Ven



Ven is uniquely powerful and popular among purple deities for their charm, wit, and warmth of person. No stranger to physical acts of familiarity, this is a god who greets with hugs and kisses, who ignores the scope of their power to field the troubles of mortals sincerely.

Ven’s unique way of dressing is a small part of why they stand out in a crowd, but nonetheless a prominent one in spite of the healthy purple sheen and faint aura of crackling emotional magic. Their clothes fit none of Nohren’s societies, and represent a kind of playful but inexplicable sense of fashion. Frills and lace here, puffed shoulders and pantaloons there, an abundance of fleurs-de-lis and vertical stripes, all these things come together to make an unmistakable impression of foreign prosperity, even if the fashion itself is foreign to every one of Nohren’s cultures.

Again unlike many gods, Ven is not subject to simple urges and bald emotions. Every reaction has the hallmark of being considered wholly and viewed from complex angles, every response is measured and caring. Ven has never been known to fly into a rage or act out of hubris, unlike Maximarne or Yzma, who both made themselves famous with such behavior.

Perhaps the most famous thing about Ven in lieu of following in the footsteps of other gods and their behavior is the magical bottled spirits produced in the vineyard. This liquid spirit comes in two varieties- The Sleeping Bliss and The Baptismal Draught. Both allow the imbiber to forget their troubles in a very permanent way, and relieve themselves of the worldly burdens that weigh heaviest on their mind, but each drink differs drastically. The first puts its drinker into a deep, deep lucid sleep, in which they are painted as a hero wielding purple magic that can confront their fears and woes like so many storybook goblins and demons. When they awaken, they face the world in a state of confidence and renewed strength, empowered by the experience of making their wrongs go right.

The Baptismal Draught is arguably much more dangerous, but to the desperate, nothing compares to what it offers. Ven reaches out to the weakened and hurting with this draught as if to say “if you cannot conquer, you can at least try again.” When drunk, the draught invokes a powerful amnesia, and floods the drinker’s memories with images of a life their own imagination conjures up for them. They choose their own name and their own destiny, and are filled with enough purple magic to start over anywhere they like, within reason. In all of Ven’s long life, only four bottles of it have ever been shared with mortals. The idea of changing so completely is terrifying to many, and so they choose to conquer their problems instead.

Ven is perhaps the most benevolent and warm-hearted of any living god, and at the end of the day, might have a little more power than is safe for such a sincere creature. That can’t be helped, however, and for many people there is simply no greater company. In present day Nohren, the purple god can be found wandering around their massive vineyard that sprawls across the Verdant Horn, tending the D’Apis bee-folk of Calmette Hive and having picnics with mortals.