Ophros

Ophros is the God of Time, born of the memory of Aopros, who dreamt of Time before being murdered by his jealous mother, Pryma.

Before Time began, Aopros, the son of Pryma and Ao, dreamt of the Time being measured by the movement of Ao and Iori over the surface of Pryiam. Aopros built a device, the Bronze Chroniker, that measured hours, minutes and seconds that did not yet exist in Sylvieria.

When Iori found Ao below Pryiam and the two lights fell in love and conceived Mephilista, Pryma the avatar of Pryiam, in love with Ao, went mad and murdered Aopros, melting down his bronze body with stolen heat from the sun, and reforming his remains into the Bronze Clockwork, a massive, complex contraption designed to keep Ao and Iori apart for eternity. The sun and the moon were imprisoned on a great spinning ring called the Pursuit, moving across the surface at a precise rate. The Clockwork also moved Pryiam along a horizontal path, allowing each part of the Stonestar to bask in the torture of Ao and Iori's endless chase. Each revolution of Ao and Iori on the Pursuit constituted a day in Aopros' Time, and each day advanced Pryiam on a great cog called the Starwheel. Pryiam made a full revolution on the Starwheel every three hundred days. A full revolution of the Starwheel constituted a year.

The portion of the Pursuit where Ao and Iori rose over Pryiam's horizon was called the Dawnside of the Pursuit; where the two lights descended below the horizon again was known as the Duskside. At the dawn of the First Day, Iori was at the Duskside of the Pursuit, just below the horizon, diametrically opposed on the ring to Ao, who was just above the horizon of the Dawnside. At the moment of dawn on the First Day, Ophros came into being.

Ophros was born of the memories of the murdered Aopros, reconstituted by the fulfillment of Aopros' dream of Time. To complete Aopros' vision, Ophros retrieved the Bronze Chroniker from the Clockwork, and used it to build a great edifice, the Watchwork Tower, at the far end of the spine of Pryiam aligned with the Duskside of the Pursuit. Ophros' spine of Pryiam became the Clockspine, as its position moved along with Pryiam on the Starwheel, the passage of Aopros' Time was measured.

Ophros created the Sylvierian Calendar, grouping the three hundred days of the Watchwork Tower's passage into ten months of thirty days each. Ophros split each month into three weeks, and named the days of the week after the Old Gods of Sylvieria: Mariday for Maria Calla, Geniday for Genevieve, Prymday for Pryiam, Aoday for Ao, Ioday for Iori, Prysiday for Prysius, Aoproday for Aopros, Mephiliday for Mephilsta and Celeday for Celeda. The tenth and final day of the week, Ophrosday, Ophros named for himself.

During the First Year, Ophros called into being the ten Decaphros, the Wards of the Months. Every thirty days during the First Year, a new Decaphrost, a nebulous being of translucent color, appeared in the Void behind the Watchwork Tower, marking off the passage of each successive month. Ophros considered the Decaphros his children, naming them in the way that Aopros had prescribed in his dream. The months of the Sylvierian year were named for their attendant Decaphros: Jhoerst, Feyhst, Daeniol, Aadmol, Mastrol, Baummol, Chaerol, Tohlkol, Llewsol and Whilsst.

Ophros is a living god of Sylvieria, the first of the New Gods, still residing in the Watchwork Tower. He oversees a protection of Time, ensuring that the Bronze Clockwork continues its measured pace and that Time is never manipulated or interfered with. The idea of Chronomancy is anathema to Ophros... he believes that nothing should interrupt or change what Aopros had set into motion.

Ophros manifests as an ebony humanoid, featureless aside from ten silver eyes on his face. Imbedded in his chest is a silver facsimile of the Bronze Chronker. Ophros keeps the Chroniker in a vault at the top of the Watchwork Tower. Because a manipulation of the Chroniker's timekeeping could manipulate Time itself, the device is secured from plunder by two guardian Silpherenyes, tiny black imps with one giant silver eye and bat-like wings. The Silpherenyes, Iriph and Eraph, were two silver eyes of Ophros that he removed to watch over the Chroniker.

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