Followers: Tavir
Main countries of worship: Audhyll, Dyarsvot
The seasons are the most important things in to the Tavir, and their deities represent that. There are 16 deities, four representing each season. Each season has a leader, who plays an important role in the changing of the seasons and acts as head deity during that time.
Sevi is the goddess of the springtime, love, and magic, and is portrayed as a benevolent goddess who carries a staff of blooming flowers. She is ritually born from the ground every spring, and continues to rule until the beginning of summer. The deities of her court are Iralia, the goddess of music and inspiration; Akina, the goddess of fertility and joy; and Tala, the goddess of new knowledge and order.
Yoren is the god of the summertime, fire, and the sun, and is portrayed as a strong nobleman with a yellow cloak and shining golden eyes. He courts Sevi every year as the springtime ends, marries her at the beginning of summer, and rules until autumn. The gods in his court are Tano, god of the ocean and trade; Toregir, god of mischief and festivals; and Unir, god of dragons and war.
Heli is the goddess of autumn, wisdom, peace, and age, and is portrayed as an old woman with auburn hair and one green eye. She returns from the south as darkness approaches, sacrifices her eye to gain knowledge of things long past, and rules until the beginning of winter. The goddesses in her court are Vyr, goddess of decay; Orin, goddess of earth; and Sufe, goddess of time.
Mure is the god of winter, snow, and death, and is portrayed as a tall, lean man with stark white hair and a sword made of ice. He comes into power as Heli ages, banishes her to the south, and rules until the beginning of spring. The gods in his court are Kyro, god of snowstorms and chaos; Pata Gyll, god of hope and family; and Luv, god of rebirth and magic. At the end of winter, Luv slays Kyro and Mure looses power of the collapsing court.
Oritavir followers believe in a cycle of reincarnation and a semi-immortal soul. As long as someone has done good deeds, they are able to reincarnate, but if someone does something unforgivable, the soul begins to wear out, and the more deeds they do, the more worn their soul becomes. When they die, their soul becomes part of Mure's chaotic court of winter. When a soul has been cycled for a long time, the soul can still become tired, and when the last soul-holder dies they join Sevi's spring court and are reborn as flowers.
There are gender roles in societies that practice Oritavir, but they are often flexible. The general consensus is that women are associated with spring and fall, the in-between seasons and the seasons with the most magic, and men are associated with summer and winter, the stable and earthly seasons. However, if one wishes to be a woman but still hold a men's gender role, they are accepted in society, as people often assume they simply lived in a man's body before, or felt a calling from the gods of that season. Gender fluid people are seen as sacred intermediaries, able to traverse all four seasons, while agender people are seen as the same for opposite reasons: they are not bound to a season, therefore they have no bias toward one court.
Oritavir practice praises ritual and cyclical timekeeping, especially marking harvests and animal migrations, as they are seen to be the effects of the shifting powers of the gods. They also focus on the healing aspect of time and change, with a lot of their idioms focused around seasons and cycles. For example: "The turning wheel ties loose threads", "what is left undone in spring comes back around in the winter".
There are two main myths: one concerning the beginning of the world and one concerning the wrath. They believe that the world is eternal, and even if one era ends, a new one will begin, so it doesn't make sense to mourn the future loss.
There was a time when the world was dark and void. Then, a light burst out of the darkness, glowing like blazing embers. However, the fire did not burn for long. When it burned out, it formed a sphere of soil and rock. Out of this sphere, in the fading light, Sevi burst out of the earth. She planted her shallow roots in, but the warmth was almost out. In her fear of the darkness, she reached out and touched it, and her fingertips caught fire, releasing Yoren from the light. The two of them lived for a long time, until Sevi's roots brushed the rocky core. Heli arrived gently in the form of sleep, as Sevi had not slept one day in the history of creation. Without Sevi awake, the plants grew dormant, and Heli took care of them. Yoren longed to be with Sevi, so he too fell asleep, and the world birthed Mure, the god of the cold. He lived a lonely life without the other gods. He came across Sevi, sleeping under the blanket of snow, and woke her. She woke the other gods and when they all were together, they created the world as they saw fit, each adding their own beauty.
A long time ago, the world was always in summer. Yoren's light shone over everything, making flowers bloom and trees grow. However, Mure was jealous of being relegated to only a god of night, and created three children, Kyro, Luv, and Pata Gyll, to help him take control of the courts. With a fierce blow, Kyro struck Yoren in the chest and plunged the world into winter. The uproar caused by this was chaotic, torn between summer and winter. Sevi and Heli, in the wake of his death, and crafted three children from Yoren's body.
The fighting didn't pause until Sevi was slain at her lover's side. Heli, in her grief for the girl she considered her ward, as well as having been banished by Mure to the distant south-lands, sacrificed her own eye to gain the secrets of life and death. Disguised as a peddler woman, she went to Pata Gyll and Luv of the winter court for help, knowing they would be more sympathetic to her cause. One fateful battle, Luv stabbed Kyro through the chest with his iron sword. Without Kyro's snowstorms, Mure became more willing to bargain, and he allowed for Heli to bring Yoren back from death, on the condition that they never meet face to face.
With Kyro dead and the winter court shattered, Heli raised Sevi from the dead, and the world began to grow again. Yoren courted her as an adolescent boy would court a girl, and as the spring grew, so did their love. Their marriage formed the first summer. Heli, in the form of gentle sleep, returned from the south-lands as the summer ended, and declared that the day she sacrificed her eye would be celebrated as the first day of autumn. Mure was allowed to return, and Heli left for the south-lands when she saw him approaching. She never stayed far, but made sure to keep her distance from the reborn winter court.
The Oritavir religion is loosely organized with a class of druids who oversee the daily, weekly, and monthly rituals. The rituals in order are as follows:
The Morning vigil: Practiced in the home, a moment of silence and reflection before the day begins. In larger communities, it is marked by the ringing of a bell at the beginning and end of the vigil.
The Evening ritual: Practiced in groups, typically at the local temple. It is a prayer of thanksgiving and invocation of safety for the night. There is a call to worship with a ringing bell.
The Ablution: Practiced at the beginning of the week in a local temple. It involves ritual washing and cleansing of the past week, as well as a prayer to let go of any harm and anger.
The Rite of the Path: Practiced at the end of every month as a community. It is a ritual circling of one's community (neighborhood, village, or even state), and an invocation of safety, as well as a ritual for letting go of past anger.
The druids are grouped into four categories and serve at different times. Male druids serve in summer and winter, female druids in spring and autumn, and non-binary druids can serve at any time of the year. There is usually a temple Mother or Father, and then a number of druids and acolytes.