#shyrkos

[thisssees]

Now, I know that it’s just a headcanon because the Valyrian word for life is “Glaeson”

But it is now canon to me that Morghul is death, and Shyrkos is life.

Jaehaera and Jaehaerys ate with that one, and the possibilities of exploring their dragon bonds are endless imo. They are the only twins to have dragons at the same time, and who knows what that means for their bonds.

[milyavild]

the rest of the valyrian gods from @bbygirl-aemond "stormbreak".

part 2/2.

arrax, goddess of the sun and day. sister of terrax and vermax. mother of tessarion. associated with light, fire, warmth, and riches. prayed to for wealth. considered the patron god of merchants.

terrax, god of the moon and night. brother of vermax and arrax. father of shyrkos. associated with dark, sleep, water, and peace. considered the patron god of sailors.

vermax, goddess of the stars. sister of arrax and terrax. associated with the sky, the heavens, godhood, and magic. considered the leader of the gods.

shyrkos, god of dreams and prophecy. son of meraxes, goddess of the future, and terrax, god of sleep, born from terrax winning against meraxes in a bet. associated with visions, premonitions, and warnings. considered to be the patron god of dragon dreamers.

meleys, god of art and creativity. associated with music, poetry, painting, and imagination. considered the patron god of artists.

morghul, goddess of innocence. associated with virginity, children, chastity, and youth. prayed to by virgins before marriage, and prayed to on behalf of infants.

tessarion, goddess of nature. daughter of syrax and balerion. associated with animals, hunting, plants, and harvests. considered the patron god of farmers. prayed to before meals.

[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

[bbygirl-aemond]

Gods of Old Valyria

Hi all! A few of you were interested in learning more about the gods of Old Valyria after the origin story Daemon read to Aemond in Chapter 16 (here, third and final POV). I thought I'd put all of the lore related to them in one place for your reference!

As a note, this is built on canon where possible. We're only explicitly given the names of four of the gods, and aren't even told how many there are. I've taken this and run with it. Since the four names we have are all names of dragons around the Dance era and prior, I'm borrowing the names of current and past dragons to fill in the remaining gods. I'm also taking inspiration from the Fourteen Flames of Old Valyria in creating a polytheistic religion of fourteen gods. I also think this is a funny contrast against the Faith of the Seven!

Also, I'm not saying there are hints to future events in Stormbreak hidden below, but that's exactly what I'm saying. Perhaps the concept a deity represents has something to say about the rider of the dragon named after that deity. Or perhaps the relations of the deities have something to say about the relations of the dragons. Not always, of course, but for some the choices I made for the gods will parallel what plays out for the riders and dragons within Stormbreak.

Okay, so let's introduce everyone!

Vhagar, god of war and destruction

Father of Vermithor. Associated with protection, struggle, battles, and destruction. Considered to be the patron god of soldiers and fathers.

2. Syrax, goddess of life and motherhood

Sister-wife of Balerion. Mother of Tessarion. Associated with fertility, women, and family. Considered to be the patron goddess of mothers.

3. Balerion, god of death and transformation

Brother-husband of Syrax. Mother of Tessarion. Associated with the afterlife, rebirth, renewal, and change. Prayed to for safe passage into the afterlife when someone is dying or on their deathbed.

4. Caraxes, god of the past and wisdom

Brother of Tyraxes and Meraxes. Associated with tradition, blood, heritage, and history. Prayed to for guidance during difficult decisions.

5. Tyraxes, goddess of the present and learning

Sister of Meraxes and Caraxes. Associated with innovation, invention, and building. Considered to be the patron goddess of craftsmen and scholars.

6. Meraxes, goddess of the future and foresight

Sister of Caraxes and Tyraxes. Mother of Shyrkos. Associated with instinct and planning. Prayed to for good fortune.

7. Vermithor, god of victory and achievement

Son of Vhagar, born from his sword hand as he won the first ever battle. Associated with resilience and overcoming obstacles. Prayed to for inner strength.

8. Shyrkos, god of dreams and prophecy

Son of Meraxes, goddess of the future, and Terrax, god of sleep, born from Terrax winning against Meraxes in a bet. Associated with visions, premonitions, and warnings. Considered to be the patron god of dragon dreamers.

9. Arrax, goddess of the sun and day

Sister of Terrax and Vermax. Associated with light, fire, warmth, and riches. Prayed to for wealth. Considered the patron god of merchants.

10. Terrax, god of the moon and night

Brother of Vermax and Arrax. Father of Shyrkos. Associated with dark, sleep, water, and peace. Considered the patron god of sailors.

11. Vermax, goddess of the stars

Sister of Arrax and Terrax. Associated with the sky, the heavens, godhood, and magic. Considered the leader of the gods.

12. Meleys, god of art and creativity

Associated with music, poetry, painting, and imagination. Considered the patron god of artists.

13. Morghul, goddess of innocence.

Associated with virginity, children, chastity, and youth. Prayed to by virgins before marriage, and prayed to on behalf of infants.

14. Tessarion, goddess of nature

Daughter of Syrax and Balerion. Associated with animals, hunting, plants, and harvests. Considered the patron god of farmers. Prayed to before meals.

So there you have it! I'm sure some of you have noticed, but subsets of these gods are related to each other in very deliberate ways. Most of the gods are siblings, but I felt that some of the gods should be more closely related than even that because the concepts they represented were so linked. I'll explain each case below:

The sun, moon, and stars are three parts of one whole. So Arrax, Terrax, and Vermax are triplets.

The past, present, and future are also three parts of one whole. So Caraxes, Tyraxes, and Meraxes are triplets.

Life and death are equals and opposites of each other. So Syrax and Balerion are twins.

Dreams are part of the future, but they also happen during sleep. So Shyrkos is the son of Meraxes and also Terrax.

Victory is one aspect of war and struggle. So Vermithor is the son of Vhagar.

Nature is a form of life and also death. So Tessarion is the daughter of Syrax and also Balerion.

I also thought that the idea of Syrax and Balerion being twins and spouses, and Meraxes and Terrax reproducing together (they're not twins but all of these original gods are siblings), would be a good origin for the Valyrian incest custom. At the very least I thought it should be reflected in the gods a few times.

Anyways, none of this is going to feature super heavily in the main story, and if a new god is ever introduced there will also obviously be context about what they represent. But since I already planned it out, I figured I might as well post it! Plus it'll probably be fun for those of you who like to speculate. If anyone wants to use this in their own content, they're welcome to! Please just shoot me a quick ask first. 🥰