Tyreos

Tyreos , the Unbroken (a.k.a. the Protector, the Shielded Smile)

Be one in his boundless grace, or drown in his unending waters.

— follower of Tyreos

Tyreos the Unbroken is one of the newest deities to obtain the role of divinity. He is of no known modern pantheon, due to his unique circumstances, and dwells in his Sanctum of the Graceful Tide on an unending ocean within the peace of Nirvana.

Sanctum of the Graceful Tide by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Formerly the shattered Shard known as the Earth-Mother's Gift, Tyreos was restored to his divine existence by the the Lost Ones after a lengthy battle in the Sea of Souls. He had not expected to be restored, and especially not by the will of mortalkind; while Tyreos has always loved the fleeting brilliance of mortal life, he now holds those of Istralar in far greater regard for what they and their planet have offered him.
He is a peaceful, just deity that represents the undying spirit of life. He not only stands for the protection of mortals, but also for their free will and change.
It is said that in his first ascension, he gathered the oceans and saw them draped over worlds as blankets to grant life protection from the brilliant heat of the sun, and that he spent much of the early days of creation with mortals themselves rather than secluding himself in the heavens like many of his kin. These acts granted him his connection to the oceans, a gift from the worlds he sought to care for.

His sundering came as a direct result of his divine purpose to protect, as he took up arms against friends and foes alike to defend mortal rights. Though his side would eventually, milennia after his destruction, come to see the result they had fought for, Tyreos was long destroyed before arcane magic was freely able to be used. Now that he stands in his divine realm once again, he gladly offers sanctuary to non-divine mages who are persecuted for their abilities, and is seeking a Herald that may intervene on his behalf.

Dogma

Speak for those who cannot make their voices heard. Be the sword and shield they wish you to be.

— tenets of Tyreos

Tyreos is an older deity who carries a great brightness and wisdom with him, tempered by the grief he carries for his lost partner. His divine allies and servitors share this quiet grief with him, letting it temper the edge of blades that might otherwise jump into frays with reckless abandon. Yet they carry, too, the light with them - the joy of life and living, the beauty of the ever-changing world. He speaks of love for mortality, and his followers listen in rapt attention to the tales of folk that might otherwise blink out of memory in an instant.

Followers of the Shielded Smile, whether mortal or not, are protectors to the core. Celebrating life is part of their duty, for they too live, but they must also strive to defend those around them. This does not necessarily need to be in the form of physical defence, though many of Tyreos's most ardent followers are the type to have been paladins or warpriests in their mortal lives. Simply speaking up and stopping injustice is enough.
The teachings Tyreos advocates for do not end at sapience. He cares deeply for the natural world and counts himself as owing a strong life-debt to Istralar in particular (though most mortals do not quite know that part).
Thus, his followers are encouraged to explore nature's gifts and see them taken care of for this generation and all that may follow. Nature is a precious thing, and this deity of protection would ensure the planet's bounty is shielded by his wings just as much as the mortals that live upon it are.

Faithful of Tyreos by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

History

Mortal wars themselves are complex beasts; consider, then, the difference between mortals and divinities. There is a reason none will answer your questions in-depth. You see the survivors and the remnants; you do not see all that was lost. Your world survived. Be glad of that.

— Tyreos to the Lost Ones

Tyreos was one of the ancient deities lost in the Second Divine War. He, along with the other deities that now comprise the Shards of the Void, stood up for the mortals he wished to protect in the universe-spanning conflict over whether mortals could be permitted to keep the magic they had obtained. The names and faces of each and every one of his fallen allies, both those that are now Shards and those that are simply gone, are lost to the veils of secrecy and silence that the rest of divinity placed over the war when it eventually came to an end.

the Earth-Mother's Gift by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

His influence over mortal religion was deliberately scoured away, his place taken in mortal stories by other deities with similar enough beliefs. For all intents and purposes, he was dead, and his partner dead with him.
Whatever events transpired to turn him into a Shard are not known to mortalkind. The gods are silent on the topic, and attempts to uncover the truth seem highly dangerous to the psyche, even for Champions. Indeed, the gods have even claimed mortals as Champions to shield them from the consequence of even a speck of this forbidden knowledge.
As the Earth-Mother's Gift, Tyreos was active throughout history in the role of a twisted protector, consuming mortal lives to offer a corrupt protection to his wearers. At some point past the year 5000 EA, he triggered Gaia's Lament, causing the entire continent of Takawaoku to gradually lose its concept of time and suffer under serious magical restrictions. The death of the Gemstone of Life only worsened the Lament's intensity.

The Gift, as Tyreos then was, called out to Chandna of Shiar, a brilliant psychic mage desperate for solutions to her nation's suffering. Through her, the Gift could target the land's avatar; through her, the Gift claimed control over entirely too much.

Fortunately, the the Lost Ones, champions of deities that may have fought alongside or against Tyreos themselves, were able to intervene. They halted Chandna's plans to plunge the world into an eternally peaceful dream, and turned the leyline nexus at the heart of the Sea of Souls onto a weakened Earth-Mother's Gift.
With the sheer ley power present, the sacrifice of a demigod, and the concentrated power of many Champions, the adventurers were finally able to shatter the Gift's control of the land's avatar. The land was freed, and lent its aid to the combined efforts of Champions and gods to do the impossible: to reverse the calamity that had befallen Tyreos so many years ago.
To save a Shard. To restore the god. To free Tyreos, and allow him to live once more.
Though his beloved partner, the deity that became the Gemstone of Life, is seemingly forever gone from him now, Tyreos is otherwise reborn due to the actions of these brave heroes.

Gaia, the Land by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Old allies now recall him where they could not; close friends that still live have already gathered in his realm, aiding him in his return to a life free of the bleak torment a Shard experiences. Tyreos shall not be a god that returns with haste and spreads brimstone on those that once scorned him; he instead returns with patience and grace, each day shadowed by the oceans of grief that threaten to drown even a god.

Appearance

Shattered Grace by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

The ocean's depths hold secrets that the sun must be content never to touch.

— tenets of Tyreos

No god appears the same from one day to the next, and Tyreos is not one to break from that convention. His favoured depiction is as a human-like man with cascades of ocean-blue hair, luminescent blue eyes, and sun-kissed brown skin whose six blue feathered wings belie his divine nature if his tall stature and glowing armour did not already give away his 'secret'.
This is his kindest form, and the one any followers visiting his realm will see should they seek to meet with their lord. His height adjusts to match them: always taller, yes, but never too daunting. Like this, the moniker of Shielded Smile seems irrelevant, for he always allows these visitors to be welcomed by his smile.

On the battlefield, he dons the mask that has become so emblematic of his faith. With his face shielded by either a full-face mask of porcelain-white and blue or by a helmet of solid mythril, Tyreos turns from benevolent guide to passionate defender. No trace of human-like warmth remains in the silhouette of steel he becomes, and little mercy or patience does he have for villains.

Servitors

Tyreos is newly returned to Nirvana, and as a deity originally of Heaven, has thus far regained few of his prior powerful servitors and friends. The majority of his allies were killed alongside him; little remains of what once was. Fortunately, those that have returned are not faint in spirit. Some of Nirvana's natives, too, have joined his realm out of appreciation and respect for the causes he has stood for and the motivations he encourages in his faithful.
The majority of Tyreos's current followers are angels, with some few archons and agathions in the mix. This is rather unusual for any deity; agathions and archons rarely find ways to get along, so different are their views. Yet Tyreos's realm was not always Tyreos's alone, and the deity has endeavoured to ensure both groups are as welcome as they once were.

Unique Servants

Chitrakāti

The astral shivers, Protector. Peace is not yet with us.

— Chitrakāti

An ancient ally of Tyreos's from a very distant past, Chitrakāti is an astral dragon from the depths of the Astral Plane that wears the scars of many a battle across her luminous scales. She is impossibly old and suffers no fools, serving as a sharp counterbalance to Tyreos's more wishful thoughts where needed.
She is widely respected as a pillar of wisdom. When not in the Sanctum, maintains a lair in an endless demiplane upon the Astral Plane where she collects artifacts that provoke thought.
Her psychic magic, inherent to all esoteric dragons, grants her deep insight into those that would seek Tyreos's favour. She is his shield against those that would take advantage of his grief; a shield for the Shielded Smile, if you would.

Chitrakāti the Considerate by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Belenna

Belenna the Meandering by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Won't you stay a while? I can tell you of angel-twins draped in moon and sun...

— Belenna

An angelic spirit of light that occasionally takes the shape of a glowing feminine silhouette, Belenna is an ancient being of healing that - until recently - drifted endlessly through the waters of the Outer Sphere in her unending search for her missing meaning, offering aid to those she found along the way.
It would seem that the meaning she sought is with Tyreos, for when he returned, her light swam through the Boneyard's River of Souls to reach his side. She is a wildly energetic figure who will spend countless hours charming visitors with wild displays of water magic, telling stories she heard in her millennia adrift, and laughing the night away over the tiniest amusements.

She offers healing to those who spend time with her, or to those who can manage to make Tyreos smile.

Suulisir

To heed a law that is unjust, or to breach it in good faith? A basic quandary.

— Suulisir

An immense serpent-like being - likely an agathion - that rests around Tyreos's realm rather than within it, Suulisir is one of Tyreos's more serious companions. He is a quiet, contemplative figure with a strong sense of justice and fairness, and is Tyreos's most-sought advisor on challenging moral decisions for the fair opinions he gives.
He does not particularly enjoy speaking to others, especially outsiders, unless they come bearing intriguing quandaries for him to consider - or unless they wish to challenge him. As one of the most powerful and most visible entities in Tyreos's realm, it is natural for the strongest of Tyreos's mortal warriors to wonder what the serpent would be like in battle.

Suulisir the Spiralling by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

He is more than willing to oblige them, so long as they accept their defeat gracefully. These battles have long been one of the reasons for the realm's ability to drain water quickly into the sea outside; Suulisir has flooded the very depths of the Sanctum on many an occasion.

Divine Classification

True God

Species

Outsider

Realm

Sanctum of the Graceful Tide

Pronouns

he/him

Eyes

Luminous oceanic blue with stars in his pupils

Hair

Long, wavy, and a gradient of blues

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Warm brown

Domains

Law Good Protection Water Trickery

Subdomains

Archon Loyalty Redemption Defence Oceans Deception

Areas of Concern

Life, protection, transformation

Divine Symbol

A weeping mask on a shield

Sacred Colours

Blue & green

Sacred Animal

Turtle

Chandna, the Dreamer by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

You must know, we deities may have many facets beyond those of our demigod friends.
I am a deity of protection, of transformation, and of the seas - among other aspects, depending on what is sought of me.

— Tyreos on his nature as a god

Champions

Though the Lost Ones are Champions, Tyreos has no intent on taking a Champion of his own.
He values the actions of the Lost Ones and their Champion allies greatly, but he has also seen the destruction his hands can wring out of mortal lands. Gaia's Lament was his, after all.
Unless there is great need, and need that he cannot solve himself from Nirvana, then Tyreos does not intend to risk further damage to Istralar and her leylines through the recruitment of a Champion of his own.

It would be foolish for me to already have made true plans beyond recovering from the pits of torment and grief.
I have remade our home in Nirvana - its re-establishment shall be my first true step.

— Tyreos to the Lost Ones on what he plans to do now

Shielded Sanctum by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Absence of the Shards

To those unaware of the history of the Shards of the Void, it may seem odd that so little is known of who Tyreos was once upon a time.
For the crimes committed in the Second Divine War, the deities that would become the Shards were sentenced to a fate beyond death. Not only would they be slain and their godhood shattered, but all of who they were was to be permanently censored from the minds of mortals.
Even when the Shards are exerting their influence, they cannot breach the anonymity forced upon them. Their names are gone from them, and even if spoken, cannot be heard by mortals.
Even the impression of their faces is absent: in every appearance Tyreos made to as the Earth-Mother's Gift, his face was shrouded in a horrible blackness.
To have one's identity back after so long is a terrible challenge for even a god. Tyreos has ever been a god of change, driven by the seas he holds dear, but this is far beyond what normal change should create.
This new Tyreos shall never be the same as the one that was slain all those years ago, for better or for worse.

the Gift's Manifestation by Hanhula (via Midjourney)