Veser and Naios

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Veser and Naios are the Twingods of the tides, and former rulers of Ithero. Their domains include the full and new moons, beginnings and endings, hope and reflection, humility and prosperity, hardship and good fortune, sailors, strategists, navigators, and all who endeavor towards great tasks. Veser and Naios command the moon and tides, and lend their protection to those who voyage by sea. Their respect towards Vrovona led to a long and fruitful alliance with that god's nation.

## History

In contrast to Vrovona's focus on sheer might and honor, Veser and Naios were more concerned with battle tactics. During the Winnowing, their navy was consistently able to destroy forces much larger than their own simply due to their brilliant leadership. The Twingods bestowed steel resolve and keen insight to their followers, producing great dynasties of admirals that would lead the people of Ithero to victory for millennia to come. The Twingods were also masterful architects, and their city reflects this. Calastore is a shining example of maritime engineering, the whole of which sits out over the water in the Bay of Crescents. The wisdom of Veser and Naios is held in the Song of the Eclipse, a series of lengthy esoteric hymns, passed down from generation to generation of the priesthood. Each phase of the moon has a different verse associated with it.

Compared to the other gods of A'therys, Veser and Naios had a very short tenure in the mortal plane. Even after the resolution of their ages-long conflict with Vrovona, The Sundering of the Eclipse, the Twingods continued to assimilate or destroy the remaining human-led city states that dotted coastlines across A'therys. Their final target was chosen in AB 1357, a small island state ruled by the powerful Corata Aiya just north of their own country. She had held off their forces for centuries already - as a powerful sorceress with a devoted following, Ithero needed more naval power to face her than had been available to them. When they did finally storm her stronghold, the battle was quick and decisive. Veser and Naios allowed themselves to be caught up in their own desires however, allowing Corata Aiya to live should she only grant them their desire: to become one entity. The beings of balance had forever desired this, and she was perhaps the only force in A'therys that could grant them their wish. She allowed them to think that she would do so, but after the yearlong ceremony was done her trickery was revealed. Left horribly Intertwined, Veser and Naios cast her out of the mortal plane and themselves hid in chambers beneath Calastore. It was at this time that they effectively ceased to exist for the people of Ithero, though repercussions of their desperation to undo what Corata Aiya had done would be felt for millennia more.

## Appearance

The Twingods existed in perfect balance with each other, embodying the harmony between the ideas they stood for. Veser was the god of the full moon and all things bright about their portfolio, while Naios represented the darker aspects. As such, the two were identical in appearance save for their "clothing." Each had a purely white body, as a muscular man carved from marble, the entire lower half of which was ever obscured by a churning fabric. While the coverings acted like cloth, their surfaces differed greatly from any mortal textile: the garments appeared instead to be windows, flat panes no matter their shape that allowed the viewer to gaze onto something beyond. In Veser's case, this was usually a gentle blue, some considering the shapes and swirls within to be the waves of a calm sea. For Naios, a consuming black, and those who gazed long enough often were able to make out a distant star field within his cloak. Their masks, as every god wore, were quite similar in style, though instead of sea or sky they reflected the phases of the moon. Depending on the time of year, each mask would reflect the light part in Veser's case or the darkened part in Naios', always in balance. After the Twingods disappeared from public view, rumors of the Intertwined's grotesque form spread throughout the naval empire, but none who have seen the forbidden shape were known to have described it for posterity.

*Originally written by OccidentalAnvil for the more official A'therys wiki*