Faiths of Sublanarya: The Bringer-of-Rain (Danu, Apep, Shambara, Vritra)

Dyeus the Sky-Father and Tefnas the Earth-Mother were fighting all the time and the world suffered for it. One of the Old Ones, Danu the Liquid Goddess, slipped past the safeguards and even the watchful eye of Ptah-Ra, and combined her essence with that of the Cosmic Serpent, Apep. Though their union was brief, with Dyeus and Tefnas subduing the alien goddess, it brought about the creation of a new threat that the sky and earth, exhausted from destroying Danu and spreading her across the wind and sea, could not subdue. From Apep and Danu was born, Vritra the Consumer.

Vritra was a great wyrm, a dragon with serpentine features, born of disharmony and darkness. As an embodiment and harbinger of Izft, the Envoloper cast darkness upon the River Iru, choking the river, from which all life sprang in ancient Hamutia, with his form.

Along the river, Vritra's asuran servant, Shambara the Builder, built 100 fortresses,like massive temple complexes, in the name of the draconic deity. Around these 100 fortresses, Vritra wrapped a wall of darkness and began choking the life from the world.

Dyeus and Tefnas were weakened but settled their arguments long enough to have more children. Firstborn of the east was the mighty Indra, fierce as a tiger, fast as lightning and with a warcry like thunder. Indra immediately set about trying to tear down the wall of shadow alongside his twin brother, Agni and his four other brothers. But the darkness pushed them back and no amount of force could surpass it. Only the demon ships of Shambara's men were allowed to pass from the sea, through the wall, and along the river.

Mithras had a plan.

Mithras was the youngest and wisest of the brothers. He knew of all creatures big and small that swam in the ocean. For his plan, he knew of a great fish, Apa.

Together, the brothers got Indra drunk on soma, the divine drink of the gods, disguised him as an ox's head, and cast him into the deep part of the sea. The great fish Apa swallowed Indra whole but suffered terrible indigestion. Fighting the beast from the inside, Indra guided it towards a demon pirate ship and killed Apa from the inside. The massive fish floated to the surface. The greedy demons netted Apa, dragged it from the primordial sea, traveled through the wall of darkness and up the river Iru.

Indra had been stuck in the belly of the fish for too long. He was furious and hungry. The golden god ate a whole out of Apa's belly and killed the pirates. He then turned his attentions on the 100 fortresses of Shambara. Each fortress fell to the might of Indra, lightning crashed and thunder roared, as he made his way to the 100th fortress.

There he faced Shambara. The asuran warlord was angry, proud and spiteful. He insulted Indra's smell, from the guts of Apa, and this caused Indra to fly into a drunken rage. The storm king threw Shambara down and tore his head from his shoulders, so he could never hold his nose or snark at the god again, before tossing the head into the heavens. To this day, the head circles the cosmos as a comet that returns periodically called "Shambara's Head".

100 fortresses destroyed and Shambara slain, Vritra descended on Indra to avenge his servants and slay his immortal foe. The two fought a legendary battle with Vritra breaking Indra's jaw but, as the fiend gloated, Indra flew into his mouth and summoned a storm inside of Vritra that destroyed him, casting his body down, and crushing the rest of his servants. Indra then gathered up all the water and threw it into the heavens. From that day on, he was known as the Bringer of Rain and the Storm King.

Together, with his brothers help, Indra buried the Wyrm deep within the earth but his servants still hear his whispers.

Faiths of Sublanarya: Elephants, Snakes and the Moon (Shakti, Heramba, Kali, Manasa, Murugan, Thoth-Khonshu, Aubi)

Heramba is a famous and well-loved god in much of Raj-Hamut. Heramba is the god of the common man due to his virtues of perseverance, good-humor but also his role as a problem solver. He is popular and his worship is widespread with temples across the land. He is called the "remover of obstacles" and is a humble, flawed but clever god. His life began one hot summer, a long time ago...

The goddess Shakti was lonely in the home of her husband, the all-powerful Shiva, who was busy aboard. She was shaping clay into objects for her home and she had an idea: to form a child, a boy, out of the clay. As she did so, she was enamored with the handsome little figure and so, with the boundless love and power of the motherly goddess, a power that was a match for even Shiva, she gave it life and called her son Heramba.

Heramba had a mighty hunger and so, telling Heramba to guard the palace until she returned, Shakti went to the jungle to find food for him.

Shiva returned to surprise his wife and found a handsome youth blocking his entry. He told the boy to let him pass but the boy said that no one could enter without his mother's permission. Not realizing that the boy was his own son, Shiva fought the boy. He was surprised by the boy's courage and strength but none can resist the destructive power of Shiva. He beheaded the boy and went inside his palace.

When Shakti returned, she was mad with grief at the sight of her fallen boy and transformed into her most terrible form, Kali the Annhilator.

Even Shiva fears Kali; she is his equal in power and purpose but guided with a righteous ferocity that is a horror to behold. She set upon Shiva, beating and berating him for his callous act of violence against Heramba, until the mightiest of gods was forced to relent and beg his wife for forgiveness. He called out to his servants and told them to find his son a worthy replacement for his head-- and fast to placate his wife's fury.

The first creature they found was an elephant and, in their haste, this is how Heramba was given his iconic appearance and wisdom. Kali reverted to Shakti and Shiva welcomed his son into heart with open arms. But this was not the only story of Heramba. The other is of how he lost one of his tusks...

Heramba had two siblings: Murugan the Divine Spear, the handsome, swift and proud warrior god, and Manasa the Green Physician, the beautiful serpentine goddess and divine doctor. Manasa was known to play her two brothers against each other in contests since Murugan was cocky and Heramba was stubborn. It often made for an amusing contest between the two brothers but none was more famous than the "Cake Race".

Manasa was making cakes. Murugan and Heramba both wanted the cakes but Manasa decided to make a game out of it. She said that they were wedding cakes and that the first brother to get married would receive the cake. They set-up a challenge that the first brother to encircle the world would be the first to be married and therefore get the first slice of cake. Murugan took the bet out of pride and Heramba took it more out of desire for cake.

Manasa immediately took off on his peacock and shot off across the sky. Heramba did not leave the palace. Instead, he found his parents and embraced them seven times. He had put into practice the idiom: "He who circles his parents in his embrace, circles the world in his arms". Before Murugan could make it to the horizon, Heramba had already crossed the world and won the bet.

Heramba was married and got to take the first slice of cake. Unfortunately, Heramba's weakness is food. The god could not control himself and, after tasting the first bite of the cake, gobbled the rest of it down. The gods were furious and chased him from his own wedding party. He escaped on the back of his loyal mouse steed Kroncha.

Manasa was madder than the others and decided to punish Heramba by sending one of her snakes to cross his path. The snake startle Kroncha and Heramba was thrown from his perch. The god's belly split wide open and the cake tumbled from his belly. The cake formed the Ondon mountains. Wounded, the god grabbed the snake and wrapped it around his belly to seal the wound, showing his ingenuity. He climbed back atop Kroncha when he heard laughter from above.

Thoth-Khonshu the Moon Counselor to the gods of Ptah-Hamut laughing and mocking him. Heramba broke off one of his own tusks and, with a force like a hurricane, threw the tusk with such force that it split the moon into three pieces. Raj-Hamutians say this is why there are three moons in the sky.

Thoth-Khonshu's wife Aubi the Scribe is said to use the tusk as a quill so he never forgets diligence and restraint again.

SHAKTI THE MOTHER OF MANY

Title(s)

The Divine Cow, The Triumvirate Goddess, The Forgiver, She of Three Sides, The Supreme Chakra

Pantheon(s)

Hamutian

Power Level

Greater Deity

Alignment

Neutral Good

Symbol

A heart framed in a cows horns

Portfolio

Love, creation, destruction, forgiveness, energy

Domains

Life

Worshipers

Mothers, healers, midwives, women, shepherds

 

Favored Weapon

Trident

HERAMBA THE GENTLE GIANT

Title(s)

The Remover of Obstacles, Leader of the Group, Humble Headed, One-Tusk, The Elephant God

Pantheon(s)

Hamutian

Power Level

Lesser Deity

Alignment

Neutral Good

Symbol

An elephant's head

Portfolio

Prosperity, Peace, Perseverance, Cunning, Animals

Domains

Nature, Protection

Worshipers

Druids, haathraji, beastfolk, elephant herds, common folk

 

Favored Weapon

Swords

KALI THE ANNHILATOR

Title(s)

The Destroyer Goddess, The Unforgiving, The Fury, The Dark Mother, The Horned Dragon

Pantheon(s)

Hamutian

Power Level

Greater Deity

Alignment

 Chaotic Evil

Symbol

A bleeding skull

Portfolio

Destruction, annihilation, violence, assassination, rage

Domains

Death, War

Worshipers

Assassins, witches, demons, warriors, women

 

Favored Weapon

Sickle

MANASA THE GREEN PHYSICIAN

Title(s)

The Snake Goddess, The Divine Doctor, The God's Physician, The Python Queen, The Wisewoman

Pantheon(s)

Hamutian

Power Level

Lesser Deity

Alignment

Neutral Good

Symbol

A python curled around a lotus scepter

Portfolio

Snakes, poison, medicine, healing, forests

Domains

Life, Nature

Worshipers

Healers, doctors, wisewomen, druids, yuan-ti

 

Favored Weapon

Dagger

MURUGAN THE DIVINE SPEAR

Title(s)

The Peacock, The Warrior of Heaven, The Proud and Handsome Son, True-Of-Aim, The Battle Dancer

Pantheon(s)

Hamutian

Power Level

Lesser Deity

Alignment

Neutral

Symbol

A peacock clutching a spear

Portfolio

War, battle, courage, victory, fury

Domains

War

Worshipers

Warriors, bachelors, athletes, princes, lovers

 

Favored Weapon

Spears, Bows

THOTH-KHONSHU THE MOON COUNSELOR

Title(s)

The Ibis, The Loremaster, The Lunar Prince, The Wisest Son of Yasar, The

Pantheon(s)

Hamutian

Power Level

Greater Deity

Alignment

Lawful Neutral

Symbol

An ibis and a quill

Portfolio

The moon, history, wisdom, justice, education

Domains

Knowledge

Worshipers

Judges, advisors, teachers, loremasters, scholars

 

Favored Weapon

Darts

AUBI THE SCRIBE

Title(s)

The Writer, The Author, The Spotted Goddess, The Knower-Of-Knowledge, The Ink-Spotted

Pantheon(s)

Hamutian

Power Level

Lesser Deity

Alignment

Neutral

Symbol

Cheetah with a palm leaf

Portfolio

Writing, scribes, astronomy, learning, poetry

Domains

Knowledge

Worshipers

Scribes, catfolk, assistants, writers, bards

 

Favored Weapon

Swords

Monster Mash: C is for C'Horthid

There are many strange and horrible creatures lurking in the buried tombs of the Ptah-Hamutian god-kings but, perhaps, none are worse than the transformed priests of Khepis the Scarab God. Like many mortals, they feared death and sought a sort of immortality through the Swarm. These foolish priests were misled by their superiors into surrendering to a forbidden ceremony that granted them immortality but stole from them their humanity, identity, sanity and freedom to serve the dead as guardians and to be used as living weapons by the priesthood. The priests called them C'Horthids (Kohr-theedz], which translates to "Butchers of Souls".

Immortal Horrors.  C'Horthids creep in the darkened chambers of pharoahs, untouched by time or the sun for centuries, and lie in wait for tomb robbers that ignore the warnings painted in heiroplyphics on the walls.

Each C'Horthid is clad in armored plates of black chitine with writhing form of over three meters in length, with a multitude of wretched scythe-like legs running along a segmented thorax that attached to an upright abdomen armed with a pair of toothed scythes for forelimbs. Most horrifying is that rather than an insectoid head it has a large grey humanoid head with cruel red eyes, a mouth full of razors and pincers. They make inhuman coughing noises, like the wheezing croak of a thousand locusts, as they choke on death itself. For it is the breath of the C'Horthid that is the true danger: the black gas it emits from its maw paralyzes its prey. It is then that the C'Horthid's horrifying intent is revealed as it will attempt to devour the soul of an incapacitated humanoids.

The only way to release the souls so they can join the afterlife, once devoured by a C'Horthid, is to destroy the beast.

Mindless Servants of the Scarab. The long term purpose of these creatures is unknown and alien as the mind of their god Khepis but it is believed that they will be rewarded by the swarm lord when he returns to pick the desert clean of all life. Until then, they remain trapped forever in their bodies, which act as a prison for the souls as their prey.

It is believed that some priests of Khepis, as well as other evil beings capable of controlling these insane horrors, are able to use these creatures as personal protectors and have a way to extract the souls to be used as a part of dark rituals involved with the scarab god. Only the most wicked of souls would create or use these monstrosities.

Terrible Weapons. And the have been used for more than guarding dungeons: some priests managed to cultivate and grow C'Horthids of monstrous size for use in warfare. These C'Horthid "invaders" were used as siege weapons, unleashed upon the enemies of the Scarab cult, and a few of them could destroy and consume thousands of souls. These legendary horrors and the rituals to create them have thankfully been lost to the sands of time but there are stories from raving madmen of caverns beneath ruined cities holding these horrors in wait for some darker purpose.

Fun Fact: This week's monster's name was inspired by the ancient Roman word for high heels "Kothorni", which were worn by butchers in places like Ancient Egypt to keep their feet from touching the bloody floor of the abattoir.

The Twin Empires of Hamutia: Ptah-Hamut and Raj-Hamut

Today's subject is of two lands. Separated by a sea, each empire claims dominion of the world: in the east, where the sun rises, is the lush tropical mountainous river-princedoms of Raj-Hamut [rahj-ha-moot], also known as the Emerald Empire for its natural riches and, across the sea to the west, is the cradle of human civilization, built along rivers in a harsh desert, the Empire of the Divine Sun, Ptah-Hamut [puh-tah-ha-moot]. These two states have opposed each other for over two millennia, even pitting their gods against each other, in a struggle for power not only in the material but the spiritual spheres. These two empires, the twin empires of Hamutia, or simple the Hamuts, were once one in the same.

Three and a half millennia ago, on a habitable green spot of land along the River Yor, a small settlement grew and flourished in the inundated plains until it became established as the first Sublanaryan human city of Aneb. The peoples of Yor River built their burgeoning empire upon the ruins of civilizations lost to time or record in a place they call the Valley of Dead Kings. Building upon this history, in the land they called Ptah-Hamut which translates to "the divine lands,  they created their own empire with their own god-king, the first "pharaoh", Namor-Ra.

Namor-Ra's descendants would be treated as living gods, directly receiving their authority from Ptah-Horus the Sun-Wielder himself, and protected by their will. To venerate their gods, those of heaven, Hamut and the underworld, they built great monuments to the gods and impressive tombs to house the remains of the pharaoh and his subjects.

To build these wonders, the Ptah-Hamuts used their wealth of resources to feed great armies and enslaved the "lesser peoples" of the continent. Eventually, their conquest spread across the sea to the east, they conquered the fallen kingdoms of Sindahar and established the second part of their empire-- Raj-Hamut "land of princes". This was a means to an end:

In the third and a half millennium of the second epoch, the god-king Herezbek had twins: a girl T'Chalthra and a boy Magarda. The former was born first and therefore it seemed her birthright was to be his successor. These twins were not the first royal twins; the god-king's line had seen many twins born to Hamut before and, inevitably, there was conflict. Assassinations, attempted coup de tats, and even small civil wars had been fought over the throne. Herezbek's solution was to create a new kingdom for his son to rule. This prevented civil war and, to further protect the throne of Ptah-Hamut, the eastern continent became a land split between princes, also called rajahs or sultans, with a maharaja or grand sultan at the top. By dividing the roles of leadership, this created more positions and less intense rivalry for the position of god-king among the royal line.

From that point onward, the first born of the god-king was the heir to the throne of Ptah-Hamut. If the god-king had twins, the second born would become the heir of the reining maharaja. The majaraja's firstborn would be his heir, if not supplanted by the pharoah's twin child, and/or his other sons would be rajas of small princedoms of Raj-Hamut. The rajas battle for control of their small kingdoms but all under the command of the maharaja in the capitol of Kuthkuta.

This created a unique balance of power between members of the royal family that would last for several centuries until the god-king Nexret had twin daughters Wadjet and Nekhbet. This was a problem for a variety of reasons.

In six centuries, the religious practices and beliefs of Raj-Hamut created a culture that was much different than the home culture. The native religious beliefs and stories were reincorporated with Ptah-Hamutian beliefs. The rivalry between princes and disdain for the "rule of the foreign god-king" created a rift that was reflected in their religious beliefs and cultural customs. And, in all that time, Raj-Hamut had never had a female ruler and the maharaja Bara, with the backing of the armies of the princedoms of Raj-Hamut rebelled against the ma'at or "divine order" of Ptah-Hamut's reign. The resulting civil war lasted for decades and had many epic battles. By the end,  Bara, Wadjet and Nekhbet were all slain, as well as many other princes and royalty. The result was that the two empires permanently split, bitterly, and remain rivals to this day over dominion of the divine kingdom of Hamut.

From this war sprouted the divine Cult of the Two Ladies. This cult says that Wadjet and Nekhbet ascended to godhood as consorts of Ptah-Horus and that they watch over the royal family of the god-kings. They are represented in the headdresses and iconography of the pharaoh as a vulture and cobra. They are also considered to represent the promise of a reunion of the two kingdoms.

The war also sprouted the first slave rebellion. The slaves that fled during the civil war formed the first wave of colonists of modern Zafaria along the Nadjabadi coast.

It was during the following between the following period, between the 57th and 60th centuries, that the cult evolved so that a serpent, the supposed descendant of the cosmic serpent and Wadjet, calling itself Apep II became the new pharaoh of Ptah-Hamut. Snake cults are a constant in Hamutian history and this one managed to sit itself upon the throne. Apep II was a serpent of gargantuan size, power and intellect. Only through a rebellion led by slaves, who would later become modern Zafarians who settled in Jalatia, was the snake cult overthrown and the pharoah's line properly restored.

But the god-king's empire has been in decline ever since that indignity.

It was during the post-split that came the era known as "classic Raj-Hamut". During this time period, there were many legendary wars fought between demons, gods, and heroes in the style of the Wyrd Wars Sindahar civilization. For example, Krishna the Beautiful who was a sage prince who overthrew a cruel raja and tutored other princes on appropriate behavior. Such education, via a spiritual awakening from rediscovered history of ancient Hamut, reformed the spiritual lives of Raj Hamut with teachers like the latest avatar of Sahasranama, Prince Siddhartha the Awakened Soul.

This cultural revolution has allowed Raj-Hamut to flourish as an empire of individuals. But have they too began to fall behind the rest of Sublanarya?

A House Divided: The Hamutian Religion

First, let me clarify the nomenclature involved in describing Hamutian subjects:

Hamut means "kingdom" in Hamutian, the Hamuts are the two kingdoms,  Hamutia refers to both kingdoms and all territories they control, and the people and all things from Hamutia, collectively, are described as Hamutians. Hamutia is split into two kingdoms: Ptah-Hamut to the west of the Hamutian Sea and Raj-Hamut to the east of the Hamutian Sea. Peoples from Ptah-Hamut are called Ptah-Hamuts and peoples from Raj-Hamut are called Raj-Hamuts. They speak Hamutian and their gods are collectively part of the Hamutian pantheon.

The Hamutian religion is one that focus on creation, preservation, and destruction of everything from the universe to the individual.