Zest the Enduring

Zest was once the a great tribal god of the Nandi, remembered for his laughter, his booming horn, and his boundless vigor. Even after the rise of Heimos, his cult remained too beloved to fade, and so it was taken into the fold of the Grand Temple. To this day he is honored in festivals, hunts, and games, where the people seek to embody his liveliness and zeal.

Zest is always depicted as a broad-shouldered warrior with flowing red hair and beard, his body marked with painted swirls and stripes of blue, as if he were always ready for battle or feast alike. He carries a great horn from which he drinks and through which he calls his followers to joy. His countenance is open, exuberant, and fierce, embodying life at its fullest pitch.

Zest fathered the gods Bolid and Bohst through two different mortal women, each embodying aspects of his restless and passionate nature. His laughter is said to echo in the crack of thunder, and his breath in the roar of horns at war. The Nandi told that when their people were beset by famine, Zest struck the ground with his fist, and from the earth burst mead, grain, and cattle.

Though his wildness sometimes angered other gods, it was his vitality that secured his place in the Grand Temple. He was seen as the force that keeps mortals from despair, even in the darkest of times. Zest’s rites were loud and communal, celebrated with drinking, music, and contests of strength. Horns and drums were sacred to him, and his sacrifices were always followed by shared feasts. His festivals often blended with seasonal rites, celebrating planting, harvest, or victory.

While originally tribal, Zest was given a place among the greater pantheon as the divine spark of vitality. Priests of the Grand Temple often invoked his name at the beginning of rituals, for they said that no work of worship should be performed without joy.