The Redemption of Eosphorus
You want to know the tale of how Elowyn became a god? You’re sure? It’s a little wild, but... alright, if you’re certain.
It started with Eosphorus. Ended with him too, if you really think about it. No, I know, I’m getting there.
It probably wasn’t much of a family life he had, with parents like Akmon and Tanith. His mother didn’t want him, and his father only used him as an attack dog. Don’t talk to people. Don’t show them your face. You’re made for killing and that’s it. Can you imagine growing up with those rules, all alone, only knowing what you’re allowed to? It’s no wonder Eosphorus was considered the god of catastrophe and slaughter -- that was all he was allowed to be.
So along comes Kallias, the son of Sephira and Nicodemus, and Akmon starts plotting. If he can’t get his hands on Sephira directly, maybe he can get to her through her son. Akmon watches Kallias, and realizes that the kid’s in love, and not just with anyone, but with a mortal girl named Elowyn.
Now, who Elowyn’s family was has been lost to time. Some say she was a princess, or the daughter of a noble family, or even just a peasant girl. The one thing all the stories say, though, is that she was a young woman of uncommon kindness and grace, beloved by all who knew her.
Easy target, right?
Akmon sends Eosphorus to kidnap Elowyn and to hide her in his realm, and Eosphorus does, of course. He kidnaps this frail little mortal girl, whisks her away to his realm of blood and fire, and shoves her in a room, expecting that to be that.
What Eosphorus doesn’t count on is Elowyn trying to befriend him.
Of course she does. She’s small and scared and she’s been taken far away from her home, but here’s this person who is all alone, who has never been shown any kind of kindness, and she wants to fix that. She doesn’t care that he’s a god. She just knows that he needs a friend. Little by little, in small gestures and soft words, she gets Eosphorus to open up to her, and she finds that underneath the ferocious aura, Eosphorus is... shy and soft-spoken and honestly kind of gentle. And Eosphorus, for the first time in his existence, finds someone who he can actually talk to, who doesn’t order him around like a dog, who seems to truly care about him.
Meanwhile, Kallias is... well, angry would be an understatement. The woman he loves has been kidnapped, and he knows Akmon is responsible. Kallias is young and brash and so he goes and confronts Akmon directly, challenging the older god to a game of cards to win Elowyn back. He can’t lose, right? He’s the god of good luck and second chances. He doesn’t take into account that they’re playing on Akmon’s turf, and so when Akmon beats him, Kallias is shocked for the brief moment before the other god subjugates him.
Now Akmon has Kallias right where he wants him, as bait. He tells Eosphorus to dispose of Elowyn and then to join Akmon in his domain. Eosphorus, for obvious reasons, doesn’t particularly want to kill the only friend he has ever had, and he sees how much she loves Kallias. So instead of killing Elowyn, Eosphorus decides for the first time to defy his father and he brings her with him to free Kallias.
Yeah, that goes about as well as expected, because the moment they walk through the front door of Akmon’s palace, Akmon has Kallias shoot Elowyn with one of the younger god’s magic pistols.
Oh, no, you’re right, getting injured with a deific weapon is... not a particularly great feeling. Akmon lets Kallias free for the moment, just to taunt him with the fact that his lover is bleeding out in Eosphorus’s arms. Both Kallias and Eosphorus are pleading with Akmon to just let the girl go, to heal her and get her to safety, but Elowyn has other plans. She grabs Kallias’s gun and shoots Akmon a few times before she dies.
Well... no, that doesn’t kill Akmon. There’s only one thing that’s supposed to be able to kill a god permanently, and that’s the dragon at the end of the world. But it definitely puts a cramp in Akmon’s style and he just high-tails it out of there to go lick his wounds.
So that leaves Eosphorus and Kallias with the woman that they both love lying dead on the floor between them. Kallias is obviously devastated, and Eosphorus...
Turns out the gods had some bets on whether Eosphorus was capable of true emotion or not, which is a really fucked up thing to bet on. Most of them didn’t think he was. But here’s this supposed monster, this heartless dog only capable of violence and slaughter, and he’s sitting here crying over the body of the only friend he’s ever had. So Kelesta takes pity on them, and resurrects Elowyn as a deity in her own right.
Eosphorus tries to leave, because he doesn’t feel like he belongs with kindness and forgiveness, but Elowyn and Kallias convince him to stay, nurturing that spark of decency in him and showing him that he is far more than the weapon his father treated him as. He throws off Akmon’s rules and chooses to become the god of revolution, fighting for the oppressed and downtrodden, even if his methods are still a bit destructive at times.
Over time, too, the three young gods fall more in love with each other, and become a sweet, absolutely devoted little throuple.
So that’s that. That’s the myth, supposedly. I like to believe it’s a lesson that nobody is beyond redemption, if they’re willing to change, and that a small act of kindness and mercy can change the entire world.
Related People
Related Organizations