Another 100 pieces, another of Tynara’s Gods, another multi feature a week behind.
#500: “Vol, Lord of Strength”
#501: “Gift to Jotun”
#502: “Speaker of Vol”
WARNING: LORE DUMP
Vol is the 4th sibling of the seven (Alura is the youngest even though I did her first). His domains are strength, combat, and growth through conflict. Vol is more ambiguous morally than most of his siblings in the eyes of some, being a god of aggression, conflict, and action that often is found associated with violence and recklessness. He is considered the war god of the pantheon. His favored race was the now gone Jotuns, but is generally considered nowadays to be the patron of the Uroks, their descendants.
"Thus Vol granted this people his favor, and bestowed on them powerful bones, infused them with great strength, and touched their hearts with warriors wisdom."
History would see the gift of Vol, above all others, as the greatest blight on the world of mortals
The tale of the Jotun is perhaps a key factor in the negative light most of the civilized world views Vol in. The gods made 5 races to be put on the face of Tynara. The 3rd race, the Jotuns, were a tall and powerful race. Favored by Vol, their culture developed to favor physical aptitude and skill in combat, living mostly as tribal hunters in the times before the first civilizations. This served them well in a world were game had spent millennia evolving to survive dragons. When the other races began to settle and build bigger communities, Jotuns would sometime offer their services as guardians and physical labor, thus aiding in the growth of early civilized culture. It is not known what changed, as what followed wiped out much of that same culture they aided in building, but what is know is that there arose among them powerful leaders, great warlords, who led the majority in open war against the weaker races and against each other, enslaving many, laying waste to the kingdoms of that now lost era, and raising in their place empires of blood. This went on for generations until a mysterious blight afflicted them, leaving their offspring stunted, either in mind or size. Those that kept their size would become known as ogres, mindless, savage monsters. Those smaller in size would become the Uroks. Vol, as their patron, would be forever have the validity of his teaching stained, and their descendants, whether justified or not, would bear the weight of their sins.
One will rarely find temples or shrines to Vol in Tynara. Not because of his ill reputation, but because he is a god of action, not prayer. His doctrines, what few there are, are simple, though variation does often occur due to the lack of organization. They general teach personal growth through physical improvement and facing adversity, namely combat, but sometimes sports as well. Those considered "priests" or holy men and women of Vol thus are not just teachers, but skilled warriors and athletes. They offer training and challenges instead of blessings, becoming something for devotees to overcome. Most are defined by their skill, thus one who is a skilled swordsman would be a "Speaker of Swords", one who is a great runner would be a "Speaker of Quick feet", and so on.
