a long long long time ago the world was full of gods, and mortals worshiped them as they pleased. but old ones should never have been allowed access to the mortal world- let alone to the people who inhabited it- and the veil between the two domains quickly begun to fray. in their haste to preserve their world, humanity came together, and decided to eradicate all knowledge of ancient gods from their society, starving them to death, severing the otherworldly connection, and insuring such cataclysm never occurs again.
but salithys, ancient goddess, spinner of silken deceit, did not take kindly to the betrayal. and- in an act that would go on to disturb even her godly kin- she severed her head, quartered it, and molded her flesh into four divine daughters. valhyni, aspect of mending and patron of healing. mythris, aspect of punishment and patron of penance. jallastia, aspect of illusions and patron of reverie. and nobilia, aspect of obedience and patron of control.
salithys casted her daughters into the mortal realm in a final act of defiance, cowling their beastly true forms with an angelic exterior, and commanded her daughters to spread a gospel. any gospel. anything that humans would clutch to as a new, safe religion. it did not matter if they knew the being they prayed to... she would be sated all the same. and then, she would be able to return.
and they were pure and good things. nice and sweet and loyal things. and so they obeyed. created her mother's new false gospel, and spread it. drew a crowd after years that spiraled into a religion after centuries. churches were built in their mother's false image. heretics burned under her false doctrine. and salithys fed and grew, and waited patiently for her time to usurp the mortal realm.
with their initial tasks completed, the angels were sentenced to a private enclave, which would become their eternal home. their mother's highest upper echelon- the slim few who know only fractions of her truth- visit them now and again. the angels are bloodlet routinely, the ichor distilled into an incense that grants abilities when burned. occasionally it is drank raw for incredible power at a startling cost.
its unclear what will happen to the children once salithys' time arrives. maybe they'll live among her. most likely, they will be subsumed back into their mother's mass, and simply cease to exist. if they are aware of this, most don't show reservations to it. i'm not sure if some of them are even physically capable.
