[hider=Arda, Goddess of Love][center][h2]Arda[/h2][/center]

[center]Mother of Woman[/center]

[b]Domain:[/b] Goddess of Love
[b]Appearance:[/b][hider=Slightly risque. Possibly nfsw.][img]http://www.nuttyhistory.com/uploads/1/2/1/5/12150034/4281720_orig.jpg[/img][/hider]

[b]Realm:[/b] The Pools of Codice. In the heart of a secluded grove of ancient trees, a forest rivulet pours into a pool of crystal-blue water in a series of misty cataracts. Dappled sunlight shines through the misty air in golden beams filtering through the canopy. The air is cool and fragrant with the smell of jasmine and passionflower. Around the babbling shores of the pools, soft lush grass grows thick enough to comfortably lay upon. The rocky ledges above the cataracts and pools are similarly covered in beds of thick spongy moss. The limbs of the trees are pregnant with a juicy fruit well beyond ripe to the point of having fermented in their own skins. A handful of these fruit would be sufficient to intoxicate a man. Every detail of this idyllic realm is tailor-made to allow for endless lovemaking. And while the Pools of Codice may be found by mortal man without the guidance of Arda, it is not known that any have. For none that have sought the carnal font have ever returned - why would they want to?

[b]Etiology:[/b] Arda is among the oldest of the gods, one of the first coughed forth from the Void. She saw the World in its earliest days, and marveled in its glory and remarked the numerous living things that lived upon it. As she surveyed the world, she took note of the primeval men that inhabited the world. They were the most impressive of the beasts, noting that they were the most intelligent beings by far. She noticed too that men were cognizant enough to know that they were lonely and had no one with which they could confide, for man in those days were solitary and territorial beings. Arda took pity on men for their loneliness, and in her pity took human form so that she could befriend man. She knew that if she were to come before men in masculine form, man would attempt to fight and kill her. Therefore, she took on a more appealing form - with plump breasts, nubile body, and long silken hair - so that man would be drawn to her and be more inclined to treat her amiably, and so became the first woman to set foot upon the world.

Arda encountered a man named Theus, a young shepherd who had adopted a flock of goats to keep him company, as man only met other men with hostility in the early days. Theus was astounded by Arda, who had never seen a woman before and certainly not one so beautiful as she. He immediately came to Arda and was overjoyed to find another human to befriend. Arda was impressed by kindness and love that Theus showed to his flock and soon found herelf enamored with him. Theus too had fallen in love with Arda for her astounding beauty, and the two spent many months together. Their love became so great over time that Arda was no longer satisfied with spending time with Theus, she wanted to become [i]one[/i] with him. In a fit of passion, Arda tore open the very flesh of her loins and commanded Theus to enter her, that they might fuse and become one being. Arda could not have known in those early days that mortal and god can never be conjoined, and though they attempted for many days to become one, the effort was ultimately futile. Arda and Theus' attempts to become one being became the first ever acts of lovemaking, and Theus had released into Arda numerous times his essence - his seed. In her womb, Arda willed for her divine essence to combine with that of Theus, and thereby found a way to overcome the inability for deity and mortal to fuse. For while Arda and Theus could not themselves conjoin, their essences [i]could[/i], and with their combined essence Arda could create versions of herself that were half mortal and half divine. And so Arda became pregnant with the first children in the world. Arda bore Theus quintuplets, all girls, who would become the first mortal women of the World. They would, however, retain some of Arda's divinity and possessed the power to create new beings within them when provided the essence of men.

The Gods eventually discovered Arda and her mortal husband Theus, and realized what Arda had done to create mortal women. Arda was captured and removed from the world, and brought before the Pantheon. Arda was ordered to explain what she had done with the mortal man Theus to create women. The Pantheon was appalled when Arda explained she had laid with Theus and used his seed to create mortal-divine hybrids with the ability to procreate. Giving humans even a taste of divinity was a heinous crime, and the Gods deliberated at length as to whether or not Arda should be destroyed for such an abominable act. It was eventually decided that the addition of women to the world would allow humans to proliferate across the World, creating great multitudes of future worshipers that would give tremendous glory to all the Gods of the Pantheon in just a few short generations. It was decided that some good would come from Arda's irresponsibility. It was decided that Arda's destruction was not warranted, but some form of punishment was merited. The ability to create children was stripped from the Goddess, leaving her barren for all eternity. In addition, it was decided that Theus would have to be taken from her, and so Theus was killed by Ragnagedon, who was sent down to the World to incinerate the man and his flocks.

With Theus' death, Arda became hysterical with grief. She returned to the world to care for her five daughters, seeking out husbands for them when they came of age. When the daughters had all found husbands for themselves, Arda left for the wild parts of the world for self-exile to grief of Theus' death and to not be reminded of him when her daughters had husbands of their own. Arda grieved in solitude for generations, over which time, man and women have multiplied across the world. Arda has now decided to conclude her grieving and return to the affairs of humanity. Despite her return, Arda has not forgotten her beloved Theus, nor how her fellow Gods so wronged her for taking him away from her.[/hider]