Syna

[Gossamer]

Syna It was said when Tawannen sacrificed his being in the last great cosmic war, he was fragmented into a million shards. From those tiny pieces, a multitude of Gods and Goddess’ sprang, the world reformed, and change ushered by time caused the creation of all things life now knows. A tiny fragment of this first divinity, a burning piece of his energy and joy became Syna. So full of energy and brightness, this young Goddess shown her light and nourishment for Kihala’s benefit and thus became her first handmaiden. Fueled by Syna’s inexhaustible energy, Kihala spread life through the newly formed world and ushered in a fresh age full of promise as the universe calmed in the aftermath of the great cosmic war. Syna’s brightness burned and illuminated all she touched and all she could see. That which was hidden was revealed within her light, and thus it was that Syna often saw more than others when her golden beams caressed the world. A forgiving and somewhat neutral open personality, she danced with both the tame and the wild and embraced both equally having an enormous capacity for revelation and joy. And thus it was that her light eventually touched Leth, a wild dark son of Tawannen’s fragmentation.. He calmed in her presence and she stirred in his: a perfect balance. And eventually, to augment both their roles, Tanora appointed them the sun and moon, releasing them into Zintila’s glittering sky. But like all things, perfection rarely lasts. The Valterrian happened and Zintila fell to aid Semele and prevent her death. Zintila’s fall was a violent tragic thing, burning up her power and causing even the very sky to scream. Syna, close to Zintila and generous beyond measure, moved to act to assist her sky sister in a near panic, afraid for Zintila’s very existence. Leth, seeing only tragedy in Syna’s generosity caught his lover seasons before their scheduled rendezvous, and held her back, sheltering her, preventing her from falling from the sky as her sister had. Regardless, Syna’s action to assist Zintila brought her too close to Zintila’s fall and it was only Leth’s intervention that saved her. As Syna screamed and fought him, wanting to help Zintila even as she all but destroyed herself saving Semele. But Leth knew the danger and held her back, knowing she belonged in the sky and would never walk the land again as she had as a handmaiden. Syna’s frantic struggles brought the pair too close to the epicenter and though Syna was sheltered, held back by Leth’s determination and dark love, Leth himself was exposed, taking the full brunt of Zintila’s near destruction.. It rent him from his place in the sky and he dragged Syna with him, not willing to trust her alone in her grief and pain and in the confusion of the Valterrian. His wild spontaneous nature, that which others had always judged him cautiously for, saved them both. But it did not prevent a dark pall to be cast over the world as the sun and moon retreated from the sky to heal and calm after that tragic day. Syna eventually calmed and together with Leth, resumed her proper place in the sky. The stars, however, never shown quite as bright with the fall of the star goddess. And it was from then on that no Mizaharian star was able to shine through Syna’s light to gleam on its own in the daylight sky. In regards to her relationship with her followers, most individuals describe her presence in their lives as warm, invigorating, and comforting. She has a close personal relationship with them that often results in whispers when sunlight bounces off their skin and a feeling of being 'recharged' energetically when they walk within her light. Syna has a personality that is hard to dislike. But her attention and affection can have negative results as well. In the places she loves best, her constant attention and affection often results in high temperatures, burning sand, and an overall environment that is harsh to most sentient life. The same can be said of areas she dislikes more than others and thus does not give much attention too. The sun is weak in the northern regions and sentient life can often suffer from this as well. It is only in those places where Syna's affection is tempered do people truly thrive. Syna's lands within the Ukalas are called the Goldenlands. It is said this is where Syna retreats to when she leaves the sky above Miazhar and hands over that dominion to Leth. The Goldenlands have boundaries and firm geography like all god-claimed space among the Ukalas.

[Red]

Red pays thanks to Syna for his brighter outlook on life since his freedom, as he took inspiration from her and the Sun to enjoy life while he still can. He's still very awkward when it comes to prayers, especially to her, but she's probably his favourite to send a prayer to. He figures she might appreciate the company and well wishes. Hello again, Syna. It's the nameless guy again, heh...So uh, yeah. I'm always pretty awkward with these prayer things, but I figure if I keep doin' them, I'll get better, right? Right... So uh. Anyway. I just want to do my usual thing and thank you for being the inspiration that made me decide change my outlook on life. It's so much easier, looking at everything with a..Well, a sunnier disposition, pardon the pun...Oh gods that was awful. Sorry. I'm sure you hear that a lot. Anyway, yeah, my lame sense of humour aside, taking every moment of joy you can from life and savouring it, no matter how small or fleeting, is really the best way to be, I think. More people should think the same way. So yeah, uh. I'll stop bending your ear now, I'm sure you have better things to do. Oh, and thanks for the sunshine! There's nothing quite so nice as relaxing out in the grass with the sun on your skin. I mean, uh..That sounds a little strange..Ack, you know what I mean! Thanks, Syna. Really.

[Alses]

Midwinter Observances - Alses sends a winter prayer of thanks to Syna for the year. Achingly formal, because she's lost the knack of talking to Her properly . 'Syna-' Only now, after the ritual requests and honorifics were done did Alses feel she could dispense with the sacred titles. 'We take heart from your light and your warmth as ever we have.' A gentle smile, a memory of how the world now seemed perpetually new and beautiful to her eyes. 'We feel You at our back every day and everywhere we look we see You immanent in all things on the surface of this world. We taste echoes of Your power in the food and water that mortals need to survive, in the clothes they wear to shield them from the elements, even in their very skin, and we delight in this revelation. However, the dark is drawing in, now, the domain of Your lover Leth and all his kin; we know this is the cycle, the natural order of things, and yet...I pray for the strength to continue through the Winter, for all the bells without Your warmth and reassurance beating at my back.' She paused, debating with herself – but Syna was her goddess, the one who had given Alses all that she was, and there could be nothing secret between them. Nothing could – or should – be hidden from Her sight. 'We have seen a bright echo of Your power, felt the phantom touch of Your glory, in the eternal night which so frightens us. It confuses me, and is a pale shadow of Your presence in the day, yet we take heart from it even so, and are thankful for it also. An involuntary smile curled her lips as poetry, all unbidden, came to her mind. 'My soul is full of Your whispered word, and my blindness now my sight; the dark shadows that I feared so long are all ablaze with light!' Poor doggerel, perhaps, but it went some way to describing the curious, fluttering elation she'd felt when first the echo had revealed itself to her, the fading pulse of Syna's power that never entirely went away. 'Your signature in the night makes our time as a mortal more comfortable, more bearable, it gives us something to remember at the nadir of the day. Something to hold onto until the next dawn breaks.' A deep, shuddering breath as Alses finished and cast about for a further prayer. They were Ethaefal and goddess, trying to rebuild the fragmented tatters of a relationship that had surely once been closer than friends, now reduced to bridging the gap between the sacred and the profane, mortal and immortal, divine and mundane through scraps of prayer, brief remembrances of joy unbounded and infinite, perfect energy in the Goldenlands, and through the whisper of Alses' celestial name in the middle of the night that caused her to start upright in bed, wondering and wondering. A long and hard road, praying to a goddess who was no longer within easy, immediate reach, no gnosis-mark link or real remembrance of what import she had been to Syna. Her prayers went into the yawning void, or so it seemed; faith told her all prayers were heard, and that Syna would in Her wisdom provide what was needed. Pessimism wondered how one prayer in hundreds of thousands could be discerned, and decided that Syna would help those who helped themselves. Alses sighed at her own blasphemous thoughts. 'Forgive me my imperfections and my failings-” of which she knew there were many '-the exalted state we lost. You are our confessor, my sword and shield against the cold world, and I find guidance and hope in Your light. I pray for our continued strength in Mizahar, the will to keep hope alive. I pray for our fallen brethren, scattered across Mizahar, wherever they may be and in whatever circumstance they find themselves. I pray that those still close at Your side escape our fate...and I pray that You will look kindly on all our endeavours. By Your grace and favour, and in the blaze of the noonday sun, so mote it be.' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contemplations on a Dawn - A short, simple prayer as thanks for Alses' feast of dawn light. “Radiant Lady, I thank you for the feast this morning! For your light to see the world, for the joy and beauty you bring, I give you my service and devotion as ever I have. To the glory of the sun and the Everlasting Flame in all things that I do today,” she finished softly.

[Eosi]

33rd Day of Winter, 512 AV

Riverfall, just outside the Fringe Forest

The light was dazzling as it filtered through the tree’s branches, casting geometrical prisms upon the ground. It was uncharacteristically warm for the Winter and Eosi had chosen to take her lunch just outside the majesty of the city. The firmament above was hard and blue, a contrasting frame to the warm orb of the sun. The young woman sat upon the ground and worried at her lip. Syna was her constant companion, but in the shortening of the winter sunlight she’d felt a bit shafted. The only solace was the dry southern air, a blessing from the belt of the land.

The words came informally, as the goddess was a considered friend. ”Mother of the Sun, I thank you for this blessed day.” She smiled up at the dancing rays. ”It has filled me with incomparable joy, as your gifts always do.” Her feet were unclad in the rich grass, and the sensation made her yearn for the sweet warmth of the summertime. ”I have tasted love, Syna.” It came unbidden and yet it felt natural passing her lips. ”This is Cheva’s gift, but the happiness I feel is solely yours. I feel like dancing for you.” Her teeth gleamed in the sharp light. ”You blessed me with courage on that day, where I climbed the tree. Where I kissed my newfound love. I am your living oak. I wish to spread my eaves and sustain myself with your beams.” The poetry was so unusual and yet so very true.

”I sometimes wish to see you again,” she mused. ”Never before have I seen such beauty, even as you sit there in the sky. Who could blame Leth for loving Kihala’s Handmaiden?” Eosi laughed, a zephyr rippling through the afternoon air. ”In my times of dark, you were my only friend. You responded when I cried for you. Upon reflection, I was a mewling babe lost in the wilderness. Ignorant and alone. You gave me irrevocable sight, that I may navigate through the bleak and unbearable world. I love you, my goddess.” She wiggled her toes. "You are my truest friend. Thank you."

Conversationally, she pressed on. "You relinquish your hours to Leth these days. That is a sacrifice of love. It shows me that compromise between lovers is never quite equal. It is rather, the ebb and flow of the seasons. Sometimes you must give and others, you take. But how do you stand the separation?" Eosi puzzled at this. "How can you stand apart from your perfect other half? To meet briefly at dusk and make love on the horizon for all to see... It is always beautiful, true. But how is it enough? For to separate is to go mad, or so it seems. I feel so deeply embedded in this man, I might come unhinged without him." Fear lingered in those words, hollow in her own ears.

She felt a darkness weighing on her heart. "Perhaps the lionness is not quite so proud as she initially thought. Show me your ways, friend of Caiyah, she who nourishes life and lights the way." She smiled up at the sky, a more tentative expression. ”May Syna’s will be done.” She whispered, falling back into the blades of the sun-warmed lawn.

[Orin Fenix]

Orin Fenix Food Equals Love Dawn 28, Winter, 514AV Outside Syliras Orin had woken up that morning with an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. It was his first night in his new quarters in Syliras and the oppressive darkness that the lack of window left him in. His body was well used to waking before dawn and he had come to consciousness with a start, thrashing in the blankets that he had unwittingly wrapped himself in as he slept. As his tired brain caught up to his surroundings, he realized what had happened. For someone used to living in a wooden cottage, the stone walls felt as if they were closing in on him. Throwing the covers off, he threw his clothes on and slipped his feet into his boots, lacing them tightly. He wrapped himself in his cloak and exited into the hallway, easing the door closed behind him. He immediately felt better, but he was still in an enclosed space and the slight panic he was feeling was only diminished, not completely banished. Moving carefully, Orin retraced his steps from yesterday carefully, making his way to the main gates. As soon as he found himself in the open air, he breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded amiably at the knights on guard who looked sleepy but nodded back at him. His breath came out as a cloud of white in the frosty air and he shivered slightly in the chill. Pulling his cloak closer to his body Orin began trudging through the snow, leaving a trail of footprints behind him. His mind was blank and he was simply enjoying the morning. The sun was shining brightly and though he was forced to shade his eyes against the reflected glare, it filled him with a sense of peace. Glancing backward, Orin saw that he was out of the immediate sight of the guards. Stopping, he debated turning around but something compelled him to stay there for a while. Looking at the sun, eyes squinted, Orin suddenly felt awkward. He knelt impulsively, the cold and wet of the snow instantly soaking through his trouser legs. But he felt compelled to speak to Syna more than he usually did in the morning. Clearing his throat self-consciously, he began, not really knowing the proper way to address the goddess. “Hi, uh, Syna. Thank you for blessing us with your light once again.” Orin scratched his head before continuing. “I don’t even know if you are listening or if you can even hear me but I hope you’re doing well, I suppose. I don’t really have anything to ask or any favors I need from you. I guess I just wanted to feel the sun’s rays on my skin.” Shifting back and forth as his legs complained at the uncomfortable position he had taken, Orin smiled wryly. ”Do you ever have to deal with thing like cramps? If you do I’m sorry. It’s hard being human sometimes. But, you know all that already. What am I talking about?” Shaking his head at his audacity, Orin became suddenly shy. ”You know sometimes when I’m lonely I think of you and Leth and how you only get to be in each other’s company for such a brief time and it makes me sad. But, also kind of happy because you seem to make the most of the time you have. I guess, bittersweet is the right word?” Orin coughed at a sudden hitch in his throat. He knew that he wouldn’t ever have a love to rival Syna’s and Leth’s. He wasn’t upset about it, but it was a lovely thought that two people could compliment each other so well. It would be worth any amount of strife to have that in his life. But he didn’t harbor many illusions about his attractiveness. Trying to switch his thoughts to a different topic, Orin moved on. ”You know, they told me that my mother was devoted to you. I never met her and I don’t know if that’s true. But somehow speaking to you makes me feel closer to her. It’s probably silly but that’s how I feel. I wish I could’ve known her. But I’m content with how my life has turned out so far.” Standing up and brushing the snow off his pants, Orin felt the corners of his mouth quirk up in something that could be considered a smile, though it was tinged with a deep felt grief that he rarely shared with the world. ”Anyway, thanks for listening. I’m sure you have more important matter to attend to. But, I didn’t have anyone to talk to and it means a lot simply to know you’re out there somewhere. So, have a wonderful day I suppose.” Laughing at himself, he added slightly self-deprecatingly, ”I guess you always have a wonderful day. By definition. So have an extraordinary day then.” Turning back to the gates, Orin walked slowly back to the city, feeling refreshed and unburdened. Even if he had just been talking to himself, the idea that someone could have been listening was extremely comforting.

[Dravite]

Song Dravite sings to Syna & Leth

6 Winter, 506 AV
Noon

Thread

Where art the moon at ebbing tide,
Beyond his lover sings.
Companionless among the stars,
She's longing for her king.
Each night she reaches out to him,
At dawn they bid farewell.
Until the eve they meet again,
Over the glassy swell.

[Jasmine Stormblood]

Jasmine took a deep breath after all that had happened. She kneeled and bowed her head in order to fully speak with Syna.

'Hi Syna. I know that I don't always speak with you, but i just wanted to let you know how appreciative I am. You protected me during the battle and allowed me to live. I wanted to thank you for not turning your back on me even when I have never been the most faithful in prayer. I will stop bothering you now. Again thank you and I just pray your continued guidance.'

Jasmine raised her head and looked to the sky as she felt the sun on her skin. She took a deep breath and went on about her day.

The Clan is Strength.
The Clan is Life.