Vita

Pronouns: She/her

Though her name means life, Vita was named first for her spirit, rather than what she would grow to be. In the beginning, Vita was a bright thing, always ready with a compliment or a joke. Many of the other Gods appreciated the youthful Goddess, but none more so than her sister Nox.

When the horses began to inhabit the islands of Paradisus, Vita was smitten. Such complicated creatures, each different from the other. They could love, share, and live. Vita wanted a part of that, and so she would disguise herself as a white mare, so vibrant she would seemingly shine, especially in the darker places of the islands. Wherever she went horses flocked to her, admired her, praised her. She was helpless to resist. Vita loved them all back.

What Vita came to love more than anything was foals. Sweet and innocent, foals could do no harm in the world. They were celebrated by all who knew them and brightened the mood of their elders. So entranced with the little ones, Vita would appear during their first moments, when everything about them was magical. There were times when a birth was anything but happy, though, and it was during those times that Vita's heart broke. To the anxious mother's relief, a debilitating deformity or failure of a heart was fixed with only a breath of warm air from the dazzling white mare. Vita, they began to proclaim, Vita gave them life!

But life was not always so happy. While Vita intervened with the health of foals, she was blind to the war brewing. With war came deaths. and too many for her to interrupt. They were whisked away so quickly, gone without a goodbye. One of those deaths was Durus, a mortal stallion whom her sister had fallen in love with.

Nox returned into the waiting embrace of Vita, but it was not the same sister she had known. The vibrance and warm heart of Nox had gone, leaving only an empty shell. And try and she might, Vita was unable to soothe the heartache of her beloved sister. She could only watch as her sister took her place, guiding those into the next life, sharing their grief and sadness.

While Nox slipped away, Vita herself changed. What joy she had previously found in life grew bitter and angry. Those births she once celebrated went unnoticed and no longer did that blindingly white mare appear to bless the new lives. Instead she loathed the mortals and their problems. What was the point in rejoicing over the birth of a foal when it would grow old one day and walk the path with her sister?

Unaware of the trials of the gods, many mortals still pray to Vita. They offer sacrifices at her shrines with the hopes of a healthy new life and tell stories of the days when she walked the earth in the form of a white mare. But Vita has soured and turned a blind eye, moved only by the grandest of gestures.