Other Gods

This page discusses the gods of the Arêndron religion other than the six Artûlan.

Raimut

Raimut [ˈɾaɪmʊt] is the chief enemy of the gods, although he was originally one of them himself. In power he is intermediate between the Artûlan and the lesser gods, and is sometimes called the Seventh God, or the God of the Sea.

Raimut was created together with the later Artûlan; he is the result of the overflow of the energy that Glaud put into creating the world. At first he lived in the world with the other gods, but his malice was revealed when he attempted to rape Sheubâr. Thantor rescued Sheubâr after an epic struggle with Raimut, and Glaud decreed that Raimut must be banished. Sheubâr and Thantor eventually drove him into the sea, which has been his home ever since. For the most part he remains deep underwater plotting his malice against the world; such phenomena as tidal waves are often associated by the superstitious with his attempts to get back onto the land, but Sheubâr and Thantor always manage to hold him at bay.

Some say that when Raimut first lived with the gods, he was seen in his true form, human in appearance, tall and grey-haired with deep blue eyes. Now that he is banished and obeys his own laws, he is able to take on any appearance he wishes; he is sometimes seen as an old shipwrecked sailor, hoping to trick seafarers into rescuing him and so lure them to their doom. He also appears as a huge and terrifying monster, something like a gigantic octopus with a humanoid face and hundreds of tentacles. These he uses to snatch sailors from ships; he has the power to keep men alive underwater (though not for longer than a normal human lifespan), and he likes to capture humans to be his slaves.

Raimut has many children, some by his human slaves and some by sea-monsters. Most of these live with him and aid him in his struggles against the gods; some manage to get onto the land, where they cause mischief until the gods find them out and throw them back into the sea. Raimut's eldest son, Vathlar, was one of those who stayed, but he was killed in combat with Thantor; a certain rock structure in the Great Inland Sea is said to be his remains.

Raimut is associated with the colour rûl or dark blue and the number seven. As he is not counted among the Artûlan, he does not have an associated element or day of the week.

Nalêka and Six

Nalêka [naˈɫɛɪkə] is Raimut's youngest daughter, by a human mother whose identity has not been recorded. As a child, she was often bullied by her older sisters, and took to hiding out in caves by the shore. From there, she once saw Thantor doing battle with her father, and fell in love with him, because he was tall and strong. Eventually, in desperation she forced herself upon him one night, hoping that if she bore his child, he would at least be forced to notice her. The actual result was that Raimut, furious that she should associate herself with his enemies, banished her from his underwater domain; the gods took pity on her and allowed her to live permanently on the land, although she still prefers to drift gloomily along the beaches. It is said that if you ever hear an echo in a seaside cave, you are listening to Nalêka's mournful song.

Six [sɪts] – be careful not to pronounce it like the number six! – is Nalêka's son by Thantor; he accompanies his mother on her wanderings, and is counted as one of the minor gods or Tulein.

Although her heart is benevolent, Nalêka, being only half-divine, has no power to affect human destiny. She is called the Bringer of Misery, because although she does not intend it, sorrow and tears follow her wherever she goes. Six, by contrast, inherits his father's divine nature, and is called the Bringer of Luck; he looks after those who suffer small upsets – a quarrel or being bullied, being hurt by a friend, or losing or breaking a treasure – things too trivial to be the concern of the other gods. He always follows after his mother, and men do not dare make charms to ward her off, for fear of offending him; a proverb says that one cannot have Six in one's house without inviting Nalêka first.

Nalêka is pictured as a young girl, humanoid in shape, but with bluish-grey skin, bloodshot eyes, and deep maroon red hair; she might at one time have been pretty, but her features have been distorted by too much crying and scowling. Like her father, she has the power to assume a different appearance, but she never uses it, except to make herself invisible when she wants to hide from men. Six is depicted as a small child, with dark skin and dark brown hair.

Onair and Kêsha

Onair [ɔˈnaɪɾ] and Kêsha [ˈkɛɪʑə] are the children of Amma and Loreish. Onair, the elder, is called the Bringer of Snow and Frost. He has a fierce temper when roused, and is a dangerous god to anger, but he is in general good-natured, and his especial delight is to make children happy. His sister Kêsha is the Goddess of the Rainbow; she is always joyful and smiling, but also very playful, and likes to shine briefly on people's lives and then vanish again into the clouds.

The Three Sisters

The Three Sisters, whose names are Nêral [ˈnɛɪɾaɫ], Lasta [ˈɫastə] and Keitra [ˈkiːtɾə], are three of Kailya's daughters by mortal lovers. Kailya is said to have had many children, most of whom (unlike Glaud's children) were granted longer than usual lifespans but died like normal mortals. These three, however, were killed in childhood (Nêral was nearly of age, the other two younger) when the temple at Tœnor was burnt down in an incursion by Grekôran barbarians, and Kailya in her grief could not bear to take them so soon to her House beyond the Night, but pleaded with Glaud to return them to life so that they could keep her company in the darkness. They are said to have become the three stars known in our world as Orion's belt.

Nêral is sometimes called the goddess of peace, while Lasta and Keitra are the goddesses of friendship and secrets. When a person has a secret that he wants no-one to know about, he will go out at night and whisper it to the Sisters, and they will help him to keep it safe.

Aryen and Urasta

Aryen [ˈaɾjən] and Urasta [ʊˈɾastə] were originally Vardiscêan gods that became accepted into the Arêndron pantheon. Over time the accepted version became that Aryen was a son of Glaud sent by him to Alven, the mythical homeland of the Vardiscêan people, to bring them to Atragam. The origin of Urasta and the other Vardiscêan gods is less certain; some say that Glaud and Kailya only created Atragam and other gods may have created Alven, while other accounts make Urasta Kailya's daughter by a Vardiscêan lover.

Aryen is called the God of Justice and is often represented as a stern figure sitting in judgement; his wife Urasta, who is depicted as an old woman, is the goddess of prophecy. (Both have these roles even outside Vardeu, but as they are special patrons of that region, it is there that they are most venerated.) Aryen's sacred animal is the falcon, and Urasta's is the snake.

Akhun [ˈaxʊn] and Kâla [ˈkɛːɫə] are Aryen and Urasta's daughters. They are unlike each other in every way; Akhun is the goddess of war, Kâla of love and beauty. They are the most popular of the Vardiscêan gods, and have shrines dedicated to them across all the Arêndron lands. Akhun is depicted as a red-haired girl wielding a sabre; Kâla as a brunette with flowers in her hair. Both are wives of the god Oier [ˈɔɪɛɾ]; in spite of their differences in temperament all three get on and are happy together, but the two girls do start to get on each other's nerves when they are both at home for too long.

There are two more old Vardiscêan gods, Maada [ˈmaːdə] and her husband Xeuzos [ˈʦəʊzos], but neither ever became popular outside Vardeu, and even there both are now little remembered. Maada is associated with fruits and the harvest – the more traditional families never accepted the Arêndron association of the harvest with Thantor. Xeuzos is associated with metals and mining.

Eltar

Eltar [ˈɛɫtaɾ] was a legendary hero of Urŋundra who, according to the legend, saved the kingdom several times from invasion and was deified after his death by the especial request of Sheubâr. He is thought of as a god of war and strength, and especially of archery.

Okrat and Imorca

Okrat [ˈɔkɾat] and Imorca [ɪˈmɔɾcə] were the chief deities of two nations conquered by the Arêndron Empire, the Vœkânhans and Grekôrans respectively. With admirable economy, the Arêndron theologians married the two to each other, and gave them a son, Zaar, taken from a small tribe that bordered Vœkânhan territory. As well as their roles as the special patron deities of those regions, Okrat is associated with wine, Imorca with cunning and trickery. (They may have had more diverse functions in their original pantheons, but these have now been forgotten.) Zaar is sometimes called the god of gold, a metal found in the area but very rare in Argundra.

Okrat is depicted as a merry, fat man, holding a magical goblet that refills itself as soon as it is drunk; while Imorca is represented as a small, slender, black-haired woman with a rather sallow face. She is not beautiful in the classical sense, but in the hands of a skilled artist, her quick eyes and thoughtful smile can be made to look very alluring.

The planets

The five planets are also considered to be minor gods; their names are Endûra, Mœlamar, Fâmik, Vednê and Peiranet. The first four are female, the last male. They are five of Glaud's children, given by him as servants to Kailya in an attempt at reconciliation.