Circle (SER kole)

the Golden Goddess

Circle is one of the Aggoles of the Nod Noch Nine. According to myths of the Aggelomachy she never served on the Council of Man as many of the other Nine did before the war. Rather she preferred to wonder alone through the vast world. When the war began, she joined Tyre and his army in order remain in the beauty of Aldern She saw the transformations of it by the mortals of the world and hated their cities. She, like aggoles, was imprisoned in Kur after their defeat.

Her eternal damnation to never physically return to Aldern has driven her mad. She is known to talk in broken sentences and circling conversations that the other aggoles dismiss. Her name comes from this, with or true name lost to history, only known by Tyre and Nyx. For reasons only to them, the two powerful aggoles favor Circle. She remains one of the core members of the Nine because of it. Her confusing conversations are interpreted as riddles of wisdom to be deciphered by her followers. Something that perhaps Nyx believes as well, as many legends of the Nine have Nyx and Circle as inseparable companions.

Circle has become associated with nature over the ages. A cult following has risen up to worship her. These cults teach the love of the cycle of nature, life, death, and rebirth. Unlike the other Nine, who are often seen as dark spirits and pure evil, Circle's name is sometimes invoked by farmers looking for a good seasonal crop, or protection from extreme weather.

Elf worshippers are Circles favorite, as their love of nature matches her own. This is rare however, with few elves ever becoming any of the Nine's worshippers. Her worshippers have a complicated relationship with Nymph. While both have a common interest in preserving the forests of their lands, some of Circle's core doctrine conflict with the nymphs. Nymph have a dislike of farmlands, something which Circle once hated, but seems to have come to favor over the ages of her imprisonment in Kur.

Circle, like many spirits associated with nature, is heavily connected with the changing of the season. 'The Circle of the season,' is a common saying across Ethae, no matter one's faith. Unlike other nature spirits, that are often associated with spring month, Circle is often connected to the fall months. She loves the natural world but is obsessed with the death and rebirth of it all. The cutting of crops, only for it to grow once more the next spring enthralls her. She has gained the moniker of 'Golden Goddess' through the ages and is even worshipped as the goddess of the harvest in some cultures. For example, she is known as 'Ilu Autumn' (the Autumn Goddess) in Char'wyn.

While she is seen favorably by farmers and creatures of the forests, she has something that taints her reputation among the intelligent forest creatures. She utterly believes that it is the Elder Tree of the world that are keeping her trapped in her prison. In her opinion, as long as the elder trees remain, the aggoles will forever remain banished. The other Nine disregard or disagree with her assessment. There is folklore throughout Novyum that Circle was the source of the dark disease that killed elder tree Onoma and curses the lands around it.

Cirle has never been known to have created an Avatar to connect with the material world. Be it because she is unable, or unwilling, is unknown. She will channel her power into the material world to speak to her followers through the whispers of rustling leaves, a babbling brook, or the wind through wheat fields; vague sounds that make words that must be interpreted by her followers. She is never clear in her meaning, nor is it clear she has said anything at all.