Exa (ex-ah)
God of Warriors
Exa is the deity of battle and of all who would engage in combat. She is depicted as a centaur marked with blood or red warpaint (or some combination), wielding an enormous club made from a marble pillar ripped from its foundation. Her symbol is a bloody hoof print.
A daughter of Zole and Nypoloita, Exa inherited her father’s love of battle and her mother’s restlessness. As such she is often referred to as the patron deity of barbarians and berserkers, caring little for the strategy behind a battle and instead focusing on the bloodshed and rush that comes from being on the battlefield.
Worship of Exa is often discouraged by the very militaries that revere her father. The type of warrior who follows the way of Exa will often break formation and lead a phalanx to fall apart. Despite this, there are many stories of great heroes who are adherents of Exa, their battles alone or with smaller groups against terrible monsters are inherently reckless and exciting, both things loved by Exa.
Cults devoted to Exa are often considered barbaric by those who live in the poleis and typically find themselves living in the countryside. While some of these groups turn to banditry, most recognize Exa’s desire for them to slay greater foes and battle insurmountable odds and thus engage in a loosely-organized hunt of monsters and tyrants—the latter being largely subjective has lead to much conflict between the followers of Exa and Pola. Individual worshippers as noted above include many heroes and warriors who call on her aid to overcome impossible physical trials. Sacrifices to Exa are typically made after battle and are of the spoils, be they things looted from the defeated or the flesh of a monster slain.
Having been born after the defeat of Fytanke, Exa has long yearned for a similar battle to test her mettle. Unfortunately, as a god herself and in particular one devoted to combat, there are few entities who can truly test her mettle. This has led to Exa challenging most if not all of the other gods at some point, drawing much ire from her contemporaries. One such incident involved Exa rampaging through Vivilotheca destroying centuries of knowledge and gaining the permanent ire of Apnosis.
In addition to Apnosis, many gods have a poor opinion of Exa. Pola in particular considers her little more than a rabid beast (her weapon of choice having been ripped from one of Pola’s temples), and her father constantly tries to rein her in unsuccessfully. As a fellow troublemaker, Exa and Agamysti are often depicted as friends and allies, though their solutions to problems are often very different. Though they share worshippers, Exa cares not for Peri’s passivity nor the way she is doted upon by the Theonínta. She has a friendly rivalry with her brother, Lycotasmos, and there are many stories of the two getting into good-natured competitions, typically ending with disastrous results for any mortals unlucky enough to get caught up in them. She cares not for her brother-in-law, Kaiotim, who she sees as too caught up in his ideal to actually get things done.
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