The Goat

Art by shadowsymphonies on Toyhouse

Although the term 'seasonal gods' refers to the four gods, there was a fifth god born alongside these deities; the Goat. God of dreams, ambitions, change, and creator of every large prey animal: deer, goats, etc. The Goat ruled over the times in between each season- 2 weeks each season, to each god's 2.5 months of rule, and had a festival near the end of winter celebrating the change to another cycle; A new year.

Myth says the Goat grew jealous of their siblings, and plotted to make a creature that would flourish better than any other creations. The Goat treated creation like a competition, when in reality it was collaborative. The final result was humanity, who quickly grew in numbers and spread across the world. When the other gods realized, it was too late to smite these beings off the face of the earth, and unable to unleash their anger onto the mortals, the gods (particularly the Lynx) banished the Goat to the Realm of Dreams.

The colonies see the Goat as a malicious god, tempting cats with the promise of leadership and power in exchange for worship and help freeing them from their prison. Many even refuse to use their name, instead using titles as 'The Horned One' or 'The One With Many Eyes'. Cats who refused to worship the seasonal gods are doomed to share the Goat's fate, wandering alone in the dreams of the living until they fade away into nothingness.

Even if forbidden by the colonies, some worship the Goat still, many either sympathetic or desperate for acknowledgement from the gods. This worship is entirely done in secret however, as being a devout of the Goat is, at best, the fastest way to get exiled; It is a declaration of being aligned with everything the colony's hold unholy. Stories of the Goat and their worshippers even suggest that if a cat who worships the Goat were to become commander, that the Goat would be freed from their exile for as long as the cat led. This, unsurprisingly, has led to plenty of conflicts where someone believes a commander is secretly aligned with the Goat.

Despite popular belief however, the Goat is not entirely evil. Their only goal is to escape the Realm of Dreams, and they are willing to work with any cat who can help. Unfortunately, that tends to attract cats who are only in it for the power, or fanatics who would gladly kill to help the Goat- cats that only further worsen the Goat's reputation. Those who have met or worship the Goat say they are fair and kind, and always willing to listen to the prayers and woes of their followers- they are simply driven to desperation by their imprisonment, accepting any help they can get.