Lore

Also known as: Time, the Shadow King, the Dream King, the Twilight King, Lord of the Worldshadow, the Never-Fading
One of the trio that makes up the Great Gods of Genesis, Lore is the god of time and darkness and the ruler of the Worldshadow. He's a dark-aligned god and the elder brother of the goddess Eihel.
Once having a close bond with mortals, Lore is now one of the most distant of the gods following the ancient conflict known as the Blood War. He largely takes the role of a passive observer watching the rise and fall of events in the mortal world, though his connection with his timewalkers is still surprisingly personal for a god of his degree of power. He's said to care a great deal for their individual motivations and takes them into his service in order to give them the time to fulfil their driving passions.

Depictions

Of all the Great Gods, Lore's image is most well-defined due to his tendency to meet with his followers in physical form within his domain of the Worldshadow. He is a slender man of indeterminate age, weathered by time but still appearing more youthful as a whole than his individual features would suggest. Depictions of him have a wide range of monotone shades, but he's alternately shown with tanned skin and ash-colored hair or with pale skin and dark hair; he wears nondescript gray clothing under a long, layered dark coat that's hard to place as part of any particular time period. Like many of his followers who live in the Worldshadow for an extended amount of time, his skin seems to be infused with shadow and can sometimes have a smudged, mottled appearance.

Divine Realm

Lore rules over a realm of darkness referred to as either The Worldshadow or the Shadow of the World, which according to generally held beliefs about The Spindle is considered the truest form of reality. The Worldshadow is a place where time stands still, accessible by Lore's followers during the liminal twilight hour at dusk and dawn and serving as their longterm home. In the distant past the Worldshadow was the home to the race that gave rise to both the elves and the vampiric Blood Gods, but they were driven out by Lore in a conflict known as the Blood War. Pitch black and utterly silent, the Worldshadow is not a hospitable place to outsiders and can be a deeply unsettling place to visit.

Followers

Like all the Great Gods, Lore is honored by almost all inhabitants of Genesis and the magical communities of the Old World. He's paid special reverence by people in their old age, who thank him for a long life well-lived and hope for the chance to fulfill their last wishes. While he's not an evil-aligned god by any means, his rule over darkness and the shadows means that he's often worshipped by thieves, assassins, and others who do their business under the cover of night.
Elves tend to feel a special connection to Lore, though they couldn't say why.

Chosen Servants

Lore's dedicated servants are known as timewalkers and are mortals who form a pact with the god, pledging their service to Lore's wishes in exchange for a vastly extended lifespan that can theoretically extend into immortality. Timewalkers petition the god with a wish or desire that they need time to see fulfilled; if Lore accepts them, they take up residence in the timeless Worldshadow and their aging process halts accordingly, advancing only during time that they spend in the real world. This means that they could feasibly live forever so long as they never leave the Worldshadow, though most live out their life in small spans of time in service to the god and will choose to return to the world to live out their days once they fulfill whatever condition caused them to make a pact in the first place.
Timewalkers are typically skilled warriors or mages, taking the infinite time at their disposal to perfect their skills. In addition to travelling back and forth between the real world and the Worldshadow during the twilight hour, they can also make instantaneous 'jumps' between shadows over short distances. They see well even in total darkness and often have heightened senses. When paired with a Hound of Eihel, as they often are as their duty to Lore, a timewalker's abilities well-complement their partners and make an extremely effective fighting pair.
Though not a timewalker, Lore has another significant servant in the immortal being known as the Scribe. A surviving member of the original vampire race, his identity (or existence in general) is known to very few; he hasn't left the Worldshadow in so long that he's been fundamentally change by the inherent magics of the place, and survives only through the protection Lore offers him. The Scribe's purpose is to record the events of the world as seen through a powerfully magical scrying pool that he serves as guardian and caretaker to.

Worship Practices and Holy Days

Though he is a major god, Lore doesn't have many temples; they'll generally only be found in major cities, though smaller settlements may often have a shrine dedicated to him. It's generally thought that since Lore's domain underlies the entirety of the world, all prayers made in darkness reach his ears, and prayers to Lore are made during twilight, nighttime, or while standing in shadow accordingly. Timewalkers and those who feel a special bond with the god will often carry or wear a black pearl on a string to symbolize their devotion.
Lore's sacred time is twilight, particularly the twilight as the sun sets, and his holy day is the long night of Midwinter. Universally celebrated within Genesis and the magical communities of the Old World, Midwinter's Night involves staying up from sunset to sunrise. While the majority of the night involves revelry, a large communal meal, and storytelling, the darkest hour before sunrise is a time for silence, prayer, and quiet reminiscence when all lights are extinguished. While falling asleep during this hour isn't uncommon (particularly following a night of celebration), the god isn't thought to take this as a slight; after all, the Worldshadow is thought to be the realm to which the mind descends while dreaming, so there's little difference between spending this hour asleep or awake. Celebrations conclude once the sun has fully lifted from the horizon, and the next day is often spent quietly with the family.
Interestingly enough, this Midwinter Celebration holds many parallels with the celebration to the Immortal Flame held by the Seraphs on the same night, though Lore's celebration embraces the darkness rather than the Flame's celebration is in defiance of the darkness.

Associated Mythology

ECHOES OF WORLDS PAST
wip

Holy Symbol

LORE
god of time and darkness
dark-aligned