Vorai

The Divine Dark

> *"Instinct tells us to fear the Dark, to cower when Night creeps over the horizon. Instinct knows not the warmth of Shadow's embrace; the love with which she enshrouds us. The Dark protects us, comforts us, and aids us. The Night is our ally, a divine gift worthy of eternal reverance and gratitude."*
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> - The Canticles of the Divine Dark
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**Vorai** is the **Elder God** of **Comfort**, **Darkness**, **Dreams**, **Night**, and the **Astral Sea**. Her followers believe her to be the greatest ally of all mortals, protecting them from the threats of the world in a shroud of night. She presides over her **Domains** within the Astral Sea, weaving the fabric of reality and the **Ephemeral Shroud** from within the Black Star of Ieyr.

Darkness covers Vorai in an impercievable veil, obscuring her features from any who attempt to gaze upon her. Her voice is said to be cold and calm, emotionlessly conveying her whims and desires. Others say her voice carries a soothing and comforting tone, offering warmth and security to those who beseech her for aid.

Vorai's form is that of a nebulous woman; a shifting mass of shadow with billowing black smoke in the form of a long dress. No features are visible beneath the shroud of darkness that encompasses her. Those who attempt to peer past that shroud are said to behold the infinite darkness of the **Realms Between**, a sight that drives even gods to madness.

## Vorai's Influence

Vorai's dominion is the night, and all it contains. To some this means danger and intrigue. To her followers that association is a litany of lies spread by cultists of the Iron Handed God to sap strength from his contender. Those who worship her view night as a sanctuary from the wider world.

She is further associated with both dreams and the Astral Sea, both of which are formed of her very body and mind. Her followers include criminals, urchins, and other vagrants and shady characters who rely on the night to remain undetected. In the Lands Above and the Astral Sea, she is held with much reverence, as it is often viewed that by her grace they may travel these realms.

Before space and time there was nothing. An infinite and empty expanse where only darkness took root. It is from this void that Vorai first sprang into being, formed of the eternal expanse of empty that was the Prime Material. Vorai is the first of the Elder Ones; a being so ancient and alien that her desires are oftentimes considered incomprehensible. She has existed since before the Unmaking brought the New Races to the world, and is one of the few deities who fully understand the purpose of the Divine Mandate, as well as the consequences associated with its breach. Moreso than any other, even Yndol or the Great Deceiver, does she understand its import, as she was the sole being to witness the result of its breach.

Vorai acts to aid Yndol in his maintenance of the Divine Gate, and is one of the only beings who has the ability to seal the borders between the Realms. She uses this power to safeguard the Astral Sea and the Plane of Dreams from the ever encroaching corruption of the Far Realm, as well as the mortally dangerous interference of other gods.

Because of the immensity of her domains, Vorai is universally considered a major god, despite her negative connotations. She is respected by all, most of all by the denizens of the Astral Sea, for to disrespect her is to invite doom upon yourself in her domain.

### Vorai's Goals

Like her peers in the Masons, Vorai does not care for the conflicts of the Many Realms. Her focus is on the maintenence of the Astral Sea and Plane of Dreams, as well as the balancing of darkness in opposition to Syndarr's and Asteria's ever pressing influence. Beyond these concerns, she also invest her time and strength in the dispension and protection of dreams, a task she has taken pride in since her marriage to Asteria. She views many of her fellows in the Elder Pantheon as foolish for their obessive concern with mortal affairs, despite her own frequent interactions with the New Races. She tends towards neutrality, however she has and will take drastic measures to censure or destroy any being — mortal, immortal, or Divine — that dares upset the delicate balance enforced by the Divine Mandate.

Vorai is obsessed with the containment of the Far Realm and its denizens. Disgusted by the mere presence of aberrations, she does her best to eliminate any who enter her domain via her followers and Chosen. She relies heavily on Asteria to aid in this task, relying on her wife to identify naturally occurring breaches for Vorai to seal.

Vorai is the eldest of the Celesium gods and sees it as her duty to guide her younger kin. Like Syndarr, Vorai tries to enforce her will across the sect and wider pantheon, though she relies on far more subversive means than the Sun. By weaving a complex web of followers and Chosen throughout the Prime Material, she is able to influence the course of history. Many of her agents have aided heroes of Eras past, working from the shadows to ease the burden on the champions of her peers. When whispers and mortal words will not suffice, she drags souls to the Plane of Dreams, speaking to them directly or through imagery and metaphor to convey her goals.

### Divine Relationships

Vorai despises interacting with other gods, preferring the solitude of Ieyr. The only being she allows to accompany her in her isolation is Asteria, with whom she has been fascinated since the Lady of Light began her odyssey through the Astral Sea. Like any other god, however, she has both rivals and allies. Her disgust for the Anathema gods is well documented, and she frequently acts against their interests for the preservation of the Prime Material.

Her main rivalry is with Syndarr, whose totalitarian enforcement of the Mandate often irks Vorai. The God of the Sun cares little for improvisation or adaptation, conservative in action and rigid in thinking. While she understands the need for rules, Vorai often prefers to act in secret and frequently goes off script in her behavior. Despite their shared goals, they often butt heads, and interactions between them are rarely warm.

Yndol and Tholara are close friends of Vorai, their goals sharing much overlap. While the Triad ensures the protection of the Prime Material, she works in secret to support their efforts, eliminating threats to their agents before they can materialize.

Her closest ally is Asteria, whom she is married to in Divine Matrimony. The two have retained a close and loving relationship since Asteria first began spreading her influence among the Astral Sea. The two are often described as interwoven around the Prime Material, locked in an eternal embrace, vigilant against the forces of beyond.

## Worshipping Vorai

Vorai's worship is often done in secret, in accordance with her whims. Cults devoted to Vorai often work to provide sanctuary to those who roam the night or yearn for reprieve from the chaos of day. Some followers and champions of Vorai travel the Astral Sea, hoping to encounter their mistress and receive their tasks directly from her. A rare few of her devout focus instead on her dreams, viewing them as divine visions not unlike Asteria's omens. These unique oracles — known as Dreamwalkers — often toe the line between the Waking World and the Plane of Dreams, a fact that has lead to the demise of more than a few of their number.

Rituals honoring Vorai are usually performed in complete darkness, without a single source of light. One of the god’s greatest festivals is the Night's Vigil Festival, which takes place the night after the Festival of Lights to honor the bond between the two gods, as well as the eternal vigilance they take against the Far Realm.

## Myths of Vorai

Vorai appears in few stories, her purposes in these tales often shrouded in mystery. Initiates in Vorai's circles know of many stories where she takes a more commanding role, though these are rarely shared due to the nature of her worship.

***Mother of the Nyxborn.*** According to one tale, it was Asteria, not Ferron, who was the first to fashion living Nyxborn creatures from the fabric of of the Astral Sea. This is a tale known to a select few, and one often touted among the circles of the Lady of Light. What is often forgotten is Vorai's role in this creation, offering the very fabric of her being for the great weaver Vorian to create his mighty sentries. Regardless of which god is the true creator of the Nyxborn, Vorai is often credited as their progenitor and mother. Without her, the Nyxborn would cease to be.

***The Dance of Light and Darkness.*** In the time before the New Races came to being, Asteria wandered the grand expanse of nothing that was the Astral Sea. The presence of such a potent and powerful being stirred the ancient and wary Vorai, who had long ago commanded the awakening gods to remain within the confines of Araam Vestii and offer her no bother. At first incensed by this intrusion, Vorai sought to punish the young Asteria. However, upon witnessing the grace and joy with which the god immersed herself in the Sea, Vorai found herself enamored. She watched the dancing Asteria from afar for millenia, following her journey far from the light of Syndarr, until one day Vorai found herself unable to resist the allure of her muse. She made her presence known to Asteria, joining her in her wandering dance. Happy for the company, Asteria welcomed her, and the two danced their way through the Astral Sea, sowing light and life wherever they passed. Once this grand journey completed at the edge of the Far Realm, Vorai was completely in love. She proposed to Asteria, a gorgeous and expansive construction in the form of Aurora as her proposal gift. The Lady of Light accepted, and in the light of the Glittering Realm, a stone's throw from Madness and Entropy, the two entangled themselves for all eternity.

***The Sanctity of Divinity.*** When the War in Heaven raged across the Prime Material, Vorai remained in her domain within the Astral Sea, apathetic to the battle of good and evil. Syndarr, incensed that any Divine could remain impartial to such a brutal conflict, imposed himself within the realm of Vorai. The King began to lecture the god of her duty to the maintenance of the Many Realms, before his light was snuffed by the overwhelming pressure of darkness around him. With a cold and cutting voice, the Mistress of Night reminded her peer of her status as an independent, free-thinking being. Banished from her realm, Syndarr was thrust back to his place in the Sun. Stunned by this dismissal, Syndarr abstained from the War in Heaven out of shame, until Calidra's victory over Thera drew his ire.

***The War in Shadow.*** While the servants of the Elder Evils carved their way through the Lands Below, Asteria and Vorai fought a ceaseless conflict at the boundary of the Far Realm. Standing alone against a tide of corruption and evil, the two gods held their ground, banishing any trespassers within their domains. This battle continued until the would-be usurper of darkness, Xarinthys, emerged into the Astral Sea. Cunning, brutal, and overpowering, he snuffed the light of Asteria, forcing her back to her plane of Aurora while Vorai held him back. Unwilling to betray her love's trust, Vorai fought to her near destruction, crushing the Elder Evil within the overwhelming mass of Ieyr. Destroyed utterly and banished beyond the Gate, Vorai claimed victory over the Elder Evil. She flickered on the edge of death, until the combined efforts of a restored Asteria and Yndol managed to revitalize the god and return her to consciousness.

## Vorai's Champions

**Alignment:** Usually chaotic, often neutral

**Suggested Classes:** Cleric, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, warlock

**Suggested Cleric Domains:** Trickery, Twilight

**Suggested Backgrounds:** Acolyte, Astral Drifter, Criminal/Spy, Urchin, Wildspacer

Most worshipers of Vorai believe darkness and the night to be a gift of security and comfort. It is the goal of all of Vorai's faithful to repay the kindness she has shown them with acts of profound faith.

### Vorai's Favor

As a member of the Celesium Sect, Vorai is a god focused first on the maintenance of the Astral Sea, second on the dispersion of dreams, and last on the affairs of the world below. When her mortal agents ask her for aid, she is quick and decisive in her response, though often unreliable in efficacy. When she does require a servant, she will recruit from among the masses of downtrodden who view light and the attention it brings with it as dangerous and unwelcome. The Vorai’s Favor table offers several suggestions for the nature of your connection to the God.

 **6** | You have no idea why Vorai shows interest in you.

### Devotion to Vorai

Servants of Vorai cling to the shadows, preferring secrecy and isolation. As a follower of Vorai, consider the possibilities on the Vorai’s Ideals table as alternatives to those suggested for your background.

 **6** | **Mystery.** The darkness of the Astral Sea holds many mysteries. I yearn to unravel them all. (Lawful)

### Earning and Losing Piety

You increase your piety score to Vorai when you expand the god’s influence in the world in a concrete way through acts such as these:

* Navigating a treacherous area by cover of darkness
* Providing sanctuary to fellow followers of the night
* Unraveling the meaning of a dream
* Building or restoring a temple to Vorai

Your piety score to Vorai decreases if you diminish Vorai’s influence in the world, contradict her ideals, or make her look ridiculous or ineffectual through acts such as these:

* Ignoring the safety of the shadows for the openness of the light
* Ousting fellow followers of the night
* Ignoring dreams
* Furthering the aims of the Elder Evils

Vorai, while benevolent, doesn’t care about the righteousness of a cause, especially if the cause seeks to purge darkness from the realm. Her followers will often cling to the shadows and keep their presence hidden until the ideal moment to enact Vorai's will.

#### **Vorai's Devotee**

*Piety 3+ Vorai trait*

As a devotee of Vorai, you have proven yourself adept in the manipulation of the night in your favor. You can cast animate shadow with this trait a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

#### **Vorai's Votary**

*Piety 10+ Vorai trait*

You can cast darkness with this trait, requiring no material components. Once you cast the spell in this way, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

#### **Vorai's Disciple**

*Piety 25+ Vorai trait*

Darkness shields you, and only you. No one else may use it to hide from your sight. You can see normally in darkness, both magical and nonmagical, to a distance of 300 feet.

#### **Champion of Night**

*Piety 50+ Vorai trait*

You can increase your Dexterity or Charisma score by 2 and also increase your maximum for that score by 2.