Tykais

He sat and looked at the statue. Its many eyes seemed to look in all directions and yet all seemed to focus on the lone figure kneeling before it in supplication. He placed a bundle of incense in the bowl at the statue's base, then left, praying for a blessing to show him the way.

Tykais is the Deep deity of light and pathfinding. It plays a key role in much of the mythos of the Deep religion, acting as a counter to its sibling Zykais, deity of darkness.

An Unsettling Figure

Tykais, like many deities of the Deep, is not portrayed as a humanoid. Instead, it possesses a strange, almost mechanical or constructed shape. The most prominent feature of Tykais are the bronze-colored orbs which float amid its ethereal form. Each of these nine orbs contains an eye with a golden iris. Eight of the eyes are open, floating in a circle and in constant motion, both of the orbs themselves and the direction of the eye's gaze. These eyes cast beams of bright, golden light wherever they look. To meet these bright gaze is to risk one's sight, as staring too long into the glowing irises can cause blindness. These eight orbs surround the ninth orb, which is much larger and does not move. This eye is closed, with lids lined in teal and a similarly colored teardrop shape below it. It is said that this eye only opens in extreme cases. In such cases, the beam which emanates from the hypnotic iris can instantly paralyze or kill those who look into it. Many Deepfolk fear such an occurrence and as such avoid looking at this eye, even when closed, on any depiction of Tykais. On the outside of the ring of orbs, Tykais has four hands, which seem to be made of an ethereal, blue-green substance. This is a feature shared with Zykais which seems to bind the two together in legend. These hands face forward, palms out, and do not seem to move from their positions. In some tales, these hands are only used when Tykais and Zykais clash with one another. Tykais's body, if one could call it that, is made of a dense cloud of shimmering bronze magic. This cloud hovers behind the ring of eyes and keeps itself in a contained space. It is formless and no one is quite sure what its purpose could be other than simply holding the deity together. Some say that the key to defeating Tykais is to simply remove this cloud and the orbs will fall to the ground and shatter.

Tykais in Deep Lore

Tykais, along with Zykais, represent one of the most fundamental concepts in the Deep: the constant battle between light and darkness. There is no sun in the Deep, so what little light that can be produced is held almost sacred. Some Deepfolk such as the Talpidae, mole people who dwell in Upper Deep, hold darkness above light because they feel exposed in the brightness. Tykais is also the deity of pathfinding, and many explorers hold it in high regard because of this. Many settlements and town will have a small altar dedicated to Tykais, where petitioners might go to leave an offering and a prayer in hopes that Tykais might bless them and allow them to safely navigate the winding passages in the Deep. Typical offerings include certain blends of incense, dried food, or the occasional gold coin. An offering of fuel or an unlit torch, something which can carry light, is also commonly accepted. Many Deepfolk carry a deep-seated fear for Tykais, aware of what its wrath could spell for them. Like most deities of the Deep, Tykais is worshiped out of fear and necessity rather than love. The deities of the Deep are fierce and temperamental, not nearly as forgiving as the deities of the surface world.
It is said that Tykais was fashioned by Khelmeeshe, the Mother of the Deepfolk, along with its twin and counterpart, Zykais. Khelmeeshe had recognized the need to find a balance in a world so dependent on light and dark, and determined that creating twin deities could help find such a balance, suitable for all the Deepfolk. However, Khelmeeshe failed to outline how the deities should regard one another, and when the two came to life, they immediately began to fight. They fought for a very long time, launching beams of darkness and light at one another. The two deities swept through passage after passage, leaving long scorch marks and clinging, oily pools of shadow. Any living things which had once been in the tunnels had been either obliterated or had simply run away, seeking shelter from the terrible duel in deeper caverns. Eventually, Khelmeeshe tracked the two deities down and forced them apart, sending Tykais far above to Upper Deep, and Zykais far below to Lower Deep. To this day, the two deities roam the passages of the Deep, seeking one another but never quite finding their way back. Each deity left its mark wherever it roamed, whether a trail of glowing rocks or a tunnel completely submerged in darkness, and sought to eliminate the other's touch from the stony world. Tykais spends much of its time in the areas of the Deep where light-dependent folk have settled, leaving the glowing rocks which so many Deepfolk use as lights to find their way around.

Tykais in Surface Lore

With the introduction of the Deepfolk to the surface folk, the tales and legends of the two groups of deities were shared and spread. Many surface folk, having lived under the warm supervision of deities such as Althea, Vitalis, and Vytos, were shocked to hear of such wratheful deities. However, many academics, explorers, and traders who make their way from the surface to the Deep have found themselves also praying to Tykais to give them light and to allow them to find their way. As folk very used to the presence of the sun and moon and to burning fuel, many are quite unnerved by the thought of descending so far below the surface and so far from the reach of their benevolent deities. They turn to the Deep deities despite their fear, hoping for some kind of blessing. Tykais is sometimes seen as the Deep counterpart to Elena, goddess of the sun, albeit less inclined to the more celestial aspects of her domain. Some also consider Tykais to be related to Metsli, god of the moon. Like Elena, however, Metsli's domain is focused more on the moon itself rather than the idea of light.