#a thing that’s funky in eidolon vetch is that the two people who are sort of not really dead gods are at surface level not suited to be them

[walkman-cat]

eidolon vetch sound so so cool tell us more abt it 👀👀 the ancient dead god part especially???? i love that

OH BOY !!

without going too deep into the worldbuiding, the original pantheon of the city (these gods walked among the people) was killed 200 or so years before the story is set; nearly every record of their existence (religious texts, icons, and just records in general) was destroyed, belief in them was banned, and the twin sister-gods of the waking church became the city's main religion. by the dawn of the 4th century of the Waking (when eidolon vetch is set), the old gods have been completely forgotten.

however.

there are certain traditions and practices in the city that stem back far before the dawn of the Waking, the stories behind them having been long forgotten by the city's inhabitants.

for example, it is customary in the winter for one to conduct one's business while dressed plainly and drably (the city's typical fashion involves an array of colours and embroidery–this fashion is worn, to different extents of lavishness, by the entire populace) and to keep one's face hidden when one is out of one's own home (the rich, of course, forgo the tradition of plainness when it comes to the masks. they are very gaudy and betasselled).

the winter is known as “the months of the dreamer”. the name and tradition are as such because, pre-Waking, they were sacred to the trickster god of deceit and dreams (this god was known to steal and collect faces for use in Mischief and Crimes).

even though this god is long-dead, the continued following of the tradition sacred to its name has allowed for it to still live (in a twisted, not-quite-right, sense of the term). prayers are still answered in its name even though it is dead. it’s corpse, though long-decayed, still has a semblance of power (sometimes it appears in peoples’ nightmares). adhering to the months of the dreamer is the reason why orpheus alabaster is who he is (did i mention that he’s sort of not really this dead god? it’s a long story)