Kynos

Kynos
Titles	The Dog (sometimes suffixed with “of Metrya”, “of Iareios”, or “of Hellea”)
Type	Hero-god
Areas of concern	Philosophy, self-sufficiency, independence
Typical worshipers	Itinerants, ascetics
Domains	Truth, Trickery
Divine font	Heal or Harm
Divine skill	Performance
Divine ability	Charisma or Wisdom
Favored weapon	Unarmed strike
Symbol	A dog in a pithos
Sacred animal	Dog
Sacred color	Brown

Kynos (pronounced KAI-nohs) is a Hellean hero-god, philosopher, and general nuisance to the rich and powerful of Eretrebus and the Machaian League.

Edicts and anathema

Edicts

Question everything, force others to acknowledge their own absurdities, reject wealth and power, live a simple life

Anathema

None

Description

The oread hero-god Kynos has led a varied life. Growing up in a wealthy and powerful Midianite family, in his youth Kynos had everything he could ask for. Unlike most Midianites, however, he began to question the wealth and order of society of Eretrebus, speaking out increasingly loudly about what he saw as the hypocrisy and unfair nature of life on the island kingdom. This progressively escalated, with Kynos eventually distributing his inheritance to any who would ask. He was finally exiled from Eretrebus after gaining entrance to the vaults of the central Bank-Temple in Iareios, the Grand Spire Citadel, where many Midianites kept their hoards. Once inside, he began mass transmuting any coins he found to metals nearly worthless in comparison.

Narrowly avoiding execution at the pleading of his extended family, Kynos was forced to depart Eretrebus, eventually settling in the northern Hellean city of Metrya. He has chosen to remain there to this day, living an itinerant lifestyle, moving about and sleeping wherever in the city he cares to be. He eschews all material possessions, living off what he can find and refusing gifts. Kynos has become quite a personality in Metrya, dispensing his philosophy to those willing to hear his words (and many who are not). Despite his often crude mannerisms and behaviors, some have found meaning and purpose in his statements and actions.

Kynos’ teachings promote self-sufficiency, self-actualization, and cynicism. Followers of Kynos embrace an ascetic lifestyle and usually have few possessions of their own. They care little for what they view to be arbitrary social rules, such as how to dress, where to sleep, or when to speak. Much like the dog, the holy animal of Kynos, his followers worry little about what may happen in the future, instead valuing their happiness in the moment. Followers of Kynos are known to speak frankly and directly when they see something unreasonable, and it is said that his followers are not afraid to metaphorically bite their friends as hard as their foes. There are no temples to the hero-god, in part because such a temple would go against his very values. Instead, worship to Kynos is performed by action; living an ascetic lifestyle, feeding stray dogs, and spreading his philosophy to all who will listen.

Like nearly all hero-gods, Kynos is unaware of how he obtained his minor divine status. Some of his followers believe that by living like their god, they will eventually obtain the same level of divinity.

Location of worship

Kynos has small followings throughout Hellea, especially in the Machaian League, Kyamita, and other highly urbanized areas. Though he has some followers in Eretrebus, they are generally repressed and exiled for speaking against the Midian order. Kynos himself resides in the city of Metrya, where he can usually be found wandering the city or sleeping in a pithos.

Holy text

Kynos has no holy text by choice, believing that such an object would discourage his followers from thinking for themselves. In fact, Kynos dislikes the idea of having “followers” at all; while he tolerates those that would carefully heed his words, he does not care for, and is often antagonistic towards, those that worship him. When presented with copies of books containing collections of his past statements, he has been known to destroy these texts by whatever means is convenient.