LoZ: Karina, Goddess of Love & Passion
If there's no goddess of love in Hyrule, I'll make one up.
I suggest that she'd be known as a higher goddess of love & passion (specifically, healthy relationships, pudicity & fidelity, as well as soulmates; specifically, the bond between soulmates), life (specifically new life & rebirth), as well as sexual relations (specifically, the tenderness & emotional connection experienced between those who are in love), vivifatility (pertaining to both fertility & virility), femininity, balance, beauty & the arts (including music & fashion), compassion, the moon, the truth (specifically authenticity), bravery, righteous retribution, the hearth & home (especially hospitality, food/cooking, family, ect), healing & medicine, nature (very specifically flowers, fruit, oases, the seashore, & the tides aided by her connection to the moon), kijugami (protector ogre goddesses/tutelaries (female kishin); they are considered her vassals), & a defender of children as well as abuse/rape victims regardless of their sex. Also, springtime & even summertime to a degree while her brother has greater alignment to fall & winter.
Due to both her power over flowers & fruit, as well as cooking, as well as her mother's domain of hedge magic, she has become the patron goddess of hearth magic or gastromagy, specifically nutritional gastromagy. Basically nutritional gastronomy with magic. Hearth mages, & even potioneers, pray to her for aid in the healing of others. While hedge mages, such as Irene & Syrup, tend to primarily worship her mother, Farore, they will also go to Karina for aid with potion-making.
Due to her domain of the hearth & home, she is also a very prominent deity for cottage & kitchen magi.
It turns out that, completely beyond my knowledge, she actually has quite a lot in common with the Mayan Moon Goddess, Ixchel. However, for those who don't know anything about her, just compare Karina to a Venus & Vesta fusion. Maybe even a little bit of Athena & Artemis too. Anyway, this new development of her resemblance to Ixchel has inspired me to make Karina have encouraged the evolution & development of Remlits, which eventually resulted in the Zonai. I shall expand upon this later.
Anyway, she also has a minor connection to specifically weaponsmithing & jewelry-making. Though, these aren't things she's considered a goddess of, but being a goddess of art helps with this.
As such, her ability with the arts gave her an innate talent for blacksmithing. When she'd forge weapons, she would sing as she hammered the metal & inscribed it with runes or fastened gemstones to it that she'd infused with magic. Magic harmonizes easily with her voice, so doing this allowed her to more readily weave that magic together. This was a method of magical infusion which she & her brother had discovered that allowed the metal to resonate more readily with the magic. Thus giving more potent results. (Though, due to how shy her brother was, he often refused to infuse metal in front of others.)
These are the symbols that she was associated with:
Due to her magical alignments, she was heavily associated with the water, specifically the rain, oases, but most of all, the tides. This has resulted in the Gerudo referring to her as al'Wahē Vah'ma or the Oasis Mother.
While she is normally a friendly, loving, & compassionate goddess, she can be incredibly vicious & even vindictive & grudgemental with an anger as fearsome & wild as nature's fury. She was every bit as much a Tutelary Deity as her brother. The Sheikah refer to her as a Daikijugami or great ogre goddess & the Gerudo refers to her as a Dāvah'làra.
While mortals depicted her in many ways (as is normal), amongst the gods, she was known to wield a pair of Parazonium daggers & a pair of Hispaniensis Gladiuses. Both sets of weapons had a double helix design like her brother's Nijūrasen Zanbatō. She also used a double-limbed long-distance spellbow, which was a high-performance bow & put more power behind her shots.
The double-limbed bows of the Eventide Rito were modeled after hers.
And the winged heels that the Gerudo are known for, as well as the Pegasus Boots & Hover Boots of Hyrulean Legend (as hers did both), were somewhat inspired by her Pegasus Caligae. They had been a gift from Helios, God of the Sky. She used them to dash across the land or over waves, jump over excessively large gaps, & run & leap through the sky in a way similar to Hermes.
In Hyrule, she is depicted as having long, wavy, platinum blond or silvery-white hair that cascades down her back in waves, reaching to her ankles, ice blue eyes (that later turn a glowing silver upon mastering the Mind's Eye), flawless, tanned skin, & a pair of moth wings behind her ears. With facial markings similar to her brother's, but more curved & less jagged with burgundy eyelids that resemble eyeshadow; the stripes on her cheeks being burgundy instead of red & the stripes on her forehead, framing her shell mark, are aqua. And while not nearly as pronounced as her brother's, she does have sharper, longer canines than most human-adjacent races. Same with slitted pupils & sharpened nails. Both becoming more prominent, canines growing longer, slits narrowing, & nails elongating into catlike claws, when she's angry, though Hyruleans tend to portray her without them. As well as a second pair of arms beneath the normal 2. She is often wearing a simple string of pearls as a circlet with a gilt-edged scallop at the center & hanging beneath that, a teardrop-shaped Opalite Moonstone. She also wore a pink, one-shouldered Hellenistic Chiton with a golden-patterned border at the hem, a black & gold-patterned cloth belt, 2 pairs of sheer Greek arm drapes attached to gold cuffs, & a pair of simple gold sandals. Also depicted with a pair of daggers at her hips & dual shortswords crossed at her lower back. In battle, she was known for wearing an exomis tunic with a curiass over it, a diadem, gladiator sandals known as Caligae with wings on the heels, & instead with her hair pulled into a long braid.
Meanwhile, amongst the Gerudo, she's referred to a Vah Kàvtrïna & is instead often depicted as a gorgeous Gerudo woman with long, wavy platinum blond or silvery-white hair that reaches her ankles in a long, loose braid, icy blue eyes (that later turn a glowing silver upon mastering the Eyes of the Moon), & a dark, Gerudàn skintone despite her actually being just very tanned. Again, the curved facial markings, the ones on her cheeks being burgundy again & with burgundy eyelids that resemble eyeshadow with the stripes on her forehead that frame her shell mark being aqua. Though, they do tend to portray her being absolutely riddled with battle scars, which is actually much more accurate than her Hyrulean portrayals. Surprisingly, Gerudo also often portray her with her more animalistic canines, slitted pupils, claws on full display. Her 2nd pair of arms also makes it's appearance there. As well as being very prominently depicted with a pair of Kōmmyàr (curved Arabic dagger) at her hips & dual scimitars sheathed at her lower back. This is because, unlike in Hyrule, the Gerudo don't forget her warrior side & is often referred to as a warrior goddess by them. The Gerudo also tend to show her in a Shàrùnga & Aelaahàsil (a sarong & Gerudàn croptop), & a pair of Streshibpen (those winged heels that Gerudo are known for wearing), which Karina would find some issue with as she was generally a modest individual & would especially find the heels impractical in a fight. She didn't mind the Shàrùnga though. Conversely, she was also sometimes depicted in an Ànshibak Qàmpàto (a closely-fitted imperial-collared shirt with a boob window, this one having no sleeves), which she'd prefer. She's also shown wearing a Gerudo battle tiara & is sometimes depicted with a bow & arrow & Dune Leopards flanking her sides as she is considered a huntress & is often associated with the Gerudo race's perpetual pursuit of love & companionship. In battle, she manages to retain an exomis-adjacent outfit in the form of a Konchàq (A Gerudo version of an exomis), but her cuirass is swapped out with a Gerudàn demi-cuirass called a Nisdïre, with lovely Gerudàn patterns, on her head they put a Vallah'jï Tàj (goddess tiara, which are often even more ornate halo crowns than what Gerudo kings & queens wear), Àb'bīvten (sleeve weights/arm chains), Tzèxad'bīvt (hand chains), &, for whatever reason, she's stuck with the Streshibpen. Though, at least they had the magical wings that her Pegasus Caligae had. Doesn't make them any less impractical though...
- Interestingly, in Gerudo culture, she seems to also take much inspiration from Isis; specifically, from the version of her that is created when the idea of Serket being one of many aspects of Isis was introduced.
The Sheikah, who refer to her as Kariaina-no-Mikoto, depict her in attire reminiscent of Benzaiten or Kannon from Japanese myth. The Sheikah spell her name in a number of different ways. From 和人愛永 roughly translating to “a harmonious & eternal love of people/humanity.” To 花人愛永 meaning “a flowering eternal love of people/humanity.” Or 海人愛永 meaning “a sea of eternal love for people/humanity.”
As for the Faronites, they call her Kalina &, much like her mother had been long ago, she was depicted with a stronger influence from her floral alignment, though with definite influence from the sea.
She is also well-recognized in Ordonian religion as Karridwena, fae goddess of the moon, love's many forms, forgiveness, & inspiration. (Among other things, but I haven't thought that far ahead yet.)
However, to the Zonai, she is called Nantli Kuxnikte-ha & is often depicted similarly to the Mayan goddess, Ixchel, & is often referred to as Nantli Metzi or Mother Moon.
This is the closest I could get to how I wanted her to look for now.
And being a goddess of sex & vivifatility, as well as the daughter of a life goddess & a goddess of life, herself, that also tends to lead to her being depicted very... shapely. Which isn't incorrect, she is quite voluptuous, but she certainly wished that people would stop carving naked statues of her in compromising positions! Like, she doesn't mind as much if it's done artfully & tastefully. As there's a lot to learn about anatomy from drawing or painting or sculpting nude figures. Which, honestly, most of her more creative worshipers tend to do, thankfully. But not all of them unfortunately.
And what was with some of those proportions?! Why were people sticking watermelons to her chest as though it were perfectly normal???
Not that a lot did this, in fact, it's only a few of the creepier worshipers, but it's still not a comfortable position to be in!
As such, one of the things that she teaches is pudicity which originates from the Ancient Roman concept of pudicitia. Pudicitia meaning sexual virtue or chastity, which involves modesty & loyalty to one's partner.
While not a goddess of the ocean or even water, specifically, she is known for having a deep connection to them by virtue of her nature domain & magical alignment. The fact that she is a goddess of the moon also helps greatly.
Her main magical elements are Twilight (with a distinct lean towards Light, in particular), Nature, Water, Wind, & Life. Also has a natural inclination towards Music, Healing, Spirit/Soul, & Sex magic due to being a goddess of music, medicine, soulmates, & tender sex. She also tends to have a connection with the moon, thus giving her an affliation with the night. Which, the moon, gives her access to Twilight magic, which is considered a merging of Light & Shadow magic.
She has no real connection to death beyond being her brother's twin which itself gives her a degree of compatibility with many of his domains & vice versa. Part of the reason for this being that she is just generally more life-aligned as opposed to her brother who is more death-aligned. This mirroring diametricization is extremely common for godly twins.
She, like her brother, is a goddess of both balance, the moon, & twilight. Though while he presides more over the darker side of the moon, she presides more over the lighter side. As such, she is most commonly associated with the Waxing Gibbous Moon while her brother is more so associated with the Waning Crescent Moon. However, both are associated with the Full Moon & New Moon, just in different ways. The Waxing Gibbous Moon symbolizes a time of growth & progress, while the Waning Crescent Moon symbolizes the perfect time for rest & regeneration; a period of self-care; to find inner peace & reconnect with yourself, surrendering all that has happened that is out of one's control, before the lunar cycle begins again. Likewise, the Full Moon represents a time of release and completion, in many ways it's the culmination of positive energy after a period of work or effort. Furthermore, the New Moon signifies the beginning of a cycle. Sort of a cosmic reset. Considered the ideal time to set intentions & goals that one will develop as the moon waxes toward fullness.
At the same time, due to being duel deities of balance, they also have a certain degree of power over the other's domains. So, though Karina is mostly of light, she also has a good deal of power over shadow & Sheikaku is the same, though in reverse. This is partly what makes them both twilight deities.
Though she did not create the Sheikah, she still has a deep connection to them.
Instead, she actually elevated a group of Remlits, who eventually went on to become the Zonai.
Despite being a goddess who presides over the domain of sex, that doesn't necessarily mean that she is sexually deviant herself, so much as she has a natural & innate talent for it that surpasses normal means as well as having access to sexual magics. Along with being unnaturally attractive & charming. She's actually surprisingly modest (though very much not shy) & had only sought sexual relations on occasion during her time as Karina.
While she had yet to be married or have children, upon doing so in her new life, others discovered 4 more domains for which she ruled over: weddings, marriage, childbirth, & motherhood (or parenthood).
While it might be atypical, the fact is that some women are just more naturally predisposed to such things.
However, because she presides over sex, there tend to be whispers amongst the divinity, especially within elder circles. The fact of the matter is that most deities that rule over the more carnal domains do, in fact, have a tendency towards being more... promiscuous... Though that is actually, in large part, due to the inherent expectation placed upon them from those who would have relations with them & those who have heard of those dalliances.
This tends to result in a general assumption that such behaviors correlate with the domain in which a deity rules.
Luckily, Karina's parents, especially her father, as well as her twin brother & other siblings, kept her pretty well protected from such individuals & kept the fact that she ruled over such a domain a secret until she had grown enough to be able to take care of herself, make her own decisions, & defend herself if need be.
It wasn't until her 4th interaction with a god did her abilities get out & thus the rumors began to spread. (Though, many just assumed that she was simply a sex & fertility goddess.) However, the first time she was heckled by a chauvinistic prick who loudly & shamelessly made disgusting remarks, she quickly showed him what to expect if he ever said something like that to anyone ever again. As a goddess of righteous retribution as well as a defender of children & abuse victims, it qualifies her as a warrior goddess of protection, or a heroine goddess/Tutelary Deity.
Now, people only make such insinuations when she's out of earshot.
As a goddess of tender sexual relation, healthy relationships (platonic, romantic, or sexual), spirit, & healing, she founded the Hyrule equivalent to tantric yoga, as well as tantric sex & the Karmasutra. Though, even the sexual practices tended to focus on deepening the positive bonds between partners & healthy expressions of that love.
In this way, her teachings can get very philosophical & spiritual.
Her associated flower is the Lovely Rose (Hearty - +3♡ & Amorous), which had gone extinct on the Surface during the 1st Calamity & has only recently been rediscovered when someone attempted to bring Muddlebuds to the Surface.
She also has an affinity for the Sweetheart Orchid (Hearty - +1♡ & Amorous). Which are inspired by the Cupid Arrow Orchid from Gnomeo & Juliet.
While not particularly sacred to her, she is associated with the Passion Lily, but less so than Vah Gela, the Sand Goddess. The reason being that the Passion Lily is considered a holy flower to the Gerudo as it was the flower that the Gerudo were said to have burst forth from by Vah Gela. So, Karina is really only connected to it via name association & because she's been shown to have a fondness for it.
Likewise, she is known to also be associated with Valiant Gladiolus despite it not being sacred to her specifically. Likewise with the Blue Lotus among the Gerudo.
Her associated fruits are the Deya Peach (Energizing), Amorous Figs (Amorous), & Karina Fragria (Amorous) & her associated fish is the Hearty Sea Bream (Hearty - +7♡ & Amorous). The Karina Fragria having been named after her due to it being said that they first sprung up from the ground when she first fell in love.
Is known to greatly enjoy Abalone, which is why they often use them as incense burners in Faronic shrines.
Her other sacred animals are foxes, wolves, water birds & Marriage Doves (Jian birds), dolphins, hippocampi, Everlost Moths, as well as water/wind/moon dragons, specifically Kirin. (Dolphins aren't the rapists of the sea here.)
Amongst the Gerudo, her sacred animals are Dusttail Foxes, Everlost Moths, Dune Leopards, Sand Cats, & wind & water dragons. Also of interest, Sīmurghen are thought to be one of her sacred beasts due to the queen having been thought to have been good friends with Vah Kàvtrïna. (Sīmurgh are a part of Iranian myth. Look it up, it's pretty cool.)
She has other affiliations, but those don't matter at the moment.
She is also fond of the Satori Tree & its delicate blossoms as well as the tiny red cherries that it produces.
I've always found the many different forms of Greco-Roman love very interesting, so that's gonna extend here.
As such, Hyrule recognizes 13 different types of love total & this goddess presides over all 13 as a whole.
There is even an ancient book written by her followers, "Sacra Cupla" or the Book of Sacred Bonds, based on her teachings that instructs one on how to identify them, which ones are unhealthy, & describes how to balance one's relationships with others effectively without taking away from other relationships: Philia (Affectionate or Friendly Love), Storge (Familial Love), Pragma (Enduring or Long-Lasting Love), Romas (Romantic Love) & Eros (Sexual Infatuation) which are often paired together & tend to go hand-in-hand, Ludus (Playful Love), Mania (Unhealthy Obsessive Love), Philautia (Healthy Self-Love or Self-Compassion) & Narcissus (Unhealthy Self-Love or Narcissism), Himeras (Unrequited Love), Caritas (Selfless, Compassionate, or Generous Love), Xenia (The Guiding Love Between a Mentor & Mentee), Meraki (Love for What You Do or Passion for Work), & Zoísa (Love of Life or the Joy of Living; basically Joie de Viv).
While it lists 14 loves above, Philautia & Narcissus are considered 2 sides of the same coin & thus count as one.
Anyway, the basis behind this is that you can love many people, but you're not going to feel the same sort of love for everyone. And, in fact, if you do, then you might wanna go see a therapist.
She also asserts that one should only feel certain types of love for certain people. By this, I mean that incest is gross & so is pedophilia, which are both listed as cardinal sins in the Book of Sacred Bonds right alongside rape & infidelity. It's said that if you commit one of them, that Karina might curse you.
Of course, as one might guess, she is also a romantic at heart as well as a dirty shipper & an incorrigible matchmaker. Though, to be fair, her success rate is 100% accurate.
There are quite a lot of other things, but for now, this is a good enough explanation.
It is from her that the concept of soulmates came to be learned by mortals. However, it isn't so much that she created the concept as it is that she expanded upon the original idea & is known for being the love deity to have made the most discoveries into how soulmates actually worked.
Though, unlike in Twilight, the concept of soulmates follows a more fluid path here. In Twilight (Stephanie Meyers, not Twilight Princess), if you meet your soulmate, then that's it. You have to be with them whether you want to or not, whether you were already in a committed relationship or not.
My thoughts are, that's stupid. Entirely defeats the point of free will.
See, your soulmate is the person you have the highest potential for happiness & personal growth/spiritual maturation with. They are the person who will help you to expand your understanding of the world most. They are often quite different from you, but in a way that meshes really well with you. Think Yin-Yang. 2 pieces of a whole. Starkly different, but compatible beyond words or comprehension.
It's sort of a way to clear out the junk in the gene pool & refine the genetic sequence. In a way, I suppose that it's a more healthy & less inhumane form of eugenics due to only being a side-effect of the true goal & nobody dies because of it?
However, as a result of this, soulmates are never, ever blood relatives. Or at least are only related far enough down the line that it doesn't matter.
Your soulmate also does not change from life to life. It's always the same soul in a different body.
However, at the same time, you are not locked into them initially. At the end of the day, it is the individual's choice whether to pursue a relationship & if you choose not to, then that's that. There is a subliminal pull of sorts that encourages you in their direction, but again, in the end, it's the individual's choice.
You are also not always going to find your soulmate in every life, so by the goddess of love's decree, you have a subliminal list of people you are compatible with, with your soulmate at the very top & the person you are least compatible with, but who still registers as being compatible, at the bottom. And you can be happy with any one of them.
Another warning, just because 2 people are soulmates doesn't mean that everything is gonna be easy.
This is still a relationship & relationships are hard. So, in the end, it's up to the individuals involved if it succeeds or not.
It's difficult to nail down. Soulmates means that you mesh well together in a natural & organic way. But they are also the person that can hurt you the worst. So, in certain ways, relationships between soulmates are easier than regular ones & in other ways, they're harder.
And, something that a lot of people don't get is that, your soulmate isn't necessarily your soulmate because some higher power ordained it so. Rather, they're the person that you choose & you keep choosing them over & over again throughout multiple lives.
So, it's only half destiny. The other half is up to you.
Also, new souls can only be born from the union between soulmates.
Karina was originally worshiped in the Faron, Necluda, & Ordona Regions long before Hyrule expanded to include them. (Here, Ordona pertains to the Faron Grasslands, with Ordon being located within the Fural Plain, Haran Lake being the remnants of the Ordon Spring, Ibara Butte being where Ordon Ranch was & Ordon itself being positioned around the Lake of the Horse God.)
However, she has since been integrated into Hyrule's overall pantheon of gods & because of her presiding over the realm of love, she was quickly adopted by the Gerudo as well.
She's also worshiped in Eldin, but not to the same degree as everywhere else in Hyrule & her full range is only practiced in Shadow Hamlet by its non-Goron residents while Philia, Storge, Philautia & Narcissus, Caritas, Xenia, Meraki, & Zoísa are the only ones that really apply to Gorons…
Well, so does Ludus, but only because another way to indulge in Ludus is by going out & dancing with your buddies.
On a mortal level, some say that she is the eldest daughter of Farore, while others say that she's one of the Hyrulean twin gods of the moon. Others say that she was born on Tuft Mountain. And others still say that she came into this world at daybreak.
The truth is that these are all correct as Farore wished for her first children's first sight to be the one that Farore was most proud of having helped create. Lover's Lake is actually the site of Karina & her brother's birth. Unfortunately, what you're thinking that means is, in fact, most likely true... I'll leave it at that.
And Farore is also the mother of the Fierce Deity, Sheikaku, who is Karina's elder twin brother.
Though she is considered to be a symbol of femininity, she was actually quite the tomboy growing up & very much enjoyed hunting & camping with her family. Even before her disappearance, she is known for having enjoyed going on hunting trips with her father & brother, thus earning her the title of huntress.
Though, she did grow up to be a very feminine goddess.
However, upon her brother taking the mantle of patron deity of the then unnamed Hyrule, she worked alongside him to protect its people. While this would normally land her as as much of a figure of divine retribution as her brother, she did it for his sake & in order to share some of his burden, while he did it for the sake of the people he was sworn to protect. While Karina also did it to protect people, her primary focus to begin with was in aiding her brother.
Actually, it was during that period of fighting at her brother's side that she discovered her domains of righteous retribution & her place as a defender of children & rape or abuse victims; a Tutelary Goddess. The first time she witnessed someone being abused, she fell into an indescribable rage. The culprit was stricken down in an instant. That was when her mission suddenly shifted to include defending & avenging the abused.
Anyway, as a result, Karina is a very powerful goddess at a similar level to her brother, just focusing on different types of fighting. Mainly that of dual daggers & shortswords, archery, & magic.
She was also a very adventurous & outgoing girl, being the extrovert to her brother's shy introvert & was often known to drag him around into trouble.
Full of vim & vigor, she took to life with joy & enthusiasm. Never one to pass up the chance to try new things.
As an adult, she is considered the most beautiful of the Hyrulean goddesses & is considered comparable to Vah Amàhrta amongst the Gerudo pantheon, just in a different way.
Also, while not a goddess of dance, she loves to dance & very much enjoyed learning to from her adopted aunt, Din. (As, here, the 3 Golden Goddesses aren't actually related. Instead being such close friends that they form a sisterhood.) She also enjoys swimming.
And due to being a goddess of beauty, she also has natural talents & intuitions regarding things like art & fashion.
Interestingly, she was best friends with Gàlondo when they were children. Though, even back then he was cocky & arrogant, it was just more quirky personality traits back then.
Of course, that was before he was taken back to Jïasïd to be trained for war.
In truth, he'd had a massive crush on her even back then, but he never told her.
But, once he returned to become the first patron deity of the then unnamed Hyrule, it was apparent that he'd changed. Quite a lot in fact.
He began flirting with her, which at first wasn't a bad thing, but as he grew drunk off the power & control given to him, the flirting became less cute & more... concerning.
It became apparent that he lusted after Karina & wanted her for himself.
Then, he did something unforgivable & was stripped of his godhood, becoming a Daiyōkai of malice, darkness, hatred, & resentment. Thus becoming the Bringer of Demise.
And he began to show some deeply disturbing yandere tendencies towards Karina.
He began to make some seriously messed up & grossly sexual comments towards her.
Just being overall creepy!
None know this but the elder gods, but Karina & Sheikaku were once a single soul that had already reached enlightenment, & as a result was so powerful that it split in 2. The 2 have since become so independent that they have grown to have their own individual identities & would be unable to remerge without outside help.
None of the elder gods know why their original soul chose to remain attached to the earthly plane rather than move on to become a cosmic force, instead opting to split itself in two.
It is due to them originally being of the same soul that Karina & Sheikaku have an almost psychic connection with each other. It is due to this psychic connection that they shared a couple unique abilities.
One of which being able to take on attributes or crossing into the domain of their twin. However, despite being able to do this, they would not get as much benefit from it as they would if it truly were their domain.
It's also said that she & her brother could fuse into a single entity for a short time when they needed to. And while only the elder gods know this, it is due to them having once been of the same soul. And while no one knows this, not even themselves, they would likewise be able to do the same with their individual soulmates if they had a strong enough relationship & were in perfect synchronicity at the time. Though, they can only do this with each other & their soulmates. (This works almost the same way that fusion does in Steven Universe.)
Anyway, Karina is said to have disappeared at around the same time as her brother & hasn't been seen since.
In a way, I see Karina's spirit as taking over for Sheikaku's in their mortal lives when he grows especially tired from his Atlas-like responsibilities. Or sometimes joining him on his adventures as a Heroine.
However, whenever she simply joins, she often feels outshone by her brother as she doesn't even have a sacred sealing weapon of her own. She could never resent him, no matter the life, but it doesn't feel good either.
Karina is also said to be able to transform into a vae whenever she wishes much like Sāqmàla, the Gerudo High Goddess of Life, Vivifatility, & Sex, though she isn't nearly as well-known for it as Sāqmàla is. (Go to my Vae & the Spring of Talthïrï post if you want to learn more about vae. Warning, it's weird.)
In fact, this is only known due to her old boyfriend, Seasin, from way back when having been interrogated by an intermediate goddess of truth, Ronia. (Seasin & Karina had broken it off amiably long before her disappearance.) This particular goddess tended to express her power in the form of gossip mongering, thus becoming a goddess of rumors.
There's normally a law that magically keeps such truth magics by deities from forcing other deities to speak about other deities without the deity in question's personal permission.
However, due to the way in which Karina disappeared, she was no longer technically considered an active goddess &, as such, she didn't fall under the protection of said law. And Ronia, as the gossip of her pantheon, would know this. This, when combined with the fact that Seasin was only a minor god compared to Ronia's slightly more elevated stature, resulted in her being able to bypass the law without worrying about getting punished. She was still reprimanded though.
This is due to deities of higher standing being able to resist the powers of deities with lower standings much more readily.
Anyway, Seasin had thus been unable to lie or keep the truth from her (though he certainly tried) & had been forced to speak of he & Karina's times together. He was heteroromantic bisexual &, having heard of Sāqmàla's ability, had inquired if, as a goddess who also ruled over the domain of sex, if Karina could do so as well. Karina hadn't known, but she decided to give it a try. Turned out she could. This was how she discovered that she was actually a goddess of vivifatility like Sāqmàla, instead of just fertility like her mother & grandmother.
This information eventually spread to the mortals through Ronia's gossiping & the rest is history. Of course, the mortal version of the story has been sensationalized quite a bit.
