Inossa

The blind and mute pretender goddess of sexual love, female fertility and warfare; Inossa was a matron deity of ancient Rath. 

Inossa was the daughter of Heimos by way of Isabel, a common camp follower. Heimos did not recognize the paternity of his own daughter and came close to accepting her seductive overtures when she reached adulthood. Heimos cursed her attempt by removing her tongue and cursing her with blindness. 

Heinil

The son of Heimos and Ranay, Heinil imagined himself the god of the air. It is well-documented that he was able to fly. He was also recognized as the patron of Peakshadow, though his cult paled next to that of Ninlee, his wife and sister.

A fierce protector, he is seen the fury of the storm and the gales of Winter. He is not known for his mercy and kindness to mortals.

Heiniko

The son of Heimos and Ranay, Heiniko imagined himself the god of the sea. He was also the patron of male fertility and of scholars.

He was the patron of Watersedge.

Heimos

"When the chariot had come to rest upon the Aksus, Heimos, captain of the Princes, looked out upon the world of Erenth and declared that if man should heed their counsel, then the Princes would reward them. In return, the Princes would be as gods to them and protect them and keep them safe. And the people who were gathered there said, "Let it be," and paid obeisance."

In the earliest records Heimos is described as a tall, broad-shouldered man with bright blue eyes that seemed to burn with undying fire. He kept the company of six formidable Northrun warriors and two-score fawning Fahrish sycophants, including a half dozen wives (all pregnant) that he guarded with no little jealousy. At that time no mention is made of any supernal power beyond having a commanding voice and being possessed of great personal charm.

The next mention occurs in the records of Menea five years later. In 3749ey a great battle is described in which Heimos, now called the Conjurer and also named the Lord of Lightning, kills or puts to flight a company of Menes who outnumbered his forces. In 3774ey Heimos is made the king of the Meneans and Talireans -- ruling both kingdoms through vassal earls from his island redoubt. 

Heimos is eventually named the Patron and Protector of All Nations (of Westrun.) Records indicate that all but one of his six wives died in childbirth. Ranay lived to give him three children. All of his offspring were raised by his devoted followers and a kind of priesthood they developed toward that cause. By all accounts, the children of Heimos were quick to anger and difficult to control. Each of them was called a conjurer and wonder-worker, like their sire, and that made their easily roused anger a dangerous thing.

They became agents of unpredictability and violence. From the first, each showed even less interest than Heimos in having control of armies and land. Rather, each enjoyed the tribute and accolades heaped on them by the men of Westrun and each developed their own cult of personality.

Sometimes called the Lost Centuries, the years between 3800ey and 4100ey are filled with fantastical tales of the works of Heimos and his offspring. There are records of battles but the casus belli for each amounts to the offense of one god or goddess against another. There are also strange inversions of cause and effect in which certain of the line of Heimos are claimed to be the parents of ancient tribal heroes of the Nandi, now divinized.

In 4122ey after three centuries of direct involvement in the affairs of men the gods of Westrun were summoned to Ochre Island by their father and grandfather Heimos. While the sire of the gods had suspended his own activities among men for more than fifty years and entered a kind of reclusive retirement, the sometimes murderous and rapacious deeds of his children continued. These deeds were noised abroad and the worst of them eventually made their way to his redoubt.

The Priesthood taught that the Divine Recession was the prohibition by Heimos for any of his children, or children's children to personally leave Ochre Island under any circumstances. Under a kind of house arrest, he mandated that mankind would have to appeal to their gods for favors using the Invitatory Court or through messages delivered by the High Priesthood, who alone could travel to and from Ochre Island on the Consecrant Vessels.

Eighteen years after the Divine Recession, in the Fall of 4140ey the construction of the Grand Temple of Heaven began and the physical rule of the Pretenders became a religion instead.

Beddas the Diseased

Heimos took Caliah from the home of her father and he took her against her will. By her he had Morven and she was slain by the having of that child. When Morven was grown, she followed the manner of her father and abducted Guffrey, and made him her prisoner. Guffrey sired Beddas, Morven's son. But the child was sickly and like unto death. 

Then Morven appealed to Reme, promising to never again work evil among the mortals of the world. Along with his mother's promises, Reme took pity on the newborn child, and gave him a magical ring imbued with her own healing power. But as Beddas aged, it became apparent that Morven worked her evil through her son, and in this manner his sicknesses returned, though he could not succumb to them. 

Beddas appears as a living nightmare in his true form. He is pox ridden and his skin is covered with sores and open wounds. He smells of rotting flesh and sometimes leaves pieces of himself behind when passing. He is in a state of continually dying. However, he has the magical ring of Reme (regeneration) which is able to counteract his appointed death.

The touch of Beddas can inflict any disease known. And he delights in afflicting children, especially. As long as he is present, a disease will progress abnormally fast. Out of gratitude to Reme, however, he will not remain where her name is invoked, or her symbol is displayed.

Beddas also cannot stand the bright sun or any wind of gentle breeze or faster, either of which causes sufficient damage to negate his ring of regeneration. Such conditions will cause his form to dissipate. For that reason, he prefers darkness, dampness and fetid air.

History of Man -- Book 1: Westrun Part 7

At the dawn of the 37th century there were no fewer than 25 kings in Westrun. The first forty years recorded the many disputes between petty kings who were vying for control of the land and resources within their controlled borders. But the hallmark of this time was not contests between men, but rather the rise of the gods later called the Decadon or the Pretenders.

3744ey is the first recorded instance of Heimos in Westrun. Notwithstanding that date, the Priesthood of Westrun would come to teach that Heimos and the other gods arrived on Erenth almost seven centuries earlier. Their arrival was said to be in a fiery chariot whose descent could be seen in the night sky for a fortnight. The same records would claim that the entire pantheon came to end the rule of the Vyrum and to usher in the glorious new age of man. However, in the still extant writing of Gys, first Magi of the King of Bolden, there is another version.

In those early records Heimos is described as a tall, broad-shouldered man with bright blue eyes that seemed to burn with undying fire. In that telling he kept the company of six formidable Northrun warriors and two-score fawning Fahrish sycophants, including a half dozen wives (all pregnant) that he guarded with no little jealousy. At that time no mention is made of any supernal power beyond having a commanding voice and being possessed of great personal charm.

According to the records of Gys, this same Heimos contracted with the Boldish king for a handsome annual payment of silver to be able to settle his pilgrim band in the wilds of Ochre Island. Within a few weeks of the first payment being made, however, the silver was revealed to be some sort of temporary enchantment which disappeared. All subsequent attempts for the king to collect were met with misfortune and violence.

The next mention occurs in the records of Menea five years later. In 3749ey a great battle is described in which Heimos, now called the Conjurer and also named the Lord of Lightning, kills or puts to flight a company of Menes who outnumbered his forces. In 3774ey Heimos is made the king of the Meneans and Talireans -- ruling both kingdoms through vassal earls from his island redoubt. 

Of course, multiple records from 3752ey are extant. All declare that Heimos is named the Patron and Protector of All Nations (of Westrun.) He has a total of 25 earls beneath him each of whom he anoints in a public ceremony in the shallows where the Brownbeck meets the Sea. A grand manse with stately columns is erected on Ochre Island and the Invitatory Court is erected across from it on the mainland. It is here that the earls meet with their liege to receive direction, but Heimos is content to let the earls have autonomy as long as their tribute is paid, preferring to rule his island alone.

Further records indicate that all but one of his six wives died in childbirth. Ranay lived to give him three children. All of his offspring were raised by his devoted followers and a kind of priesthood they developed toward that cause. By all accounts, the children of Heimos were quick to anger and difficult to control. Each of them was called a conjurer and wonder-worker, like their sire, and that made their easily roused anger a dangerous thing.

In the early years Heimos made no secret of his plan to install his children in the place of his earls and use them to usher in a era of peace in Westrun. But his offspring proved to be uncontrollable well into adulthood. They became agents of unpredictability and violence. From the first, each showed even less interest than Heimos in having control of armies and land. Rather, each enjoyed the tribute and accolades heaped on them by the men of Westrun and each developed their own cult of personality.

Alone among the kingdoms of Westrun, the Southwest tribes still contended with the successors of the Urok, the so-called Goblins. The most powerful of them, the Aras, were annihilated utterly. The warriors of the Aras were slain to the very man. The wives and children of the Aras were carried off as spoils and slaves. The remaining tribes on the plains (Du and Ren) sought shelter at Balsrest and unified their tribes under King Belos Thunderhooves, thereafter calling themselves and their city by the names of their tribal gods: Balduren.

The Princes of Erenes VII: The Contest of Heimos and Ris

In due time, Ris came to Westrun and settled there among the people, then Heimos came after. And the two quarreled for the company of Kels who had put aside by Lamon. For Ris desired that she accompany him wherever he roamed, but Heimos desired her since the dance she had made for him. 

A great feud grew between the Princes until they lashed out in their fury. The fields burned with their anger and an entire forest was swept away. A hill were flattened and a mountains was brought low. The people of Westrun were frightened and begged the Princes to refrain from their battle, but they did not relent. Finally, Kels intervened between the Princes and beguiled them from their anger. With a drum in one hand and fire in the other, she charmed them promised them both what they most desired. 

Kels said that Ris could remain on one side of the sea and Heimos on the other. And as for the water between them, it would belong to Kels herself and above its waves she would dance in full sight of both of them. So the great pact was struck and in return for the Peace of the Gods, the people honored Kels with a great procession and a spectacle at its end, which is repeated every year during the Festal season. 

The Princes of Erenes V: The Wandering of Lamon

After taking his leave of Heimos and putting aside his wife, Lamon went into the Land of Northrun and there became known by the strength of his own hand. He became a great chieftain and a chief among all the chieftains. His ships numbered in the hundreds and his war parties numbered in the tens of thousands and his Hall was the greatest among all of the clans. He won battles beyond counting and made raids without number. Lam the Mighty the Northruners called him, and Black Death besides.

But the people of the North were stubborn and received him not as a prince of Erenes, nor did they consider him a god.

"We know only the Creator and the Glorious Lady," they said, "For we are taught by people of old and we would revere no other, even to the point of death."

So Lamon left aside his ships and war parties and Hall. Out into the countryside he went as a wanderer, seeking the Creator and the Glorious Lady of whom it was spoken. Into every Land he went, chasing the gods of humans and inhumans alike, until he returned to his Hall on Tirgus Holm and found it roofless and windswept. 

In despair, Lamon burned it and his ships, renouncing all his deity, wealth and fame, and became a hermit. He lives still, it is said, wandering from place to place in search of a goddess of the Northrun people, and granting boons to those who are wise enough to recognize him and circumspect enough to keep his secret.

The Princes of Erenes III: The Seduction of Heimos by Kels

Now Kels was the wife of Lamon and the sower of chaos. She was a being of surpassing beauty and loved to dance. So Lamon hid her behind veils, lest others espy her and become enamored of her. Beside her bed he chained the darkling hounds and bid them to watch over her.

 

Now Angest was lame but had eight eyes and they were set in a ring upon his head so that he could see in all directions at once. And Angor was blind but had eight legs, which meant he could run faster than any prince or creature. Together the two stood watch on the bed of Lamon and kept Kels captive.

But Kels often fed the hounds from her own plate and so earned their trust. She was able to tame them despite their massive jaws and sharp teeth. On the night that the princes left Heimos, she was able to bind the Hounds with her veils. She bound the eyes of Angest and the legs of Angor and slipped out of the bed of Lamon. She went naked into the presence of Heimos and there, she danced.

Heimos was filled with lust for Kels and in the darkness of the night he made vain promises to her. The captain of the princes promised to spare his kindled wrath against the other princes and to allow each to go their own way into the Four Lands. When Heimos saw who it was that he promised, he chased her from his chamber promising her death.

So Kels returned to Lamon, her husband, but Lamon was wroth for the binding of his hounds and he put aside his wife. Then he cursed the men of Erenth saying, that whosoever would lay with Kels would become blind, and a eunuch forever.

So it was that Kels came to be with Ris, who was the eldest and most infirm of all the princes and beyond the siring of children.

The Princes of Erenes II: The Counsel of Heimos and the Deicide of Brand

When the chariot had come to rest upon the Aksus, Heimos, captain of the Princes, looked out upon the world of Erenth and declared that if man should heed their counsel, then the Princes would reward them. In return, the Princes would be as gods to them and protect them and keep them safe. And the people who were gathered there said, "Let it be," and paid obeisance.

Then to demonstrate their love and their trust, the Princes set aside the robes of their magnificence and the mantles of their regency; and they stepped foot upon the Aksus as if they were only the peers of men. But the kings of that time were savages and unlearned. They were jealous of the Princes incomparable wisdom and jealous of their luminous beauty and jealous of their immense power.

"If these Princes of Erenes come among us," they said, "we will have no more power forever."

So the kings of men attacked the princes and speared Brand, who was as a son to Heimos, the captain of the Princes. This kindled a great fury in Heimos who put on his robe of magnificence and the mantle of his regency. Then he raged with thunder and lightning and slew all of the kings who had come to him to pay obeisance.

Then the Princes of Erenes gathered around and their grief was great for the broken body of Brand, but the fear of their captain was even greater. 

"Let us each go out into the Four Lands, and tame the lords and kings of men, for they know only evil which they have learned from the Vyrum. Let us therefore go among them and show them a better way."

But Heimos could not be consoled in his wrath. He placed the body of his son, Brand, on a pyre made from the chariot and burned it upon the Aksus, while the princes slipped away in the darkness to fulfill their plan.

Mykrojurs went to the Land of Eastrun. Lamon went to Northrun, Umirra went to Southrun, Ris went to Westrun.

Canon 40: The Tenth Contest - Against Heimos

So came the final contest. Heimos rose from his redoubt on Ochre Island. He came with thunder at his call and lightning in his hand. He boasted: “By my voice I command nations; by my power I strike down hosts; by my seed I have given gods to the earth. Who shall gainsay me?”

But Gamasiel answered: “You are no god, Heimos, but a man who has clothed himself in terror and deceit. The lightning you brandish is not yours, but the fire of heaven you have stolen and misused. The children you claim are no more than shadows of your vanity. And the nations you boast of ruling are weary of your tyranny.”

At this Heimos cast his bolts, but they fell harmless, for the heavens obey not the thief. His voice thundered, but the wind carried it away, for the word of man is dust before the Word of the Creator. His eyes burned with fire, but they dimmed, and his followers saw only a fading spark.

Then was Heimos judged: the last and greatest pretender, silenced and shown as nothing. His children remained bound to their island, no longer lords but prisoners of their own name. From that day, their reign as gods was ended, and their temples became the shrines of memory rather than the houses of power.

Thus ended the tenth contest, and with it the false dominion of the Decadon.