Sloth Avatar
The Sloth Avatar is the animal spirit of sloths, appearing as a massive sloth larger than an elephant and covered in grey-green fur. Long claws of Orichalcum grow from each paw, capable of tearing branch and mortal alike, though the god is slow to anger… slow in any response.
In the Primordial Age, the Sloth Avatar was a loyal ally of the Unconquered Sun in the war with the Primordials, for his slow-moving purview was unable to escape their constant depredations across the face of Creation. The god did very well in the years of the Solar Deliberative because of this, but with the Usurpation came far darker times: neither the Dragonblooded nor Sidereals had any friendship towards the Sloth Avatar, and humans found his animals easy prey as hunting became increasingly important. The Contagion and Fair Folk invasion rendered matters even worse.
The Sloth Avatar had hoped to join the pantheon of gods who came together with members of the Lunar Exalted to help build the Republic of Halta, but found his spirit peers unwilling to accept him: Caltia the Eternal and Yesryk in particular had always disliked the sloth spirit. The Haltans made a point of hunting sloths, and alone amongst the creatures of the forest sloths were never recognized as having san- or ata-beasts worthy of legal protections. The Sloth Avatar responded by taking a commanding role within his own ‘civilization’, the Tribe of the Steadfast Step, though even with his divine support the tribe has little power to force compromise with Halta’s divinities. He has also maintained his longtime association with the god of jungle forests, Arilak the Unseen, but while sloths seem to prosper more amidst jungles than deciduous or coniferous forests, this alliance has not borne major fruits for either party, at least so far as the eyes of Heaven can discern.
The Sloth Avatar bides his time waiting for his chance to ascend in power over those who have wronged him… he believes himself to be cunning in his patience, waiting for opportunity, but other spirits might believe him too lethargic to ever take true action.
