Hey and happy STS! If you participate in writing games I'd love to hear a little more about the Ill Omens ... how big of a role do they play in your storytelling? Are they the same as Bad Omens or different in some way? Could you share the difference between Bad and Ill omens if there is one?
Happy STS and thank you for the ask!!!
The "ill omens" part is, honestly, up to interpretation. As much as Fenice and much of society internalize her being an omen-bringer/harbinger of misfortune, much of that reputation is really rooted more in superstition than it is fact.
When the Trinity came together to fashion humanity from the earth, life-giving Meidther used a drop of her own blood to bring Their creations to life, and in doing so blessed them with a fraction of Their own divine power. This was what the magi called arcanum, though to the layperson it was known as simply magic. Though only few would be able to wield this power beyond the simplest of spells, everyone that walked the earth and drew breath had some measure of magic running through their veins, for it was proof that the goddess gave them life, proof of their creation at the hands of gods. But in rare occurrences there are those who would be born without that divine blessing of magic, and in their weak and sputtering wails would soon perish in its lack. Deadborne, those pitiful creatures were called. The ones born already destined for death. Incomplete creations, some called them. Divine mistakes. That was until enough people realized that the birth of a deadborne oft times preceded some great change, a disturbance in the status quo, and from then on decided to call them something different. Omen-Bringers. Harbingers of Misfortune. The birth and death of a deadborne spelled certain calamity in the future.
-- When Comes the Dawn, Chapter 5: Pitiful Creatures
The superstition goes that a deadborne in the family usually means some great change/upheaval to come in the future. Kind of like a human canary in a coal mine haha. Whether one would interpret that as an "ill omen" is really up to the person.
(Not sure about the question of bad vs ill omens though? At the very least I use them to mean the same thing).
Thanks again for the ask!