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Nyx: The Risen One. Goddess of Darkness, Redemption and Mourners; Protector of Mothers and the dead. Mother of Eris, Ker, Hemera, Philotes, Oizys, and Hesperia.
There was a time during the setting of the reign of King Dusand and the rise of the reign of King Ashel when demon hoards were unleashed upon the world. Nyx was one of the members of this infernal hoard, but she was no mere imp as so many were in those days, but a Demon Lord in her own right. Many rumors abound as to why a Demon Lord would partake in such lowly activities as causing mayhem to the mortal realm; some speculate that she was summoned with the hoards being used as a cover, others that she was overthrown by one of the other Demonic Nobility and left to wander the mortal realm. Only the Goddess truly knows, but one thing is for certain; Nyx was left stripped of her demonic powers, bound in the form of a mortal lioness. Only her forked tail marked her as something other than the usual feline.
It was during this time that she was forced to live with the Court of Gods and Goddesses where none, save the High Priestess Syringa, suspected her of her infernal origins. It is said, however, that she acted as a normal lioness would; she became an exceptional huntress, she served the king obediently. While far from the warmest lioness, no one could claim a qualm against her. All this so she could bide her time until she could restore herself to her true form.
Until the unexpected happened; She had her first cub, Eris. Upon seeing her daughter; ordinary, small, and harmless as any other cub, a spark shone from the dark void of the Demon Lord's heart. For the first time, her fierceness became protective, her bloodlust cooled and replaced by love. And as the rest of her children were born, each one fed the spark until she was alight with it. Her lust for power lay abandoned, and she longed only to protect and be one with her children.
However, her demonic essence still held, and she found that it kept time from taking her form, as it would her children. She did not age, she was as a mortal but she would never be laid into the Earth as her daughters someday would. She would go on, forever to carry her grief as the wind forever carries the desert's scorching heat.
Horrified by this realization, she begged Syringa for aid, and the High Priestess agreed to cleanse her of her demonic essence. Finally truly a mortal, Nyx led her life surrounded by her children and the pride who had become her family. When she finally let out her last breath, she ascended and became a Goddess, forever watching over the souls of her daughters and the rest of her Pride. To this day, a lioness with a forked tail is still born from her lineage once in a generation; forever a reminder of her protective gaze.
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