Khors
The Crescent Moon. LG lesser power of the moon, dreams, compassion and prophecy. [He/They]
Pantheon: Slavic
Symbol: The crescent moon
Realm: Mount Celestia / Lunia / The Birch of Life / Alatyr
Proxies: Zarya / Vechernitsa (planetar aasimon proxy [she/her] / LG)
Khors, who seems to prefer being called the Crescent Moon, has an appearance which subtly varies throughout the month, although some characteristics stay the same. Crescent Moon is an androgynous being with pale skin, dressed in black, starry robes. The most striking feature is an elaborate headdress, which includes a glowing star, which adorns their forehead, and a big silver crescent on the back of their neck.
Khors’ portfolio is pretty typical for a lunar power. He protects sleeping worshippers from nightmares, and lights the way for travelers lost in the darkness. Khors is also invoked when a body wants to learn of events that have happened under his watchful gaze in the moonlight. Some of the more benevolent-minded lycantropes worship the Crescent Moon, asking that he make their involuntary shifting less harmful to others.
Chant goes among their petitioners that Khors has fallen for Dazhbog and has made some attempts to win the heart of the Red Sun, with the help of their shared proxy Zarya/Vechernitsa as an intermediary. Now Dazhbog hasn’t made any comment on this situation, and frankly seems to not even be aware of it. There are plenty of theories bandied about to explain the dark here—some cutters claims that Zarya, or the Slavic overpower, or some other force (the balance-obsessed rilmani, perhaps?) has a stake in keeping the Sun and Moon away from each other. After all, a union between them could result in a whole bunch of extra celestial demipowers running around. Others spin a tale more grim—while Khors has no clue on it, he’s been made by Svarog just like Dazhbog—perhaps even from a fragment of the Sun—and the Red Sun doesn’t want to partake in what would be an incestuous relationship. Not that this stops powers from other pantheons, mind. Of course, it’s always possible the two powers just didn’t hit it off; how often do you see the Sun and Moon together anyway cutter?
Khors also maintains a friendly relationship with Perun, the de facto leader of the Slavic pantheon.
There is something odd about Khors lately. I mean, of course, those spots on his skin. His worshippers on Prime worlds have started to notice how his moonlight feels sickly and can brings weakness and disease on those who bask in it for too long. The Crescent Moon himself seems to have no idea what is happening, and seems unable to stop it. Now a canny cutter might assume it has something to do with Stribog. Khors already lost some of his following and his power. Chant goes that he is panicking and is sending proxies and followers to find a cure for his illness before he loses all of his glory or has to turn to rely on his evil worshippers, who have started to crop up as of late.
Khors’ realm is located on an island of blue-white stone called Buyan. It can be found in the Silver Sea of Lunia, and upon it a mighty tree grows—the Birch of Life. Like Yggdrasil, the Birch is a planar pathway, with roots that extend to the Outlands and branches that reach Mercuria. In the shadow of the tree lies a burg where Khors’ petitioners dwell. Khors themself wanders the skies of Lunia and the branches of the great tree.
Sources: Margarita and Jon Winter-Holt. Margarita notes: While this homebrew power is based on Slavic folklore and beliefs, the amount of actual information we have on pre-Christian Slavic deities is so minuscule that building any kind of lore out of it is impossible. However, there are a lot of folk beliefs about things these deities are thought to represent, which I have worked into the piece.