Velotaras
The Wandering God, He Who Walks Alone, the Tester, Maker of Monsters, Lord Beyond the Fence
"As tall as a tree, as deep as the roots, the greater the challenge, the sweeter the fruits."
Velotaras is the outsider god: never welcomed into the Council of Heaven, always keeping his own counsel. He is a god of trickery, but always trickery for a purpose: to teach a lesson, to challenge growth and change. He is a god of wisdom and knowledge, but of the dark and hidden kind—secrets and buried truths. He is fond of riddles and puzzles. He is the shadow among the trees; he is the deep dark forest personified. The roots of all plants are in his domain, as are many treasures below ground. Some say he was born first out of all the gods, alone in creation, and this is why he walks alone still. Some even claim he was born at the same time as the spirits of the forests and helped negotiate the first peace.
As Tephera made animal life, and Zuvinarsends the power of life to the world on her rays, so Velotaras clothed the world in plants and trees, furthering the creeping growth of green begun by the Titans, creating wild places and secret glens so creatures might hide and hunt.
He travels often, never stopping long in one place, and he loves to test the mortals and gods he meets along the way—sometimes with riddles, sometimes with insults, sometimes with monsters that must be defeated. He teaches that nothing is worth having that is not hard won; struggle is the defining feature of life. He also has made creatures considered monsters by some, wardens of the wild places, to safeguard these sacred spots from corruption at the hands of mortals.
As an outsider himself, he is revered by outcasts, artists, those who are different, and by those who value the beauty of nature over the comforts of civilization.
Shapes and Messengers
The God of Secrets often takes the form of a very tall, gaunt member of whatever folk he approaches, his eyes shaded with a broad-brimmed hat. The eyes themselves never change: The pupils are the hourglass shape of a goat's eyes, and the iris is a deep forest green. Sometimes, hidden under his robe or breeches, his legs are those of a goat as well, cloven-hooved and bent. He usually appears as an old man, stooped and weary, and seeks hospitality, judging harshly those who refuse to offer him welcome, and rewarding those who treat him well. In his true form (should he reveal it), Velotaras is taller than any mortal, with long, greying black hair and beard, those same eyes, and curving goat horns atop his head. His skin is as brown as the bark of a red oak, and just as rough. He carries, always, in every form, a twisted staff made from a branch of the contorted beech. He also often takes the form of a great tree, remaining immobile and silent until he chooses to speak or act. He sometimes appears as a great black he-goat, or as a black stag or owl.
Beech trees and ash are sacred to Velotaras. He sends as his messengers goats, stags, and owls. Wyrms and Dracos also hold a special place in his heart.
