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In the beginning was the creator Anda, which means 'breath' in the ancient tongue. Anda herself has no corporeal form, as she is the pure essence of being. So, to carry out her work in the North Realm, she chooses a human every 300 years whom she makes a God. Each God was once mortal, and thus some are very crooked. These are her creations.

TUKUK

God of Death, darkness and the still before dawn. He gathers the dead before the underworld. A God as old as time, Anda created TuKuk in the second breath to balance creation. Finitude became the most important tenet of creatureliness. He is both creature and primordial substance, making him one of the most powerful Gods. He has many forms, but rarely takes human shape these days. He can be seen as a shadow atop a hill, a horned nightmare, dark thorns. He is a tricky personality, and not the God you'd like to run into on the cross roads, for that certainly means he is watching your clock as it ticks towards its end.

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CLIODENA

Most commonly worshipped by the sea-dwellers of Gwylleth, Cliodena is goddess of the sea, the water and the deep blue. Cliodena grew so powerful she held the lifeblood of the waters within her claws. Cliodena is as old as the moons, they say. In her youth she made union with TuKuk, and bore the monster Gazdur that lies just beyond the boarders of the seas in the deep. Legend has it the monster Gazdur lurks beneath the deep of the world and swallows any who try to leave the realm's reach. At the birth of Gazdur, with her last push Cliodena let forth a tide so great it covered the whole of the land, washing away the warmth from its surface. Since the birth of her beloved, Cliodena turned rageful and wild. With wails of pain and grief, she cursed her lover TuKuk, and tore his beating heart from his chest. From thence it was known; no gods should ever progenate with their own, lest they wished to bring about the end of the living world.

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SIULISUA

Anda watched in horror as her children tore their souls for creation for the first time. She wished only she had hands to cradle them and keep them warm. But Anda had no physical form but the essence of lifeforce itself. In her tears of ice she saw visions of a mother and her kin of wolves. In a surge of love and desire she reached down and laid her breath upon her. And so was born Siulisua, goddess of motherhood and fertility, who had in her the earthly waters of procreation.

Siulisua was filled with the love and tears of Anda, but in her purpose she was not for the gods. She was creation's mirror, their double. Without her the first beings would have died. In the early days of humankind, she was most honoured and high. Siulisua is depicted as a slender woman with sharp eyes and long golden locks, and wolfborn at her side. Where she was once exalted as a primary god, she has of late fallen further into obscurity as man call upon themselves to procreate, and is scorned by the Patriarchs of late as a weakly woman's idle.

From the making of Siulisua, it was that halfgods were born. Halfgods are the result of a god's copulation with humankind. They are a tortured soul, anchored to a body of this earth, but with great power and calling.

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TSHANGÓ

Tshangó, God of Thunder, Storms, destruction. Tshangó was a wandering warrior from the southlands who made his way north to search for glory. He was your typical hero; beloved, arrogant, and bold. He served Anda and his purpose, and saved many lives from the vicious cold. Anda loved him so she made him divine, but his arrogance made him troublesome as a god. He was dominant, quick to rage and insolent. Whilst not evil, he is a volatile god known for his temper. He is one of the major deities. He is often depicted as a muscular dark skinned man with blood of electric gold.

His son is the half god of rainfall, who's melancholy cries rivers into flow.

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TSILA

To satiate the emboldened Tshangó, Anda created a partner for him in the form of Tsila. Tsila was a young witch Anda found wondering in the snow, running from her dark eyed husband. She wrapped Tsila in a cloak of breath and kept her warm. Tsila is the personification of the air and wind. She is prayed to by sailors, soldiers, and those who wish for a gentle winter. They are rumoured to be the favourite child of Anda.
Tsila has many forms. They say a person has seen the ghost of Tsila many times before they walk the road to TuKuk,only they didn't know it. Most commonly, however, she is depicted as a wraith of a woman with robes that blend into the sky.

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OGUNKASZAR

As human society developed, Anda felt the strain it put on her gods. Their warring and fighting was constant. She did not know how to hold them at bay. So she created Ogunkaszar, god of warriors, metalworkers, strength and rage from a great fighter amongst men. Tshangó took an immediate disliking, and set him tasks to keep him at bay. He was ordered to carry the skies on his back, to craft his sword of might, and to toil beneath the thunder of the heavens. But these tasks only made Ogunkaszar stronger. Always an aloof figure, Ogunkaszar preferred the company of men to gods, and spent much of his time on earth with them in their wars. He is depicted as a tall man, half giant, with muscular form and dark red eyes, his body littered with molten scars filled with steel.

He is commonly worshipped, and his heart is often persuaded to join the wars of men, though it seems he yearns for a life of peace and quiet beneath the stars.

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AENORI

As time past Anda breathed into being more gods to answer the calls of the earthly beings. Two such celebrated gods are Aenori and their twin Feia, two sides of the same coin. Aenori is the god of youth, love and beauty. They were a beautiful changling child Anda took pity on. Both twins have many forms and are held in the hearts and hopes of many. Aenori is shy and haughty amongst men, with a melancholy eye. They are depicted as delicate and youthful, with enchanting beauty.

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FEIA

Feia is Aenori's darker twin. They are the goddess of flesh, blood, lust and desire. They whisper into the hearts of men and fill their greed, rejoicing in wanton sin. They are the liberated soul, and enjoy all sorts of deviancies, both beautiful and foul. They are in the eyes of the hungry youths, and the jealous lover. The people say Feia can be seen in brothels and pleasure houses, in whatever form she pleases, and is most beautiful in her carnal delight. But be wary of Feia, for as they kiss your neck, they might next slit your throat. They have a strong drive for justice, however skewed, and often meddle in human affairs in bloody and suspicious ways, much to the higher gods' distaste.

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SYCHEM

God of hunger, bread, plague, sickness and the cure. Sychem, known as Syche and Sza'akar in other regions, was a deformed being, found on the borderlands of sulphurous swamps. In their true form they are ugly to look upon and reek of poison and rot. Sychem is considered lowly by the other gods, skulking across the earth in the shadows cast by TuKuk.

They are tricksy by nature, and despite their best intentions they are always causing trouble and strife. Truth be told, Syche possesses more power than their form can hold. They have TuKuk's plague, Ogunkaszar's suffering, the bread of life of Siulisua and much more. Their magic is wild and volatile, and though integral to life, they are scorned as a mistake by many. But be wary of Sychem, for they hold your life in their hands in ways you might not expect.

Though many pray to them at their breaking of the fast, their eyes are opened only to sacrifice. Be careful of sharing their breath.

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FORGOTTEN GODS

These gods Anda made in history are not oft remembered in prayers of men. Remnants of roadside shrines, faded depictions in art give them living memory. There are many faded into history, but these are the most prominent.

BVEREN - god of the hurt and the healing. Often supplemented for higher gods, such as Siulisua and TuKuk.

SEYNA - godly cousin of Belenios, Goddess of summer. In constant flux with twin and Other,  Beira

BEIRA - godly cousin of SiKinnik, Goddess of winter

SIKINNIK - goddess of the moon and the bright dark, the light that guides the way, the howl of the skies.

BELENIOS - God of the sun, the day, the bright, the burning eye of Anda

TSAGAÍN - God of Wolves and the hunt. Tasgaín the wanderer, worshipped only in Dür and remote rural areas that modern civilisation has not touched. Heartbroken over his love Mauru.

MAURU - goddess of the deer, of hospitality and guidance, former lover of Tsagaín and now enemies after the deer fell to the wolf.

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NORTHBOUND
applyfic 2022