Veyn the Beautiful

Veyn the Beautiful was remembered first among the Fahrish tribes as a goddess of beauty and desire. In her earliest hymns she is not praised for her gifts to mortals, but for her radiance reflected back upon herself. “She is her own mirror,” the chants say, “and she burns with the flame of her own perfection.”

Where her brother Vyel governed the end of things, Veyn governed the illusion of permanence—youth that never fades, loveliness that does not wrinkle, admiration that turns ever inward. She was adored, but also feared, for her worshippers whispered that those who loved her most were doomed to be hollowed, left chasing a beauty that did not return their gaze.

When her cult was drawn into the Grand Temple of Heaven, the scribes softened her sharper edges, presenting her as a radiant daughter of Heimos, patroness of brides and maidens, a bringer of delight. Yet in private, astrologers admitted her worship had always carried a darker mirror. To follow Veyn was to risk becoming consumed by longing for one’s own reflection.

Her earliest presence predates Heimos, and this is the riddle of her worship. The Fahrish sang of her centuries before the gods of Westrun rose, describing her as a being who “walked the hills alone, desiring none but herself.” Some suggest she is a remnant of an older spirit, perhaps a shard of creation that turned inward rather than outward. Others claim she is not truly of Heimos at all, but only bound to his lineage by later priests who could not abide a goddess unmoored from heaven.

Veyn is depicted as a woman of flawless youth, sometimes half-hidden by veils or mirrors. Her eyes are said to catch the gaze of the viewer and turn it back upon them, so that to look upon her is to see one’s own longing reflected, magnified, and made unbearable.

Rites to Veyn were performed with mirrors, pools of water, and veils. Her priests were famed for their charisma and accused by rivals of vanity, but they claimed that to reflect beauty was to honor Veyn. Offerings were perfumes, combs, glass, pearls, and silks—all things meant to adorn and please the eye.

Lovers who swore vows in her name found their passion bright but short-lived, for Veyn’s gift is always fleeting.

It is said she once stood before the sun itself and demanded to know who was more radiant. The sun smiled, but did not answer.

Some prophecies warn that when Veyn casts aside her veil for the last time, the world will be consumed in a beauty so perfect it unravels all lesser forms.