> *“Love the soul, for it is constant when all else is fluid.” -proverb attributed to Mode* Patron deity of beauty, lovers everywhere, and artists, Mode is a god of many facets. While how the god is represented shifts across cultures, particularly in terms of which gender is ascribed to the divinity, Mode is perhaps most truly represented as the infinite forms of nature honored and modeled by their children: the [[Giants]]. Mode’s gift of magic is the [[True Polymorphy]] of the giants, allowing them to take on the shape of all living things they study. ### Titles and Honorifics Known to most as the Song of Dawn, Mode is also given the appellation the Lord and Lady of Beauty in the north to represent both aspects of the god popularly depicted, male and female. Other titles include the Eternal Spring, the Lover, the Alluring Mystery, the Thornless Rose, the Gem of Secrets, and the Mirrored God. ### Symbols and Favored Weapon Mode’s iconography is usually whatever is considered most beautiful by the cultures where they appear and they are generally considered a god of peace. A white dove, a rare gem, a rose, a handsome man, or a beautiful woman are usually the most common forms of representation for Mode. There are a few chivalric orders, most particularly [[The White Knights of Genev]], who devote themselves to pursuit of art and courtly love as well as war, striking only as a last resort, and name themselves followers of Mode. Their favored weapon is the lance, as it can be either blunted for tournament and used to win favor or to defend beauty where it is threatened. ### Domains and Powers Beauty is the primary domain of Mode, but it should come as little surprise that the god is also most frequently invoked when love is involved as well. If [[Aimti]] is [[Creation]] itself and [[Tek]] the great orderer of the chaotic nature of life, it is Mode who makes it not only beautiful, but worthwhile. Many a creation myth in the East credits the Song of Dawn with leaving a spark of divinity in people, the essence of soul that cries out for meaning and fulfillment. That said, like all gods of the East, Mode is not necessarily entirely benign: love and beauty, after all, are not evenly applied. Myth represents Mode as a consummate shapeshifter, moving in many places and many ways. ### Manifestations and Personality Most southern myths are contradictory, some depicting Mode as female and some as male, while in the north, Mode is most frequently a dual-faced god. Among the giants, Mode is of infinite forms and thus much more difficult to pin down as any one thing. This androgyny tends to confuse the “little folk”, and until the days of [[The Great War]], most had never seen a giant in their true form anyway, let alone had a theological conversation. Mode is a god of mysteries and contradictions, sometimes the boon of lovers and other times their bane, sometimes the paragon of virtue and other times sweet lies whispered in the ear. The shapeshifting of Mode is as much personality as physical form, or so some religious scholars insist. Most people have their favorite myths and discard the others, usually informed by their view of love. Many consider Mode flighty and mercurial at best, capricious and cruel at worst, and so pains are taken to appease the god regularly. There are a few stray rumors that Mode walks the world still, though changed and corrupted by [[Godfall]]. No scholar has ever been able to substantiate that rumor. ### Worshipers Most people in the East pay homage to Mode in their own ways, as love is a fundamentally common experience. They are most honored by the giants as a creator-god, but it would be virtually impossible to find a town or city without at least a shrine to Mode. Dedicated clerics of the god tend to blur lines of gender and sexuality, and sex work as a part of religious practices is not uncommon. Almost in reaction, the chivalric orders that have arisen in Mode’s name tend to emphasize courtly love very strongly and reject what they view as the “common” nature of promiscuity. Most people, however, are fairly casual in their worship of Mode and invoke the god when it suits the purpose of winning a heart, crafting a piece of art, or struck by the beauty of the world around them. ### Dogma and Anathema Mode is viewed as a relatively gentle god by most, though perhaps those who have had the misfortune to be struck by the lance of unrequited love would disagree. Thus, Mode is said to be pleased when love is fulfilled, peace is protected, and beautiful things are preserved. There is little in the forms of strict dogma laid out by the god for their followers, though some has certainly been constructed over time. Violence is generally abhorred by followers of Mode, or at least used only as a last resort, and emphatically not to come from a place of wrath. The giants are a strange exception to this, bold and battle-loving. Anathema to Mode is the destruction of beauty. Interestingly, most followers of Mode also view the Song of Dawn as a force of redemption in the world, and consider it against the will of Mode to kill prisoners, even those convicted of a heinous crime, without giving them the opportunity to atone. Wrath generally is said to be frowned upon by the god, as is oppression, as the two are never far from each other. ### Enemies While like all gods of the East, Mode is opposed to [[Void]], the god maintains a fairly live-and-let-live approach with the followers of [[Sorcery]]. This is seldom reciprocated, however. Most of Mode’s critics within the East tend to focus on the supposed debauchery and decadence that cloaks the followers of the god. Indeed, most of the pushback against Mode’s sacred harlots or permissive attitudes comes from the followers of other Eastern gods rather than the [[Demons]] or similar forces of Void in the world themselves. Additionally, among humans, the more warlike peoples tend to scoff at Mode’s relative pacifism. Giants seldom have trouble reconciling the art of war with the Song of Dawn’s teachings, but they remain a distinct outlier in this regard.