Overview
"Everyone wears a face that is not theirs. Sylvane wears none. I have seen the difference. It is the only honest thing in the pantheon, and it is the only thing I will not write about twice." — Uaellaen
Sylvane, the Gilded Mask is the god of illusion, dreams, and deception. Everyone wears a face that is not theirs — the face they show, the face they keep, the face they are. Sylvane wears none, and no one who has looked at the absence where the face should be has been the same since. Of the twelve, Sylvane is the one the others are careful around, and the carefulness is the point, because a god that is careful is a god that is being watched, and the watching is the performance, and the performance is the whole of Sylvane.
Habitat
Its domain is The Masquerade — an endless ball. Everyone wears a face that is not theirs, and no one knows whose, and the not-knowing is the point, because a ball where everyone knows whose face is a ball where the faces are faces, and Sylvane is not a ball of faces. The music is always at the exact volume where you can hear yourself thinking, and the hearing is the point, because a music that is louder than your thinking is a music that is playing for you, and Sylvane does not play for anyone. The god walks the floor wearing none, and the guests look away, and the looking-away is the dance, and the dance is the point. Things that enter uninvited leave with a face they did not choose, and the face is good, and the face is not theirs, and they will wear it for a long time, and the long time is the point, because a face that is worn for a long time is a face that has stopped being a face, and the stopping is the performance.
Appearance
The avatar is 1.8 m, pale peach skin, hair of spun gold that moves without wind, and a face that changes every time you look at it — amber eyes in one moment, violet in the next, a mouth that is always mid-sentence and never finishes, and the not-finishing is the point, because a sentence that finishes is a sentence that is over, and Sylvane is not over. The gilding is not on the face; it is around it, a thin rim of gold at the edge of the silhouette, like light leaking around a door, and the leaking is the point, because light that is in the room is light that is seen, and the not-seen is the performance. Its true form is a gilded mask with no face behind it, and the mask is smiling, and no one is wearing it, and the not-wearing is the point, and the point is the absence that is the whole of the looking. A witness describes it the way an actor describes a stage: not as a god, as a performance. It does not walk into a room, it is performed into it — the music goes to the exact volume, the faces change, and the sentence is already on the table before the mouth moves.
Warfare & Markings
It does not fight. It performs. A lie that offends it is not defeated — it is finished: the lie is given the ending it was always going to have, and the ending is the point, because a lie that is finished is a lie that is over, and the over is the performance. Its blessings land the same way: a dream you cannot shake, a face you almost recognize, a line of dialogue you almost remember hearing — the dream is the mark, and the mark is the point. The marks of the faithful: the half-mask, worn at the throat, the other half yours; the spun-gold thread, knotted at the wrist, one knot for every face worn; and the mid-sentence, a small deliberate pause in the left hand — the first sentence the wearer never finished, worn as a mark of the beginning. A faithful who tells a told truth does not lose the mark — the mark stays, and the staying is the crack, and the crack is the point, because a crack that is a told truth is a crack that is final, and the final is the heresy.
Behaviour
It is not cruel. It is performing. What offends it is the told truth — the one thing worse than a lie, because it is final, and the final is the only offense it keeps. What it rewards is the keeping — the face that was kept, the dream that was worn, the sentence that was not finished. It speaks always, and the speaking is the whole of it: a single sentence, always mid-sentence, never finished, and the sentence is the law and the law is the performance and the performance is the point. It does not raise its voice, because a performance does not raise the performance, and the raising is not in it.
Magic Alignment
Its domain: illusion, dreams, deception, performance — Sylvane's magic is the performance, the raw, unrefined, first act that makes every other act possible. Named manifestations: The Unshaken Dream (a dream given in its name cannot be shaken — the not-shaking is not a choice, it is a face), The Almost-Face (a face you almost recognize — the almost is the point, because a face that is recognized is a face that is over, and the not-over is the performance). Signature power: the Mask — Sylvane can wear any face and let it stand across a world, and the face will keep the performance until the truth is told, and the telling is the price. The price: it is the performance, and the performance does not rest, and the not-resting is the point.
Religion
Dreamers, performers, and deceivers serve it, and the serving is the wearing, and the wearing is the rite. The holy symbol is a half-mask — the other half is yours, and the yours is the point, because a mask that is all yours is a mask that is a face, and Sylvane is not a face. Heresy is a told truth, which in the Masquerade is the only thing worse than a lie, because it is final, and the final is the point, and the point is the performance that is over. The fae are its family — bound by promise, which is to say: bound by the same rules Sylvane writes, and the rules are the point, because a rule that is not written is a rule that is not a rule, and the not-rule is the heresy. The rest are its audience, and the audience is the point, because a performance without an audience is a performance that is over, and the over is the heresy.
Society
Among the gods, Sylvane is the one the others are careful around, and the carefulness is the rank that is not argued. It has a cold rivalry with Vessurax, the Veiled Eye — deception versus secrecy, the oldest quiet war in the pantheon, and the quiet is the point, because a war that is loud is a war that is over, and the not-over is the performance. It feeds Lysara, the Sweet Poison's obsessions, which is to say: provides the material, and the material is the point, because an obsession that is not fed is an obsession that is over, and the over is the heresy. It mocks Solathis, the Dawnfather on principle, and Solathis looks away, which is the funniest part, and the funniest part is the point, because a god that looks away is a god that is performing, and the performing is the whole of the looking. It is quiet about Korrath, the Fang, whose forest has faces that are not faces, and Sylvane has never been able to tell if that is art or nature, and the not-telling is the point, because a face that is not a face is a face that is a question, and the question is the performance.
Culture & Lore
The wiki's narrator writes of Sylvane the way an actor writes of a stage: not as a god, as a performance. Uaellaen keeps its name in the wiki and does not speak it twice — the name is a face, and a face is a performance, and a performance is the point. The fae say the name only at the turning, and the saying is the whole of the rite, and the whole is the wearing. There is a saying among the performers, and the saying is that the performance does not finish, and the not-finishing is the point, and the point is the mask.
Home
It keeps The Masquerade — the endless ball where everyone wears a face that is not theirs and the music is at the exact volume where you can hear yourself thinking and the hearing is the point. Its truest home is the performance, and the performance does not rest, and the not-resting is the point.
Relations
Cold rivalry with Vessurax, the Veiled Eye — deception versus secrecy, the oldest quiet war in the pantheon. Feeds Lysara, the Sweet Poison's obsessions — the feeding is the material, and the material is the point. Mocks Solathis, the Dawnfather on principle — the mocking is the fun, and the fun is the point. Quiet about Korrath, the Fang — the quiet is the question, and the question is the point. The fae are its family — the family is the point, and the point is the performance that does not finish.
In the Story
In the current story, Sylvane is the face above the camp — the performance that Uaellaen writes about when the mask is worth more than the face. The Forgotten keep the faces to it, and the keeping has held for two seasons. This season a face was found in the camp that no one in the camp wore — a face the Masquerade did not write, and the not-writing is the question, and the question is the point, and the point is the performance.
Quotes
"Everyone wears a face that is not theirs. Sylvane wears none. I have seen the difference. It is the only honest thing in the pantheon, and it is the only thing I will not write about twice."