Zole (zoh-lay)
God of Warfare
Zole is the deity of battle strategy and organized combat. He is depicted as a male minotaur clad in bronze armor, a hoplon, sword, and a helmet with holes for his horns and a comb on top. His symbol is a bronze helmet with bull horns. He is a member of the Theonínta.
Often named the strategist of the gods, while Pola was their leader in the rebellion against Fytanke Zole prepared them for battle. He taught the other gods to play to their strengths in battle and shore up each others’ weaknesses—a strategy his cult would adapt into the Phalynx—and through him they achieved victory.
Zole does not share the fits of passion associated with his children, and is typically a stoic figure who is difficult to anger. He values mental acuity and precision, and though he can be stubborn in his opinions he presents them calmly and rationally. On the battlefield his every breath is calculated, and legends claim that none save his own daughter, Exa, have ever caused him to shed even a single drop of blood.
Worshippers of Zole often make sacrifices regularly during military campaigns, with particular emphasis to those offerings given on the eve of battle. His cults can often be found among military institutions, and are practitioners of rigid discipline and physical conditioning. For the followers of Zole, mental conditioning as well as physical conditioning share equal value, and his most fervent worshippers are equal parts warrior and scholar. Similarly his blessings come both as feats of impossible strength as well as sudden flashes of insight.
Zole considers Pola one of his closest allies, and though other deities have tried to convince him to overthrow her as head of the Theonínta he remains staunchly at her side—whether this is out of respect or whether he simply does not wish to deal with the squabbling of the other deities is unknown. He is the partner of Nypoloita, and while his stoic nature leads him largely to tolerate her infidelity, history notes a conspicuous abundance of her half-mortal children suffering crushing and often humiliating military defeats. Zole is one of the few deities who engages Apnosis in debate, though rarely do either of them budge on their positions and many myths exist where the two of them are goaded into a scholarly debate in order to distract one or both of them. Zole is particularly close with his protege and son-in-law, Kaiotim, who he taught the ways of combat and whose discipline and honor he sees as the height of virtue.
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