Tanneth

*"Tanneth is the duality of the world. They are the bark of the great tree, and the claws of the bear that marks it. They are the flock of sheep and the pack of wolves. They are the cloistered scholar, the wild hermit, the inspired philosopher and the stern mother. They are the galvanising leader and the dedicated follower. They are mundane chores of a bustling household and the extravagant magicks of the beyond."*
**Tanneth** *(/'tænɛθ/)*; also known as the Shifting God, the Changing One, They of Many Faces and the Owl; is one of the four lunar bodies orbiting Cato Vilo, and is one of The Four. They are globally worshipped as the deity of nature, magic, academia and community, and embody the element of Earth. Tanneth is portrayed as either gender, believed to be either both at once, or neither at all.

## Lunar Body

Tanneth is the second largest of the lunar bodies, shining with a soft, scintillating glow that shifts in colour between green, blue, silver and purple, similar to an opal. They cycle through their phases faster than any other moon, and is visible in the night sky throughout Cato Vilo at most times during the year, the exceptions being periods of their 'new moon' phase.

## Portfolio

Tanneth's portfolio is the most varied of The Four, and includes arcana, academia, diplomacy, community, hospitality, agriculture, nature and the home. They teach their followers to be good to one another, the world, and everything in it. To respect nature's power, revere its beauty and fear its fury. To seek truth and wisdom, to ask and to understand. Tanneth favours the curious, and scorns the ignorant. Tanneth's followers tend to fall into the domains of Arcana, Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Order, or Peace.

## Worship

Tanneth is worshipped globally as one of the major deities of the Cato Vilan pantheon, though some cultures focus more on certain aspects over others. Overall, Tanneth is a patron of hunters, farmers, artists, musicians, diplomats, scholars, philosophers, mages, homemakers, families and communities. Elvish cultures show particular reverence to Tanneth as an ancestral god, placing them as the chief deity of The Four. Tabaxi culture embodies the curiosity that Tanneth represents, and much of tabaxi culture is based off of their teachings. In Halfling culture, Tanneth's link to hospitality, community and domesticity are at the forefront of their worship, and many halflings place Tanneth as a chief deity alongside Tilo.

## Cultural Interpretations

### Depictions

Tanneth is most commonly depicted as a green or purple or to represent their physical lunar body. The majority of human and elvish cultures favour this simplistic depiction, as well as intricate knotwork patterns of trees, books or gems. Other, more physical depictions of Tanneth interpret them as an androgynous being, somewhat elven in appearance, with brown or green skin, green or purple eyes, and heavily braided hair of either brown, green or purple. Some elven interpretations show Tanneth's duality visually, splitting them so that one half has green skin and one brown eye, and the other half has purple skin and one golden eye. This is to show the duality of natural and arcane. In tabaxi culture, Tanneth is a brown-furred cat with one green eye and one purple eye, whose fur changes hue with the seasons. Leonin interpretations have Tanneth as a split between a lion and a lioness, complete with half of a mane that only covers one side of their head. Humanoid representations of Tanneth are almost always shown dressed in fine robes, most often a rich royal purple adorned with gold, though some show them in green velvet or simple brown fabric. Most physical depictions have Tanneth wielding a staff of gnarled wood, topped with a crystal focus. Tanneth is depicted with complete androgyny, having no distinct gender as they move fluidly between the two, much like Cato Vilo changes with the seasons. It is in fact suggested that Tanneth's proclivity for change is *why* Cato Vilo experiences an annual seasonal cycle.

### Personality

In The Monomyth, Tanneth is shown to have an insatiable curiosity that is tempered by their wisdom.

## Interactions

As a major deity, Tanneth is capable of interactions with mortals, though they rarely get involved with them directly, preferring instead to spectate and study them. Tanneth will answer the prayers of those they believe to be truly in earnest.