Gods & Pantheons

There are many possible interpretations of any religion’s deities. Many religions also have multiple sects, each according a different level of power to different parts of the pantheon.

Prophets usually receive access to five types of spirits, unless one of them is war or healing, in which case they have access to four types of spirits.

Gods may dispense four or five types of spirits, demigods four, spirit gods three, and heroes two. One is almost always the Prophet type.

Sample Spirits

You can find more about these deities in just about any good reference book, gaming or historically oriented.

Celtic Gods

Arawn: Prophet, Death, Healing, Charm

Brigit: Prophet, War, Fire, Peace

Dagda: Prophet, Prophecy, Death, Weather, Protection

Diancecht: Prophet, Healing, Death, Prophecy

Dunatis: Prophet, Protection, Fire, Water, Weather

Druids: Animal, Fire, Plant, Prophet, Weather

Goibhnie: Prophet, War, Fire, Protection

Lugh: Prophet, Prophecy, Animal, Plant, Fire

Manannan MacLir: Prophet, Water, Weather, Protection

Math: Prophet, Prophecy, Charm, Fire, Protection

Morrigan: Prophet, War, Charm, Protection

Nuada: Prophet, War, Protection, Prophecy

Oghma: Prophet, Prophecy, Fire, Protection, Hearth

Greek Gods

Hekate (Witches): Charm, Death, Prophecy, Plant, Prophet

Norse Gods

Balder: Prophet, Charm, Fire, Healing

Magni: War, Prophet, Protection, Weather

Modi: Prophet, War, Animal, Weather

Sif: Protection, Prophet, Weather, Animal

Thor: Plant, Prophet, Weather, War

Vidar: Prophet, War, Protection, Peace

Christianity

In general, Christians do not worship an individual within the pantheon, but they may favor one of Jehovah, Jesus, or Mary. They will also pray to a specific saint if intercession is required from the saint’s sphere of influence. Saints (and Mary, to some extent even Jesus) are said to “intercede” with Jehovah on behalf of the petitioner. But the difference between intercession and outright deitical action can become quite fuzzy.

Also, while a literal reading of Christian theology indicates that the spirit and the son are but avatars of Jehovah, they are not treated as such in actual prayer and daily life. Regardless, the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit are the central three figures in Christianity. Many Christians, to purge evil spirits or evil thoughts, will recite the short phrase “In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit” while touching their right hand to their forehead (father), the center of their chest (son), their left shoulder (holy), and their right shoulder (spirit). While the Christians may worship many beings, they all claim that there is only one God, to the point of calling their god simply “God”, as there is no other.

The beliefs of Christians are recorded in the Christian bible. The bible is considered so holy that its mere existence makes it blessed. Prophets will memorize passages from the bible and use them in holy combat.

All Christian prophets must be ordained in some way with water or oil or both. Often, this ordination will come at the hands of another prophet or priest, but prophets may also be ordained through the intercession of Saints, Angels, or supernatural creatures.

The Christians have many festivals. The greatest is the Feast of Easter, with forty days of penitence leading up to it (Lent), eight days of special observance preceding it, and eight days of celebration following it (an “octave”). Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon of the Spring Equinox, which vaguely corresponds to the Jewish festival of Passover that marked Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Creatures

The vampire holds a special place in Christian mythology, as it is seen as a mockery of Jesus Christ. Like Jesus, the vampire must die before being reborn. Where Jesus gave his blood that others might have eternal life, the vampire steals blood to maintain its own eternal life.

Angels are the servants of Heaven, and Demons are angels who rebelled against Heaven.

Saint George

Saint George was the patron saint of the Knights of the Round Table and of the Knights of the Garter. He became renowned early in life as a cavalryman after enlisting at a young age. He died a martyr after confessing his faith to the Roman emperor. King Richard the Lionheart had a vision of him during the crusades. His main claim to fame, however, is as a slayer of dragons. In the city of Selena in Libya, the king’s daughter, Cleolinda, had been chosen by lot to die at the hands of a dragon who demanded such tribute daily. Armed only with a spear and a horse, he confronted and killed the dragon, saving the king’s daughter, all in the name of Jesus.

Saint George is known for his chivalry. He refused the king’s reward for saving his daughter, asking only that the king remember the Church, the clergy, and the poor. St. George’s shield is silver with a red cross.

Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the holiest messenger of God, bringing the word of God as needed. The Holy Spirit brought a child unto Mary, and also brought illumination to the Apostles after Jesus’ death and resurrection (celebrated in the Feast of Pentecost). This was the task that Jesus set for the Holy Ghost at the Last Supper: “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

One of the seven sacred rituals of Catholics is “confirmation”, which follows (confirms) the call from the Holy Spirit in the recipient’s life.

Prophets of the Holy Spirit are outspoken and glib. They will walk flaming coals, handle venomous snakes, and travel into the deepest uncharted territories to proselytize for the Lord.

Jesus

Jesus was the son of Jehovah and Mary, and the founder of the Christian religion. While his worshippers can come in any form, his basic teachings were the epitome of Chaotic Good. He spent much of his time arguing against the priests of Order:

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”

Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 23:35-40)

The legend of Jesus, his works and teachings, are recorded in the “Gospels”, of which Matthew is generally the first. There are many apocryphal records as well, and different sects work from different translations of the Gospels.

Of the seven sacred rituals of Christians, four emulate various events in the life of Jesus. The first is the Baptism, which, while it comes from an earlier ritual, also calls to mind the Baptism of Jesus by the prophet John the Baptist by water in the desert. The second is the “Holy Communion”, which emulates the last supper which Jesus had with his 12 apostles. Holy Communion is either a magical or a symbolic transformation of a blessed bread into the flesh of the Son of God. Jesus commanded his twelve apostles to “do this in remembrance of me”, and it has become the integral part of the Christian mass.

The third is the ordination of priests. Each priest is ordained in a line of succession from the first ordinations of the apostles by Jesus. He ordained his original twelve apostles, telling them to “preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick”, and commanded them to “take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.” But he also said, at the last supper after washing the feet of each of the apostles:

“When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing?” And they said, “Nothing.” Then said he unto them, “But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.”

Fourth is the ritual of contrition, or forgiveness of sins. Any ordained priest may, through Jesus’ power, forgive any sins of a believer.

Saint Joseph

Joseph, Jesus’ father, is perhaps best known for trusting his wife, Mary, when she became pregnant before he could have gotten her pregnant. The Holy Spirit visited him in a dream and told him that the child was a holy child begotten of the spirit. Joseph was of the line of the Hebrew king David, which also helped fulfill the prophecy which culminated in Jesus’ birth.

Joseph protected the child Jesus during the trying times surrounding Jesus’ birth, as the power of the State required them to travel long distances for census purposes. Soon after traveling to Bethlehem for census purposes (where Jesus was born), Herod tried to track down the new-born “king of the Jews” to kill him, so Joseph brought Mary and Jesus into relative safety in Egypt before returning home to Nazareth.

Joseph most likely died before Jesus began his final three years of teaching. He is last seen in the bibles when Jesus was twelve years old, and was almost certainly dead before Jesus died on his cross. It took the Church a long time to recognize Joseph as a Saint. His life, once Jesus was born and his life relatively ensured, was presumably a quiet one and does not enter into the sacred writings. Only after the church’s initial trials, when quiet devotion became more popular, did Joseph’s worship increase.

Lilith

Adam’s first wife who would not lie beneath him, Lilith has been alternately vilified as a punishing demon, pitied as a lonely monster at the edges of the world, or completely ignored and forgotten. Some even worship her as a hero among women.

Lilith appears with long red hair, wings, and a beautiful form and countenance.

Lilith is a creature of folklore among Christians more than from the teachings of Christ or the prophets. Her name appears but once, when the prophet Isaiah describes God’s vengeance upon the enemies of the faithful:

Streams shall be turned into fire, dust into brimstone, and their lands into burning pitch. The flames shall not be quenched night nor day. Smoke shall rise forever, and none shall pass into their lands.

The sea-crow and the bittern shall possess them. The owl and the raven shall dwell among them. Their princes shall fall, thorns shall come up in their palaces, nettles and brambles fill their fortresses. The houses of their sons shall be the home of dragons and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wild beasts of the sea. Lilith shall rest there. Vultures shall gather, every one with her mate.

As a demon, Lilith is a punisher of sins. The children of sinners she binds up; they die in the night. For protection against Lilith, women hang amulets with her name written upon them at the entrance to their homes when infants lie therein, and wear such amulets during child-birth.

As Adam’s first wife, Lilith continues to visit men in the night. But those men who fall to her charms and who try to possess her she fends off as a fierce female warrior, bearing a sword wreathed in poisonous flame.

Mary

Mary was the mother of Jesus, who took the seed of Jehovah through the Holy Spirit, remaining thus a virgin. Though she later was to have children normally, the name “Virgin Mother” was an evocative phrase which lasted. As the mother of Jesus, Mary is often requested to intercede on the petitioner’s behalf with her son. One of the early stories of Jesus’ life tells how Mary successfully requested his divine help for a relatively mundane matter: a lack of wine at a wedding party. Jesus did as his mother asked, turning water into wine for use at the celebration.

Mary is perhaps the most active of the members of the Christian pantheon, appearing to followers with prophecies and balms. Many of the most-visited shrines of the Christians are shrines in places where Mary is said to have appeared. She tends to appear to the poor and downtrodden, and is more likely to appear personally at the beginning of a hero’s career than after the hero is well known. A prophet of Mary chosen in this way will construct a shrine to her at the first opportunity, in the location where Mary appeared.

Mary’s feast day, the Assumption, is so named because she is said to have been assumed bodily as well as spiritually into heaven, “preserved free from all stain of original sin”.

Saint Michael

Saint Michael is the angel who led the charge against Satan in the battle for heaven, and is prophesied to fight again against “the dragon” at the end of the world. One of the most enduring images of Saint Michael is of an angel with a spear triumphing over a snake that bites at his feet.

Saint Michael is prayed to at the hour of death to preserve the soul from Satan. He is the champion of “God’s people”, and the patron of the Christian church, as well as of many of the knight orders. He is also seen as the one who “weighs souls” and takes part in the judgment of the dead. In this guise his symbols include scales (for weighing) or a book (the “book of life”, in which all the names of the saved are inscribed).

Michael is one of four great archangels. The other three (Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel) are not as well known, although Gabriel is credited with bringing the word of God to Mary, that she was to bear God’s son. Each of these angels are all parts of the One God as their name implies (“el” is “god”). Gabriel (“the strong one of God”) is the bringer of dreams and knowledge of the future, as well as retribution. Raphael (“God has healed”) heals wounds, diseases, and evil from individuals and the world. Uriel (“My Light is like God”) is the revealer of secrets, and Michael (“Who is like God?”) is the long-term adversary of Satan.

Satan

Satan is a fallen angel, who rebelled against the order of Heaven. Some legends say that he did this because he was jealous of the attention given to Jehovah’s new creation, humanity. Others simply say that his pride led him to believe he could rule Heaven well in Jehovah’s place. His rebellion failed, and he was cast down with his followers to Gehennah, or Hell, with all the damned souls of humanity. He set himself and his followers up as rulers in Hell (or perhaps this was Jehovah’s plan for him all along--some say that angels do not have free will). Satan rules over the demons, some or all of whom were also fallen angels, and ensures the eternal suffering of the damned, those who are not worthy to enter Heaven.

Satan sees himself in competition with Jehovah for the souls of humans. He sends his minions out in his name to tempt good people into pride, and to ensure the continued wickedness of evil people. As the serpent in the Garden Satan tempted Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, resulting in mankind being thrown out of paradise.

In general, Christians do not worship Satan. To do so ensures their eternal damnation well beyond their few years as mortal beings. But the more superstitious will propitiate Satan and his followers, by, for example, placing gourds with evil faces and burning candles on their doorstep the night before All Saints’ Day, or by throwing a pinch of salt over their left shoulder after spilling salt. Many Christians celebrate “Hallowe’en”, the night before All Saint’s Day, by either dressing as evil spirits and going from house to house to demand tribute, or by staying home and presenting tribute (minor gifts, candy, or food) to Satan’s minions on demand.

Some Christians will go further, however, and attempt to “bargain” with Satan to gain earthly benefits in return for their soul. That is, upon their death their soul will be Satan’s in Hell. Some do this because they believe that their sins are already unforgivable. Some believe that they are better lawyers than Satan and will be able to find a flaw in the contractual agreement. Others may do so without looking to the future at all. Some may do so in the belief that Hell cannot be as bad as it is said to be. Satan is a master of deception and flattery and will encourage any and all such tendencies. Whether these contracts are entered into with Satan or with one of Satan’s other followers is open to debate.

While few Christians worship Satan, Christians have often believed that many people worship Satan. Some Christians believe that all non-Christian gods are Satan in disguise. To these Christians, all worshippers of those gods are Satanists. In times of chaos and uncertainty, some Christians and their political leaders have manufactured Satanists to further their political ambitions or to fill their coffers with the seized assets of accused Satanists. In Christianity, Satan is the enemy, and when humans do not have a visible enemy they will often create one.

Christian legend has it that at the end of the world, Satan will return to Earth with all his legions, including the damned, to do war with Jehovah and his legions of angels, led by Jesus. The return of Satan (and thus the return of Jesus) will be marked by incredible signs and portents. However, before the true end of the world, Satan will tempt humans to prophesize about ends of the world that never happen.

Satan is associated with the planet Venus, the incredibly bright “star” that never rises above the Earth for long without falling. Satan is also a “gamer”, and is rumored to roll dice, or play chess, or otherwise challenge Jehovah for the souls of mortals.

Prophets of Satan are in somewhat the same boat as normal worshippers: they have, for some reason, come to believe that Satan will treat them well in the afterlife, or their pride in their own evil is so great that they believe their sins to be unforgivable. Prophets of Satan must be masters of deception.

Yahweh

Jehovah is the original god of the Christians. He created the world in seven days. On the seventh day, he rested, and for this reason one day out of the week is considered sacred, reserved for worship. Traditionally, this day is Sunday, although the actual day of rest is recognized as Saturday. In the early days of Christianity, Christianity was another (and somewhat heretical) sect of Judaism. Judaic temples were in use by mainstream Jews, so Christians used them on the following day.

Many of Jehovah’s names revolve around the letters “JHVH” or “JHWH”. The name was originally written with only consonants, and later belief held that anyone pronouncing the name of God would be destroyed. The name could just as well have been “Yahu Wahu” (to quote Larry Gonick). As often as not, however, Christians call him simply “God”.

Elves

When the first Elves came to mortal lands from the golden forest of Arlindor they were the sons and daughters of Tirtalien and Alveron. Arlindor begat the gods, who in turn begat the Elves, who taught every leaf to sing, every gem to shine. The Alvirel, the council of the Elven gods, guide their children through the oracles of leaf, river, sky, and star.

In the beginning the Elves walked in darkness. Within the darkness Tirtalien lit silver candles in the sky, one by one, until the Elves could see the dormant forests and empty lands of the world.

Alveron crafted a great ball of gold, and from Tirtalien’s lights he lit the ball aflame and set it in motion across the sky. The golden light from Alveron’s craft warmed the forests and woke the creatures of forest, water, and sky.

Every night, Alveron’s sun drops into the ground to rejuvenate itself with the gold of the earth, and Tirtalien’s lights once again light the land.

Alveron

Alveron was born of the trees of Arlindor. He is the ruler of the Elven gods, alongside his companion Tirtalien. He crafted the sun, that the plants of the Elven lands might grow lush and green, and the Elves tall and wise.

Alveron enjoys tending to Arlindor in the evening, as his sun casts long shadows in the green wood. He walks in many forms, and as evening falls the shadows of Arlindor spread through all the green areas of the world.

Alveron’s sons and daughters are the princes and princesses of Arlindor, whose magical kingdoms glow at the edges of the forest, and who founded the great Elven cities.

The Dwarves revere Alveron as Oberon, the king of all secret places.

Arador

Arador is the goddess of memory and learning. Her blessing is inspiration, and her gifts are philosophy and the arts. Her song is exquisite. Curiosity is her beckoning. From her learning flows the authority to govern wisely and to command effectively. Arador’s bright eyes part the mist of time to see both future and past.

Arador is the protector of scholars, bards, and others dedicated to gathering knowledge. Many of the Rivelaelfte call her patron. Her name anoints temporal rulers and is invoked by judges to bless their rulings with wisdom.

The dwarfs revere Arador as Ergandion, goddess of ancient wisdom.

Arlindor

Arlindor, the forest of the gods, preceded all and bore Alveron and Tirtalien in its trees and rivers. Arlindor is the source of all grace, calming to all who dwell there or visit. Its natural beauty inspires and strengthens the fey. Arlindor can be felt in the mortal world in groves and grottoes of extreme beauty. All such places are shadows of Arlindor.

Arlindor’s tallest tree, Lerovian, is always visible in the sky to the Elven eye.

Arlindor is home to all the faerie. The Halflings know Arlindor as Lenerlin, green fields. The gnomes know it as Kirliendol, the autumn hills.

Avieglien

Avieglien, youngest son of Alveron, is Alveron’s most trusted messenger. He bears the wisdom of the Alvirel to the Elves and to all civilized races. Avieglien travels in many guises, as Elf, as child, as man, even as eagle, horse, or donkey. Avieglien assists those in quandaries, but his assistance comes in the form of riddles and tricks. Many are the fools or young Elves who have mistaken Avieglien’s assistance for further troubles.

Avieglien is Alveron’s son by way of the elder race of men, whom men themselves have forgotten. The Elves called the woman Tialnambe, for her golden hair and bright eyes. This greatest of human princesses possessed a strong wit and an Elvish beauty. Avieglien grew to adulthood in her court, but with the impending fall of the elder race turned to the Alvirel for aid. The stories of the great wars of the elders is a book in itself, but in the end mankind diminished, and the greatness of their beginnings faded in memory to legend, and was then forgotten except for snippets here and there in creation myths.

The Dwarfs revere Avieglien as the trickster Obeag.

Iredana

Iredana, the silent spinner, in shape as a great black spider slowly drawing the web of life from living threads. Her eyes shine as a crystal rainbow, and she speaks in a voice so soft that it raises water to waves and shatters glass to fine dust. Iredana bears the thread of life and can read the coincidences that form web from strands.

Iredana is the hand of destiny. She toils in dark caves and tall trees. Her struggle is the struggle between gift and craft. With weaving is the fate of the world created, and the eye of destiny is in every spider’s web. Iredana’s web extends forever in all directions, depressed where it touches on moments, places, and persons of power.

Morefien

The Lord of the lakes and seas, the white steed Morefien bears the weight of the lands and all upon the lands. He bears ships to shore on white-crested waves.

We are all riders upon Morefien’s strong back. Morefien leads the Elves into war when war is needed. Alveron or Tirtalien often ride upon the white steed in battle.

Morefien is deadly enemy to goblins and to the giant-kin, orcs, ogres, and trolls.

Tialnambe

Tialnambe is less a hero than a memory, evoked by Elves as protection for humans they have loved. Tialnambe is long dead, but her sacrifice has earned her memory a place in the golden valley of the Alvirel. The story of Tialnambe, Alveron, and Avieglien is remembered by Elves who pass it to human consorts and their half-elven children. Elves rarely take humans as lovers. Such a pairing almost always ends in sadness for one or the other or both.

In the times following Avieglien’s return to Arlindor, three golden eyes were fashioned in her memory by Avieglien, with Alveron’s aid, to protect the weakened race of man. Those who wear a golden eye of Tialnambe are watched over by Avieglien himself, according to the legends.

Tirtalien

Tirtalien, born of the rivers of Arlindor, lit the stars on the first morning after the long, dark night of Arlindor. From her candle’s flames Alveron lit the sun’s fires and warmed the forests. It is said that the Elves always walk in Tirtalien’s light.

Tirtalien is mother to most of the princes and princesses of Arlindor. She walks in the morning and under moonlight to visit the edges of the Elven forest and to speak with her children.

Haikiutl

“Two great stories fought, and the world shook,” begins one tale of the Haikiutl. “This story still walks among us,” ends others. The world is a complex interplay between competing and cooperating stories, told and remembered across nations and across generations. For thousands of years the stories of the Haikiutl have walked the earth, illuminating the world and aiding the Haikiutl people. The prophets of the Haikiutl worship the greatest of their stories and through them gain divine power.

The most powerful oath of the Haikiutl is “We shall make a story.” Stories bind brother to brother, husband to wife, hunter to prey, property to owner, food to the hungry, and offspring to parent. Secret stories may grant the shaman power over spirits, rocks, plants, animals, and even men. Such stories will be heavily guarded and passed from shaman to apprentice.

A person may belong to a story as much as a story belong to a person--or more so, as a brother belong to a brother. As with people, the oldest stories are the wisest, and the youngest the most nimble.

Stories can be built up, grow too large, and shatter, and new stories built from the fragments. Stories may be rivals, telling different versions of the same event, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly. But the existence of two or more conflicting stories does not signify contention. The Haikiutl believe that all stories have the potential of truth within them, and that history may be shared among many paths.

Lesser stories are wealth: they may be traded for other stories or for food and clothing. Such stories travel from owner to owner as barter. Stories allow a chief or tribe to lay claim to unused land. Land claimed in such a manner will take on the name and the character of the story that purchased it. When they a person or group takes a story, they also change that story so as to tie that story to them.

Night stories, such as lullabies, may not be sold and are passed from mother to daughter, father to son. They may be told only from dusk to dawn. The best night stories ensure a strong lineage.

While stories are often contradictory, there are common elements to the greatest tales. Throughout the oldest of their stories run the council of animals. All of the animals were people in the days of the stories, before true people came to the current world. Sometimes they can still be coaxed into doing so. And there are hidden and strange worlds unreachable except by trickery, magic, or killing monsters.

Creatures

The Xolome hold a special place in Haikiutl cosmology. This heartless race of burrowers travel between the current world and the old world beneath the surface of the earth. They seek to bring the dust and the dead up from the underworld into the waking world.

Prophets

Prophets of the Haikiutl will choose two or three stories at any one time, resulting in them having access to three to five spirit types.

Bear Daughter

An unmarried woman was stolen from her tribe by Bear: While out picking berries, she steps in bear dung, and curses the bear who left it. From then on she has trouble with her basket. It continually unravels, dropping berries onto the ground. The other women grow tired of waiting for her, and leave her behind. Alone, Bear comes to her and takes her to his den.

She has a son and daughter by Bear. But eventually her five brothers come to rescue her. All but one of the brothers die in the attempt, but the fifth brother does rescue her when the woman tricks Bear into telling her how he can be killed. The brother kills Bear, and brings her and her daughter away. But they leave her son, who is a bear cub. Lamenting her lost son, on the way back she jumps into a lake and swims away as a seal.

Her brother brings his niece back to the camp, where she marries the chief’s son. But she has the hunger of Bear, and her laugh is deadly. She compulsively eats everything she has killed. When her laugh kills the entire village she inhales deeply and eats all of the villagers.

Alone in the empty village, she coughs her husband back up. He is now without legs, and she hangs him in a basket on her wall. She has two sons. She bathes them constantly, with the result being that they grow rapidly to manhood. Their father warns them, from the basket, of their mother’s hunger. So the sons grab their mother by her hair and shake her bones right out of her skin.

The skin becomes a dog, and the dog becomes a stalwart companion in their many further adventures.

Beaver Man

Beaver Man travels among all the tribes by canoe. Beaver fights Bear, Wolf, Sheep, and many giants and defeats them all. When he returns to his home with his friend Raven, Raven continually tricks him at gambling games, and steals whenever Beaver does not look. Raven warns Beaver that if Raven ever dies, all humans will die as well. Beaver soon grows tired of Raven’s tricks, however, and tosses him in the fire. When he is burnt, Beaver tosses the bones to the wind.

But it is as Raven said. Slowly humans began to dry up, fade away, and die. So Beaver goes out to the four corners of the world and regains Raven’s bones, breaks wind over them, and returns Raven to life. Beaver and Raven then go to where the river meets the ocean. Beaver takes a bass from the sea, splits it open, and men come out. Raven takes a trout from the river, and from it come women.

Black and White Deer

Before the world, there was Water, and there was Star That Always Moves. A voice called out to Star That Always Moves. It forecast three deer jumping out of the water. The first deer would be white; the second, black; the third, black and white.

Whichever deer were to get away would choose whether the world was always night, always day, or both night and day alternating--or no world at all. Star That Always Moves had three arrows. His first arrow killed White Deer as it leapt into the sky. His second arrow killed Black Deer as it leapt into the sky. But with his third arrow he only wounded Black And White Deer as it leapt into the sky. Star That Always Moves followed the deer into the sky, where they remain today. When Star That Always Moves only wounded the black and white deer, the voice rose above the waters as the sun.

Star That Always Moves continues to chase his last arrow and the black and white deer. Every year he gets closer. When he is finally able to retrieve his arrow he will kill black and white deer, and this world will come to an end. When that happens, the moon, stars, sun, animals, plants, and rocks and mountains will become alive again as in the ancient times.

Blood Ogre

The chief’s daughter disappeared while picking berries. Her three brothers went in search of her, traveling deep into the mountains to the rainbow’s eastern leg, which was rainbow-colored smoke coming from a cave. The cave was blocked with thorns, which the brothers chopped through, though one of them cut their leg on the thorns.

Inside the cave, they found their sister rocking a little boy. The child awoke and began crying loudly and pointing at the injured brother.

“Scrape off the blood, please,” said their sister.

So he scraped the blood onto a stick and handed it to the child, who greedily licked it off like stick candy.

The brothers were frightened, and told their sister they needed to step outside for a moment because of the smoke. But once outside, they fled. When they did not return, their sister cried out, “husband, there was flesh in the house and it is gone!”

Immediately a huge ogre stepped out of the cave, blowing a whistle and crying “hap! hap! hap!” and began pursuing the brothers.

The eldest brother threw down a stone, which became a mountain peak that blocked the ogre’s path. When the ogre finally made it around the mountain, the brother threw down a comb, which became an impassable thicket. But the ogre tore its way through the thicket, so the eldest threw down his kelp bladder of water, which became a huge lake.

The ogre fell behind, but drank up the lake. Just as they were about to reach their father’s house, the ogre had almost caught up with them again. So the eldest threw down a cedar stick, which became a great tree, and this slowed the ogre enough for them to get into the doorway and bar the door behind them.

The ogre pounded on the door, and would have broke it open, but the chief promised the ogre that, were he to return the next morning with his wife and child, that the chief would kill his sons and make of them a great meal for the ogre and his family. The ogre accepted.

When the ogre returned the next morning, the chief sat the ogre and his son next to a concealed fire pit, and the chief’s sons, served on a great platter, pushed the ogres in. The ogre and its son were burned to ash. Freed from the ogre’s control, their sister fanned the fire to ensure that the ogre would burn. From the ashes that flew into the air, mosquitoes buzzed about.

“You shall be cannibals forever,” said the chief’s daughter, “forever seeking blood.”

When the ogre and child had burned, the chief’s daughter found the ogre’s whistle. “Now we may have a winter dance,” she said. And they did.

Bosom of Weasels

After his older brother had braved many trials to gain a wife, the younger brother chooses to ignore the ancient prohibition against wedding the stars. He is lured up a great cedar tree by Squirrel. He defeats many creatures in his climb to the top of the tree, whereupon he enters Sky World. In Sky World, he is rewarded by the stars for his persistence in climbing the ancient ladder. They grant him two beautiful star wives who are also hunters: Bosom of Weasels and Bosom of Mice. “Lay only with Bosom of Weasels and you will be a great hunter,” said the star men.

The younger brother brings his wives back down the ladder and on their return to the tribe they capture many animals. His wives are great hunters, and each day after he lies with Bosom of Weasels in the night, he is the greatest hunter of the three.

After he returns home, he tires of hunting, finding no effort in it. He comes home earlier and earlier in the afternoon and begins to notice how beautiful Bosom of Mice is. Finally, he has lies with her in the afternoon. As they lay together in his lodge, he hears a great commotion under ground. Up from the ground come mice, rats, and gophers burrowing through the earth. When they burst through to the surface he is buried alive in the underground, and all manner of vermin now live in the upper world.

Bride Killer

Beaver desired the beautiful daughter of an ugly old ogre. The ogre did not want his daughter to marry Beaver, so he devised several dangerous quests to ensure that Beaver would not win his daughter.

When Beaver first came to the ogre, the ogre told him to “go to the Thunderbird’s nest and take feathers from Thunderbird to feather my arrows.”

But Beaver climbed the highest peak of thunder and stole away with the Thunderbird’s feathers.

When Beaver returned to the ogre with Thunderbird’s feathers, the ogre told him that next he should “go to Giant Elk, and take sinew from Giant Elk to bind the feathers to my arrows’ shafts.”

The ogre was certain that Giant Elk would crush Beaver, but Beaver enlisted the aid of the littlest of creatures and defeated Giant Elk.

When Beaver returned to the ogre with Giant Elk’s sinew, the ogre told him next to go to the Snake Forest and return with hazel branches to make the shafts for his arrows. Snake’s venom is deadly, and the ogre was certain that this, finally, would kill Beaver. But Beaver went to his brother Raven and discovered how to make an antidote to Snake’s venom. He then filled his arms with hazel branches for the shafts of the ogre’s arrows.

Finally, the ogre sent Beaver to the Lizard Garden, “where you must create the paints to decorate the arrows.” Lizard’s slashing tail could cut through bone and armor, and the ogre was certain it could cut down Beaver. But Beaver tricked Lizard into cutting all of the plants Beaver needed for his dyes, and Beaver returned to ogre with the paints for ogre’s shafts.

With these, the ogre created his arrows and refused to turn his daughter over to Beaver. The ogre threatened Beaver with his wonderful new arrows. So Beaver stole the arrows away. When he tried to take the ogre’s daughter, the ogre tried to kill him. He aimed and shot the arrows into the ogre, but the ogre’s daughter jumped in front of her father and saved his life, but died in the attempt.

Beaver took the daughter’s body back to his home and his brother, Raven. Together, Beaver and Raven went hunting in the north for caribou. They use the cooked caribou meat to draw the ogre’s daughter back to life as a human woman, whereupon she and Beaver are married.

Dog Mother

A woman with three brothers was visited in the night by a dog, whom she secretly married. Her dog husband would not hunt of its own, and needed to be fed by the woman. She hunted meat herself to provide her dog husband with food.

Her brothers followed her to discover what she was doing with all of the meat she was taking. When they discovered their sister’s secret, they killed the dog and drove her deep into the wilderness. There, in a makeshift cabin which she built for herself, she bore six pups.

These dog-children were no end of trouble. Whenever she turned her back on them, they turned into humans, but as soon as she turned back to look at them, they were once again dogs.

After much trickery she finally catches three of them in human form. The other three she chases away into the mountains. The three she has caught are two boys and one girl. She sends them off into the world to make names for themselves. One of the boys marries his sister, and from them are born the leaders of all the tribes.

The three dog-men who were chased away into the mountains become the ancestors of all xolome. There to this day they dig in the ground for the bones of their dead mother.

First Death

Far in the west, earth and sky touched, resulting in the birth of all of the first creatures, including the great twins Tavila and Tamho. Tavila established the first house for people, and Frog is his daughter. Frog believes through a miscommunication, perhaps deliberate on her part, that Tavila has made an indecent overture to her, and she vows revenge. She sinks back to the center of the earth and creates a race of new creatures, hoping that they will become human before the animals can be transformed into animals. But Frog’s creatures are ill-formed and become evil lizards with snaking tongues. Frog takes these creatures and attacks the first house.

Tamho brings all future shamans to the top of the mountain Avikwam as children and instructs them in shamanic dream ritual to strengthen the future race of men against Frog’s lizard creatures. Afterwards, in a great battle Tavila and Tamho defeat the lizards, but Tavila sustains deadly wounds and dies. This is the first death among people.

When Tavila is cremated, Tamho calls Coyote to take Tavila’s heart from the fire and eat it. Today the greatest honor a great heroes can be given is for, on their death, the shaman to cut out a piece of their shoulder and eat it at the mourning ceremony.

Tavila’s ashes rose into the air to become the new moon, and Tamho leapt into the sky with Tavila’s strength to become the full moon.

Moon’s Bag of Words

Hawk brought the people out from the sky and guided them down to the sunset shore. When they left the sky, Hawk told them to be silent so they could sneak past the clouds without waking them.

But when morning came and Hawk tried to tell the people where each of the tribes would live, he discovered that the people could not speak. They could growl, and whine, and use signs and smoke, but had no skill at tongues.

Hawk realized that he had forgotten to bring them words; their words remained in a medicine bag with Moon. Hawk went to Coyote to complain.

“The people have come out of the sky and have forgotten their words,” said Hawk.

“You were responsible for bringing the bag of words from Moon,” said Coyote. “This is on your family.”

“This is true,” said Hawk. “What shall I do? I cannot go to Moon alone and grab the bag of words. The moon is cold as the night. I will freeze and it shall eat me.”

Coyote said, “I can bring the medicine bag back, but I shall need you to help me.”

Coyote told Hawk to go to Moon, and tell him that Coyote was going to steal from Moon. But tell him that I have gone to the Shaman, and have only one weakness. Coyote then went to the people and told them to wait for the rain of words in the night.

Hawk flew up to Moon, and warned Moon that Coyote would soon try to steal Moon’s treasure.

“You are my friend,” said Hawk, “and I felt I had to warn you.”

“What will he take, and when will he come?” asked Moon.

“I cannot tell you that,” said Hawk. “Coyote is my friend, too.”

“Do I not illuminate your hunts in the night?” asked Moon.

“Coyote is invulnerable,” said Hawk. “He is too strong.”

“Coyote is not invulnerable,” said Moon. “No one is invulnerable. Why do you say he is invulnerable?”

“Coyote has gone to the Shaman, who has bathed him in Salmon Lake,” said Hawk. “Coyote can be hurt by nothing but the words of the people, and the people are wordless.”

“Coyote is not invulnerable to me, then,” said Moon, “for I have the words of the people in my medicine bag.”

“You are stronger than Coyote,” said Hawk. “I thank you for calling me friend.”

When Moon caught Coyote in the sky running towards him, Moon reached into his medicine bag and hurled a barrage of words at Coyote. Coyote dodged them all, and the words rained down as fire upon the people.

The more Coyote dodged, the more words Moon threw from his medicine bag, until finally a word hit Coyote and Coyote turned tail and ran back from the sky.

“Hah!” cried the Moon. “Hawk has no reason to fear you now.”

The people gathered up the words that fell from the sky, and could speak. This is why some tribes have some words, and other tribes have other words and why some words are not yet known.

Salmon Moon

After the animals came to Earth World, two sisters, daughters of the daughter of blind Toad, slept in the open beneath the night sky. They gazed up at the stars, then at the dark world around them, then at the stars. “I wish those bright and beautiful bodies were our husbands,” said one. Her sister agreed.

In an instant, they were drawn up to the level of the Sky World, where they married two star men. Soon one of them bore a star baby. This baby was Moon. But the sisters were homesick, and bored with their life in the sky. One day will digging roots, they accidentally punched a hole into the sky and saw the Earth Country far, far below.

The sisters began twisting cedar boughs to make a ladder. When it was finished, they climbed back to Earth World, taking Moon with them. They rejoined their tribe, and the ladder they kept and used as a swing. While they played on the swing, grandmother Toad took care of Moon for them. Old blind Toad sang for Moon, and for her grandchildren. While Toad sang, Dog Salmon came and stole Moon off, carrying him off the edge of Earth World to the Salmon World. Moon grew up among the Salmon and took a Salmon bride, who bore him many sons. The sons of Moon became the tribes of men.

In Earth World, the sisters took Moon’s cedar-bark diaper and rinsed it five times in water. From this came Moon’s Brother. Moon’s Brother sent Bluejay to fetch Moon home, but Bluejay could find Moon neither in Earth World nor in Sky World.

When Moon’s sons came of age, Moon returned to Earth World, driving the Dog Salmon as fish before him, crying “the next generation is coming and you shall be food for the people, Dog Salmon!” Whoever Moon met, he turned people who were fighting into stones, turned people into sandpipers, ducks, and clams.

Deer heard the cries of Moon and began making spear points of bone, singing a war song against the new people. Moon turned the spears into hooves and Deer into deer. On Moon’s journey home, all the people of Earth World became the animals as we know them today. When Moon arrived at his great grandparent’s home, Toad, still blind, did not recognize her great grandchild. She drew him into her warm home and put her arms around him. Moon turned her into the toad, and the sisters became the tree frogs. Moon joined his younger brother and rose into the sky, where Moon became the Moon and his younger brother became the Sun.

Thus was Earth World lit night and day for the new people of the tribes of man.

Sea Mother

The great and horrible Sedna is rightly feared today. But she was not always horrible-looking, with her fish hands and single huge eye. She was once a beautiful young woman who swore she would never marry. She broke her promise after a handsome and suave hunter landed his kayak at her village. This young man promised her many things, and she liked listening to him, and she enjoyed looking upon him, for he was fair of face and figure.

After they married, he took her across the sea to his home, but there she discovered that her husband was not human. He gave her raw fish to eat. He was a bird spirit. He had fallen in love with her from afar and left his island to convince her to marry.

Sedna’s father came to her rescue and snuck her off in his boat beneath a pile of furs. The spurned husband soon discovered his wife missing, and ran to the shore, crying that his love had left him. He cried out that at least she should let her husband look upon her as she left. But Sedna’s father refused, and told Sedna to remain beneath the furs.

Sedna’s husband, screeching in despair, turned back into his bird form. The sky darkened, and the sea boiled, tossing her father’s boat like a leaf.

Now, Sedna’s father realized his danger, and became frightened for what he had done. He tore the furs from where his daughter hid and tossed her overboard, crying to her to go back to her husband who she had chosen. Sedna grasped at the boat trying to get out of the stormy seas, but her father kicked at her face to push her back into the water. Still she tried to clamber back on board, so her father took an axe and chopped her fingers, one by one, knuckle by knuckle, and each bloody bone became the creatures of the sea: seal, walrus, salmon, and whale. Finally, with no fingers left to grasp, Sedna sank into the ocean and the seas calmed.

Sedna’s father reached the shore and fell asleep. That night, the sea rose and took her father and his tent away where they drowned and were never heard from again.

Sedna remains at the bottom of the sea, and when her hair is clean of vermin, she sends her salmon and seals to us in season. When her hair is dirty and filled with vermin, the shaman must travel to the depths to comb her hair for her, for she is fingerless and cannot comb it herself.

Straw House Beneath the Sea

Stories live in the Straw House of Stories beneath the sea waiting to be told.

When the great chief decided to populate the first world, he created four carpenters of mud. These carpenters chiseled the first stories out of wood: animals, mountains, rivers, and trees, stars, moon, and rainbow. The four carpenters went out from the four corners of the Straw House and painted the bright colors of the world onto their carvings.

At the walls of Nusmatta hung animal cloaks and masks, all facing inwards. The great chief told the first stories to leave Nusmatta and to take one cloak with them as they left, which they did. The stories took canoes up from the sea, wrapping their cloaks around them, and the first world filled with stories. There were stories of mountains, and of rivers rushing to the sea, and stories of the sea as it cloaked the straw house, and stories of wolf and crow and weasel and mouse, and stories of our ancestors as well.

The masks remained behind and tell the stories of the stories to the great chief; and the masks remained behind and tell the great stories to those who bear the cloaks and who listen for words behind their own masks.

Vacant Empty

In the first world there was only the being called Vacant Empty, which had neither desire nor perception and was not. Vacant Empty was the first world, and the first world was Vacant Empty. The first world died when Vacant Empty split into Vacant and Empty. Within Empty grew the cotton-like tendrils of Pale White and around Pale White the endless body of Not Being grew inward from Vacant.

Pale White felt its existence and rebelled against Not Being and against the Emptiness of the second world,. Neither Pale White nor Not Being could prevail, and from their battles came the third world of Upheaval and Falling Downward.

Upheaval and Falling Downward spiraled together and came to rest on a ledge in the world of worlds, where they became Sky and Earth of the fifth world.

At first the only being was Vacant Empty, who split into two beings: Vacant and Empty. From these two came Pale White and Not Being, which became Upheaval and Falling Downward, which became Sky and Earth. Once they were Sky and Earth they became conscious of each other and no longer changed.

Within all hearts is still Pale White and above all reality remains Not Being, in whose twin futures the world sees the oblivion and emptiness to which it shall return.

Vine of the New World

The tribes have come through many worlds before reaching the present world of the sun. In the first emergence, the first man came to the surface of the first level. Finding himself in light and pitying those in darkness, he asked the Sun to help him bring his people into the light. The Sun created the twin war gods, who led the people up. It has been their duty to lead the people up whenever the story is ready to begin again.

In the last world, the twin war gods sent rabbit to tell the people that their world was drying up and that they needed to crawl through the tunnel to the new world. But the rabbit told its own kind first, and forgot about the tribes. First the rabbits disappeared, and then the beaver, then the deer, and then the trees and the grass. The old world became a dry, dusty place, and people shriveled until they were thin as leaves.

Finally, the twins came down to ask the tribes what was taking them so long. By now the tunnel to the new world had dried and crumbled. So the twins threw down seeds and spit on the seeds. A vine grew up from the desert and through the crust of the sky and into the new world.

“We shall climb this vine into the new world,” said the twins.

The younger twin climbed the vine first, and the people followed. After many men and women had climbed up, but while many men and women remained, a pregnant woman began climbing. The older twin told those who remained to let her climb alone, or the vine might break. But the people were in too much of a hurry to get to the new world. Too many people climbed onto the vine, and it broke.

The people and who went up first became the tribes. The people who were stuck in the underworld became the dead, who still scratch at the ceiling of the sky beneath us.

When Men Were Lizards

When people lived in the underground beneath the underground, the world was dark and wet, and there was very little space between earth and sky. The people crawled like water-lizards upon webbed feet and hands, and they had horns on their heads and tails to carry things with.

After the twin war gods led them through the holes to reach the underground world, the war gods told them, “from now on you shall walk on your feet, and your hands shall be for carving and for making things.” For in the underground there was an underground sun, and the sky was far above their heads. The twins went to each person of the tribe, cut off their tails and their horns, and slit their webbed hands and feet to give them fingers and toes.

A few of the people fought the change. Even after their webbed feet were turned into hands with fingers and feet with toes, they continued to crawl and were afraid of the sun. They stayed inside their huts or their caves and never went into the light. When they had children, they taught their children to crawl as well, and told them stories of the underground beneath the underground.

Their stories worked magic upon their offspring. Many of their children, on climbing a tree or crossing a river, would suddenly change back into lizards and crawl down the holes to the lower levels of the world. Many others, though they remained humans in shape and stature, still live in this world, alone in the caves at the world’s wall, and in the caves at the great sea and under the sea.

Kari

Hidden away in a great valley, the mysterious Kari live almost in another world.

The Kari have relatively few gods, and these gods are somewhat different from those of other pantheons. They take little part in the affairs of Coren, preferring to stay in Renton or wherever they live. The gods of the Kari do not have aspects. There is, for example, no god of fire or god of thunder. There is no god worshipped by fishermen, or by farmers. The gods of the Kari are viewed as humans with god-like powers. They have very few worshipers. The Kari, as mentioned in the section on culture, do not worship gods, except for very specific reasons.

There are even fewer prophets, of course, than worshipers. The function of prophets in Karian society is much different than in other societies. They do not try and convert others to worshipping their god, for the gods do not need or even wish worship. They do, however, like to have liaisons to the world of Coren, to help them when their machinations or desires happen to cross paths with Coren.

Exemplars are even rarer than prophets. Each deity will have no more than one exemplar, and most often have no exemplar at all. Exemplars are most likely to worship Nila, less likely, Dariveni, and most unlikely to worship anyone else.

In general, prophets worship deities for the prophet’s good, not the deity's. The prophet has a purpose which he or she believes the deity can help with, and the prophet is willing to give service to the deity in exchange for this aid. This service lasts forever. After prophets are guided to Corentin by Rina, their chosen god personally comes to get them, after a random period of time. They are brought to Renton, where they serve the deity forever. In Renton, they have lost the immortality granted them in Corentin.

The deities of the Kari are said to have been spewed forth from Firtrendrel, the Destroyer Mountains. Only one deity, Aladaken, daughter of clouds, is not supposed to have been born of this mountain.

The deities listed here are those who are most worshipped for crossing, or who most often have prophets in Coren, or who most often take part in world events. They make up a major portion of the total number of deities. The Kari have very few deities. There are also some demigods and heroes included.

Most Karian prophets do not have the power to turn undead. Only prophets and exemplars of Kariten and Nila may choose that specialty.

The Creation of the World

In the days before man the Telarch were upon Coren. These beings could assume any living shape they desired. The ruler of the Telarch, Narnia, was unto a god himself.

In the time of the Foren-Kari, the war of the gods, certain Telarch took the shape of man. When Narnia was killed in battle with Linariteni, the Lord of Disharmony, those Telarch not in Rentin, the home of the gods, were severed from the whole of the Telarch. What form they then had became theirs forever.

Those who were men were fortunate. Their form was not too large to be an easy target. Nor was their form too small, and easily defeated. Nor was it too ugly, to be feared, or too beautiful, to be hunted, or too weak, or too strong, too ordered, or too chaotic. Theirs was the form that survived the ages to become the Kari today. No other form descended from the Telarch has survived so well.

All living creatures are descendants of the Telarch.

Death and the Afterlife

Every creature has two lives. There is life in Coren, this world, and life in Corentin, the other world. Each world is composed of many levels. In Coren, there is Dreltri, the depths of fire. There is Dori-zan, the subterranean passages of the Earth. There is Iltri, the world of water, Dori-gola, the land beneath the mountains, and Sentari, the world of men. Above even this is Golatri, the world upon the mountains, Aladari, the realm of clouds, and beyond all is Sentri, the hold of the stars.

Every creature is placed upon Coren at some level. It is that creature's destiny to remain at that level for the creature's entire life on Coren. Only the greatest, strongest, and wisest may rise above their allotted level on Coren.

Coren is a wondrous place. It is a world of canyons and mountains, of lush flora and myriad fauna, of deserts of sand, water, and ice, of rivers of water, air, and fire. But for all its beauty, Coren is weak.

The weakness of Coren is selatarka, death. All on Coren die eventually. The newly dead, the riarl, are guided by Rina, the goddess who watches over the riarl, across Lendarn, the final desert, to one of the many levels of Corentin. Where a creature is guided to in Corentin is determined by the creature's actions in Coren. The greater the creature's actions in Coren, the higher it is placed in Corentin.

Once Rina leaves the creature in Corentin, that creature cannot be destroyed by any, not even the gods, on that level or lower. And Corentin is a wondrous place to be. It is all that Coren is and more.

Yet there are those who seek to cross the barriers on Corentin, to even higher levels. These souls give up their invulnerability for the continued trials of mortality. It is possible to gain much and to lose much. The legends tell that Nila and Tanen crossed together all the way to Rentin, to forever battle Vedaks the Wizard in his machinations towards all of Coren and Rentin.

It is for the attempt at crossing that gods are worshipped in Coren and Corentin. Those who do not plan to cross (the majority of creatures) have no need to worship gods. But no creature has ever crossed without the aid, however indirect, of at least one of the gods in Rentin. Death on a higher level than a creature was placed is permanent. Any who die in Corentin are dead. The endless death, Solatiarn, is forever. Only the bravest and most foolish attempt crossing, and only the wisest, slyest, or strongest succeed.

Sentar Den: The Code of the Peoples

The Sentar Den is the closest thing to a religious statement that the Karians have. This is the philosophy of the Kari stated as simply as possible.

Here, then, is the Sentar Den:

Toren ara sevina (“Fate is a many-branched tree”)

Implicit in this statement is the belief that the individual, the group, the nation, and the world can choose its own fate. Every moment has innumerable futures growing off of it, like branches from the trunk of a tree. An entity with intelligence and foresight can see some of these possibilities and choose their own future.

This statement probably also has connections with Vina Toren, the Tree of Fate, which is used by the Kari to measure the passage of time. For the Kari, time is truly slowing.

Vela sarlaten ara sarlaten (“Your honor belongs to you”)

Here, the word for ‘honor’ is also the word that refers to an entity’s life, and how that life is viewed by others. It refers to the person’s honor, to the way that person’s life has been lived, is being lived, and will be lived. The suffix for ‘belongs to’ encompasses the person’s life up to the present. This embodies the Karian belief that only an individual’s actions now can change that individual’s honor. By the double use of the word ‘sarlaten’--of you--emphasis is placed on the belief that only you can change your honor, for better or for worse. Only you can honor yourself, and only you can dishonor yourself.

Torveagh ara tea (“All are one”)

The ‘all’ in this statement means literally that--all. Every man, woman, and child, every plant, every rock, every star in the sky, is one with everything and everyone else. ‘One’ means one entity. ‘Ara’ means now, in the past, and forever. All those living, dead, and yet to be born are encompassed by this statement.

What an entity does to another entity is done to itself. What someone does to you is done to them. Everything that you do, everything that someone else does, affects you, and affects everybody else.

Wasteland: The 33 levels of Solatiarn

The legends of Renton-arn, the endless wasteland, are few and vague.

According to legend, during the Foren-Kari there were 33 levels of Corentin laid waste and cut off from the rest of Corentin. Vague myths still talk of the dead of that war roaming the wasteland, ruled by Narniavalatila, the dead incarnation of Narnia. In other myths, all who die in Corentin and Rentin find themselves somewhere on the 33 levels of Renton-arn, there to pass eternity amidst desolation.

Aladaken

Aladaken is unique among the gods and goddesses of the Kari not spewed forth by the Firtrendrel. She was created by the clouds of Coren, and welcomed the first gods into Coren and Renton. It was she who angered the Firtrendrel into expelling its divine burden.

When she appears on Coren, she appears as a pure white cloud, small or large. All clouds are her domain, and as a cloud she may not be harmed by any normal attacks. Aladaken is always accompanied by intelligent cloud servants. She may speak with any creature whose home is the air or clouds.

When she takes human form, she appears as a beautiful woman draped in clouds and a light blue robe. In this form her body shifts from mist to flesh and back, her robe from sky to cloth. In this form she is a warrior, wielding a magical scimitar.

Few can withstand the winds of Aladaken. In either form her winds can lift great weights and transport them for miles.

Worshipers of Aladaken, practically, do not exist. She is the least visible of the gods listed here, and there is really no reason to worship her. Prophets of Aladaken are incredibly rare. They generally have no special purpose. Unless Aladaken requires something done for her, these prophets can only gain first through fourth level spirits. The only time higher level spirits will be granted is when on a special mission for Aladaken.

Dariveni

Dariveni appears as a large Djinn. He can form himself into a gigantic whirlwind able to dwarf the tallest towers. He is known for his silence of movement, and can go undetected even by magical wards. Dariveni is often accompanied by Djinn, especially his advisor and friend Moren. Together they roam the planes seeking knowledge.

Dariveni’s magical knives return to him once thrown, and he can catch them with ease. He is also psychic, controlling telepathic and dimensional powers.

Worshipers of Dariveni tend to be thieves, monks, and bards. These worshipers prefer to avoid confrontation and rely rather on skill and stealth. Prophets of Dariveni seek to help the downtrodden and oppressed beneath the noses of their oppressor. They prefer not to fight, but are willing to do so. When they do, it will be on their terms and their terms only. The rare exemplars of the Kari occasionally worship Dariveni.

Gel Fedenn

Gel Fedenn was a leading member in the Sentar Sentasi who lost his powers in battle with a renegade order. He continued to teach for many years until Linariteni himself came to invade Coren. Gel Fedenn offered his service to Kariten in return for the ability to defeat Linariteni. Kariten returned Gel Fedenn’s psychic ability and gave him the Wand of Purity (Virannos). Gel Fedenn used this artifact to return Linariteni to Renton. Gel Fedenn now serves Kariten as a messenger and warrior.

Gel Fedenn leads a band of Monks from the Sentar Sentasi, and martial artists from the Sentar Telasi. He appears in simple leather armor wielding a crossbow. His sword, Disetti, is a powerful intelligent weapon which assists him in slaying evil. Disetti can cause any it hits to go temporarily insane. It also allows Gel Fedenn to fly, see invisible creatures, hidden or lost items, and secret doors, as well as understand any written language. He was a powerful psychic, with telepathic and corporeal powers.

Kariten

Kariten is the gardener. He takes care of all plants on Coren, in Corentin, and in Renton. He is aided in each place by Dryads, Pixies, and Sprites. The Dryads of Corentin and Renton are Ordered Good, and the Pixies and Sprites of Corentin and Renton are Chaotic Good. Kariten is always accompanied by hundreds of pixies and sprites.

Kariten may speak with all plants and animals, and all creatures of forests and gardens. His anger can cause any natural plants to wither and die. His favor can cause them to grow to immense sizes. He may command any normal plants, as well as any intelligent plants of a Good moral code.

Kariten appears as a monk wielding a staff. His staff can transform itself into any natural plant upon command.

Worshipers of Kariten are those who wish to expand nature or to be with nature as often as possible. Prophets of Kariten promote forest and plant life, opposing any attempts by civilization to push these back.

Linariteni

Linariteni exists for destruction. He can destroy any inanimate object within sight merely by willing its destruction. His magical mace destroys everything it touches ,whether he wants it to or not.

Linariteni sows discord and argument wherever he passes. Even the gods argue incessantly in his presence.

Worshipers of Linariteni are those who worship destruction and chaos. Prophets of Linariteni are those who seek to destroy, and to cause chaos upon Coren.

Narniavalatila

Narniavalatila has no shape of its own, and may take any form. Narniavalatila may transport itself physically or mentally to any place within Renton-Arn, the Wasteland. He is dead and must remain there forever. The wasteland is cloaked with despair, and all who enter will fall into despair.

Worshipers of Narniavalatila believe that everything ends in permanent death. Eventually all will die, and even those in Corentin will be tricked into dying. They have fallen into true despair. Prophets of Narniavalatila have no spirits. They seek to prepare themselves for the ultimate doom that must surely face them.

Nila

Nila was the first Monk of the Sentar Sentasi, trained by Tanen to develop her mind in the same way that martial artists develop the body. Together with Tanen she overthrew Vedaks the dictator.

Nila appears as a chain-mailed warrior with a bastard sword, a bandolier of daggers, and a longbow across her back. Her magical bastard sword is especially baneful to sorcerors and other magic using creatures. Nila carries a magical rope that is under her full control, and can range from twenty to a hundred yards long. Nila has control over the psychokinetic and corporeal psychic powers. She has a special rope of climbing. It is 60 feet long, but can enlarge itself to 300 feet.

Worshipers of Nila are those who protect others and need help desperately. Monks also occasionally worship her. She is probably the most worshipped by those attempting to cross. Prophets of Nila wish to protect others, often some subset of the Kari population. Exemplars of the Kari are most often worshipers of Nila.

Rina

Rina is the goddess who guides the dead to their rightful place in Corentin. Her nature is such that anything or anyone that has died cannot attack her. This would even include a god.

Rina’s gaze can cause blindness. Her walking staff is the artifact Rasaran, a magical staff that speaks and understands any language. Rasaran paralyzes anything Rina hits with it. If she waves it, it can either sleep many creatures or create a blinding sandstorm. If any other than Rina attempts to use the latter powers of Rasaran, they are permanently (but normally) blind. Other gods are usually unwilling to grant their prophets spirits of healing for the purpose of overcoming this blindness.

Worshipers of Rina are extremely rare, and there is no real reason why someone would worship her. Prophets of Rina are just as rare. Prophets of Rina are those who wish to kill, and those who wish to preserve life. This is not merely a predilection to kill or a general helping. The wish to kill is the Prophet’s one lone desire. The wish to preserve life is the Prophet’s one lone desire. All else is put aside in pursuit of this desire.

Tanen

Tanen was the rebel who, along with Nila, overthrew Vedaks. Tanen convinced Nila, then a warrior of the Sentar Rasi, to undertake the path of light and found the Sentar Sentasi. Tanen was then a leader in the Sentar Telasi. Tanen and Nila continue to work alongside each other.

Tanen appears as an unarmed man or as a man armed only with a small stick and a crossbow.

Worshipers of Tanen include those rebelling against tyranny, leaders of men, and teachers. Prophets of Tanen are often those leading fighting orders, or serving as tacticians for other leaders.

Vedaks

Vedaks appears as a dark-robed sorceror with an iron left hand and a wrought-iron staff in his right. He can understand any language, read any spell, and is permanently protected from Good. An invisible servant accompanies him wherever he travels.

Vedaks’s left hand is the Left Hand of Iron. This replaced his fleshly left hand, which he lost in battle with the demigoddess Nila. An attack by the hand causes a stunning shock to his opponents. Vedaks’s daggers rarely miss, and always return once thrown. His crystal ball can view any place in Coren and all normal planes.

Vedaks’s staff lets him cast many spells at the same time, and his magical wand of lightning shoots devastating bolts of lightning. As a god of magic, he has access to many magic items to assist him and his followers.

Worshipers of Vedaks are those who want to be dictators. Prophets of Vedaks work to put these worshipers into power, or work to gain power themselves.

Polynesia

While the cultures of Hawaii, New Zealand, Easter Island, and the other Polynesian islands between span a geographic space of 4,000 miles, there are many similarities in their mythologies.

The priests of the Maori are called “Tohunga”; their methods of calling forth spirits “karakia”, and the tales of their history and religion, “korero”.

The head is the source of many taboos; in some Polynesian cultures no person could step over the head of another. Cutting hair might require special amends or ritual cleansing. Even passing a hand over the head of a king could result in execution.

Rituals are extremely important. Burial rituals placate the “hostile dead”, which include even those who were loved when alive. Maui was condemned to eventually die for his father’s failure to correctly observe a benediction ritual.

Tiki, images of the gods, are kept for worship and protection (the same thing, often), and made of stone or wood.

The world began when the formless space Atea divided into male and female (some say Tangaroa caused the division): heaven and earth. Rangi (heaven) and Papa (earth) became the parents of all the gods. They stayed together after bearing their children, who had to tear the two elder gods apart to make room for themselves and for humans. The lands that the Maori live on were once one land, but were broken into pieces during this primeval war. Waters filled the spaces between when the god Tawaki, enraged by human evil, broke heaven’s crystal by stomping on it, and the waters of the upper world poured down to the earth.

Night is the time of the gods, day is the time of man.

Hine-Nui-Te-Po

Hine was created by Tane out of sand and clay, and then taken by him as wife. When Hine learned that her husband was also her father, she fled in shame to the underworld and became the ruler there, where she acts to entice the living to her kingdom. Only after Hine fled to the underworld did death enter the world.

Hine has two faces, in the front and in the back. She is also considered the person in the moon: when the moon is bright, you can see the bark-cloth (tapa) which she makes while on the moon. As the watcher on the moon, Hine is the patroness of travelers, following them to assure their safety.

Hine protects the dead from Whiro.

Hine’s hair is like seaweed, her eyes red fire, her mouth like a barracuda’s with sharp teeth, and a human body.

Maui

Maui is the Polynesian trickster god and culture hero. He acquired the secret of fire from Mahuika, the mud-hen at the far edge of the seas who guarded it (and who was also his ancestress). He tried to steal the secret of immortality for mankind as well, by sneaking up the death goddess’s vagina. A bird laughed at the sight and gave him away. (In some stories, he was then crushed between the goddess’s thighs, and some others say that even so, he can return to life after death because he is part man, part god.)

Some credit him with drawing land from the sea while fishing; his brothers cut the land up as they would cut up fish, leaving the islands behind. Some also credit him with lifting the sky to give men more room to walk around--before this, everyone had to crawl.

In the beginning of time, the days were too short; his mother didn’t have enough time to get her work done, so Maui lassoed the sun with a rope of coconut and slowed it down, lengthening the day.

He invented the fish trap and the cat’s cradle. He created the domestic dog when his brother-in-law Irawaru refused to share the day’s fishing catch: Maui changed his brother-in-law into a dog to punish him for his selfishness.

His wife is Hina, originally the wife of the “monster eel” Te Tuna. Hina fled Te Tuna in search of a new lover. Nobody dared take her and face Te Tuna’s wrath until Maui’s mother sent Maui. In a great storm that covered the world, Maui confronted Te Tuna and with his enormous phallus clubbed down the eel god’s cronies and defeated him. Hina (who is also his sister) bore Maui four sons, all fishermen.

He also uses the magical jaw-bone of Muri-Ranga, his divine ancestress, in battle. Some say that rather than the coconut rope, he used the jaw-bone to club the sun into submission so that it moved more slowly across the sky. Maui starved his grandmother to obtain her jawbone.

Maui was born of a human mother, and he was born early, half dead, whereupon his mother threw him into the ocean thinking him a miscarriage. The baby was saved by the Sun, his true father, who kept him to adolescence, whereupon he returned to earth, sought out his mother, and lived with his human family. His father, enjoying Maui’s many adventures on earth, attempted to give his son a divine blessing but committed a ritual error. Because of this, Maui is destined to death through the betrayal of the gods.

Maui eats his food raw.

Rangi