She walked among us as one of us. She healed what could not be healed. She died for those who would not believe her. And she will come again.
Common Solist profession of faith
Kymara is known by many titles - the Sol Anon, the Star of Ages, the Daughter of El Anon, the Healer, the Twice-Martyred. Of all the deities in the Nor'Ovan pantheon, she is the one whose existence is most difficult to dismiss. She did not merely speak through prophets or manifest in visions. She walked on Nor'Ova in mortal form, was known by name to people who wrote about her, healed those who could not be healed by other means, and was killed - publicly, by the authority of a government - in a manner that is historically documented even by sources hostile to her followers.1
This is what separates Kymara from the other deities. El Anon is origin. Zodo is felt. But Kymara was seen. And she is believed to have returned since, and to return again.
Characteristics
Verily I say onto you, the Sol Anon would raise you up, even if no trace of faith can be found in ye. What then would she do for those who believe?
The Yurie Scropa, Book of the Sol Anon
Kymara is gentle and deeply protective. Her chief concerns are the innocent and the souls of the living - specifically keeping those souls from the corruption and claim of Zodo. She is not passive in this. Her gentleness should not be mistaken for softness. Those who have encountered her, or whom she has intervened to protect, consistently describe something that functions much more like fierce, unconditional determination than simple kindness.2
Upon entering the town, Kymara encountered a child no more than the age of 10, fighting off a man three times her age and size seized by the hunger of lust. Without a word, Kymara rushed forth and put herself between the two. Staring down the man with righteous anger she spake, "Retreat now from here, ole captive slave of lust, and renounce your evil ways and surely grace will find you." The man, his hunger far from satisfied, mistook Kymara as another, more appetizing prey and leapt to her. But it was his death that the man leapt to, for within the twinkle of an eye only his ashes remained.
The Yurie Scropa, Book of the Sol Anon
She is, in a sense, the direct theological counterforce to Zodo - not his equal in raw power, but his opposite in every meaningful way. Where Zodo is patient scheming, she is immediate action. Where Zodo takes, she gives. Where Zodo's love for his followers is transactional and ultimately self-serving, hers asks nothing in return and extends even to those who reject her.
Tossing seeds out to the wild birds, Kymara turned to the crowd, "Do not grow jealous of the birds for the crumbs that they receive. To all I shall give, both little and large, both poor and wealthy, both devout and depraved."
The Yurie Scropa, Book of the Sol Anon
Personification
Kymara appears consistently across every documented encounter and account - youthful and innocent in appearance, with long white hair and pure blue eyes. This consistency across wildly different time periods and cultures is remarkable and is frequently cited by her followers as evidence of her divine nature.3
Behold, nations of the world, the poor and the suffering, the rich and thriving. For one full of mercy is to be born amongst you, to walk along side you, and to bleed for all of you. One who comes not in the form of power and glory, but in frailty and innocence.
The Yurie Scropa, Book of the Sol Anon
She reincarnates. This is perhaps her most theologically distinctive characteristic - she does not merely appear in visions or speak through prophets but takes on mortal form, lives a mortal life, and invariably dies a death that her followers describe as sacrificial. The pattern repeats: she is born, she heals, she teaches, she is killed, and she is eventually seen again. Her followers believe this cycle will continue until the final Ablution, when Zodo's promise of a coming reckoning - and El Anon's response to it - resolve the age-long conflict between them.
Listen well, those who have ears to listen, for the time of Ablution shall come, and with it the final reincarnation of the Sol Anon who this time comes not to heal and to teach, but to deliver terrible judgement to the great adversary Zodo.
The Yurie Scropa, Book of the Sol Anon
After her first death, Kymara splintered a part of her spirit to remain with the people of Nor'Ova. That fragment became Ky'Yurei - a lesser goddess in her own right, whose purpose is to comfort the innocent and test the spirits of mortals. Ky'Yurei is to Kymara what Yu Yuri (the Spirit of Zodo) is to Zodo - a permanent spiritual presence in the world that endures even when the main deity is elsewhere. The two - Ky'Yurei and Yu Yuri - are mirror aspects of each other, twin spirits born of parallel processes, one of light and one of shadow.4
As she broke bread and passed it about, Kymara spake, "Much like this bread is broken, so soon will I. But weep not, for as I am now giving you a piece of me, my spirit, the Ky'Yurei, to reside with thee."
The Yurie Scropa, Book of the Sol Anon
Thus Zodo great and mighty broke himself into a portion of six. To the faithful and just he left his spirit, the Yu Yuri, to keep thee.
Incantations of Genesis, Incantation 5, The Divine Incantations
Powers
Kymara's power is that of life and spirit. She can call back those long dead, retrieve souls from Xodod, create new life, heal any wound or illness, and reincarnate. While her powers are not as vast as Zodo's in scale, they are pure and entirely devoted to the service of Nor'Ovans rather than their dominion.
"You are too late," the woman sighed, "My sister, a month it has been since she last drew breath! Why, oh why did you not come then?" Kymara sighed, a tear forming in her eye, "Dear cousin, yet you still doubt me?" She turned to the graveyard and with a commanding voice she spake, "Release onto me, the name I call to thee. Ella, awaken, and come to me." The ground rumbled and from the grave, rose Ella, alive and well with not a blemish to mark her.
The Yurie Scropa, Book of the Sol Anon
The one thing Kymara can do that Yu'Mara - the Life of Zodo, her nearest counterpart - cannot, is free souls. Yu'Mara can recall the long dead. Kymara can release those bound to Xodod. This distinction matters enormously in practice and is the reason why even those who doubt her divinity tend to acknowledge that she is something extraordinary.5
Followers
Kymara's followers are the most numerous of any deity on Nor'Ova, and the most divided. The largest group does not even use her name — they speak only of the Sol Anon, believing that to speak her name aloud risks the enemy using it to deceive them. The strongest believers are not part of any formal church at all. Between these two poles are multiple organized faiths that share a common origin and agree on almost nothing except her importance.
The Church of Sol Anon
The Church of Sol Anon was officially founded in the year 42 of the First Era by Zamma, who became its first Priest Errant and is believed to have been a direct disciple of Kymara during her first mortal life. The Church holds that Kymara is the Sol Anon - the Star of Ages - the daughter of El Anon who came to Nor'Ova to heal its people and whose teachings form the basis of a life well lived. Their scripture is The Yurie Scropa (xodian: "Spirit Scrolls"), a collection of books written by prophets and disciples across the eras.
Their core teachings draw from the Parables of the Sol Anon — love thy neighbor, judge not lest ye be judged, live as Kymara lived in all aspects of life. They believe that all who do not follow these teachings and repent of their sinful ways will, after death, spend eternity in the pits of Xodod. They typically do not speak her name aloud, using only her title, out of fear that Zodo or his agents might exploit the name to deceive the faithful.6
The Church spread underground for centuries under Ascian persecution before emerging as a major force after the fall of the Ascian Empire in year 600 of the First Era. After the Great Magic War and the Breaking of First Era society, the Solists worked to re-establish communities across Nor'Ova, a role that cemented their position as the dominant religious body on the continent.
The Temple of Ky
Founded in year 10 of the Second Era by Angerian refugees from the Church of Sol Anon, the Temple of Ky holds that the Church's relatively loose doctrines were partly responsible for the Great Magic War's devastation of their homeland. They incorporated rites from more extreme El Anon worship and developed stringent daily acts of prayer and public repentance, hoping to earn Kymara's forgiveness and the restoration of Angeria. They do not celebrate birthdays, but do celebrate funerals - viewing death, under Kymara's watch, as a transition rather than an ending. Their approach is considerably stricter than the main Church on questions of personal purity.
The Children of Ablution
Around year 112 of the Second Era, a splinter group within the Temple of Ky became convinced they were seeing signs of Zodo's imminent return. They were excommunicated. Fearing for their lives, they took their families on a pilgrimage through the Paralax Desert, eventually arriving at Cardinal Point, where they found an old sanctuary and felt what they described as divine energy. They settled there. The Children of Ablution have no celebrations and view each day and each possession as temporary. They prepare, pray heavily, and wait for the Ablution they believe is coming. Many outside observers consider them a cult rather than a faith, and note an unsettling doctrinal proximity to certain Zodoist beliefs — a similarity the Children strongly reject.7
Religious Holidays
- Sol's Day — 35th of Afteryule: Celebration of the light of the Sol Anon and the coming of spring.
- Resurrection — 3rd Solas of Narvanye: Commemorating Kymara's resurrection after her first death.
- St. Zamma's Day — 28th of Marpenoth: Honoring the first Priest Errant and founder of the Church.
- St. Kymara's Day — 29th of Marpenoth: The day of Kymara herself. Observed the day after St. Zamma's Day, as the Church teaches that the disciples come before the Sol Anon in service.8
Clerics of Kymara
Priests of Kymara can banish any possession or mind control with the command of their voice alone, provided the target is within four spaces or in the same room. They are themselves immune to possession and mind control. They can also call upon Ky'Yurei to aid them - what form that aid takes is between the priest and Ky'Yurei, and the GM determines the outcome. Priests of Kymara receive a bonus to Spiritual Balance checks when performing Exorcism, and their Reading the Scriptures skill doubles in duration and area of effect.9
Theological Notes
The central dispute concerning Kymara - goddess or mortal prophet - is, as noted elsewhere, the most written-about theological question in Nor'Ovan history.10 The Ardathians hold that she was a great healer and teacher, a mortal woman of unusual gifts, whose followers elevated her to divine status after her death in the same way any admired figure might be. The Church of the Holy Body holds something more complicated - acknowledging that Kymara existed and possessed real power, but attributing that power to Zodo rather than El Anon, and viewing the Sol Anon churches as unwitting instruments of Zodo's designs.11
What is not disputed, even by those who deny her divinity, is that she was real, that she did things that should not have been possible, and that she died badly at the hands of people who feared her. Whether that makes her a goddess is the question. Whether it makes her remarkable is not.
- 1. The Ascian Imperial records of the First Era include administrative documentation of her execution. The records note the charges as "sedition and disruption of public order", which is, as Solist scholars frequently observe, not the language one uses for someone considered a mere eccentric.
- 2. The Yurie Scropa contains at least three accounts of Kymara intervening violently in situations where innocents were threatened. Her followers are sometimes surprised by this. They probably should not be.
- 3. Skeptics note that consistent appearance across cultures could indicate a shared source document rather than multiple independent encounters. The debate continues.
- 4. The theological relationship between Ky'Yurei and Yu Yuri is a subject of considerable fascination and considerable unease among scholars who work across both faiths. They are almost identical in description, purpose, and behavior - one born of light, one of shadow, both present in the world simultaneously. Whether this symmetry is coincidence, design by El Anon, or a consequence of how Zodo was originally made is unknown.
- 5. The ability to free souls from Xodod has significant practical implications in a world where Xodod is real and the Soul of Zodo actively claims them. Priests of Kymara with this power are, accordingly, not universally beloved by those who prefer Xodod well stocked.
- 6. Whether Zodo can actually exploit a spoken name this way is theologically contested. Zodoist scholars find the belief amusing. This has not caused the Solists to change their practice.
- 7. The Children of Ablution reject this characterization vigorously. Their rejection is noted.
- 8. This ordering is itself a subject of minor but persistent internal Church debate.
- 9. Priests of Kymara are among the most sought-after clerics for exorcism work. Priests of Zodo are sometimes also sought for this purpose, which Kymara's priests consider theologically offensive.
- 10. The runner-up, by volume of text produced, is the debate over whether the Paralax Desert's compass-disruption effect is natural, divine, or Zodoist in origin. This is considered a more tractable question, yet remains unsolved.
- 11. This is the position that Solist scholars find most infuriating, as it cannot be straightforwardly refuted - Kymara's power being Zodo's power is an unfalsifiable claim given Zodo's pervasive influence on all magic. The best Solist counter-argument is that Kymara's power consistently opposes Zodo's goals, which seems an odd arrangement if she were his instrument.
