““The soul has no fear, wants, hatred, love, or needs. In a sense, it is the purest self.”
Place your hand to your chest, close your eyes, and feel the power of magic - however faint it may be - coursing through you. Look to the sky, and think of who you may be beyond your body; beyond your mind. Your soul. This is the domain of Almar, master of the soul and patron of magic.
The worship of Almar is as varied as souls themselves, with some wandering the land driving out evil spirits, demons, and threats to the metaphysical. Others meditate in the peace of their own temples, seeking to actualize the soul and ascend to a state beyond life and death. More still take pleasure in playing tricks, sparking joy and trickery wherever their footfalls lead.
Almar appears in three forms: one originating on Jaern, one on Cahyali, and one having scattered legends across both planes. One of these forms, the Soulspark, is said to have been an adventurer, once, a close friend to Kira and Cronk - two who would go on to become the gods of mind and body, Vormaxia and Zepherin. To this day, Jaernian practices closely associate the three of them.
This aspect of Almar is present on Jaern, and is the one involved in the mythos surrounding himself, Vormaxia, and Zepherin. He appears as a rather plain-looking human man from The Rhine Archipelago, or as a multicolored, shifting array of light and color vaguely composing a humanoid shape.
In his humanlike form, he often wears a simple linen cloak adorned with complex knots of embroidery and tasseled rope. This attire is where the Knot of Almar comes from, and it is believed to represent the complexity and interconnectedness of the mortal soul with the mortal body, mind, and the world around.
He is said to be rather serious and introspective, and managing to make him laugh is a sure sign of gaining his favor. His voice is smooth and calming, and he has been known to appear to those troubled and calm their souls. Some find his demeanor absolutely offputting, while others see his ever-placid attitude like a lighthouse in a stormy sea and seek to emulate it.
Utterly and completely different from the Jaernian Soulspark, this aspect of Almar originated on Cahyali, and many believe he was once an Old Dreamt of illusions and trickery before ascending to godhood. Myths abound of Tise-Swa's exploits, and he is a common underdog figure in folklore across much of the Heartlands, Sublime Veld, and Oxis realms.
Tise-Swa appears as a wiry man, and has taken the form of practically every race under the sun. He always appears with dark skin, feathers, or scales, and his eyes are a sharp and wily gold. He wears a hat with candles on top, and the number that are lit is said to represent his mood. He almost always wears a smile, with teeth ever so slightly sharper than normal.
His clothes match whichever region he appears in, but is usually colorful and flowy. He is often depicted carrying around a pipe, which he uses to puff out illusionary forms from smoke. He is well known as a trickster able to run circles around even Thoth, though most agree his intentions are ultimately benevolent.
This god is a quiet aspect, always seen carrying a sickle and a shortsword. He wears elegant armor of glistening adamant, and appears when his followers need him most - when they are in the heat of battle against deadly foes who would defile and destroy souls. Krinos defines the enemies of Almarians, and whips up fervor against creatures such as demons, soul-sucking mages, and anything else which would take the magic contained within a soul to fuel their own machinations.
When he speaks, it is never more than one or two words, sometimes a curse against the enemy, sometimes a blessing to his adherents. When the foe falls, and the battle ends, he is gone, the only sign he was there being a pristine white lily growing from the ground where he left.
The Jaernian temples say that Almar is one of the oldest gods: a primordial being, who existed at the dawn of creation to shape the mortal soul. Together with the rest of the Fourteen, he crafted the metaphysical part of the mortal form, and granted them the ability to wield magic through the soul. All was well until the Heavens' War, when Anubis and Orus, seeking power and stability, encroached on those parts of their domains which overlapped and forced Almar away from the pantheon.
He would not return until Vormaxia's gambit, when she leveraged a loophole in the God-Pact to ascend as one of the Fourteen. With her she brought Zepherin and Almar. Their priesthoods returned and established themselves, and ever since Almar has been guiding the mortal soul and supporting the power contained within it.
Far away, on Cahyali, a Dreamt named Tise-Swa is said to have been immensely bored. So bored, in fact, that the only thing able to entertain him was a convoluted, risky plan: one which would end with his ascension to the pantheon, or his utter obliteration from existence. During this plan, he stole precious and forbidden knowledge from Thoth, tricked Peregrinus into giving up some light of the sun, and convinced Seherine to change his place on the loom of fate. Different myths tell various specific events, but all have the same ending. Tise-Swa succeeds against all odds, and becomes a god.
There are three branches of the Almarian temple, all three of which exist on both Jaern and Cahyali. They go by various names depending on where they are, with local chapters typically being entirely self-sufficient. The three branches fulfill entirely different functions.
These people focus on the welfare of the soul itself, guiding lost souls to the afterlife and guarding them from harm. They sometimes work together with the Anubian Sepulchers in detective operations and investigations, as their connection to the soul allows them to carry out limited communion with the dead and bring closure to those who have passed.
The warriors of Almar. These priests take up arms against all manner of foe, anything which would harm the soul or take it for their own ends. They channel the beliefs and power of the aspect Krinos, utilizing the powerful magic within their own souls to do battle.
The most traditional and oldest faction of Almarians. During Almar's ousting from the Fourteen, they were the only ones who managed to carry on belief in their god and deliver the teachings of the Soulspark to the world once Almar returned. Many find them strange, as Ascendants prefer to focus on their own souls and spend much of their time meditating, attempting to abandon their connections to earthly things.
Shepherds and Templars both depend on the Ascendants, however, as their temples are some of the few which contain the tools and magical components necessary to supply Shepherd and Templar activities, as well as perform many divine rituals.