Owyn, the Muse

"The greatest artists of our day are said to be blessed by Owyn, able to communicate their troubles and triumphs through the grace of the Muse. This talent is not to be taken lightly - it is a gift from the gods to the people of the land."

Lev Catanach, Magi of Owyn, c. 1066 T.B.

Owyn is the god of art, performance, sense, innovation, possibility, games, luck, luxury, continuity, and stories. A god of ambiguity and thought, Owyn is believed to be the storyteller of the Divines, recording their history and imparting it onto the people. This is not to be taken lightly - the transfer of information with a cultural meaning behind it was the original ethos of The Spire and the current approach of many modern Fey thespian's guilds and artist's collectives. As the Divine Poet, Owyn supposedly recorded the individual stories of the gods as secondhand accounts from listening to the deities themselves. The many stories of Germagh are believed to be attributed to Owyn's very hand.
In the modern day, worship of Owyn is most practiced by the creatives and charlatans of Talamh. He governs the domains of luck and artistic ability alike, drawing in worshippers who are patrons of these concepts as well as direct contributors to their progression. In the East, certain aspects of Owyn-worship can be seen as flagrant debaucheries or frivolities. This is best reflected in the lack of emphasis on storytelling perpetuated by the administration of Lir Domhain. One exception to this is the Orcs, who are a people devoted to Owyn in many ways. In the West, Owyn's nature as an artist and creative is emphasized alongside the importance of cultural myths. This reflects a greater difference in the worldview of the Fey and Eastern Talish that is grounded in life as a joy and life as an obligation respectively.

Divine Domains

Art, Performance, and Sense

As the deity of the arts, this encompasses all aspects of creative expression ranging from painting to poetry to dance. Owyn is said to bestow people with great artistic talent and ability that allows them to express and interpret their thoughts to as many people as possible. Musicians who can create magic with their songs are believed to be pulling from Owyn's power even if their magic is a learned skill rather than innate ability. An art particularly seen as holy to Owyn's eastern worshippers is sculpture. Owyn is believed to give the best of performers a trait known as 'stagecraft', which is a holy attribute able to enrapture audiences with almost supernatural accuracy and zeal. Humor is also counted amongst performance, with the individuals of fair humor sometimes being considered blessed by the Muse as well.
As for being the god of sense, this is specifically in the context of interpreting sensations as communication of subjective information. Owyn is also said to give people 'higher sensibilities', which is a trait often claimed by the upper-class of the East.

Innovation and Possibility

The realms of innovation and possibility are also Owyn's domain. This sense of innovation is referring to progression in artistic expression that can reflect either hopes for the future or the grandeur of the past. This is not an abandonment of old ways, but an uplifting of them in concert with new methodologies and systems. The elements of possibility brought on by this union are seen as holy themselves, particularly in the West - the infinite and often unexpected nature of the blessings Owyn provides is integral to the perpetuation of their mythos.

Games, Luck, and Luxury

The East deems Owyn's nature as the god of games and luck as frivolous and accessory, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Fey theologians and social scientists place emphasis on the role of fun and chance in healthy belief systems and society as a whole. That being said, vices can also be brought upon by luck. While excessive gambling is a form this often takes on both sides of Talamh, addiction to risk-and-reward cycles and criminality may be also seen as perversions of the divine gift of luck. As for luxury, Owyn's luxury is not necessarily excess. It can be an extravagantly good meal or the simple joy of curling up beside a fire after a particularly cold day. This luxury is one that is any positive interaction brought upon by the systems people have constructed, things that exist independent of the concept of joy but are able to cause it.

Continuity and Stories

Some philosophers believe Owyn's truest import is as the deity of storytelling and continuity. The stories told in the grace of Owyn pass between generations in the East and the West, passing down accumulated knowledge and cultural belief to keep the ways of the past alive. This virtue is true and good within itself but it can take darker forms, with biases passed down between generations. Some angrier provocateurs even blame Owyn for the perpetuation of Fey-Eastern violence, but these claims are often dismissed as volatile and reactionary.
The fact of the matter is that the storytelling of Talamh is by Owyn's grace. Without it, the land would never be the same.

Symbols, Sites, and Iconography

Next to Arianne, Owyn-worship is the most documented in practice by its very nature. Worship to Owyn was traditionally conducted in the creation of artworks, musical pieces, and the written word. These exist as a standing record for the general feelings on Owyn of the time as well as worship practices. Tales believed to be composed by Owyn also exist as venerations of him, but most modern scholars from the East believe that these were composed by followers rather than the deity alone.
The most common symbols of Owyn in the modern day are sculpture, quills, brushes, musical instruments, and any artistic creation. The symbol of a shell is also attributed to Owyn, seen by some as proof that nature can create art as well. Animal forms include songbirds, stingrays, and spiders. The Fey of the Autumn Province place a specific emphasis on the seal as a symbol of Owyn, likely in reference to the Selkie people of the Autumnsun Shores(location).

Godstone Owyn

Located on the northwesternmost peninsula of East Talamh, Godstone Owyn overlooks the Tower Coast and the Summer Province both. Despite being in a remote location, many pilgrimages are made to this Godstone, especially by artists seeking divine favor and success.
The Godstone is a massive sandstone hill buffeted by winds off the nearby sea. Dunes stretch out next to it, leading to a small divot in the earth where camps are often made by travelers to the stone. Since the carving has been so heavily exposed to stone, the face has been partially weathered away. However, the body is still fully visible. The figure is wearing a long-sleeved robe and kilt tied up with a single cord of braided rope. Into this cord is tucked a variety of brushes and quills and a brace of books is strapped to one side. The central figure wears sandals and is placed as if on a hill. With hands drawn close to the body, in one hand is a scroll and the other a set of uilleann pipes, a specific instrument meant to be played from the elbow rather than held in front of the body. The hair is long and stretches past the shoulders but is shorn at the sides of the head, tied up in the back and spilling forth. The face is the hardest to make out - it depicts a figure neither male nor female. However, some individuals have taken weathering marks as a beard rather than age while others have taken them as indicative of female freckles. This has resulted in wildly varying takes on Owyn's gender that varying between region. The East typically codes Owyn as masculine while the West often codes Owyn as feminine.

The Whispering Well

One of the most hallowed centers of Owyn's worship is located on Ire Island off of the southwestern coast of the Winter Province. This is a great hole in the ground that is supposed to stretch on into the earth forever. A castle was erected around it at some point but its builders are unknown. Pilgrims to the Well are believed to receive inspiration in the whispers heard from within.

Arach

Arach, the capital of the Spring Province and seat of the Vernal Court, is sometimes referred to as 'Owyn's City'. It is the center of artistic development in West Talamh and was supposedly built on the site of one of Owyn's first performances in millennia past. The valley it resides in is sometimes referred to as the 'Vale of Poets' for this very reason. Some of the greatest Fey artists trace their roots back to this place.

Relics

Owyn is recorded to have a few key personal relics and many holy manuscripts and books. These texts have largely been lost to time in their original forms, but their content persists in oral tradition and the works of other authors. Talish scholars have attempted to construct a songbook of tunes supposedly composed by Owyn, but these projects never seem to receive apt attention. The greatest relic left behind by Owyn is one known as Mun Loir, or 'The Pipes Begotten'. It is supposedly Owyn's personal set of uilleann pipes that could enrapture audiences and enchant people by creating artistic pieces both physical and auditory via smoke magic. It has been lost to the ages, but every decade at least some musician claims that they have found it.
The Cold Iron relic of The Seven Saints connected to Owyn is known as the Suniron Gemheart, an item wielded by Saint Or during the Conquest. It could supposedly create illusions and sway creatures to the will of its user. Sometimes, the discovery of Cold Iron by metallurgists is said to be a gift from Owyn. Of course, the Fey West does not believe this.

Religious Figures

The worship of Owyn is often connected to Saint Or in the East. As the patron saint of artists and eloquence, Or is now recognized as a follower of Owyn and an artist themselves. He penned a play known as Legacy of the Poets, a tragic tale supposedly describing interactions between Tieflings and Owyn in the far past.
In the modern day, the Magi of Owyn for The Spire is one Lev Catanach. Before ascending to their status as Magi, Lev was already an accomplished playwright and polymath. They were elevated to their current position 10 years ago, and have since attempted to spread ancient stories of Owyn back into the modern lexicon. They were the apprentice of the previous Magi and are generally held favorably within the eyes of the people.

Interpretative Difference

East Talamh

As stated, the East tends to align Owyn as a masculine deity while eschewing his perhaps more 'frivolous' domains of games and luck. For The Spire, creativity is an asset for cultural advancement and control of the populous rather than a primarily expressive form. Of course, the people of the East still worship Owyn for all manner of reasons. Individual cults surrounding Owyn have cropped up that moreso align with Fey beliefs on the god.

West Talamh

As stated, West Talamh believes in a more feminine or androgynous Owyn. Fey are more than favorable towards Owyn's dominion over games, luck, and luxury. They see all of these as opportunities rather than vices. Fey creativity is a method of expression that, while personal, can be shared and related to.
Certain Old-Faith sects of Owyn worshippers subscribe to an ancient belief of Owyn as a deity of form and flow, one who helps Arianne in commanding combat magics as a form of art. These are referred to as the 'Singing Priests'. A similar order of knights who use their creativity towards their exploits has been rumored for millennia but never publicly confirmed. They are referred to as The Petals Errant.

Species
The Gods of Talamh
Allegiance
The People of Talamh
Subordinates
The Thralls of Owyn
Pronouns and Gender
Any pronouns
Typically presents with androgynous characteristics or varies by region
Realm
The Otherworld
Domains
Art, Performance, Sense, Innovation, Possibility, Games, Luck, Luxury, Continuity, Stories
Eastern Aliases
The Minstrel, The Piper on the Sea, The Sculptor-Liege
Western Aliases
The Poet, The Lady of Song, Singer of the Ages, Divine Poet, Luckholder
Associated Virtues
Creativity, curiosity, inventiveness, forethought, wealth, artistic talent and ability, whimsy, humor

Divine Icons

Colors
Brown, gray, blue, black, white
Animals
Stingray, spiders, songbirds, seals
Plant Life
Pigment-bearing plants, flowers of great symbolism
Symbols
Sculpture, quills, brushes, musical instruments (especially pipes), any artistic creation, shells