Kaia

Kaia, the God of Earth, is a member of the HireathPantheon. She is the founder and patron of unicorns and the War-Forged Herd. Accounts of the God's War depict Kaia as a glorious warrior and avenger for the fallen earth, air, arcane and water mortals, but the passing years have softened Kaia's image. Now she is viewed as a soft, giving god who is deeply invested in her mortals, though in reality Kaia remained (and remains) generally aloof and withdrawn from mortal affiars, filled with regret and fearing the coming of another god's war.

## Mythology

Kaia is not a divisive god, well-liked without inspiring passion or hate. She is seen throughout Hireath as a calm, nurturing and benevolent mother who provides the earth and plants needed for each herd to survive. Her worshipers are found in every herd, most commonly as farmers, brewers, and caregivers. She is generally understood as being calm, steady, and compassionate.

Only the War-Forged  and to a lesser extent Aodh and Breim view Kaia as anything less than "soft".  Eschewing the idea that their god deals in soft words and delicate flowers, the Forged understand full well that Kaia deals just as easily in earthquakes and rock slides. They are of the opinion that Kaia only helps those who first seek to help themselves, and do not sit around waiting for their problems to be solved by others.

## Worship

### War-Forged

Life is harsh in Onea, but none the less they thrive, and thank their god Kaia for giving them not only a difficult land, but also the spirit and independence to flourish alongside it. Kaia is seen as a distant, reticent figure who rarely interacts with her mortals, preferring for them to prove their worth and courage on their own before she will bestow her favor. The Forged believe Kaia made them to be strong, not weak, and they see her Blessings as a high mark of honor. She is viewed by the Forged as a large, stocky pony with a coat of varied, striated earth tones and a jutting hunk of jagged stone for a horn. Flowers and moss grow on her fetlock feathers, and her eyes are the cool grey of slate. Her mane and tail vary, but are often seen as long, trailing curtains of plants and moss, bringing life to the earth they touch as she walks.

### Talori

Talori look upon Kaia with admiration. Agriculturalists and brewers especially tend to hold the earth goddess in high regard. Worship of Kaia within the whole of Aquore generally revolves around the growth of plants, and leaving offerings of fruit or flowers at her shrines. These shrines are often found in gardens and along the edges of the wilds, and are generally cared for by her followers. Kaia is most often depicted with gentle hues of brown and green, with flowers blooming in her mane and tail, and growing wherever she walks. Because of this, trails of naturally grown wild flowers are often viewed as holy ground by those who worship her. Kaia is looked at as a powerful and gentle protector who is focused on growth.

### Breim

The Arcane children view Kaia as the god of life and growth, including the forming and strengthening of relationships. She is often seen as a patron of beauty, the creator of the rare, delicate flowers of the caves and the glittering, subtle minerals and stones the caves are made of. Due to the possibility of cave-ins, the delicacy of cave plants, and the volatile nature of personal relationships, Breimians thus see Kaia as being more capricious and finicky in nature, and they fear that her displeasure can bring misfortune in the form of poor crop yields and tunnel collapses. Kaia is most commonly depicted as a slight, slender dark mare with long, pooling hair decorated liberally in flowers. She is often shown in elaborate flower crowns, with a long, straight horn of dark quartz and matching hooves. Geodes are often illustrated n her face, congregating at the base of her horn.

### Serora

Kaia is believed to be bright red like the sandstone in the Valley of Melodies and contains various carvings. Her eyes are soft and calm. The goddess moves slowly, she is patient and doesn't rush her plants or earth to change. Kaia's mane and tail are thought to be made of desert plants and crops and her horn and hooves of petrified wood. Small opals appear in clusters over her body.

### Aodh

Unlike the Forged, Aodhian equines recognize the connection between earth and fire, caused in no small part due to their reverence of Mt.Oriel, the volcano, which is equal parts earth and fire. Accordingly, Kaia is seen as a fierce near-equal of Ignacio, dark as night with magma flowing down her neck and spine and a jagged horn of obsidian shard. Flowers bloom improbably in her molten hair. Kaia is a strong counterpart to her brother the Smoldering Sun, and if not worshiped, she is nonetheless respected.

## Blessings

**Standard Blessings:**

* Plant Manipulation
* Earth Manipulation
* Beast Summoning
* Tremor Sense
* Duplication
* Necromancy
* Shape Shifting
* Density Control

**Holy Blessings:**

* Reality Manipulation
* Creation

## Shrines and Places of Worship

### **In Onea**

* **Mt. Skeldr**

Skeldr's summit is home to Onea's two most iconic shrines, one for the earth mother and one for the sky mother, for only with devotion to earth and air twined can an individual hope to survive the journey to the mountain's peak- and many who have tried, have failed. Larger than life and carved from the mountain itself, the shrines face each other, with the fierce visage of each god staring past the other's shoulder, overlooking Onea and Hierath in an unyielding vigil. Although the summit is a barren, snow-swept hunk of rock, no snowdrifts pile on either statue, and though the stone is weathered, it is neither cracked nor softened by time. A holy site, its sheer inhospitable location reflects the harsher side of each god, and not every Onean will make the pilgrimage, but those who do come back... changed, though they often speak little of it.

* **Skeldr Town**

Located in the "eye" of the storm that is Skeldr Town, there are statues for each of the five gods, towering behemoths of stone that spurn the notion of Oneans knowing nothing of finer arts. The statues are weathered, but detailed, and kept free of snow and dirt. Kaia, Alya, and Cascade's shrines are the most visited, but Ignacio and Argus receive their fare share of tokens as well, usually in the form of locks of hair or plant cuttings. Often called "the god's garden", this area of Skeldr is free of the bustle of the market and a frequent place for parents to take a rest and let their children play under the watchful stone gazes of the gods.

* **Silverwood Cathedral**

Long thought to be the talk of legend, Kaia's Silverwood trees shattered the myth when they made a startling reappearance in the Autumn of 1700, tearing into existence as an earthquake shook the eastern farmlands. The massive, pale-barked trees stand easily over 100 strides high and dozens wide, emitting a pale glow as they stand in a solemn ring. Legend speaks of the trees acting as guardians for Onea's borders, appearing in times of need. No other trees have yet been reported, but the Cathedral commands reverence, bathing visitors in a luminous, calming glow as they step inside its boughs, and some equines report the whisper of branches are not the work of the wind, but Kaia speaking to her children. Fallen branches are rare, and brought to the War Lord's fortress when they appear, to be fashioned into the legendary Silverwood weapons.

* **Home Shrines**

Many a home features a small statue, token or shrine to Kaia, but just as many do not, the equines choosing instead to commune with their god though nature and not any so trivial and materialistic an object. For many individuals, the resting place of deceased loved ones is as holy a site as any carved statue, if not more so.
Various statues and shrines for Kaia (and to a lesser extent the other gods) can be found scattered throughout Onea, most commonly in areas that were once the stronghold or town-square for the former clans.