Shelyn

### Titles

The Eternal Rose, The Lady of Chrysanthemums (Tian Xia), Syriss, The Incorruptible, The Eternal Maiden

### Subdomains

Agathion, Cloud, Defense, Fate, (Imagination), Love, Purity

## History

The goddess Shelyn was born the daughter of Thron, after the First Gods (including her half-brother Dou-Bral) had imprisoned Rovagug and had agreed to leave humanity to its own devices. For a time, she and Dou-Bral shared the portfolios of beauty, love and the arts, and were worshiped by the early Taldans, until at some point they argued, and Dou-Bral abandoned Fynn for the far dark places between the planes.

When Dou-Bral returned to Fynn, he had become the god of mutilation, misery and torture: Zon-Kuthon. Believing that Dou-Bral still existed within Zon-Kuthon, Shelyn reached out him, but he pierced her hand with his black nails. When Thron, their father, tried to welcome him, Zon-Kuthon captured and tortured the wolf-spirit beyond recognition. It was for these crimes, and for other terrible acts he committed against Shelyn and her works, that the gods banished Zon-Kuthon to the Plane of Shadow, there to reside for as long as the sun hung in the sky. In an attempt to redeem her brother, Shelyn stole his malign weapon, the Whisperer of Souls, but was ultimately unable to turn him to the light. She kept the glaive out of love for him, despite its negative influence.

Eventually, the siblings quarreled again. Zon-Kuthon responded to Shelyn's tears and her pleading with violence, until she wrested his weapon, a golden glaive, away from him, and a tenuous peace of silence and avoidance was established.

## Appearance

Shelyn's is a unique beauty unparalleled in the Great Beyond. She is beautiful both without and within; all who see her see what they envision as the most perfect beauty (meaning she appears different to everyone). Depictions of Shelyn, regardless of race or ethnicity, show her as a young woman barely out of her youth, with eyes of blue or silver (or sometimes both at the same time). Shelyn's ankle-length chestnut hair bears several strands colored bright red, green, and gold. She always wears tasteful clothing and jewelry that accentuates her beauty without revealing too much.

## Relationships

### Zon-Kuthon

When they first came into being, so very long ago, their mutual parent forced Zon-Kuthon to swear an oath to the forces of Law. Zon-Kuthon swore that he would never harm Shelyn, nor would he stand by if others tried to harm her in his presence. In exchange for making the oath, he received the glaive, Whisperer of Souls.

To this day, clerics of Zon-Kuthon never harm known clerics of Shelyn—doing so results in harsh punishments that do not end with death—but sometimes they actually try to protect such clerics. This behaviour earns them divine rewards. For their part, clerics of Shelyn return the favor by looking the other way when they meet known clerics or cultists of Zon-Kuthon. The exception to this rule is if the clerics or cultists are obviously harming innocents, defacing art, or otherwise being unforgivably evil. This arrangement might seem like a serious drawback for Zon-Kuthon, as other evil deities might take advantage of it to put him into a difficult position. However, no gods ever really move against Shelyn or her clergy.

### Other deities

Shelyn is respected and admired by all other non-evil deities. They enjoy talking to her (and occasionally trying to woo her), and they certainly like looking at her. The relatively recently ascended god Cayden Cailean frequently attempts to win her over (and always fails), and has contributed greatly to her art and violin collections.[*citation needed*]

The god Aroden respected Shelyn because he considered that civilization required high arts to be successful—music, poetry and other art forms—and Shelyn inspired such endeavours.[6]

The evil deities (and most evil creatures) are mostly neutral toward her, although she and Urgathoa frequently argue (and their clergies do tend to get into skirmishes). She and Pharasma tend to have long philosophical debates, which always end when Pharasma points out that beautiful things like flowers grow from dead things (Shelyn has no argument against this). For the most part, evil deities leave Shelyn alone (and by extension, their clergy tend to ignore her clergy). She is not a martial goddess by any stretch and tends to stay as far from battle as possible, thus she has built up no animosity from the evil deities or their followers. To this day, only Rovagug, god of wrath, disaster, and destruction can resist Shelyn's charms at all times. He alone opposes her on any long-term basis.

## Servants

### Worshipers and Clergy

Shelyn encourages creativity and inspires the world. She challenges her faithful to test their limits, share what they create, and delight in the gifts of others. Shelyn preaches (and practices) that true beauty comes from within, and she favors romances not based solely on lust.

Shelyn has been known to offer divine pacts to mortals who finally realize the importance of beauty in the midst of battle. In exchange for a small measure of her divine protection, Shelyn encourages these "foxhole converts" to give every living creature the chance to find the beauty within and leaves them strangely reluctant to strike the first blow in combat.

Knights of Shelyn are devoted to courtly love, but also are at the ready to defend the innocent. Many serve to ease their own pain of hearts broken from loss. They are willing to protect others from experiencing the same heartbreak.

Clerics of Shelyn occasionally begin life as artists or musicians and only later come to serve in her clergy. Those who do not are taught to be musicians (whether on an instrument or by singing) and are also taught an artistic skill (usually drawing, but sometimes painting, sculpting, or even acting and other performance arts). Weapon training, which only occurs for about an hour every other day or so, if at all, builds off motions learned from the acolyte's art or music (paladins frequently practice calligraphy, as the movement of the pen mirrors that of the glaive). Clerics of Shelyn endeavor each day to create something of beauty, whether artistically or through unconventional forms, such as a gardener tending a flower garden.

Her rangers and druids are usually the types who live off the land, content to watch over places of natural beauty or perhaps hire themselves out to lovers in need of a fresh start in a new place.

Quests for Shelyn usually involve rescuing—whether ancient artworks from destruction or star-crossed lovers from their families. They also involve the spreading of art and beauty. Finally, Shelyn occasionally sends followers on generic quests that promote goodness, so she may free another soul.

Formal raiment among Shelyn's clergy include leggings and a long tunic for men and at least calf-length skirts or dresses for women, all tailored to inspire beauty, but not to be too revealing. Most are of reddish hue, although silver and blue are also common.

## Temples and Shrines

Temples to Shelyn are spacious and filled with art and constantly have some kind of music playing within. They tend to be architectural marvels, and architects and builders frequently vie for the honor to build or repair a temple of Shelyn in order to show off their skills. Most settlements have at least a shrine or altar dedicated to Shelyn, but only the largest cities can really afford a dedicated temple.

Rituals dedicated to Shelyn involve singing, regardless of the skill or tone-deafness of the participants. Only those who play a wind or brass instrument (or a chin-set instrument like a violin) are excused from singing. If a ritual cannot be held at a shrine or temple to Shelyn, it should be held in some place surrounded by beauty (natural or man-made).

## Holy Texts

### Melodies of Inner Beauty

The holy text of the church of Shelyn. It contains the history of the goddess, including her family, though drawing a veil over the nastier elements about Zon-Kuthon. It tells stories about Shelyn and discusses her church's dogma. Music is used throughout as many of the tales are set as songs and hymns. Other artistic ways of interpreting the words are also utilized, such as dance and poetry. Other divinely inspired works also exist, some going into more detail about Dou-Bral and Zon-Kuthon.

## Holidays

### Crystalhue

Celebrated on the Winter Solstice. During the day, in towns where the holiday of Crystalhue is celebrated, locals hang crystal prisms and glass baubles throughout town in order to spread light and scatter rainbows in the streets. As townsfolk prepare for the evening festivities, artisans and musicians ply their trades, hoping for a coin or two while they sell their crafts and play tunes for the people while they browse. Throughout the day, the locals exchange small gifts—typically handmade—as tokens of appreciation or as peace offerings to those they feel they wronged during the year.

To reflect artistic depictions of their patron goddess, women dye colored streaks in their hair. Young girls commonly have half a dozen different colored locks, while older married women usually only have one or two. Men wear colorful patchwork coats they call melaros that they keep their whole lives, adding new patches or scraps of scavenged cloth every year.

As night falls, the community gathers every available lantern and candle, bringing them out onto porches or lining the streets with their communal light. The town square hosts a large feast around a bonfire complete with roasted meats, stewed vegetables, roasted root vegetables, and winter squashes—all seasoned with plenty of fragrant spices. Around these bonfires, the clergy of Shelyn perform marriage ceremonies, where the whole community gathers to witness and affirm the bonds of love. During the ceremonies, teenagers pursue their budding romances, giving trinkets and other symbols of their affection to the ones who caught their eye throughout the year.

## Presence on Fynn

Shelyn is worshiped across most of Fynn, though less so in more militaristic places such as Graystone and Blackpost. Any buildings or locations on Fynn dedicated to the arts tend to have shrines to Shelyn nearby if they aren't full temples.