Väinädin
Saari is the center of worship for Väinädin, the most important of the Haltijat to the Saarelainen. Legends claim that Väinädin was once a mortal man who bore the gift of magic. He was also a musician and wanderer, and his singing could cause stones to follow after him as he traveled. There are many stories of Väinädin, but the most central is how he came to become a god. Väinädin was always a collector of secrets and stories, and while traveling he spoke and traded tales with hundreds of gods. Somewhere far in the west of the world, he met an ancient being named Kettu who offered him a bargain. Kettu had lived longer than the world, and was tired, and ready to lay down his power, but had none who could carry on the burden of prophecy for him. He offered to give Väinädin his power, and the responsiblity that came with it - but there would be a price. To gain the ability to see all things and know all secrets would require Väinädin to ascend to godhood. This would bind him to a particular place in the world, a land that would be his anchor and his body as a god. And this was not all he asked. The gift of prophecy was a dark and dangerous one, Kettu explained. For most people, the dark futures would overwhelm the bright, driving the prophet to despair and madness. In order to take up Kettu's mission, Väinädin would need to sacrifice his ability to despair, holding only to the optimism that would sustain him and enable him to pursue Kettu's mission to make the brightest world. Väinädin agreed, and asked how he might give up the ability to despair. Kettu explained that he would have to make a sacrifice of his left eye, and that with Kettu's help this sacrifice would alter the mind and spirit of Väinädin, allowing him to become the god without despair. Väinädin agreed. He chose to bind himself to the land of his birth, and Kettu used his magic to bring them there to complete the transformation. Väinädin plucked out his left eye and cast it into the sky, to land where it would, and became the divine embodiment of Saari. Kettu was never heard from again.
In the millennia since the ascension of Väinädin, he has been active in the world. He empowers agents to do his bidding, carrying out elaborate plans that have extensive ramifications - most that cannot be seen until after he has completed his scheming. He is known as a trickster and a teacher, a poet and musician and meddler. He seeks agents who bear the gift to cast magic, and usually has three or four such agents at any time, trained in spellcraft by the god himself - these agents are known as the Velhot, or individually as Velho. The Velhot of Väinädin have connections around the Great Ring; one is said to be in the court of Queen Isla, and another studies in the Ninth Archive of the Gwāsa.
The Saarelainen honor Väinädin above all gods, and believe that his schemes are all that stand between the world and its demise. They know that his sacrifice of despair makes it impossible for him to ever lose hope, or to rest. Many of the tales they tell about him show that he will pursue a plan long past the point where others would have given up, madly improvising to bring about his ends - and even when they fail, he continues to scheme and plot to eventually bring the world in line with his aims.
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