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Decided to make another profile to help celebrate this year’s Winter season, and to serve as a kind of prologue for the Holidays this year.

There should hopefully be another one of these out sometime around the end of next week, and I’ve had a lot of fun writing both.

Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Often referred to as one of Ingracia’s more commonly known or discussed Gods and elementals, Inara is usually seen, even if only in the form of a faint, frightfully brief glimpse, helping make the worldly transition between the seasons, helping Autumn’s quiet, almost humble warmth gracefully bow out, and allow Winter’s equally tranquil, cold and debatably gentle atmosphere to take centre stage.

She is often said to be ‘of the first few drops of snow after the closing of autumn the slow, gentle wind in a crisp, winter morning, momentary glimpses, the calm, crystal clear surface of a still lake or pond, of the dozens of small critters that lie just beneath the surface, safe in their warm burrows- a god of a dozen different nothings, most of which help paint a clear picture of her nature as such.’

Moving almost constantly with godlike momentum and dexterity, Inara’s practically divine thaumic energy mana is rumoured to permeate throughout the immediate vicinity just as quickly, subtly altering its characteristics and switching influence from that of her older Sister-God, Lana, to her own, thereby allowing for an easier shift and changing of the seasons.

One of Ingracia’s younger divinities, Inara was born as a regular human woman, living in the tundra near Vetra’s area of domain, and was tasked with helping clear many of the roads, tracks and pathways for travellers, residents and tourists who arrive in the city, with more visiting in the seasonal holidays, usually with the intent of making a trip to and praying in the local Temple dedicated to the local spirits, elementals and the other magically-inclined inhabitants that reside throughout Mesok’s entirety.

It was at the aforementioned temple, where Inara was busy ensuring everything was as safe and spotless as she was capable of, when the world-quake occurred, in-full. Both, the resulting shockwave, and the actual temple itself having been deliberately built directly on top of a leyline, subsequently caused a far greater rupture throughout the nearby area, with Inara being virtually at its epicentre.

When her vision cleared, and the following tremors subsided, Inara’s form had changed drastically, and she no longer resembled the short, slender, almost frail-looking young woman she was, prior to the event, and now stood a foot above the temple’s other residents and regulars.

Initially startled by the changes, she quickly fled, only for Inara to find herself hurtling along the ground far faster than she could have imagined. After stopping, she found that she had travelled half the country’s breadth in a matter of minutes, turning and making the trip back just as quickly, and finding a hole in one of the temple’s walls upon doing so.

Skidding to a halt just outside the main foyer, Inara quickly garnered the attention of everyone present who had gathered to ensure the temple’s wellbeing, and that of its inhabitants.

While some were noticeably confused, and slightly concerned by the not-quite-human standing in their midst, many of the city’s populace listened with rapt attention as she explained what had happened -the tremors she had felt, the outburst of mana, and her noticeably different physique, and the capabilities she now seemed to possess as a result.

Upon being led into the temple, its chief Elementalists helped Inara peruse the numerous myths and folktales it held within its walls, and its equally-numerable archives, until they eventually found one revolving around a near godlike entity which closely resembled her newly-changed visage.

The myth itself, or so they described to her, was one of Mesok’s oldest, and was only previously only passed down by word of mouth, before eventually being written and stored away in a few of its many temples, shrines or monasteries for safe-keeping and future preservation.

It described, in almost frightfully minute detail, the portrayal of a leporine figure with unparalleled speed, reflexes, grace and dexterity, said to be tasked with helping the transition between the Autumn and Winter seasons, passively using her mana’s influence to begin the sometimes gradual shift from one to the other, taking the reins from her sister-God and letting Ingracia’s winter cycle fully establish itself in earnest.

The figure in question, one aptly named ‘Kohu Atu’ or Lady Winter’ was also speculated to bring good fortune to those who happened across her during one of her boundless travels spanning Ingracia’s length and breadth, before she finally returned to her home realm, the proper name of which had sadly been lost to time.

Mulling it over, after eventually calming down, Inara reasoned that since Mesok had always been home to both her and the elementals, spirits and the like, it would be able to fulfil the purpose of being her point of return, once winter gradually subsided and allowed for spring to take over.

The Elementalists assumed the same, and upon further inspection, it was revealed Inara had unwittingly merged with a number of them, which had given her body the mana it needed for the change, using her land of origin and its myths and legends as a sort of baseline, not unlike Pelagia, from Lokiry.

For the first number of weeks, Inara spent countless hours testing the scope and limits of her new capabilities, while ensuring not to overexert herself too far, lest she end up causing an out-of-season change. Upon returning home after her fifth outing, she was met with high praise from the residents, many of whom wished her well, and that Mesok would always welcome her back with open arms, should she ever decide to venture elsewhere.

While not one to stay from Mesok for too long, Inara has been known to visit other lands and kingdoms from every part of Ingracia, from the underground forges of Kellebrir to the heaven-clad citadels of Le-Kir, making it her mission to bring new knowledge and various gifts from as many places as she can, in exchange for allowing her to remain in what she has called her true home.

Aside from her unmatched, godlike speed, Inara’s new list of capabilities include equally diverse, and if need be, formidable Cryomancy, the exact limit of which largely appears to be equal to or around her level of influence over any given area she is in during winter, and her newly enhanced musical abilities and repertoire, both s revolving entirely around the sue of wind instruments during her travels.

The most notable of which is her flute or panpipes, and she is often seen using one or the other during her annual changing of the seasons, playing whichever tune comes to mind and changing seemingly on a whim, as the music she plays further spreads her dominion, thereby assisting Ingracia into its twilight months without issue or rancour.

Among her other items of note is the heavy-looking club she picked up from the eastern lands, after some of the locals mistook her form a lunar deity, bequeathing it to her as a sign of good luck, and for self-defence against the malignant creatures the world-quake had conjured after the initial event subsided, helping Inara learn to use it to creating many of the confectionaries their kingdoms are known for, taking some home with her as a going away gift, of sorts.

Spirit of Winter’s Blessing~