Khades, Great Deity of Night

Khades is the deity of many things, with night being her key domain. The night represents far more than that however: Secrets, thieves, and romantic love, the latter of which makes Khades an incredibly popular deity for youths to worship. Khades has a deep connection to Temos, Deity of the Stars, and the two are often worshipped together in larger temples.

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Khades and her sister Sriae have always had a checkered past. When first created, the two warred for many centuries over their abilities to reign over the mortal world. Sriae wished to shine constantly, and Khades wished for shadows to engulf the mortals. Their rivalry defined the period known as the Times of Days Unknown, where darkness or light could at any moment blanket the mortal world.

When Moann broke the land mass that defined Fortuna into several continents that spread across the entire globe, the two sisters were finally able to come to an agreement. If they both circled the globe at a similar pace, night and day would come and go in a predictable fashion for the peoples of their world. The distance made they regret the times they had spent and fought together, and so they would meet up with one another during twilights and dawns, enjoying one another’s company for the brevity it had.

During these times, Khades began her search for the cause of Curiosity in mortals, and discovered Temos - a deity that seemed to have created herself. With Khades holding up the two moons, and Temos glittering in the light they gave, the two began to spend much of their time together. They spoke of many things, Khades learning about mortals, and Temos learning about the deities.

As time went on, the two stopped conversing about mortals and deities, and started conversing about one another. They had much in common, but not only that - Khades thought that Temos was beyond beautiful. The sparkling of what Temos called “stars” was more than enough to convince Khades she was in love.

To prove her love of Temos, Khades visited her followers on earth in the guise of a mortal, and attempted to convince them of Temos’ presence. Until that time, not a mortal on earth realized that the curiosity they experienced was due to the power of a deity, especially not the followers of Khades who had gone on such arduous journeys to find such a power. This woman, however, was convincing. She showed the devout the stars above, how they made the shape of a godlike creature, and how the moons glittered upon them - the moons that were not there mere years ago. The woman told them of this new deity, and how she wished to grant mortals knowledge they had never fathomed before.

This new deity was alluring to some of Khades followers, and many of Khades’ temples were expanded to add in the new deity as well, so that they could be worshipped hand in hand. Pleased with this result, Khades returned to the sky to visit Temos, who had been wondering where Khades had gone.

“Temos, my friend. I have grown fond of our time spent together, and cherish it more than any moment in my centuries of life. I wish to offer you something as a gift, to show you how truly and deeply I respect you -- for I wish to have centuries more by your side.”

She took Temos’ hand and the two glided down to the mortal world, taking the form of humans. They entered one of Khades’ temples, and Temos was taken aback by the presence of two statues at the altar - one of Khades made in black obsidian, and one now of Temos in a dark marble with shimmering stones chiseled into her form. It was beautiful, and brought the deity to tears. She had never asked to be worshipped, had never wanted it. But to see it there, and to see how she was treated as equal to Khades, it filled her heart with a pride she had never felt before. Khades took Temos’ hand at this moment, and kissed away the sparkling tears from the other deity’s eyes.

“While I have reigned over the mortal’s love for one another since the day of my inception, I have never understood it. I have never seen the worth of fighting for something so simple, never conceived how such a simple emotion could be worth such turmoil. In you, I see my questions answered - just as you have always answered them. My dear friend, I have fallen in love with you. I do not know if you feel the same, or if perhaps as ruler of these emotions I am the only one able to feel them, but I dearly wish for you to feel what I feel.”

Temos did. The two were in love, and returned to the skies to celebrate what they considered a union and bond far stronger than any mortal marriage. And with their love, Khades began to forget her meetings with Sriae. Twlight and Dawn were moments of sadness for her, where she would have to leave Temos’ side, and so she simply pretended as though they were no longer her duty.

Sriae noticed the distance her sister had from her, but had not cared until the day Khades failed to meet with her at all. She grew sick with worry that something was wrong, and so sent one of the gods of her pantheon to find out where Khades was. This goddess was Norveen, who Sriae had created to rule over the hearth and the love of families whilst she was focused on dealing with the Sun King. Norveen, Sriae knew, would care deeply about where Khades was, created to care deeply about families staying together.

Norveen searched across the mortal world during the day, and through the skies during the night. Finally, she spotted the sparkling constellation that was so close to the moons, and flew up to them. She was shocked to see Khades with Temos in such a compromising position, and quickly returned to her deity, telling her everything.

Sriae flew into a rage. At first, she was mad at herself for providing Khades the moons to light the stars in the first place. After, she realized that no one was to blame by Temos herself. Sriae would keep the two part, and ensure that they would never be together again - Khades was Sriae’s sister, it was their job to maintain balance with one another.

Sriae did not have a plan, instead, she simply refused to stop shining. She concentrated all of her efforts on ensuring that the sun would shine upon every inch of Fortuna. If there was only her light, Khades shadows would not allow for Temos’ pathetic glittering.

Khades realized what Sriae was doing quite quickly, her shadows becoming weak with the painful brightness and heat of Sriae’s sun. She rushed to Sriae’s side to inquire what was wrong, worried that something terrible had happened, and instead encountered her sister’s rage.

The two quarreled for many mortal years, giving rise to the Age of the Endless Day. Khades grew weaker with each passing year, and her mortals below - who had been so easily taken to worshipping Temos - thought themselves responsible. They decided that the woman who had taught them the relationship between Khades and Temos was a blasphemer, a trickster who wished to confuse them. As revenge, they believed, Khades had refused to give them night. They destroyed any temple to Temos they could find, and destroyed every statue they had created. In Malscure, the land built upon shadows, they banned Temos worship entirely. Anyone found with her iconography, or speaking her words -- often even asking questions -- were considered criminals. Many of the leaders who claimed this would be the first Sunborns, serving Sriae’s will in destroying all evidence of Temos, and her love with Khades.

There was only one option for Khades, as she watched her people destroying themselves: She could no longer be with Temos. She made a solemn promise to Sriae, and asked only for one final meeting with her love, after which the two would be broken apart for eternity. Sriae agreed on a single condition: Temos would have to break herself apart and fling herself across the sky, ever distant from Khades’ grasp.

Khades went to Temos during that night, the first night to blanket Fortuna in several hundred years. She went with tears, and Temos knew exactly why. She had watched the mortals raging, she had felt them destroy her temples and disbelieve in her, most importantly: She had felt Khades’ heart break. Khades did not need to say a single word, for Temos would say them all.

“Star-crossed lovers may we be, but we are lucky, dear Khades. For we felt the throes of love that your sisters, that your mothers, that no mortal shall ever feel. Our’s was a divine love. One day, the mortals shall know of it, and in their belief, our love shall be immortal.”

Khades and Temos shared their final kiss, and it was a kiss of many worlds, for the Moonborn, and Starborn, came from this very moment. The Starborn absorbed the love that Khades and Temos felt for one another, and were blessed with a divine purpose for uniting love. The Moonborn, on the other hand, absorbed the righteousness in their decision - for the mortals would not survive without night returning to their skies once more. The Moonborn would have the important purpose of becoming martyrs for causes of goodness.

When the kiss broke apart, so did Temos. She took Sriae’s request at heart, and looking upon Khades’ face, she broke herself into thousands of pieces. They exploded across the sky, covering it in a thick blanket of stars, which each contained her essence. Khades simply went back to the moons, holding them up, and watching the beauty of the glittering lights from her dutiful perch.