done, he took pity on Astacia. On the condition that this night was not told of, he would show her the way to her lover.
Nine months later, Astacia gave birth to her child. She called it the soldier's, the soldier believed it was. But it wasn't. The soldier had survived after all, but he was merely unable to fight, or physically work due to his wounds. Astacia knew whose the child was, but could not bear to let it be known. But the soldier found out, due to a certain devious snake, and cast both Astacia and the child out, abusing Astacia. The child reacted to the violence, in the way of wolves to protect their own, but twisted. Rage filled the child, and no longer was the child human. A mix of wolf and man tore through the soldier that day, baptising the first Werewolf in blood.

Relationships:
Astacia (Lust)- Astacia is one of the targets of Kyraeos' lust over the years, though she is the most apparent.

Name/Titles: Anavid, Mistress of the Glorious Fallen, The Raven

Gender (if applicable): Female

Patronage: Heroes, Courage,, Battles

Parentage: Daughter of Nanaeios (It’s complicated)

Pantheon/Affiliation: Deity



Appearance: She flies over the battlefields of mortals seeking those most worthy of her taking their soul to a place of great honor. She can also sometimes be viewed perching upon Lathunis’ shoulder.









Centres of Worship/Places of Power:

Battlefields, particularly those where the heroic are slain in the face of overwhelming odds, or where great courage is displayed in the face of death. The tombs of fallen heroes are often engraved with a image of a raven representing Anavid and these sites function as places of worship. There are also much larger shrines built to Anavid where great battles took place and heroic soldiers gave their lives. Even besieged cities have put shrines upon their walls where soldiers defended with their lives. People go to pay patronage at these places as well usually laying daggers, arrows and shields at the base of the shrine, all of which promptly disappear once placed



The Isle of Avanid, which resides in Lake Miphas. This island is where all fallen soldiers she takes from battles and brings them to this paradise where they practice fighting every day with each other and night retire to large bonfires where they drink and wench to their hearts content. This Island is impossible to find except by Avanid and any else who try to find it will crash into the water becoming trapped until Avanid releases them



Servants, Prominent Followers and Worship Base:



Warriors, heroes, fallen champions. Any who look to battle as a way of life and seek fame and honor in death she will bring to her embrace to hold and keep safe, taking them to the Isle of Avanid which is on Lake Miphas



Carrion eaters are her most loyal subjects, and she is able to see through their eyes as they do. They help her keep track of the bravest in battles and pick out those who are performing a great act of bravery on the battlefield.



Psychology:

(WIP)



History:



(WIP) Nanaeios changed genders in order to lay with Messra, another woman, who figured out she was sleeping with the goddess and threatened to tell. To protect her secret and avoid the wrath of Aroesus, who had a bit of a thing about women laying with other women, Nanaeios changed Messra into a raven so she couldn't talk, just squawk. Unbeknowst to Nanaeios, Messra was pregnant. When the raven formerly known as Messra laid an egg, she made sure to sit on it until this one hatched a brand new demigoddess who was sent to Krona to confront her other mother. The vengeance, however, did not quite work out, as Lathunis instead took the young Anavid under her wing, so to speak as a friend and confidante.



Avanid arrived at Krona to request a punishment upon her mother, Nanaeios, for turning her mother, Messra, into a raven. However, before she could reach Aroesus she was intercepted by Lathunis who dissuaded her from attempting vengeance and invited the young goddess to stay with her on Krona. Lathunis kept Avanid close, instructing her on the ways of the Gods and Krona. Aroesus, after a time, noticed Avanid’s affinity for battlefields and ravens and saw an opportunity to entrust her with a special duty – transporting the spirits of the courageous fallen to her island domain on Lake Miphas, an army of the bravest kept out of the great cycle of life and death and rebirth and held in reserve should he need it some day.



Relationships:

(WIP)

Name/Titles: Vaela, The Queen of Grace and Beauty, Mistress of Spite, The Silver Archer

Gender: Female

Patronage: Love, Kindness, Mercy, Beauty, Youth, Lust, Spite, Malice, Envy, Seduction, Archery.

Parentage: Vaela was a child of Ventu but she was feeble in her youth and he discarded her with disgust. She rejected her father after he cast her out and does not claim her heritage.

Pantheon/Affiliation: Deity

Appearance: Vaela is a creature of divine beauty and youth. Her body is the envy of mortal women and the dearest desire of mortal men. Her hair is like spun gold, intricately braided and shimmering in even the faintest light. Twin braids hang down sides of her face as the rest of her hair cascades down her back. Two ivory horns that twist around each other emerge from the sides of her head. Her skin is the color of silver and perfectly flawless with not even a single scar or cut. Vaela’s face is an almost perfect oval, her eyes shimmer with a totally bewitching golden glow, her nose is perfectly positioned, her cheekbones are high and refined, and her lips are warm and inviting like the honeyed words she speaks. She normally wears a silver gown that leaves her back exposed and clings to her body like a second layer of skin.

Vaela can also appear in a more unpleasant guise when she is enraged or slighted. Her skin becomes blood red, and her head is adorned with a crown of much longer ebony horns. Her hair changes from gold to white and her eyes turn to blood red orbs that emit hatred and malice.

She’s also appeared as many types of animals but they are always silver colored so they are easy to spot.

Centres of Worship/Places of Power:
Vaelan is one of the strongholds of her worship. The ageless Queen Avaelin is the adopted daughter of Vaela and she showers her blessings on the nation. Vaelan is slightly to the south of Caesilinus and not the largest nation but it is her most beloved of human nations. Vaelan also holds the greatest of Vaela’s temples and is the home of the highest concentration of the Vaelie. There is also a great temple in Caesilinus. Almost every town or city has at least a shrine to Vaela because her aspects are almost universal.

Servants, Prominent Followers and Worship Base:
Almost all women and many men have worshipped Vaela throughout their lives. Maidens plead to her for a blessing of her beauty and the love of man, while men plead that they will be successful in wooing those same women. Many vain women pray for their beauty to remain constant and ask her to keep them from aging and many men do the same; asking for their virility and strength to remain even as they grow older. Jilted lovers often pray to her, asking for the balm of renewed love or for the sweet nectar of malice and spite that makes it easy to forget they ever loved at all. Vaela has always been fond of pleasure and frequently allows her favored mortals the joy of a union with her and her many children have spread her blood throughout many parts of the world. Vaela is also open to the worship of deviants and individuals with strange or perverted lusts and she understands that many find pleasure in pain as well; she even has been known to find it herself.

The Vaelie are her children and they all inherit her skin, hair, and horns, they also can shift from the fair form to the darker one at will like she can. There are both male and female Vaelie and they are supernatural attractive and able to incite lust and desire in the hearts and minds of others. They feed on the youth of those they couple with to sustain their own lives and they have magical gifts too. They worship her a lot.

Vael’Lana, High Priestess of Vaela: The eldest of Vaela’s living children and the first of the Vaelie Vael’Lana presides over the faith of Vaela and the affairs of the Vaelie. She is said to be insatiable in her appetites for both pleasure and pain, much like her mother before her.

Avaelin of Vaelan: Avaelin is the Queen of Vaelan, a nation to the south. When she was young she was beautiful enough to draw Vaela’s gaze and her fondest wish and burning desire was to remain as she was forever. Vaela watched her with favor as the Queen sought any method for eternal youth. In the end she came herself and offered the Queen eternal youth for eternal faith. The Queen accepted taking a name that paid homage to her goddess and renaming her own nation. Though Avaelin is human she has the ability of the Vaelie to feed on youth through intimacy.

Psychology:
Vaela is given pleasure by love in all its forms. She does not discriminate between the gentle love of a young romance and the sadistic love of a man who tortures his partners during the act. She has a special place for those as they meld her two attributes together in a way that she truly admires. She is known to be difficult to pin down, enjoying acts of pleasure herself to the point that she has likely coupled with many of the gods of the pantheon, both male and female. There were even rumors that at times Aroesus had called her to him. Vaela frowns on celibacy considering it one of the only sins that she cannot abide. She also takes rejection very poorly and often will attempt to trick people into accepting her if her advances are initially rejected.

History:
Vaela was one of the children that Ventu sired upon the stars. She was gentle and kind with no violence or malice in her then. But Ventu did not find her docile beauty and grace appealing, and wished that she had instead been a force of destruction. He cast her from his sight with disgust and that rejection changed her.

She had loved her father with pure and unadulterated love that had known no limits. But now it was shattered into pieces and where a broken heart lived darkness crept in. She began to hate, and malicious intent crept into her even as she embraced the creations of her brothers; teaching them of love.

When Aroesus rebelled against Ventu he searched for his sister and promised her a place in his new order if she helped him. Vaela agreed in an instant, eager for acceptance and companionship, and believing that when the time came she would be chosen as the Queen of the gods and as his bride. He passed her over after the victory, choosing instead the goddess Mysia which made her furious.

Vaela’s darker side became more visible after she was passed over; her malice and spite changing her from the pure goddess of love and beauty that she once was into the double sided being she is today. But until the end Aroesus often called his sister to him 'secretly' and there are rumors something might have come from their union.

Relationships:
Loves, hates, lusts, crushes, affairs, rapes, incests, zoophilia incidents with shepherd girls (always a Jovian favorite) and the like. Oh, and mere alliances and rivalries, as well. Probably fueled by the above.

Dream: Vaela had a union with the male Dream god that culminated in her dragging him from the Dreamlands briefly. (Mentioned in lore ^^)

Aroesus: She once loved her brother but by the time of his death she had become more estranged from him.

Mysia: Vaela hates her with every fiber of her being for the crime of stealing Areosus favor from her.

(Anyone can have had a liaison with Vaela. Pm me if you want to! I totally want to flesh this out more and totally think she would have had flings with almost anyone -_^.)

Name/Titles: Samael, Lord of Sunlight, Dire Radiant, Ceaseless Dynamo, Eternal Magnum, Dux Solis, Lionslayer

Gender: Male

Patronage: The Sun, power, energy, heat, honour, gold, light and beginnings.

Parentage: Samael was given apotheosis when he killed a great lion made entirely out of gold

Pantheon/Affiliation: Deity

Appearance:



Samael most often appears as a tall, gleaming soldier wearing armour made from the skin of a lion made entirely out of gold. He bears a blazing spear, imbued with the power of the sun itself. It can release a huge amount of energy in the form of sun-beams, and his armour can blind enemies with its brilliance.

He can also take the form of a brilliant lion, a gift given to him by his armour. His claws burn with the radiance of the sun, and his fangs are as ferocious as the sun’s heat.

Centres of Worship/Places of Power:

Samael is most powerful when he is in the sky, patrolling his lands and shedding light upon the world. Other than this, however, he does not have any specific places of power- save for his once homeland. He still loves his country, even though it has long since fallen into history. He yearns for his country to be remade, to be free, and he will fiercely defend its lands from any he sees as threatening its people.

Servants, Prominent Followers and Worship Base:

Samael has no church, no followers, no priests. He has been an outcast, a pariah for so long- people are only now starting to get used to the idea that the man they have been taught to hate- the man that has been used as an example of what can happen if you disobey the gods- is now a god himself. Some have cried heresy, and claimed that he is an imposter. But some- the greedy and the hopeful- have begun to set up temples in his name. They ask for power, or great abilities in return for such acts. For the most part, Samael ignores them, finding them a disgusting attempt to grab as much from him as possible in return for flattery. In some especially heinous cases, he will travel down to earth to visit the temples, and calmly explain why he doesn’t approve of his worship. Or he’ll just reduce the surrounding area to a gently smouldering wasteland.

However, there are some individuals that have found a much better way to capture the Sun god’s attention. They challenge him to single combat, and ask that if they defeat him, they are rewarded. Samael always answers such a challenge, taking a human form so as to give the mortals a chance. He greatly admires such mortals for their courage and willingness to risk everything for power- if he finds them lacking, he destroys their soul utterly. However, those who he finds have skill, valour and honour, or those who defeat him will be rewarded with power, money and a place by his side as his immortal soldiers when they die. These are called the Golden Legion, and they wield spears of pure energy, and are armoured in sunlight.

Psychology:

Samael is an honourable warrior, loyal to those he believes deserve it. He will always treat those he believes have enough skill and valour with respect.

He is also completely and utterly insane.

Just because he has managed to control the energy that courses through his veins, does not mean that he doesn’t feel it burn through his body, engulfing his soul in fire. He is eternally in pain, so great that it overwhelms him. It is the most he can do to remain lucid most of the time, and he will often lose control of his energy and allow the energy to spill out of him. He becomes a being of pure light, releasing a shockwave around him capable of turning stone to rubble and steel to liquid. In such episodes he will become maddened with pain, and lash out. He will attempt to kill all he sees, including gods, and it will take a lot to halt him, so berserk has he been rendered. The sole consolation is that he is incapable of intelligent thinking when so affected, and is thus easy to outwit and trap. He will eventually regain control, when enough energy has been released.

However, when lucid he is much more reasonable. He places a very high value on loyalty to one’s cause and to those who have earned it, and he believes that honour is the highest ideal it is possible to aspire to.

Samael is martial, always practicing combat with his beloved spear. He is a very skilled tactician, a remnant from his previous life as a general; however, this is not above what a bright and hard-working mortal could achieve. He believes that conflict is integral to progress, and is somewhat Darwinian: he believes that those who can fight their way up from poverty to royalty deserve high rewards, and those who are too indifferent or weak to do so deserve their fate.

History:

Once, long ago, there was a great general named Samael. He brought glory and riches to his country, renown to his name. He won battle after battle, carving out an empire for his nation.

But it didn’t last. These things never do.

Debauchery and corruption had permeated through the society of his people, and the government was split by greed and infighting. Other nations took advantage of this, and tore apart the country. Despite his tactical brilliance, Samael could do nothing but watch as his cherished country fell apart around him.

Sad, bitter and howling for vengeance, Samael turned against the gods themselves. He saw them as betraying him and his people, allowing his country to descend into ruin. But the god he hated most was Aroesus. The empires that had annexed his nation idolised him, and held him to be their patron deity. Samael felt cheated- in his eyes, Aroesus had clearly given help to the opposing empires.

So Samael planned his vengeance in the only way he could. He challenged Aroesus to single combat. At first, Aroesus ignored him; he was just a mortal, and hardly worth the god’s time. But then Samael started spreading rumours, saying that Aroesus’ failure to accept his challenge was proof of his cowardice and treachery. This angered Aroesus, who showed his wrath through storms and fires. But still he did not answer Samael’s challenge. So Samael did something Aroesus could not ignore. He started inciting the other mortals to rebel against the gods, to burn their temples and tear down their idols. Enraged, Aroesus travelled down to the mortal world and accepted Samael’s challenge. He easily immobilised him, and in that moment Samael knew he was dead.

But Aroesus had other ideas. In his fury he decided to use Samael as a warning to all mortals who would dare defy the gods. First, he made Samael immortal. Then he filled him with energy, far more than his body could take. Finally it burst from Samael, burning him with raw power. It racked his body, and caused him immense agony. Aroesus then chained Samael to great lion made entirely of gold, and raised him into the heavens to be dragged across the sky every day as a reminder of the wrath of Aroesus.

Samael existed in this state for millennia, every single second of his punishment feeling like eternity. Finally, just when Samael was about to give up under the sheer power emanating from his body, everything became clear to him. It was as if a curtain had suddenly been thrown back, and allowed the light to shine on his face. Instead of fighting the energy as he had been doing for thousands of years, he let it flow through him. The pain was too much to allow him to think, but he managed to burn through his chains in a burst of blinding radiance. With light gleaming from his body, Samael turned to the golden lion that stood guard in case he should ever escape. They fought for months light flashing across the sky, until finally Samael emerged victorious. He carved off the lion’s metallic pelt, and made armour out of it, to show all who might see him that he had triumphed over Aroesus retribution. Last of all, he cut off the lion’s head and wore it as his helmet, as a last mark of respect towards the lion who had fought against him for so long, and challenged him so much. As he placed on his head, a surge of energy racked through his body, sending a shock wave throughout the heavens. Samael had gained the power of the lion he had killed, granting him apotheosis. He stood for a few moments, leaning on the spear he had held with him ever since the fight with Aroesus.

Then, burning, bloody and exhausted, Samael fell down from the sky into the mortal realm.

Relationships:

Samael hated Aroesus when he was alive, and despises his wife Mycia and their heir Lathunis.