God of Tuna, God of Bounty and Peace (a.k.a. 'Fancy Feast')
Fishing, Bounty, Peacetime, Plenty, Ships, Naval Prowess, long journeys, travel
Ryoma's Tuna Pins are artifacts produced by his cult and aimed primarily at children, primarily given out by junior sailor's clubs and sailing schools. They are said to bring good luck and also frequently sought out by history students, said to be a charm for passing final exams.
Fishing gear, hooks, harpoons, nets, sails
The
Dead of Winter Feast is commonly associated with Ryoma as a god of bounty, commonly associated with feasts. More rarely is he associated with the holiday under the aspect of a god of peace although these associations still happen, particularly after turbulent times.
Physical Description
Ryoma is known to take on three forms- His divine form and two mortal, one of a
Mage and the other a
Pisci Mermidae.
His divine form is that of a massive Pacific Bluefin Tuna, outsizing his ordinary brethren at a massive 19 feet long and nearly 3,000 pounds. His fins are ragged at the edges, the only hint to his true age.
When on land in mortal form, he takes on the appearance of an adult mage. In this form, his back is covered by a tattoo resembling the pattern and scales on other tunas that reflects the light.
His mortal form at sea is quite different, that of a pisci mermidae of incredible size and speed, lower body resembling a Pacific Tuna.
Regardless of form, he appears in mortal shapes as a short middle aged Japanese man with few distinct features and a kind face, brown eyes, and black hair.
He favors rather simple yet stylish clothing that is comfortable, usually wearing sweaters under a light jacket and slacks or capris. Usually his clothes do not feature much in way of patterning, instead simple color pallets of blues, white, and desaturated or pale yellows. He blends in to mortal society extraordinarily well and often dresses simply to not raise awareness to himself, staying on top of trends fairly easily.
During formal events, festivals, and gatherings of the gods where he lets his identity be known, however, Ryoma is known to wear distinct clothing. One item is his coat that resembles the markings on tuna fish and gives the appearance of fins. When not wearing a more casual outfit with the coat, he will often wear a yutaka or kimono adorned with a fish or wave pattern.
A purely ceremonial item that has not seen combat since his reign started, Ryoma will carry a hand thrown harpoon belonging to the previous fallen tuna god for ceremonies and holidays. During feast holidays he will use its blade to cut the first slice of a ceremonial meal, despite it being rather unwieldy, and serve the first guest.
Mental characteristics
Little is known about the God of Tuna's early life, with few records existing and fewer that can be verified as true. It is thought by many that he was born or raised around Ine, an ancient fishing town in Japan, due to his fondness of the area and may have spent a good portion of his early life before his true ascension into the pantheon among mortals. It is unknown if he is a child of the previous tuna god, although his fascination with the mortal world has led some to believe he may have in fact been an ordinary tuna before being selected as the god's heir early on in his life. Of what little is known about his early life before godhood, it is known that he named himself after a prominent figure of peacetime in Japanese history during the human era, Sakamoto Ryoma. Said to be one of those who ushered in the Meiji Restoration, a historic time of peace following much turbulence and threat of war in Japan following threats from other nations.
Ryoma is often present as a mediator at the
Meetings of the Gods both to placate the other divines and also help navigate the process of forming peace treaties. During many instances of gods threatening war on one another, he will often offer his assistance as a witness while manipulating both party's allies into turning to a more peaceful solution.
Ryoma's exact identity is unknown, but he will use both he/him pronouns and they/them equally.
An oddity among the divine, Ryoma is quite well educated and every few years will leave his post to one of his heirs or priests to live among mortals and study as one. What is even stranger is that Ryoma, despite being a god of peacetime, uses these periods to study warfare, weapons, and the methods used by mortals. Although deeply disgusted by bloodshed, he cites that the only way to end wars is to understand them down to the most minute details and in particular the tactics and weapons used. As such, he is quite competent of a fighter when pressured and known to make use of a variety of weapons from across many eras.
Ryoma is something of a historian among the gods, due to his penchant for studying past wars and quite knowledgeable with deep respect for historians and professors. A statue of his divine form exists outside of the Tokyo Anthropological Society building as a homage to the many times he has gone there to attend conferences and lectures, becoming a shrine to him since it was installed and said to be good luck for history students.
Personality Characteristics
Valuing peace and good times is at the forefront of Ryoma's motivations to strive to a better world and seeking improvement on all ways of life. As a god of bounty, he is known to provide large quantities of high quality food to the hungry and often give out boons to fishermen. As a god of the sea, his protections to fishermen, sailors, and travelers are vast.
A rarity among gods and due to his many times spent in hiding among mortals, Ryoma is one of the few among the pantheon known to have obtained a driver's license and can legally drive.
Due to his personal tastes, pickled mackerel is one of the most common offerings given to him by his followers. It's also well known among former classmates of his that he is incredibly fond of energy drinks and extremely sugary foods.
Social
Ryoma is a fairly easy going god with a longer chain of allies and benefactors than most, with the majority of the pantheon in his good graces. He in particular has a good relationship with
Soliairs Taeyang, a fellow god of the sea, and works cooperatively with them. Although it may seem odd that Ryoma is a god of peace and Ferventi a god of war, the two get along well, but are by no means friends, having a mutually beneficial relationship as said by Ryoma himself.
Ryoma is a follower of the
Cult of Life himself, and generally favorable to other gods who are as well.
He has an odd nickname from many of the feline gods, who are prone to making jokes at his expense: 'Fancy Feast'. Although he does not like this nickname, he takes many of the puns comparing him to cat food and threats to eat him in rather good spirit, as long as it is the feline gods making them. Gods such as Novi, whom he is genuinely terrified of, he is much less fond of.
Ally (Important)
Towards Ryoma, God of Tuna
History
Ryoma and Soliairs are allies, both benefiting from the cooperation of their cults. AS both gods have a strong love of and association with the ocean, they work together well and Soliairs often assists Ryoma's followers in conflicts due to his personal policy of pacifism. It is unknown when exactly the two became allies, but due to their rather strong friendship many suspect it was shortly after Soliairs became a goddess.
Relationship Reasoning
As both are gods of the sea and associated with ships, Ryoma and Soliairs have a mutually beneficial relationship, often trading between their cults and giving one another supplies. Ships bearing the flag of Ryoma's cult are among the few that Soliairs' fleet will refuse to raid, and often there are several small fishing boats among the fleet for protection, giving a percentage of their catches to Soliairs' crew in exchange.
Ryoma's fishing boats are quite crucial to Soliairs, one of the main methods that their cult and temple can stay at sea for so long with few stops at port by providing fresh food. Although the vessels belonging to his cult do not fight or assist in Soliairs' raids, they often will keep lookout at night for hostile entities and occasionally are used as bait by the crane.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
Ships, seafaring, strong love of mortals
A little known fact about Soliairs is how knowledgeable they are about the history of piracy and battle at sea, meshing well with Ryoma being a historian on the subject of war. The two are known to talk for hours during meetings amongst themselves.
Shared Acquaintances
Yung Pagoni, God of Peacocks
Inverse (Vital)
Towards Ferventi, God of Wolves
Inverse (Important)
Towards Ryoma, God of Tuna
Relationship Reasoning
Ferventi and Ryoma are as different as they come, but have a relatively neutral relationship to one another personally. Their ideologies do not align often and they often disagree, but the majority of the time are able to come to an understanding of the other's point of view. As a god of peace, Ryoma could not perform his duties to mortals without the god of war, as much as he despises the act, and even as one of the most powerful minor gods, Ferventi is known to utilize his skills to end wars he is involved with to rest.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
Ryoma and Ferventi are both quite well known for their capabilities with mortal weapons, a trait they both share and known to be one of the few points of commonality between them.
Shared Secrets
Between both gods, they hold their respective duties in high regard, despite their ideological differences. Without war, there cannot be peace, and without peace, there cannot be times of war.
prey (Vital)
Towards Novi, The Goddess of Orcas
hunter (Important)
Towards Ryoma, God of Tuna
Relationship Reasoning
Novi is known to harass Ryoma when they both attend Meetings of the Gods, often saying that she will someday catch him and turn him into sashimi. It is unknown when or why the two became rivals, but likely arose due to tuna being a favored meal of killer whales. The two gods have never come to blows, but Ryoma is known for making his displeasure at her overly-familiar but aggressive attitude tword him known.
Ally (Trivial)
Towards Ryoma, God of Tuna
Relationship Reasoning
It has been said by Ryoma that Olrath was a good friend of his father before his time and has hinted the two may have had a romantic relationship. One to keep good relations going, Ryoma has maintained friendship with Olrath throughout his life.
Ally (Important)
Towards Ryoma, God of Tuna
Ally (Important)
Towards John de Luminarie, Goddess of Fireflies
History
JL’s adoration of creativity and innovation makes them a massive fan of Yung’s fashion and the ways Yung also encourages one to create their own styles, which is reflected in their respective cults. JL understands that really changing things will sometimes require risk and failure so they see uplifting amateurs or newbies, even when they fail, as vitally important for fostering a healthy mindset. Similarly, JL’s emphasis on recognition and change also gives him and his cult an idealization of hard work and pursuing one’s own goals. However, the fact that Yung seems to be avoidant about taking any acknowledgment for their own work is maddening for JL and they constantly try, and fail, to hype Yung up. Someone refusing to have the proper amount of pride in their accomplishments also drives JL up the wall. They are constantly asking Yung to speak up, especially since JL themselves speak very loud a majority of the time.
They are known to have gotten into conflicts before due to stepping in to stop or contain conflicts John is involved in. Also, John is much more proactive and known to get involved in the lives of mortals much more often.
Ally (Important)
Towards Ryoma, God of Tuna
Ally (Important)
Towards Sir Morien, Goddess of Dogs
Relationship Reasoning
They often nerd out with Ryoma over medieval warfare pertaining to knights. Morien considers Ryoma to be wise and usually listens to what he has to say. While Morien is quicker to start a fight than Ryoma she does not want to start conflicts if she doesn’t have to.
Ally (Important)
Towards Ryoma, God of Tuna
Ally (Important)
Towards Ana, God of Spiders
Relationship Reasoning
Oddly, John seems to be one of her few genuine friends. However, many suspect the validity of their relationship as JL is a notorious trickster god while Ana and Nancy are infamous manipulators, leading some to conclude that the spiders have managed to trick John or John is trying to trick the spider. Some even think they are both trying to trick each other. JL claims he can tell whenever the spider gods tell a lie but there is no concrete information proving this is true or false. Others think that at some point JL simply saw what the spider gods saw within the branching roots of fate or that they wanted to take advantage of his large cult and influence and the fact that fireflies have a more favorable reputation than spiders. Either way, Ana and Nancy helped him in the past when he was mortal and he seems to trust them to some degree, it is at the very least in their best interest to keep him alive and popular for now. Joining the Cult of Spiders also comes with the benefit of the gods promising that they can change your fate or rewrite one’s destiny as needed instead of just being a slave to it like others outside their cult.
Ally (Important)
Towards Ryoma, God of Tuna
Ally (Important)
Towards Nancy, Goddess of Spiders
Relationship Reasoning
The tuna god isn't any sort of friend of Nancy and his sibling and he seems wary of him like most. However, he seems to understand that the spider gods usually have the best of intentions in mind and Ana seems to enjoy talking about history with him. However, the twins have gottent into conflicts with Ryoma in the past due to the spider gods starting wars or conflicts in order to create a more ideal future while Ryoma advocates more so for peace. Also, Ana and Nancy’s self-preservation means that they can have slightly different ideas of what the ideal future even is to begin with.
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