Nox, Lord Aphelian

O Lord Aphelian, passager of stars,
Reveal to us all things beneath the gentle moons.

— Prayers to the Seven Foundations

Nox, alternately named Tjersenn, Ina-Achl or Auriju, is the High Wolflord of the night. The most mysterious of His brethren, and the least well-understood, He walks paths that few others dare travel. Final home of all dreams, watcher of the stars - whatever name He takes, the Lord Aphelian remains what He is: the world's tireless guardian, shielding it against the all-consuming abyss.

No sin or secret shall escape His judgement. No falsehood may endure His gaze.

Truth in Reflection: Nadir

"Our time is short. I must walk this lightless path, to seek out the night sky's glory upon the far edge of that vast shadow."

— Telum Duskwalker, first Harbinger of Nox

Nox is sometimes considered the eldest of the Wolflords, or the first to arrive in Wyral. He is a god of boundaries above all else: those who understand the Midnight believe that He is locked in an endless struggle with it, preventing it from consuming all of creation. Many say that He set the stars in the sky to protect ordinary mortals, and the two moons to hold the abyssal sea at bay.

Nox's divine demesne presides over shadow, starlight, boundaries, slumber and truth. He also bears control over - though not dominion of - the Midnight, which His chosen mages use for transformation and destruction. He is the endless starry vault of the night sky, and the fearful presence in the dark. He is the sustainer of the world's foundations, and the judge of all lies and iniquity.

The night mages that follow His path share in His knowledge of dichotomy. Under the silver moon's watchful gaze, they guard against the encroaching Midnight, bringing rest and clarity to mortals. And with the charcoal moon's blessing, they may tread the darkest places of the world, where all lies and fantasies are severed.

Solitude and Starlight

"Stand before His visage, and bare your soul. If you are worthy, He shall grant you the right to witness the firmament's glory..."

— a nexhi monk

Nox is rarely named. Few wish to draw His attention.

Shadows and the night hold nameless fears for mortals, inherited from distant ancestors who watched the stars fall from their thrones. The very concept of the Midnight is beyond most ordinary people. And so the Lord Aphelian is spoken of only as a figure of judgement, who strips souls down to their barest essence.

There are rites, of course. Certain sects bury their dead only by night, so that the moonlight may wash their souls of shadow. Devotees still make pilgrimages into the desert, searching for the Lord's temple and the priestess who first found it. And since antiquity, night mages have performed their own brand of worship: maintaining the border between reality and the Midnight.

Those who saw Ina-Achl incarnate, though... their minds almost never recovered.

Witnesses once spoke of the night sky descending upon them, constellations like dust upon His form. They made art, in their saner moments, of the silver moon trapped in His titanic jaws. They wrote of crimson eyes that revealed the yawning abyss beyond reality. Even in dreams, they said that He drew the shapeless subconscious to Himself, framing Himself in both blissful reveries and terrible nightmares.

When the Dream-Eater appeared, reality was laid bare. Its beauty... and its terrifying fragility.

Aspect of the Wolf: Singularity

"He set that boundary in place. He alone may choose when to unmake it."

— She Who Passes Dusk's Gates

Many speculate that the casting which embodies Nox's power is the barrier between reality and the Midnight. No mortal mage could ever hope to lay down such a casting - and of course, He has always been the Wolflord who governs over that boundary.

In more recent years, though, a different theory has arisen.

Perhaps Auriju's Aspect is not concerned with the preservation of the border... but of its annihilation.

The first Msilos spoke once, and only once, of a terrible battle during the Dusktide. The Lord's first temple was attacked by... invaders. Perhaps they were constructs formed of shadow; perhaps they were monsters from beyond the shattering sky. Whatever they were, they had long terrorised the desert, and threatened to ruin the weakened veil between the sky and the lightless sea.

Auriju Himself met them in wrath, fighting for six dusks and seven dawns, while the veil between the starry skies and the lightless sea continued to fray.

On the seventh dusk, it is said that the very stars in the sky cast themselves down, lacerating stone and shadow. They formed an impenetrable ring through which nothing could pass.

As for everything within that ring... it was utterly devoured.

Night mages have tried to replicate it, but with incredibly dangerous results. No mortal-made seals could compare to the authority of a star. And no mortal could hope to violate the boundary in such a way - not with anything as simple as a casting of destruction.

For this is the unadorned truth of Nox's nature: warding starlight, and consuming shadow.

Let the watchful abyss not unmake your path. In shadow shall you witness the truth of all nature - to sever, or to save.