Fayn

The gods have always been difficult beings for mortals to connect with: all-powerful, beyond their gaze, and supreme in their edicts. And yet, most gods make attempts. They make attempts at appearing mortal, at providing their followers with an image to believe, a semblance of mortality to follow. All do this, except for Fayn. Whether out of genuine maliciousness, or a lack of interest in pleasing mortal minds, Fayn is as alien and distant as the gods can get, enforcing his cold, calculating vision on his followers with a logic and fitness beyond mortal comprehension. Its manifestations all bear deformities or appendages which shatter the laws of physical space, and its voice is alway in flux, breaking and flexing, sometimes sounding like the screams of a man or the shattering of stones. All of this isn’t to say that Fayn is the deity to match Skar’s cruelty. Instead, Fayn is the embodiment of that which lies outside the control of mortals, the embodiment of everything in the universe that could potentially break - just like your sanity.

## The Mindslayer

The first manifestation of Fayn is the Mindslayer, represented as a floating brain from which grows a series of globulous spider-like appendages. This manifestation holds dominion over the aspects of the mind, sanity, and insanity, and is representative of that thing which hides within the mortal psyche. Ephemerous and undefined, it is unsurprising that this manifestation sees little in the way of worship outside the most ardent of followers. Many are confused about the exact edicts this deity portends, or even the tenets it hopes to convey to mortals, and the manifestation certainly hasn’t deigned to clarify on its designs. The Mindslayer’s Archives, in the Church of Mind, located in the Morinfrue Dominion, is a dusty, nearly abandoned building that even the core deity’s clergy do not frequently enter.

### The Three-Faced

Second of Fayne’s manifestations is undoubtedly the most famous: the Three-Faced. The Three-Faced represents itself as a humanoid figure with six arms, each holding a glowing, face-like mask. The creature’s own face is entirely blank and featureless, and its body is almost metallic, instead of fleshy. The Three-Faced holds dominion over the aspects of reality and infinity. One would assume that a deity concerned with such sweeping concepts would encourage a clergy dedicated to the love of things real and infinite, but the opposite seems to be true: worshippers of the Three-Faced are some of the most nihilistic people in the world. Those of Many Faces, once the main worshippers of Fayn in the Unidon Republics, died out from their own unwillingness to feed themselves or help themselves, and it appears as if the clergy of the Faceless, a sect of the Church of Mind in Morinfrue, is headed in the same direction. No one understands this odd reaction to the Three-Faced’s worship, but everything about its ideologies and tenets seem to be designed to be meaningless and sapping. Even it’s name is illogical: it is Three-Faced, but holds six faces in its hands, while also being faceless.

### The Hollowborn

    Last amongst Fayn’s manifestation is the Hollowborn, who takes on the appearance of a young, gray-skinned child, its face hidden beneath a silvery-shawl. The Hollowborn holds dominion over nightmares, and things broken and fixed. The Hollowborn represents a great mystery amongst most theologians, for its common appearance oddly resembles the character of Daniel, an entity usually tied to the worship of Woe, not Fayn. Additionally, since the Hollowborn is meant to be a deific manifestation of nightmares, while Woe’s own version of Daniel, the Mortal Illusions, is a manifestation of dreams, denying a connection between the two is impossible. Fayn and Woe have not known, whether it be in their clergy or myths, to have many connections, and while there is some overlap in their portfolios, their actual principles couldn’t be further from each other. Woe believes in knowledge as the marker of mortal purpose, while Fayn clearly believes in nothing, for no reason at all. Can gods share manifestations? If so, who is Daniel, and what does his presence amongst two separate gods’ manifestations mean about the nature of manifestations themselves?

While Fayn may appear like a very specialized deity, there are still a few commoners who find connections with the alien god. There are many tales of the parents of children with mental illnesses waking up one day to find their kids no longer afflicted, and converting to the god’s worship. For all of the god’s inability to connect to a mortal audience, it does occasionally demonstrate an innate kindness to those afflicted with things beyond their control. In this regard, Fayn is considered the greatest enemy to the fiendish lord Oscantus, whose sphere includes mental illnesses, and many within Fayn’s clergy find purpose in eradicating the monster’s minions.