Ognyena

Ognyena, third child of Lada and Svarog, Sister of Dajbog, Perun, and Ciza. While her brother Dajbog was worshiped for bringing light to the planet, his light went away once the sun went down. Leaving the Taros in Jüterbogs hands, with his night sky. Ognyena watched the Taros for many nights until she decided to show herself to the Taros and bring them her fire. The Taros were afraid, how could that be, the warmth and light that Dajbogs sun was giving to them now brought again by his sister for every Taros to use. She taught them how to use the fire and from that moment on the number of worshippers rose with every new usage of fire. Dajbog wasn't happy with that and with the help of Perun they tried to extinguish those fires with rain and storms. But some were too well protected. This is where the legends say that the first Priests of Ognyena arose with their mission to protect the fires of their tribes. Ognyena wasn't there to fight her brothers, she was seeking harmony and peace, so she let her brothers do what they did and thanked her priests for what they did by talking with them during their night watches. But after a stellar rise, there was her fall once the fire wasn't needed anymore to heat and bring light during the night, it became an annoyance to the Taros instead of a boon due to fires taking lives and possessions. Her siblings reigned superior over her and it is said that she stepped back into the shadows at that time and during the last centuries only some of the most devout priests claim to have heard her through the sacred flame.   Her title varies depending on what stance the person one asks has towards her, the same with depictions. The name most Taros agree to and the one used in most of the literature is "She of the Fire". It stems from the picture that she stepped out of the fire to bring just that to the Taros. Those who worship her tend to name her "Keeper of the Celestial Fire", "Guiding Light" or "Mother of the warming Hearth" and other positive names. Other common names from non-worshipers and the majority of Taros Paganists are besides "Keeper of the Celestial Fire" also "Fallen Daughter", "The Imperfect", and "Goddess of Volcanoes". Those who blame her for the loss of possession or lives due to fire aren't as nice. "Vengeful Wrath", "Purger of the Poor and Innocent", or "Devourer of Life" are just some of the names she is being called by those.   Especially the "Fallen Daughter" stems from the duality of gods in the Taros Paganism. The descendants of Chernobog show rather negative attributes like war, death, and darkness. While the descendants of Belobog are rather associated with positive attributes like the warming sun, forests and even Perun, the God of Storms and Thunder, is praised for the rain he brings. But Ognyena's fire transformed from being important to everyone to something dangerous, something that takes lives and isn't needed anymore. So her attributes are seen as rather negative so she doesn't really fit onto the light side anymore, that's why she is called "Fallen Daughter" by many.   Pictures of her can be as diverse as well. In her temples, she is often depicted as a kind and benevolent young Taros woman. Sometimes with wings, most of the time with some kind of crown made out of flames. In most literature and encyclopedias she gets depicted as some kind of flamy being shaped like a Taros woman but more vague and elemental. But as the stance towards her shifted from general worship to a more reserved or negative stance, more and more icons of her as an angry and destructive woman flooded the mainstream. But all icons have one thing alike, a mighty woman, depicted in one way or another.   The worship of Ognyena changed through the ages. In the old times, there were many Ognyena priests and they were responsible for the central fires of tribes and later often posed as night watches, walking the streets with their lamps. Paganists brought offerings to make sure that they will stay warm in the winter and that their houses may not burn. Houses were often marked by priests with certain blessings to show that the house is protected from fire. It was also the duty of Ognyena priests to make sure that the fire of lighthouses never went out during the night. This led to sailors calling Ognyena a "Guiding Light". But when progress kicked in the Taros on Gudrun found other ways to heat their homes, they didn't need fire to light their homes and streets and it wasn't needed to guide anyone anymore. While the other gods still have their relevant areas in the Taros life, Ognyena was left with mostly her negative attributes. This shift was also fueled by groups of people that abused Ognyena as a figurehead for their purges. They burned people that were different or who they deemed criminals. It was said that Ognyena, the righteous, would spare those who burned on the stake, should they be innocent. Although that was just a brief period of Taros history it still gave a lasting impression. And it was one of the many stings that led to the number of worshipers shrinking. Nowadays there are some professions left who worship her out of tradition. For example, many firefighters still pray to her and some of their uniforms have her insignia on them. Same with sailors and members of the Navy. But still, the number of temples shrunk together with the number of priests.   In the more modern days, there is one group of people that is over represented among her followers. It's black sheep of families. Those that feel like they failed their families, those that were abandoned or worse, those people tend to look up to her. Each of them with their own motivation but most of them because after all the hits Ognyena took, her fires still burn, in her temples and many hearts. Some of them stop following her and praying to her once their life stabilizes again, but some stay close to her forever. But due to their nature, most of them never reach higher positions and thus she is underrepresented in the media as well. The priesthood, although declining, still follows the same age-old rituals. A typical initiation rite is to burn oneself, most commonly the forearms, in a sacred ever-burning flame. The pain and scars will forever bond them with Ognyena and identify them as Ognyena priests to others. Those ever-burning flames are housed in every of the few temples that are left. Even though it would be easy to maintain a flame in the current days, those sacred flames are still maintained like they were for ages, by using wood, coal, or comparable materials. This requires that at least one priest watches the flame at all times. Caring for the flame is an honor for every priest. With caring for it during the stillness of night being the highest honor as that is the time it is the easiest to hear Ognyena through those flames. Some of the older lighthouses still have Ognyena priests caring for the light, but this is mostly for marketability and tourism and not as a necessity. The priests however take that responsibility pretty seriously.   There are only very few temples left on Gudrun, most of them in the Golgis and Vapormills areas. But there is a ruined cathedral on the planet of Heras that may become a cathedral devoted to Ognyena in the future.   Festivities The fifth of May is her holiday. It is celebrated by lighting large bonfires in front of her temples. Priests light-up sticks in the sacred flame and carry them out of the temple to light the bonfire with them and thus bless this bonfire and make it a sacred flame as well. And besides those bonfires, there are also grills where edibles will be grilled with sacred fire. Eating things from those grills is like a blessing from Ognyena herself.