#14flames

[leonanette]

The Valyrian Gods during Chapter 35 of The Man in the Pearl Mask

Balerion (when Luke did *That*)

Tyraxes (she can't approve of the methods but appreciates the results)

Vhagar (she wanted more death and destruction)

Vermax (just, Vermax in general)

Tessarion (after arranging the threads of fate to make sure everything works out just right)

Syrax (after Aemond made his decision)

[asongofsnowandstars]

Vermithor

God of Knowledge, Crafts, and Healing

The meaning of Vermithor’s name is lost to time and the Doom. There is speculation, of course, but no evidence in favor of any theory. In most remaining texts he is given the epithet ‘the Smith’. Vermithor is the god of wisdom and learning, a god of innovation and invention. His wife, Meleys, is the goddess of creativity and the arts, making them a well matched pair. Vermithor is the father of Arrax, Vhagar, Syrax, and Shrykos. Is depicted as carrying either a hammer or scroll, which are two of his symbols. The other is the mortar and pestle.

[leonanette]

The Family Tree of the Valyrian Gods from 'The Man in the Pearl Mask'

Since I have put way too much effort into the lore around my fic's version of the Valyrian gods (borrowing heavily from ancient mythology in the process), it makes sense that I should share the family tree. Since tumblr's messed up the image quality, I've added close-ups.

Hopefully, this should make the vague hints on the family relationship in my fic clearer. I decided to put the gods' animal aspects as placeholders for now. I'll come back and add their profile pictures when I have the time/means to commission them.

Credit for pictures (so far):

Syrax - @hrgves (animal aspect is a horse)

And, yes, because this is Valyria we're talking about, there's going to be plenty of incest. Hey, all the cool ancient pantheons do it.

Creation Myth (in a nutshell - more details will be provided in the individual profiles)

So, in the beginning, there was primordial chaos. Out of that primordial chaos came six eggs. They dropped from the sky onto a land with fourteen volcanos. When they landed, the eggs cracked and the seven original gods emerged from them. In order of hatching, they were:

Aegarax

Meleys

Gaelithox

Tyraxes and Vhagar (they emerged from the same egg)

Arrax

Shyrkos

The broken eggshells became the land and the fluid that came during the hatching became the oceans.

Time passed, the land bloomed and the Valyrian freehold was born. Soon, there rose a debate as to who should rule over the land and over the other gods. This grew into a war and it came down to three: Arrax, Tyraxes and Vhagar. Both Tyraxes and Vhagar knew they couldn't win on their own so they both tried to persuade Arrax to marry them and join their forces against the other.

Arrax chose Tyraxes and they ruled as King and Queen of the Gods. Tyraxes bore Arrax three children: the twins, Meraxes and Caraxes, and Balerion. Arrax still had some feelings for Vhagar, however, and those feelings soon became apparent when Vhagar gave birth to Vermithor. Tyraxes grew angry at this betrayal, both from her husband and sister. She couldn't banish Vhagar as their nature meant they physically couldn't be far apart but she could banish Vermithor away from the gods' domain among the fourteen volcanos.

In his lonely abode near a lake, Vermithor saw humans creating tools and then how fire could shape metal. He tried for himself and soon surpassed mortals in what he could create. Gaelithox became curious when he saw Vermithor using fire (Gaelithox's own creation) in such a way. That curiousity grew to admiration and then to love. That marriage infuritated Tyraxes. She wanted it broken up and Vermithor banished anew but, Arrax, weary of her spite, overruled her and Vermithor was allowed to return home.

Meanwhile, Aegarax and Meleys had a brief love affair ang a son together, who they named Vermax. Over time, however, it became clear Aegarax preferred his animals to his wife and son and Meleys left him, taking Vermax with her. She didn't think he even noticed for years.

Vermax grew up and, as so often happens with children from broken homes, he became a troublemaker. He liked the company of mortals more than gods and would constantly get in trouble for his trickery. One day, however, one mortal caught his eye. The sorceress, Tessarion, was already married but her husband had betrayed her to marry a rich widow. Enraged, she schemed to kill the widow, her father and even the children Tessarion had with her husband, leaving that faithless husband alone and in infamy. Meleys was impressed with this revenge scheme and Vermax was enchanted. When her husband died, Vermax courted and won Tessarion's affection. By doing a big favour to Arrax and by Meleys' petitions, he had Tessarion ascended to godhood and, soon, they were expecting a child.

At that time, Tessarion would visit her temples and offer prophecies to those who paid homage to her. One day, she gave a prophecy to a man who didn't like what he heard. In a fury, he threw oil of vitriol in her face. This brought on a premature labour and that's how Syrax, the youngest of the gods, was born. Tessarion recovered from her wounds with time and magic but she kept her face covered with a veil after that.

Colour Key

Line colours:

Horizontal white: Siblings

Vertical white: Children

Purple: Married (you can pry the headcanon that Valyrians had same-sex marriages out of my cold dead hands)

Blue: Twins

Red: Extra-marital affair

Picture Frame Colours:

White: Original seven

Blue: Legitimate children

Purple: Illegitimate children

Pink: Ascended mortal

[leonanette]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

The second chapter of Policy of Truth is now up!

Chapter Summary: Syrax uses another of her gifts on Aemond and the results are many times more dramatic than a fire in a bedroom

Or: Tessarion takes a turn at making Aemond an agent of chaos, Aemond goes all fire and brimstone (but not in a Targaryen way) and Vermax and Gaelithox sit back to enjoy Statler-and-Waldorf-ing the greens.

[leonanette]

Syrax the Gentle, drawn by hrgves

This is a profile picture of Syrax from my fanfic, The Man in the Pearl Mask, done by the marvellously talented @hrgves. Go and check out their work if you haven't already!

[leonanette]

Vermax, watching House of the Dragon 2x01:

Watch this space for an AU within an AU set around chapter 15 of ‘The Man in the Pearl Mask’ in which the gods show Aemond what Alicent and Cole get up to when they’re alone.

All of it!

[leonanette]

Vhagar

(from the fanfic, The Man in the Pearl Mask)

Domain: Goddess of war

Title: The Terrible

Family: The fourth to hatch from the original eggs, mother of Vermithor, lover of Arrax and Tyraxes (on and off)

Personality: Provocative, belligerent, reckless, greedy

Appearance: Pale skin and hair like a Targaryen, always wears expensive furs, silks and jewels, black eyes

Distinctive feature: Her body is a rotting corpse from the neck down

Animal aspect: Robin with black stripe in the middle

Inspiration: Ares

How to describe Vhagar? Take the recklessness of Gaelithox, the cunning of Vermax and the cruelty of Tessarion then remove all the good sense.

During the War for the High Throne of the Gods, Vhagar tried to form an alliance with Arrax just as Tyraxes did. Arrax and Vhagar carried on a passionate love affair. However, though being with Vhagar is fun and exciting in the beginning, even Arrax grew weary of her constant provocations and her caprices. He chose Tyraxes instead and the two of them took the throne with Vhagar demoted to a mere ally.

Arrax could never really stay away from Vhagar for long though. Neither could Tyraxes. Their natures meant they could never be apart for long and that developed into something more. They know it never ends well but there’s always something about her that keeps both Arrax and Tyraxes coming back for more and she always welcomes them back. Not even Tyraxes choosing to exile Vermithor, her only immortal son, affected Vhagar’s desire for her much. But, in truth, she never truly loved her son. She only saw him as a possible way back into Arrax’s favour. When that failed, she said nothing against Vermithor’s exile. Vermithor has no love for his mother either and all the other gods dislike her to various degrees.

She is the opposite of Syrax in that, while Syrax dislikes some of her domains, Vhagar embraces all of it. While Tyraxes embodies all the nobler aspects of war and shuns the unpleasant parts, Vhagar is happy with all the violence and suffering. If there is no war, she will provoke one. Even if it’s a fight among friends, she’ll be happy.

She is also very vain and greedy. She could take all the riches in the world and still wouldn’t be satisfied. She wears as much finery as she can and often in front of her rivals/lovers, Arrax and Tyraxes.

No one knows how Vhagar’s body became rotted. She wasn’t that way when she hatched. No one can quite remember when it happened either. Perhaps, she offended the wrong person and a witch cursed her after her side lost a war. Perhaps, it was a pestilence caused by Tessarion on Tyraxes’ orders because she had grown sick of her continually breaking the peace.

Perhaps, the other gods say behind her back, it’s just a reflection of what she is. She can cover herself in fine clothes and jewels all she can just as men write fine ballads and songs about the glory of war. Under the gloss and pretty words, both war and Vhagar are rotten to the core.

[leonanette]

The Valyrian Gods betting on what Luke will do next

This is something I originally wrote in the comments of ‘The Man in the Pearl Mask’ but I liked it too much not to post it here too!

Tessarion - banned from participating because she can cheat with the threads of fate

Vhagar - always cheats and gets caught by Tyraxes

Tyraxes - is only taking part to make sure everyone plays fair, got that?

Vermax - is never caught cheating but wins suspiciously often

Gaelithox - always loses

Meraxes - always wins because she chooses whatever Gaelithox doesn't choose on principle

Caraxes - changes his bet at least five times before Luke acts

Shrykos - never takes part in the betting or say what she thinks Luke will do but will tell everyone that she got it right after the fact (yeah, sure, Shrykos)

Syrax - is trusted with holding the money and distributing it fairly afterwards

Vermithor - never takes part but is always on hand to console/distract Gaelithox when he loses

Balerion - thinks this is completely inappropriate and tells them so at every opportunity (yeah, it's ironic that the god who looks like a child is the most mature)

Meleys - knows it's happening but has no objection to it so she pretends she doesn't know

Aegarax and Arrax - has no idea it's happening