Tetara

Of all the Gods and Goddesses, Tetara is perhaps the least understood beyond Verlisae herself. As the Goddess of Time Tetara sees to all of the greater cycles of the world, ensuring that they continue to move and flow from one phase to the next without stopping or slowing down. Because of this her realm is one that sits above and outside the realms of the other gods, even Malachite, and what little can be gleaned about her comes purely from stories spread by word of mouth over the centuries.

Ancient Depictions

Tetara is not directly depicted in any artwork or painting on her own. Instead she can be found in the background of other images of other Gods. Typically she is an outline in the back, vaguely human shaped with strands of color that indicate the passage of time or the movement of cycles. Other images have her outline appearing to be a bird in shape, or a fox, and even one within the Codex of Zenna shows her as being a great fish that swims through the passages of time. Mysterious as she is it is believed that in every image and work of art related to the Children of Verlisae Tetara can be found, added in intentionally or not.

Telena Faction

The Telena faction is one of the smallest factions within the Children, with no more than four or five members found in each church or temple. The simple reason for this is the lack of a true doctrine or even an understanding of what Tetara’s wishes might be. Some within the faction look toward ancient stories that specifically mention her and her actions in the world, but all seem to simply state over and over that Tetara’s presence is a constant one that drives forward both time and the cycles linked to time. Because of this members of this faction tend to believe in diligence in all things, and teach that for true progress to be made even in faith one must maintain a steady and consistent stream of actions that lead you toward your final goal. All things must continue to move, and as such the Telena faction push for growth and as little stagnation within the Children as possible in the hopes that this would please the mysterious Goddess of Time.

Rituals and Rights

While they do not have a Codex of their own, some ancient rituals have been recorded in other ancient texts that talk of the old Telena faction and its importance to the Children. Before the Forgotten Era the Telena were said to have been seers, and personal advisors to both the Sight and to other great figures in history as a voice of the Gods and the future to come. Along with these beliefs was also recorded several ancient rituals that the Telena perform that they believe allow them to divine meanings of the future.

Misting

Of the rituals that survived was one that spoke of a special herbal concoction that, when inhaled, would give the person visions of the past, present and future to interpret. The exact recipe was lost, but the faction managed to recreate it through scattered bits and pieces in other stories and histories that could be found to reference it. The act of inhaling these scents to potentially see the visions is known as Misting, a reference to the mental fogginess and whitening of vision that occurs once the scents have been inhaled for long enough. A misty fog overcomes the senses during the ritual, and shapes and colors can be made out from those mists which are written down and later interpreted by the faction as prophecies or tellings of the past, present of future.

There exists a large group even among the children that hold Misting in great contempt. Many believe that Misting is simply the results of a drug induced hallucination, and the results of most Misting sessions is tentative at best. Despite this a number of the commoners from smaller villages and towns still seek a Misting to take place, to foresee potential dangers that might lay ahead of them in the future.

Other Rituals

The Telena faction believes that Tetara can be communicated with through visions and other forms of fortunetelling, thus many take up one ore more of the fortuneteller arts believing that their connection with the Goddess gives great truth and meaning to their fortunes that others cannot understand.

Symbol

Much like Tetara herself, the symbol of the Telena faction is often vague and differs between temples. Most seem to agree though that water is a universal representation of the Goddess, as it flows steadily and continuously unless forcefully stopped. Many Telena carry a small vial of water blessed by the Settler in the name of Telena as a means of communion and to give greater power to their fortunes.