Faiths of Sublanarya: The Maiden and the Louse (Boreana, Pomona and Scourge)

The tale begins on a perfect day in first-flower (spring). The sun was bright but fair, a gentle, warm and inviting embrace and the skies as clear and brilliant blue like the most primal and exact shade of that color incarnate. Even the gods have peaceful and lazy days, from time to time, and this perfect day inspired them to play among the mortals.

Even Soffia, the diligent and wise warrior goddess of the air, was overwhelmed with a desire to join the other gods in their frivolity. Experiencing these distracting moods for the first time would not do for Soffia and so she spilled the moods, good and bad, out of her head. The two currents formed into two goddess daughters: Boreana, the ill-tempered and strong, and Pomona, the weak and fair. Both were beautiful but Pomona had the eye of every male. Boreana was austere but too aloof. Pomona, on the other hand, seem to invite their interest, returning their leering gaze, and playfully inciting their desires. They mistaked her friendly and joyous demeanor for an easy target. She was as capricious as her sister but they did not see the trap.

 A few of the bachelor gods began to argue over who would be the first to court her but one emerged, despite the odds, to court Pomona.

Scourge the Violator was an upstart god. A disgusting and disturbing mortal who acquired power by illicit means but was, on the whole, regarded as a loser and a fluke by his rivals. The audacity of the ugly creature, his insectoid features and shrieking voice, made him a target of ridicule. He was a pest but it was too fun to see him fail to crush him. He had a way of failing spectacularly and coming out in one piece. That was how he became a god in the first place...

And so it was that Scourge made it clear that he would be the one to woo the windy maiden and Aurelian found the cocky lesser god's confidence amusing. He encouraged the disgusting creature to try and commanded the other male gods to not intervene in their entertainment. And so, Scourge took the form of his alter-ego, a handsome and wide-eyed mortal youth, and made his way to the field where Pomona could be found.

Scourge's disguise seemed to work. It seemed that the god's experience in his schemes being undermined by a noble young hero gave him insight into his performance as he acted the perfect gentleman, earnest and forthright, and earned the attention of the new goddess. It seemed like love at first sight as the foul god played on the maiden's naivete and he would impress the gods with his romantic pursuit.

But then Boreana noticed the bachelor gods watching the little romance unfold and, curiosity and jealousy, had her demand they explain why they were watching her twin sister's fun with such rapt amusement. When she heard of the game they were playing and of Scourge's deception, the wind turned.

The skies darkened and it began to rain. Their perfect day was ruined. The courting couple tried to run for cover and Pomona did not have a cloak. It seemed that Scourge had allowed himself to become too invested in his game, wrapped around the pretty goddess's finger, and used his cloak to protect her from the rain. As the rain hit his disguise, it washed away and revealed his true form to Pomona. The goddess was disgusted, pushing him away, and fled.

Scourge felt more than just defeat. The lie had become real. He felt something new and, as he knelt in a puddle, looking in the direction that Pomona fled, he would hear the voice of Boreana:

"I hoped you enjoyed your perfect day, Scourge. It will be the happiest day of your life, past, present and future. You will never know a more perfect day. You can chase it but it will always be just out of reach. In the past. I promise you that."

And Scourge the Violator knew the pain of loss and only in seeing others suffer the same  pain would he ever feel temporary relief in his broken heart.

Faiths of Sublanarya: Yollo the Angelic Herald

The story of Yollo begins with a young inventor being trapped in the Tower of Rowa, a prison for one set upon a  island, by the cruelty of his king. He had been trapped there until he devised a new weapon of war for the king. Yollo was a brilliant but foolhardy young man and attempted all manner of escape from the tower only to be rebuffed by the prison guards, vicious waves, sharp rocks and sea monsters surrounding the small island prison. He managed to escape the confines of the tower many times but always found himself back in the tower. Eventually, Yollo looked to nature for inspiration and saw gulls flying from island to island, safely, and nesting in the rocky outcroppings between.

Quickly, he set about searching the tower for the supplies he would need. Yollo was a terribly clever inventor, having used the meager supplies within in all his escapes, he set about a grand design: he built a mechanical harness and, taking feathers from the birds he found along the shower and weaving them together with wax from the tower's candles, created a pair of gorgeous wings that he could control. He had watched the bird's long enough that, without a trial, he put on his makeshift wings and leaped from the tower. His genius design worked and Yollo took flight.

Yollo felt freedom and power that he had never felt before, soaring and gliding and rising and falling at his own whim over the waves below, as a great hybrid of bird and man. As naturally as an angel, he flew higher and higher, up into the sky and broke through the clouds above. He saw the sky before him, a domain untouched by the likes of mortal men, and was overwhelmed with a desire to embrace it. He saw the sun, flying towards the warmth of it, and wishes to catch Aurelion himself. Unfortunately, in his hubris, he forgot the wax of his wings. As he flew higher towards the sun, the wax of his wings began to melt, feathers fell away and, when he realized he was losing control, it was too late.

Yollo fell from the heavens.

When Yollo's body struck the sea, his bones were broken and he began to drown. The gods had seen his ascent and, in their mercy, they saved him from the sea. They had witnesses his ingenuity and wished to reward him. They fixed his wings and made him an equal to the angels of the heavens, Aurelion himself putting him in the service of his daughter Iris, where he became a messenger in her service. He became a favorite among the gods: he flew faster than any of the angels, performing his duties with impressive timing and without fail, and his pleasant demeanor, mixed with his quick-wit and cunning, allowed him to become a staple companion to the gods of good.

His true test came in the war between the New Gods and Titans.

While best known for his good humor, Yollo had little sympathy for evil, using his speed to cut down villans and, in the events that brought about the Wyrd Wars, Yollo rose to the status of godhood by showing great courage and capability, helping the New Gods in their struggle, and helping to banish/slay/imprison the Unnamed God.

Since the Wyrd Wars, Yollo has continued his work as a messenger and companion to the gods, often found in the company of Aurelion or Iris, if not playing some game of skill against the other trickster gods like Reynardo the Fox, and is the patron of free passage throughout Narya-- whether it be the free trade of ideas and merchandise or in the safety of travelers or in the freedom of the good and innocent.

Faiths of Sublanarya: Aurelian the Golden Sun and Fiona the Lunar Huntress

The Four Sisters are not the only children of Grimnir.

Famous among the core pantheon, are the representatives of the Sun and the Moon, the twins, Aurelion and Fiona. Born of a trist between Grimnir and a missing titan goddess Lotus, their existence was hidden even from Grimnir in a cave beneath an ancient temple on an island hidden at the bottom of the sea. It is rumored that the Four Sisters witnessed the birth of these new gods, not knowing their true identities, but drawn to their place of birth. Upon seeing the divine creatures born, radiant and gleaming, the Four Sisters knew they were destined for greatness, but had no idea that they were, in fact, their half siblings. The titan goddess begged them to keep their location secret and they swore to protect the beautiful and blessed twins.

When they were but a few days old, Aurelian was playing by the river in the cave when a great monstrous serpent came crawling out of a crevice. The serpent was the serpent god Python who, sensing the power of these children, intended to eat them up to wound heaven. Aurelian begged his godmothers for a weapon to slay the beast and, hearing his cry, Soffia told Pyra to fly to the sun and retrieve for him the bow of the primordial sun god Helios.With the flaming bow, the boy wounded the serpent and sent it slithering back. His failure to slay it may doom the world as it is said the serpent will one day return to end the world with the aid of the other serpent gods.

The next threat was another titan, Tytyos, sent by the titans themselves to find their mother Lotus. Tytyos had been a spurned suitor of the twin's mother and intended to take her back as his bride. When he saw her with young Fiona, he flew into a rage and attacked her viciously. He was a brute so large that to save his mother's life, he was transferred to and birthed from the earth itself, creating a great wound still in the sea. Aurelion was too far away to help so Fiona begged for help from their godmothers. This time it was Terra and Delphina who heard her cry, Delphina diving to the bottom of the sea to retrieve the bow of the primordial moon goddess Luna while Terra attempted to drag Tytyos back into the earth. With the bow in hand, Fiona made quick work of Tytyos and Terra dragged him broken body back into the earth from whence he came. But it was too late for Lotus, who, as she lay dying, told the Four Sisters that her children were the true heirs of heaven.

The sisters feared for the child gods, that their mother may grow wrathful at the existence of the sweet twins, and tried to hide them from her. But their efforts would be in vain.

Grimnir discovered them by the grim prophecy of the god Null, who he had created from the body of Mim, when Null told him he saw two futures: the sun and moon sitting on the throne of heaven and the sun and the moon slaying each other. The prophecy at first confused Grimnir as the titans of the sun and moon were long dead. So he asked Mim the Whisperer. He was told that the sun and moon had been born and that his children hid the secret. Grimnir felt betrayed and, gathering his might, summoned his children to heaven. It is said that upon seeing their father's face, so full of disappointment, his daughters remained resolute. Save poor Terra. Terra fell weeping not at her father's feet but at her mother's. She pleaded that she not kill them. Kleeona was flummoxed. The other three revealed the truth that they had hid their half siblings from Grimnir and Kleeona to protect them. Grimnir was stunned this time. He looked to his wife. Kleeona stood up from her throne and demanded to go to the cave. The daughters pleaded for her to show mercy but she was firm in her command. Grimnir was already gone.

He went to find his children and protect them from Kleeona. He went to the save, searching for them, but he was barred from entering the cave as his daughters had used their spells to prevent all men and monsters from entering after the attacks of Merrshaulk and Tytyos. This did not stop Kleeona. Inside she would find the twins still mourning over their mother's body.

Grimnir waited by the cave entrance for his wife and when he did he cried tears of joy. For Kleeona did not leave the cave alone. She came out holding the hands of each child and became the stepmother of her husband's twins from that day forward. 

There are many stories told of these children who took up the mantle of the sun and moon. Aurelion would become the radiant master of the Sun and all the beauty it touches. He became the patron of music, poetry and the arts. He would know many lovers and quickly became the favorite son of his father. Fiona instead chose a more aesthetic life, vowing chastity, being the protector of women and enemy of men who would abuse them, and occupied herself by hunting beasts (not just beast-like men). She is often depicted with a torch as she, like the moon, provides light in dark times.