Artwork by  Melloque
Character is mine

This might come as a surprise for people who weren't following me on Twitter but I had Rukhan as my persona for a couple of years now (don't worry to those who liked Coracroma. She is still around, I got a huge backlog of Cora art too)

But Rukhan isthe most personal character I've ever owned.

About 3 years ago my depression went into overdrive due to multiple real life circumstances and the whole shit sandwich got crowned by the release of the then new MtG Set "Hours of Devastation" which had such a horrible, hate and death filled storyline it just pushed me over the edge.

After being institutionalized for quite some time until my mental stability was sort of back on track my then fiancé/ now husband (yay!!) suggested that I, for the first time in my life engaged in a text based roleplay (I've only ever played pen and paper rpgs up until then) with him to help me cope with the whole situation. For this he introduced me to a fantasy world of his own making, the character I played? Rukhan.

Let's make a long story short and just say : it worked like a charm. I was able to shake so many negative and lingering emotions and finally got my life back on track. I even managed to meet tons of new people, some of which are now close friends which just enriched my life. (Big shoutout to the three who helped me the most :  Darkomi ,  Mannoth ,  Raddaraem , all of them wonderful people and even better friends)
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Rukhans actual, in universe backstory is that she is a mortal woman that just happened to stumble upon a rift in time and space through which stepped the original goddess called Rukhan fighting a group of giant, dragon, eel looking monstrosities.
Mortally wounded the goddess was able to slay her assailants but due to her being spirited away to another realm of existance was severed from her worshippers and source of power and thus succumbed to her wounds.
The actual godhead of the pantheon Aeon, showed up minutes later in an attempt to help and assist, but when he found the goddess slain before him he had to improvise, good thing there was a nearby mortal who was just spooked enough by the whole ordeal to not put up any objection and so he forced Rukhans essence and power into her body, transforming her and forcing her to take the departed goddess' life.

But as the whole pantheons power are directly linked to the faith their subjects have in them she was also forced to not reveal her true identity to anyone outside the actual pantheon.

And so she suddenly found herself acting as the Goddess of War, Death and Murder of all things, which greatly clashed with her own personality, but also gave her life a meaning beyond neandering through the day.

Basically Rukhans story revovles around something rarely seen in modern depiction of gods : The responsibility that comes with the role, countless of souls that rely and put faith in you, and how letting them down even once can lead to catastrophic results for you, your pantheon and the mortals that roam the realm.

Disclaimer : it is very late so sorry if this devolved into quite the ramble... I hope it still explains my reasoning behind Rukhan and her meaning to me. And why I semi retired Cora for the time being.