#like how in uhhhh american mythos they were on like the 5th age. and the whole cycles thing for japan and such?

[isaacathom]

while kysro and ylais hold vast influence in their specific regions of the world, there ARE other, impartial deities outside of them. like, gods of the seasons. a god of harvest (spring), a god of protection (winter), a god of planning (autumn) and a god of celebration (summer). or something of that ilk. and many smaller regions within Kysro/Ylais aligned areas will worship these gods. most people around the world hold at least passing respect for these seasonal deities.

the important thing about the Seasonal Deities is that worshipping them DOESNT conflict with worship of Ylais or Kysro. Its widely accepted and even expected that you respect them at certain times. the start and ends of seasons are particular moments when most cultures have events. it varies, but they would share commonalities.

however, worship of Kysro AND Ylais is... a trickier business. they are compatible as deities, since they fall into the same pantheon. but its like..... yknow..... the two of them spend much of their myths at bitter war, blotting out the sky and raining fire on the innocent matches as they fight for dominance. they chill out SOMETIMES, but by and large, worship of the two deities will place you in opposition.

so when the Stolisi (Kysro-aligned) welcomed the Divinitians (Ylais-aligned), that was an interesting occurrence. straight up convinced their deities to maybe stop fighting for ONE second and just like....... do shit.

however, as time passed and the divinitians took control, worship of kysro was mostly suppressed in favour of ylais, much to the frustration of Kysro herself, and the delight of Ylais. and when the Empresses, far down the line, started trying to get involved in local cultures, it was selective. see, northern Divinice (and even Old Divinice, before it was overthrown) were strong believers in the gods of spring and autumn, due to their naval focus requiring good winds, good temperatures, planning, and of course, produce. that was their focus, generally. they included a little winter when they got to the Stolisian peninsula, but autumn and spring remained the keys. summer is, of course, a good fun time to have, yknow. but even though Divinice had a focus on autumn and spring, they were perfectly happy to celebrate summer and winter with the locals, and it was a good way of helping strengthen their ties with the north west especially. but the Ylais-centric Divinitians had difficulty celebrating their ‘rival’ god, Kysro. it felt wrong. and both sides agreed with that! they were ok, in theory, with the other not worshipping their god. however, theres a level of respect you EXPECT in this sorta shit.

so when you get down to Empress Yeong-Hui, who placed a lot of focus on the cultures of her disparate nations and bringing people together, and she adamantly refuses to participate in Kysro-centric rituals unless she can mention Ylais??? fucking anarchy. its disrespect. its a slap in the face. admittedly she never threatened to stop showing, but every time she showed, she’d say ‘ylais’ where locals said ‘kysro’, and it drove a huge wedge between her, the Stolisi, and the near west nation that would later become Stolisia’s strongest ally. it wasnt great.

its sorta akin to how Satanists and Christians cant really get along. on a person basis perhaps, but if their religion actually comes into it, the whole thing falls the hell apart. their beliefs, while stemming from the same ‘pantheon’, are incompatible.

or sorta like uhhhhh.... worshipping aphrodite AND artemis. thats not going to end well? just in general. thats not a great idea. same for ylais and kysro. it just doesnt go, yknow???

the season gods are cool though. theres also uh. at least one other deity, who rules the pantheon, and probably represents The Earth or something. like a broad, primordial thing. i do that concept a LOT, but i like the idea of a definitive Head of a godly pantheon. neither ylais nor kysro can lead, because the conflict between them just Keeps Going. their powers wax and wane as the day grows long and short. and the season are the same, ever changing and rotating control and prominence. so for a pantheon of Cycles, it makes sense to have a being that operates on an even LARGER cycle. centuries or millennia long, each new age.

in fact, OOOOOHHHHHHHHHH BITCH!!!! millennia!!! the founding of the Empire of Divinice coincides (with a margin of error) with 1000. therefore, its an approximately 1000 year cycle, where this earth god awakes from a deep slumber and disturbs the world. something fundamentally shifts. tectonic plates collide. kingdoms rise and fall. and it returns to sleep, satisfied. or something of that nature? maybe it operates on a sort of ‘king arthur’ logic, where it awakens whenever it is needed. idk. we’ll see???

also!!! theres one fun worldbuild-y thing thats important about ylais and kysro. myths, right? designed to describe natural phenomena by way of the supernatural.

there is a myth, broadly centered around the Stolisian Republic. VERY broadly. essentially the events of like 628 to 1256. on a broad ass scale.

for the Ylais-aligned, the myth goes that when Ylais’ faithful fled the eastern lands, Kysro took them in under the guise of sympathy. the faithful brought many wondorous things from the east and shared them with Kysro, who continued her ruse for centuries. however, it was a trap! for kysro had been planning al along to march her faithful on the new capital, razing it to the ground and wiping out a large center for ylais’ faithful. only through the cunning of the Empress Celeste II and her maidens was Divinice saved, and Kysro banished once again to the far reaches. But she hovers eternally along the border, spreading her black tendrils further, ever aiming for the glistening city of light, to choke out its light forever. PERHAPS in more vague words, but essentially so.

for the Kysro-aligned, the myth goes that when Ylais’ faithful fled the eastern lands, Kysro took them in from her genuine sympathy. but it was a trap! For with their arrival, they sought to drain the land of its resources and Kysro’s faithful of their lives. And for years, her people persevered, struggling against Ylais, until they snapped and took back their homeland and their faith, the land they had given to Ylais in good faith, faith that had been misplaced and abused. and so they claimed their homeland, but continued in their grace - they knew many were innocent of Ylais’ crimes. many had been born into that life with nowhere else to go. and so Ylais was allowed to retain land, for to take it back would make them no better than her.

stuff like that! both myths describe identical stretches of time and essentially the same scenario - of the divinitians arriving and slowly bringing more of their culture into the peninsula until suddenly the Stolisi (and southerners on the whole) rebelled. both are pretty idealistic - while Kaisa specifically was fairly gracious, many of her soldiers wrought blood and fire across Divinice, slaying innocents who stood between them and Divinitian soldiers. While Celese did indeed brook piece, she did so in a panic, in fear, and made many great concessions. she won no battle. she begged for mercy, and it was granted, but it was no victory. the divinitians didnt bring wondrous things to share with the stolisi, they brought it to SELL to the stolisi. they were merchants! they sold to them, stole from them, etc.

theres clearly a bias on my part to see the Stolisi as the lesser of two evils, but each side sees their own as the Best. right?

the truth of the matter is that Ylais and Kysro were complacent. both of them only have minimal control over the actual goings on of their people, and can only steer them in the right directions via Oracles and prophecy.

point is, goooOOOOD SHIT