Valereth, the Lover

"Life can be quite droll if you allow it to be. Why choose boredom?"

God of summer, love, arts, and trickery (malicious and playful), Valereth is known as the Lover due to his relationship with Alindr. Despite the neutrality of They Who Know, Valereth famously cracked their shell and became their lover, and the two had a powerful connection that is an integral idea of the mortal condition: love and passion can be tempered and enhanced by knowledge and logic, and the same is true for the opposite.
In truth, Valereth wears many hats. Valereth has his official domains, but there are many things tangential to those which he is credited with. Chief among those are Freedom and Deception. The former is due to the shackleless life Valereth epitomizes; people harken to him hoping to remove the fetters keeping them from becoming their truest self. The latter is taken from his trickery domain, having deceived even the Obsidian Lords into fighting one another during the Reckoning.

Depictions, Symbols, and Names

Valereth is often depicted as a gorgeous, androgynous elf of lean, nude body, lithe form, and beautiful face. He usually has long, flowing hair that wreathes his body and flows behind him like a stream. For both of his most common forms, see the bottom of the article.
Valereth's depiction sometimes changes based off the racial heritage of the temple or artwork he is shown in, adapting to the likings of the race in question (i.e., an orcish following of Valereth may see him as a muscular orc man with strong features, while a dwarvish following of Valereth sees a burly dwarf with braided beard and thick hair). And the fact of the matter is that none of these are wrong. Valereth could take any racial features or gender he desired, switching as his lust saw fit.
Valereth's symbol is known as the "loops of sexuality." The largest circle is the Lover's Eye, looped through the top of which is the Loop of the Mind. Arrayed along the bottom of the Eye are the Three Loops of Love. They are, from left to right: Lust, Attraction, and Attachment, each representing a stage of love in a relationship. Valereth's symbol is rarely simplified, though when put on love charms or symbols of virility, it will sometimes be portrayed as only the Loops of Love or the Lover's Eye and the Loop of the Mind.
Valereth is chiefly known as Valereth or the Lover, though he has also been called Lust, Freedom, and the Essence of Virility.

Ancient Home

Valereth called Sylthereth his home, where he slept, partied, and partook in many sins of the flesh within a beautiful hot springs known as Lover's Lake. The hot springs have since cooled, and the feasting halls lie empty, as Valereth's god-spirit attempts to heal.

Worship Distribution

While Valereth might not have as many devout worshippers as, say, Yamma, there are few mortals who haven't at least prayed to him once or twice. Whether it's looking for a cure for impotence or dedicating an Imperial orgy to him, lovers across Yophas praise and petition Valereth for higher passions and greater pleasures; however, even if people pray to him for it, Valereth does not bless or reinforce excesses of anything. Too many civilizations have fallen to the vices of unchecked hedonism -- Valereth is for passion, not for overwhelming selfish gain.
Another strong following of Valereth is found in the downtrodden or repressed. To many, Valereth represents the epitome of freedom. From slaves to people with dead-end lives, mortals that are -- or feel -- shackled will pray to Valereth for the ability to live their lives passionately and freely.

Champions of Valereth

Champions of Valereth are known as a Muse of Summer, and are typically chosen when the world is either in a period of great strife and sorrow and/or there are large cultural movements towards totalitarianism/general repression. There has not been a Muse of Summer in the Age of Extant, but one is known from the Reckoning.
After their deaths, Muses of Summer become Muses of specific domains whom Valereth worshippers may entreat.

• Alyndra, High Priestess of Summer. A great champion of Valereth during the Reckoning, Alyndra wielded Lover's Dichotomy and deceived the Obsidian Lords themselves with her illusions. Thieves and illusionists entreat her as the Muse of Trickery.

Divine Domains

Valereth is the god of summer, love, passion, and trickery (malicious and playful). Clerics following him often belong to the Ambition, Artistry, Life, Nature, and Trickery domains, while Paladins will swear Oaths of Devotion, Fervor, Glory, Redemption, and the Ancients.

COMMANDMENTS OF VALERETH

• Love is the zest of life. Don't close your heart off to it, but also respect yourself enough to admit when it fails.
• Bring joy where there is sorrow, passion where there is boredom.
• There is no harm in a good joke. And sometimes, a deceitful blow is more helpful than an honorable joust.

Valereth's Holy Symbol

Methods of Worship

There are two primary ways to worship Valereth: love-making, and genuine prayer in temples (though those can sometimes overlap). The former is simple -- people will dedicate their relationships, their loves, and their lusts to Valereth, in the hopes that he blesses them with true love and pleasurable sex. The latter is as varied as the first, but can be more complicated. It can involve anything from simple prayers and marriage rites to complex relationship blessings and the like.

Holy Day

On Traeliorn 4, Engarthiel (the Summer Equinox), the Lover's holy day is celebrated. Dubbed the Feast of New Life, this holiday is equal parts fertility festival and general celebration of passion and life; however, certain things vary depending on the culture and the size of the settlement hosting celebrations. In some places, the Feast is an orgy in which all sorts of people sleep with all sorts of other people, everyone partaking in all sorts of sexual desires, while others take a more toned down approach.

Ancient Foes and Allies

Valereth hated Xael and its Withered above all other things in the Reckoning. Xael represented atrophy in all things, including the annihilation of emotions. Valereth's greatest followers are ever-vigilant against the Withered, fearing what may come of their atrophic corruption.
Alindr and Valereth's followers have a form of kinship and respect, on account of their gods' relationship. And, in most healthy societies, followers of Valereth are welcome always -- where there is sorrow, they bring joy; boredom, pleasure.

Valereth's Pathfinder 2e Stat Block

Valereth

The Lover

God of summer, love, arts, and trickery; he/them

Divinity

• Realm Sylthereth
• Allies Alindr, Yamma, Isael, Syluru
• Relations Alindr (partner)
• Enemies The Obsidian Lords; occasionally Laianath, Kaedo (rivals, not enemies)
• Divine Attribute Dexterity or Intelligence

Religion

Edicts love and be loved, strive for passion in all you do, participate in or aid the arts

Anathemas be apathetic or lack compassion, hamper or work against the arts, be hateful towards those that have not earned it

Symbol the Loops of Sexuality (see article above for description)

Temples temples, brothels, artisan workshops/studios

Sacred Colors purple and pink

Holy Days the Feast of New Life (fertility festivals and/or festivals of passion, arts, and joy), Valereth's Rebirth (day of dedication to Valereth, day of art- or love-making for some)

The Faithful

Cleric Spells 1st: fashionista or illusory object (choose one; cannot change), 2nd: invisibility or phantasmal treasure, 3rd: veil of privacy, 4th: aromatic lure, 5th: synesthesia, 6th: aura of the unremarkable, 7th: duplicate foe, 8th: scintillating pattern or uncontrollable dance, 9th: overwhelming presence

Divine Font heal or harm

Divine Sanctification can choose holy

Divine Skill Deception

Domains Ambition, Change, Confidence, Creation, Family, Freedom, Indulgence, Introspection, Passion, Secrecy, Trickery

Favored Weapon bladed hoop

Valereth's Masculine Form

Valereth's Feminine Form