Vethliss

Vethliss is the goddess of secrets and trickery. According to legend, Vethliss is the daughter of Yteus and was the youngest diety prior to the ascensions of the mortal-born gods.

Worship in the Empire

Though the Novatsk Empire is notorious for its heavy-handed emphasis on law and order, the worship of Vethliss is begrudgingly tolerated. Multiple kings in the past attempted to ban her worship, but the Lady of Secrets found an unlikely ally in the Ytean temple, which insisted Vethliss held an important role in society.

Mythology

A Shadow Born of Light

The Matron of Trees withdrew from the realm of the living after the birth of the pantheon, however, Yteus remained there to watch and guide the mortal races. As decades passed, the mortals began to discover the ruins of the Ancients. They asked Shaemora, the young goddess of knowledge, about them but she had no answers and could only suggest they seek out Yteus, for he was older than any. When they asked the Lord of Light about these places and people long dead, he was struck by fear. He had seen the devastation mortals had once brought upon the world in the names of the Old Gods. He had seen gods fall at their hands. If the mortals learned what their ancestors had learned, would that not endanger the young gods he had sworn to protect? But to lie, could the light that reveals all do such a thing? Yteus deliberated long and hard, anxiety ever lingering in the dark corners of his mind.
Eventually, tales from the mortals began to reach his ears. Outlandish stories of lost civilizations founded by alien races and rumors of ruins sinking into shadowy sinkholes. He asked them where they heard these tales. A woman told him she overheard a rumor in a crowd. A man told him that he heard it whispered in his ear as he drank. A child told him she heard it in her dreams.
Yteus was confused by this information, and yet he was relieved, so he allowed these false tales to spread far and wide. Each day he rose, the mortals had a new explanation for the origin of the Ancients and their downfall. One day, Shaemora appeared before him, distraught. The misinformation was leading the mortals to be hurt in their ignorance. Reluctantly, he agreed to destroy the source of the false rumors and stop their spread. Speaking with the mortals, he learned that a woman clothed in shadow was responsible, but try as he might, he was always one step behind her.
As he began to abandon hope of finding the strange woman, however, a rare event occurred. The Three Sisters converged in the sky, blocking his light upon Novredall. As darkness fell, Yteus came face to face with a shadowy young woman.
"Who are you? Why do you spread lies among the mortals?" He asked the woman.
"I am the shadow that trails your light, born of your hidden fears and desires. I exist only to assume the mantle my father could not," she replied.
When he gazed into her eyes, he saw her for what she was. She was his creation, a daughter born from his own mind. Despite the chaos she had sown across the world, he could not hate her, he could not destroy her. As the moon shadows drifted away, he stood alone again, for she could not live where his light shined. He went to Shaemora and told her of his daughter's trickery among the mortals. He would not destroy Vethliss, but he would give Shaemora the knowledge necessary to teach the mortals about the fate of the Ancients, so they might learn from their ancestors' mistakes. He told her of the war between the old gods, the weapons the mortals had forged in their names, and she learned for the first time how dangerous knowledge could be in the wrong hands. The mortals would learn of the Ancients, but their ruins would remain in the shadows of the earth so their knowledge of how to kill gods would remain forever hidden from the light of day.