Avo

*"Avo is the in-between; of fate, of time, of death. She is the transition of time, the wheel of fate, and the cycle of birth and death. She is the shadow, and the secret things lurking in it, and the vigilant eyes that gaze into the dark. She is the hand that guides the departed spirits into Elysia, and the eyes that watch over their graves. She is the cycle of grief and the acceptance of fate. Avo is the start and end of all things."*
**Avo** (/ˌævəʊˈ/); also known as the Voiceless, the Faceless One, the Fateweaver, and the Crow; is one of the four lunar bodies orbiting Cato Vilo, and is one of The Four. She is globally worshipped as the deity of life, death, time, fate and secrets, and embodies the element of Air. She is thought to be Tilo's older twin, and when used in comparison to her twin sister, Avo is sometimes referred to as the Blackbird.

## Lunar Body

Avo is the smallest of the lunar bodies, casting a very pale silver light. She is difficult to see in the night sky; at some points during the year, particularly during the summer months, the light she sheds is markedly dim. Avo is unique in that she experiences 'new moon' phases more often than 'full moon' phases, rather than having them be equal. This is believed to be because of Tilo's lack of 'new moon' phases.

## Portfolio

Avo's portfolio includes life, death, twilight, transition, time, fate, secrets, truth and lies, vigilance, and hidden things. Avo teaches her followers to honour all spirits, living and dead, and to not profane these spirits, but preserve them; to recognise and fulfil your role in the web of fate; to find, and respect the anonymity of, secret and hidden things; and to seek the truth and remain vigilant. She favours those who open their eyes to that which is unseen. Avo's followers tend to fall into the domains of Death, Grave, Life, Order, Trickery, or Twilight.

## Worship

Avo is worshipped globally as one of the major deities of the Cato Vilan pantheon, though interpretations of what she actually represents vary widely throughout the different cultures, more so than with the other gods. In the majority of cultures, she is, at the very least, understood to be the death force to Tilo's life force; the shadow to her sister's light. In spite of her somewhat dark sphere of influence, Avo is understood to *not* be an 'evil' deity. Overall, she is a patron to morticians, gravediggers, healers, and oracles. While she herself is not affiliated with such, thieves, assassins, and others of such dispositions often find themselves drawn to Avo's secret shadows.

## Cultural Interpretations

### Depictions

Avo is, more often than not, depicted as a black orb, or sometimes silver, to represent her physical lunar body. This symbology is favoured by the majority of human and elvish cultures, as well as intricate knotwork patterns in black and silver of either a crow or an eye. Most humanoid cultures tend to agree in depicting Avo in stark contrast to her sister; while Tilo is full of colour and vibrance, Avo is depicted with silver, grey or black skin, with black hair that almost always features a streak of silver witch-locks. Interestingly, almost every single culture across Cato Vilo depicts Avo with no other facial features except for three eyes: two solid black orbs reminiscent of a night sky, and a single pearl embedded in the forehead as a third eye. Also in contrast to her sister, Avo is seldom depicted nude, even in cultures where doing so with the other gods is commonplace. Typically, Avo is covered by a simple black robe.

### Personality

In The Monomyth, Avo is shown to be completely mute, communicating telepathically instead. She is pensive, reserved and vigilant, in contrast with her carefree and open counterpart.

## Interactions

As a major deity, Avo is capable of interacting with mortals, however she rarely ever does so. This has coined her the moniker of 'the Silent God'. In the extremely rare instances where she does interact with mortals, it is through granting secret dreams and visions to a chosen few. Those who receive such dreams are known as oracles, and are rare.