God research: 2. Hou Yi

Hey, Jess here!

So I kind of let the game decide for me which god I was going to discuss next. In Smite there is a game mode that's called Assault. In this game mode you het a random god picked out for and you have to do it with that one. Though you do have the option to switch with one of your teammates, but only if they want that too. Because of this, I said to myself "whichever one you get to play with, that will be the one you'll discuss next". And so it happened...

Hou Yi in the right upper corner, next to the
World Tree, taking aim at the suns. 

Hou Yi is from the Chinese mythology and he was a famous archer. He is mostly known from the myth of the Ten Suns. This story is one of the most famous Chinese myths and takes place in prehistoric times. Back then a week consisted of 10 days instead of 7. For every day there was a sun and a sun bearer, also called a Jun-raven, that would take place in the sky for that day. These sun bearers were the sons of Xihe and Dijun, the god of the Eastern Heaven. Every morning, Xihe washed the sun that would shine that day in the Sweet Wells and dried it in the high mulberry tree Fu Shan, which is the world tree of the east.

But one day, all the 10 suns decided to take place in the sky at the same time. This was devastating for the earth, because stone started to melt, people died and plants dried out. Because Hou Yi felt sorry for humankind, he decided to scare the suns away that were too much by shooting arrows. But this didn't work and so, Dijun gave him a magical, vermilion bow and arrows with silk strings. With these items, Hou Yi found a high tower and shot 9 suns and the sun bearers out of the sky. As he did so, black feathers fluttered down. The remaining sun still holds up to his task up to now.

After shooting down the suns, Hou Yi had received many more tasks. At first he had to make an end to all the storms that raged over China. So he conquered the Count of the Wind, Fei Lian. After that he had to tame all the rivers, so he killed the river god. During this task, he met the sister of the river god. Heng'e, who he marries. But Hou Yi also defeated a terrible giant with only one giant tooth, the water snake in Lake Dongting and the Windbird who caused storms by flapping its wings.

But even after doing all this, Hou Yi was not allowed by Dijun to return to the heavens for killing his sons. Though there was another way to return to the heavens and Hou Yi found it.

So Hou Yi set out to look for the life elixir and travelled all the way to the golden palace in the Kunlun mountains. Here lived the elvenqueen Xi Wangmu who had a garden in which Peaches of Immortality grew. These peaches took three thousand years to grow and another three thousand to ripen, but from these, the elixir was made. But to get the elixir, Hou Yi had to build a summer palace for the queen. When he had done so, she rewarded him with a pill that was made from the elixir.

When Hou Yi got home, he hid the pill in a silk cloth in the roof because he got another task as soon as he got home. His wife, Heng'e discovered the pill and when Hou Yi suddenly came home, she was shocked and accidentally swallowed the pill. She then became lighter and flew to the moon where she found a tree, a rabbit and a toad. And that is how she became the moon goddess Chang'e.

After this, Hou Yi asked Xi Wangmu's husband for advice. He said to await the gods' judgement and so Hou Yi did. When they decided that Hou Yi could return to the Palace of the Sun, he was given a red talisman with a moon on it. With this he was able to visit Chang'e on the 15th day of the moon's cycle. On this day the moon shines the brightest; it's a full moon.

Below you can find Hou Yi's lore as it is written by the creators of Smite.

In a time long past, an unexpected calamity came to be. From whence none knew, ten suns rose above the horizon. Such incessant light and heat ravaged the earth, wilting fields of grain, drying rivers, even melting forged metal. Bent beneath the scorching rays, the people begged the Emperor-God Di Jun to aid them. In reply, he called the great archer, Hou Yi.

Armed with a mystical red bow and a quiver of white arrows, Hou Yi traveled to Earth. What he found was a barren land. Shielding his eyes, he peered to the sky where the ten suns cruelly flared.

Nocking arrow to bow, Hou Yi loosed a warning at the suns hoping to frighten them away, but they impassively remained. So Hou Yi drew again and fired a killing shot. Pierced, the sun exploded in color and a giant red raven with three legs fell to the earth, slain by the white arrow.

Eight times more Hou Yi drew arrow to cheek. Eight shots more he let fly. Eight more bursts rent the sky, and eight more ravens fell dead. But one sun he left, and so fearful of Hou Yi's archery, this sun behaved, dipping below the horizon.

Now armed with the power of the red ravens he smote, sending light and fire against those that threaten the world, be it monster or beast, dragon or sun, man or God, Hou Yi is the Defender of the Earth.

To be continued...