"Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels."
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie
Forget the throne.
Forget the crown.
I don't want to be a queen.
I want to be a god.
"Hmm..."
He drew the sound out like the murmurous hum of flies on a summer evening, the sound of corruption and rot and mortality approaching.
"Oh," she said, slyly, her hair shimmering beneath the dim starlight like so much liquid mercury. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and propping up her chin lazily, her eyes the colour of coal and ash almost indistinguishable from the rest of the shadows. "You don't like it?" A single ice-blue nail tapped her cheekbone, consideringly.
"I like it well enough," said he, considering the skies as though they held all of the answers he sought - as though the constellations would rearrange themselves into the solution to the riddle she had posed to him. "I just don't understand why you do too." And that made him suspicious.
Ilargi rarely smiled but she did now, her dark skin creasing into lines as she showed her teeth and threw back her hair. "A bet isn't fun if you're certain of the result, Arvoh, my darling." She sat in a doorless, windowless, wheelless old car, her long legs stretched before her, tracing patterns in the gravel with the toe of her dori shoe, and looked up at the grey stone castle in front of her, whose spires reached to pierce the sky, impale the clouds, skewer the stars. It was been a bright, airless day but tonight it looked as though it would storm. There was a lone red light shining in the highest window of the tower, obscured intermittently by the shadows and silhouettes of beings that did not belong in any world. "You're certain," Ilargi said. "That she's going to go?"
Arvoh tore his eyes from the seas and skies to draw back one leather sleeve and glance at his watch. "Oh, I should hope so," he said. "It's about time. Seven minutes."
"Mmm," Ilargi said, and smiled, curving her shoulders towards him. "So. Do we have a wager?"
He seemed to roll the thought across his tongue, and drew his teeth across his lip. "So," he said. "If you win -"
Ilargi smiled. "Yes."
"And," Arvoh said. "If I win -"
"Yes," Ilargi said.
"Hmm..."
Ilargi stood. Her dress swirled like storm clouds, unforming and reforming into as many shapes as there were styles, as she took a step towards her old rival and stretched out her hand. "Do we have a deal?"
"I suppose," he said, with his eyes glittering the colour of distilled moonlight. "We do."
So! This is my first ever story, and I'm quite nervous - I hope you like it!
This story follows the Selection, but with a big twist - rather than competing for the love of a prince and the throne, the girls are competing for a chance to become a goddess. You heard me right!
The story takes place in the land that will one day become Illea, or perhaps it is the land that was once Illea - it's a timeless, anachronistic realm called Elinvier that blends all sorts of times, places and cultures, where there are eleven main gods worshipped, known as the Unforgotten. Each god has different followers, in different areas - some people worship all of them, others prefer one or two, others focus on only one. The eleven gods are listed below - each has different abilities, responsibilities, and stories.
But these gods are ultimately mortal - they age and die like anyone else, and a successor, a reincarnation, a new body to inhabit, must be found. When a god dies, the Selection begins - the gods scour the land for replacements to make them divine. Each of the ten surviving gods gets to pick one candidate to participate in the Selection, and gift their champion with one supernatural ability to give them an advantage.
These candidates travel to the palace, where they compete against one another to earn immortality, watched over by the royal family, who are the gods' representative on earth. Each of the royal family tends to favor a different god rather than worshipping the same, as is typical in a family, to display unity to the kingdom. The caste system remains in place here, with the high priests and priestesses of each god as Twos and ordinary local priests, priestesses, oracles and augurs as Threes or Fours, depending on the size and power of their area.
The god that has just died is Lysha, the young goddess of the hunt, tragic love, the city and the stars, and it is Lysha that the gods are seeking a replacement for. Will your character earn her status as a god?
The only problem is that this year, the trickster god Arvoh and the mercurial goddess Ilargi have got involved with a wager of their own. But what is their bet, and what will happen when it is won?
Name:
Age:
Which god were they chosen by?: (please choose three and place in order of preference in case you can't get your first choice)
What power did that god give them?: (must match up to the god)
Caste:
Occupation:
Detailed description of their appearance:
Detailed description of their personality:
Three sample dresses they might wear:
Why did they agree to take part in the Selection?:
Why were they chosen by that particular god?:
History:
Family:
Do their family worship a particular god? Which one?:
Opinion of the gods: (include reactions to a few individual gods, please)
Opinion of the Selection:
Opinion of the royal family:
Opinion of Lysha:
How do they treat the other contestants?:
How do they treat the maids? (I will create them):
Weaknesses:
Skills:
Songs that echo their character:
Sum up their character in one line:
Other:
Rules:
1. No Mary Sues or flawless, perfect characters, or carbon copies of canon characters.
2. Please be unique and diverse in your characters!
3. Please PM your characters to me, not in a review, with the subject line of your character's name and the god that chose them. For example, if I were submitting Katniss Everdeen, I would write the PM subject line as Lysha chooses Katniss Everdeen.
4. Please, please come to me with any questions, and have fun! Your character will have much more success if you review, long and often - I love hearing your reactions and theories.
In approximate order of importance and popularity, the current gods are as follows:
The Fade - the closest thing to the king of the gods, the Fade is without shape or spectre. Unlike the other gods, the Fade is not considered a person, per se, with an appearance and personality and relationship with the others. Instead, the Fade is the incarnation of balance - the personification of chaos and order. It is the deity of justice, choice, and time.
Buxiu - god of healing, secrets and the harvest. He is a serious, withdrawn spirit, and is largely celebrated by those looking for balance and stability, as he represents the certainty of the seasons arriving each year despite the change they bring. Although he isn't the most popular god, he's worshipped the most widely, and people still try to keep him happy - without Buxiu, healing turns to rot and corruption, the harvest fails, and your secrets will never stay secret.
Anthe - goddess of music, fire, art and rebellion. She's a wry, warm spirit, one invoked for celebrations and good fun - however, she is also one of the goddesses with the greatest capacity for wrath, and it is often said that she dances on the graves of the dead and carves her flutes and violins from their bones. She is predominantly a southern spirit, and is usually depicted with hair like blood and fire and eyes like smoke. Her song is said to conjure the dead, which is why music is so integral to celebrations of the dead in Elinvier.
Toamn - god of home, humour and hearth, family, fidelity and friendship, and, of course, of gifts, Toamn is probably the most popular god - he feels like coming home. Dependable, cheerful and a little bit odd at times, he knows each child in Elinvier by name as though they were his own. Like his granddaughter, Ilargi, he's always looking for entertainment, although he doesn't feel the need to meddle and interfere to find it. Toamn is celebrated at birthdays, festivals, and moments of happiness at home.
Lysha - goddess of the hunt, tragic love, the stars and the city.
Himno - god of creativity, imagination and craftsmanship, who is said to forge the crown of Elinvier's king or queen, write the lyrics of Anthe's anthems, and design the moon and stars each night. He is also said to sketch the face of each child born in Elinvier before they are born, thus deciding what they will look like. He's a western spirit, mostly, and seems to most belong to the wild, wind-swept coast of the north-west where he has the most worshippers.
Gjsard - god of knowledge, opportunity and wealth. He's a shy, quiet, curious spirit, and has a reputation for belonging to the 'upper classes' who are educated. However, Gsjard's control over knowledge extends to folk wisdom and common sense as well.
Ilargi - goddess of bitter winter, the moon, liars, and long-lasting love. A sharp, bitter kind of a spirit who is always ready to meddle in the affairs of men to amuse herself, she's always ready to make a bet with her rival, Arvoh, if she thinks she can cheat her way into winning. More manipulative than most, and quicker to change the destiny of humans, she comes across as younger than the other deities and more impulsive. She's invoked by lovers and criminals to light their way to success. As the goddess of liars, she works closely with Buxiu.
Arvoh - god of thievery, death, trickery, the ocean, and bad luck. Sly and snarky, he's always ready to gamble with Ilargi on the fate of man, although he's less likely to outright interfere - preferring instead to subtly manipulate here and there. He's the closest thing the gods have to a deity of chaos, but as the personification of one of the elements, he's vital enough that he can't be ignored, especially by fishermen who rely on him to keep them safe.
Jedan - god of wandering and the dead. The most mysterious of the gods after the Fade, Jedan is the most human of the gods and is often sent to test the humans by assuming mortal form and arriving to their door to offer them riddles and tests in exchange for gifts and blessings. He is also the god who arrives to claim the souls of the dead and escort them to Yla's realm.
Yla - goddess of the afterlife, memories and lost causes. She's sweeter than her job title would suggest, as she cares for those who have no one, who have lost everything. She's the least worshipped goddess of all - no one cares about lost causes, after all, and who ever remembers what they have forgotten until they have remembered it? And no one has any need of the afterlife until they are in it. She is depicted as a lesser deity, with long inky black hair, golden eyes, and a skull for a face, but she doesn't hold any grudges for it.
This is the central royal family, in approximate order of power:
King Adam, known as the voice of the Fade, is the king of Elinvier. He is a harsh, willful and pragmatic man who has successfully pulled his nation into isolation and self-sufficiency, avoiding all wars and conflicts for the past thirty-five years for which he has reigned, a poor father but an excellent ruler. He appears on the Report each week but does not speak or address the nation; he has a powerful and charismatic presence which suffices.
Queen Ora, the high priestess of Anthe, is the queen of Elinvier. She is the third but favorite wife of King Adam, less suited to a position of authority than she is to a position of teaching and wisdom. She is thoughtful and patient, balancing out her husband's flaws, but tends also to be a little fatalistic and zealous, devoted as she is to the Unforgotten gods. She has the best singing voice in all the kingdom.
Crown Prince Kurban, known as the Oracle. Next in line to the throne, he has unfortunately inherited most of his father's vices - he can be quick-tempered, callous and prideful, traits which are carefully hidden from the general populace. He is also the least fond of the gods in the royal family, a fact that they in turn acknowledge but leave unspoken.
Prince Mezar, the crypt-keeper of Elinvier. He is soft-spoken and reserved, the spare to Kurban's heir, and more inclined to solitude. He has a witty, wry edge to him that sometimes pushes people away, a reluctantly gregarious and hospitable attitude, and more of an affinity with Jedan and Yla than most. He is the least favorite son of the King, who tries to love his children equally but finds Mezar's brother and sister easier to understand.
Princess Cabi, known as the keeper of the keys. She is the most like her father, being an intelligent and pragmatic girl, somewhat lacking in the charisma of her two brothers but more than making up for it in capability. A little awkward around those outside the palace due to the seclusion placed upon her as the only acknowledged female heir, she is fifth in line for the throne, which seems closer than it feels, and is due to be married.
Lady Vracara, augur of Lysha. She is the first, and so far only, wife of Kurban, a strong-willed and intelligent woman who promises to be as much a queen as her husband will be a king. She served as the interpreter of Lysha's will for many years prior to her marriage, a position which makes her favor very important to win in the upcoming Selection. She gets along well with her husband's family, perhaps better than she gets along with her husband.
- With permission from the original author, Grey Aster.