Religion of the Kothringi Tribesmen

Post » Mon May 07, 2012 5:59 pm

The following are excerpts from the Kothringi shaman Ranthar Zarnak's tome "On Kothringi Culture", detailing the native religious beliefs of the Kothri. Although the majority of Kothringi worshipped the Eight Divines, the Kothringi religion was given plenty of focus. This is because of how the Knahaten Flu destroyed the native culture, as the only survivors were a few imperialized Kothri who knew little about the Kothri religion. Ranthar believed that he was the only living believer in the religion, and thus wrote much about it. In later years this focus would be misinterpreted and people thought all Kothringi believed this, not knowing that the author simply was trying to educate the masses in mythology that would otherwise die with him instead of minor local variations on the same religious beliefs as the rest of Tamriel.

Our Creation Myth

Once, there was only two people. Black-Father and White-Mother. They were lovers and enemies both. They had a child together, Erbus, which was a great empty field. But then the parents killed each other, and from their bodies arose gods. The ones from the body of Black-Father shall be discussed in a different tale. One day, the youngest child of White-Mother, Sorkan, approached the eldest son, Akatus, with an idea. They were to create for themselves a great house, in the center of Erbus. Akatus thought this was a wonderful idea and his brothers and sisters started work on the house. All was well.

However, Magnar, the god who planned the house based on Sorkan's suggestions, grew suspicious. The gods were vanishing mysteriously, and he was afraid he would be next. Magnar ran away as fast as he could with his children, and they hid in the corpse of the White-Mother. After a while the only Gods born from the White Mother left were Akatas and Sorkan. Sorkan explained that the gods were not meant to be in the house, but to make the house. He turned their bodies into the objects that the house was made of. Sorkan tried to turn Akatas into wood, but Akatas tore out Sorkan's heart. Dying, Sorkan asked Akatas to finish his creation. Honouring his wish, Akatas turned the heart of Sorkan into a fireplace, before turning into the door of the house.

The only spirits left were the children of Sorkan and Akatas, who were spared as they were too small to become part of the house. Magnar escaped the house, and thus there was a window in place of the wall that he was going to form. The house became the world, the children became Men and Elves respectively, and the window became the Sun. One can see the blue house walls at day, which is the sky. At night, one can only see blackness, except for the small cracks in the walls Magnar was going to fill before he ran away, which are the stars, and the shining moons, which are the remains of Sorkan, as only his heart became part of the house. The Dark Gods, which are the ones who didn't help make the house, built their own houses from the corpse of the Black-Father. None were as extravagant as the House of Sorkan, and that is why they always want to live in it, though Akatus' Lock prevents them and their children from coming in without permission.

Our Gods

  • Varnok-Nameph: Black-Father's eldest daughter. Goddess of darkness.
  • Hermore: Magnar wrote down all the ideas he was suggested, and threw away the paper with ones that couldn't be done. From the paper Hermore was born. He is the god of knowledge.
  • The Maroon Dragon: He was the eldest son of Akatus, and used to live in the house until he was forced out by heroes. God of destruction.
  • Amuria: Daughter of the Black-Father. Goddess of light and dawn.
  • Trin-Cath: Second oldest son of Akatus. He was the most powerful spirit left in the house, but Botha told lies about him (back before everyone knew he was a liar), shaming him to the point of him leaving the house. He became the Dark God of those who are persecuted.
  • Botha: Son/Daughter of the Black-Father. God of lies. Nobody knows his/her gender, as he/she claims to be male or female to different people.
  • Clavil: Son of the Black-Father. God of wishes. Wise men always use proper wording when asking him for a wish.
  • Ursine: Son of the Black-Father. God of hunting and bad animals.
  • Shegra: Unknown origin. God of imagination, and confusing it with reality.
  • Molaba: Son of the Black-Father. God of torment and evil.
  • Pyrite: Son of the Black-Father. God of organisation.
  • Sangir: Son of the Black-Father. God of pleasure.
  • Akatus: Eldest Son of the White-Mother. Supreme god of gateways, both metaphorical and literal.
  • Sorkan: Youngest Son of the White-Mother.Trickster/Creator god of fire.
  • Magnar: Son of the White-Mother. God of the sun, windows, magic and sight.
  • Zender: Son of the White-Mother. God of justice and storerooms.
  • Zeni: Son of the White-Mother. God of work, food and kitchens.
  • Dimara: Daughter of the White-Mother. Goddess of love (both platonic and romantic), rest, and bedrooms.
  • Arka: Son of the White-Mother. God of life, death, birth and hallways.
  • Jalus: Son of the White-Mother. God of memory, history and libraries.
  • Kinra: Daughter of the White-Mother. Goddess of nature, animals, wind and stairways.
  • Erbus: Daughter of the White-Mother and Black-Father. Goddess who is the Divine Realm.
Thought that I would try my hand at this Monkey-Truth business. Probably full of errors, but I don't have the effort to correct them.
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