The Horae are the four personifications of nature in its different seasonal aspects and lesser deities of the natural order and justice. They form the entourage of
Thanatimetra the Merciful Mother and aid her in shepherding their respective seasons through the cycle of the year, bringing to the world and the mortals who reside upon it natural ripeness, fertility, change, death, and rebirth. Though they are quite often occupied with their divine duties, they can also be seen guarding the nexuses of Etheria, each deity protecting the intersection of leylines which corresponds to their seasonal obligation. In the times of the great Silence in which the heavens went silent and the major gods and their blessings receded from the mortal realm, the Horae—like many of the other lesser Etherian deities—were born to fill the gaps left behind by the Merciful Mother's sudden disappearance. Among their ranks are the following deities:
- Khadi the Frigid One, the Giant goddess of winter and patron of bowhunting, skiing, and endurance. She is associated with mountains, blizzards, glacial floes, the snowshoe hare, and the Tatzelwurm.
- Éara the Blooming, the the Orc goddess of spring and patron of fertility, vegetation, and agriculture. She is associated with rainstorms, orchards, flowers, eggs, hedgehogs, and larks.
- Saheru the Increaser, the Merfolk god of summer and patron of good harvests, peace, and prosperity. He is associated with fair weather, sunlight, rain, and oases.
- Aodhagán the Kindler, the Satyr god of autumn and patron of bounty, the hearth, and stockpiling for winter. He is associated with feasts, protection of the home, tending to and keeping of home fires, squirrels, and bears.
Just as the major gods of the pantheon are often viewed in familial relations, so too are the lesser deities of Etheria. The familial relationships of the Horae, just like the convoluted and often contradictory mortal myths regarding the relations of the major gods, are disputed. Without failure, Thanatimetra the Merciful Mother is attributed to the birth of each, being the divine mother of each seasonal deity, even Rhontu who had existed separate from the Etherian Pantheon for millennia. Some mortal myths allege that the Merciful Mother enlisted the aid of her twin brother in shaping her children from the raw elements of the world itself while other tales tell of other collaborations with deities as wide-ranging as
Eleuthemene the Star-Dappled,
Helionax the Light-Crowned,
Orodamas the Ringing Hammer,
Amaphoron the Herald of Civilization, and
Kallinephes the Thundering Heart.
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