Aloes in Afrikaans

I had an accidental name idea. I was using iNaturalist to help identify a friend's potted plant--which it thought may be a Lace Aloe--when I scrolled down under taxonomy to the Names section and saw that one of the names for the plant in Afrikaans was Baardaalwyn. That kind of felt like it went in with the other host of God and Archon names I've compiled so far, so I threw it down on dot paper and started playing with the construction. After scratching out a few variations, I decided, for now, Bardinwal will do, and while I was excited to throw it into the mix of religious icons, the little voice in my head threw an article in front of it and decided calling something "the Bardinwal" would sounds a bit cooler. This got me thinking... it would be a good replacement for either Buordo or Burcumsy in Malidine. I'm leaning on Burcumsy, as then "the Bardinwal" could refer to the high place south of the Folstroms that the city sits upon.

I've been trying to edit Rethwara's name into sounding less taken from Hindu terminology. It wasn't meant to be, but I think my subconscious voice may have unintentionally drew inspiration too directly from it. Being already a god with the suffix -war, I thought I'd drop the -a in similar style and altered it to Othwar for the time being. Still, I'm not yet satisfied and it'll go under the knife again. Laakin-Taakin will definitely get played with again, too. I hate it.

I've slightly updated the Archon of bones from Visko (based on a childhood character Viscombris) to Voskos, sounding more Jhordo-Sasni. 

I really want to look back through more childhood characters and locations and see what can't be upcycled. 

I'm trying to fix my laptop at the moment, which is where I've been doing most of my writing and all of my drawing. I'm recovering from surgery, though, so I haven't felt like giving it my all. When I get it going again, I want to settle back into art and get used to Photoshop again, since it came free for three months with the laptop and I'll end up paying for the subscription soon, to my own chagrin. I want to dig out my childhood sketchbooks and redraw the silly old doodles in them for shirts and grackles. 

Oops, Talking About Childhood Again

Four Archons got baby names over the last hour using a list of interesting syllables and a list of used syllables and patterns in the religion already. Wind has been named Rethwara, Force/Speed has been named Zulstaad, Fresh Water has been named Phreist, and Duality/Opposites has been named Laakin-Taakin.

That last one stands to be respelled the most. The brainstorm list went like this:

Lakhusak -> Lakindol -> Lakindolus -> Lakhindakh -> Lakindak -> Lakhinda -> Lakhindo -> Lakin-Dakin

I've decided I do like the notion of an evenly spelled, hyphenated name for the architect of extremes. There is a set of Mongolian names that have fascinated me for over a decade, Enebish and Terbish. From the current wikipedia article on Mongolian Names, under the category Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period: 

"A distinctive type of Mongolian name that flourished in this period and is still common in the countryside is the avoidance name, designed to avert misfortune from the child: Nergüi “No Name”, Enebish “Not This”, Terbish "Not That"."

If I recall from somewhere else I'd read (over a decade ago now, so I may be mistaken) the names were "Not this one" and "Not that one" to keep bad spirits from harming or taking the vulnerable children. 

Anyway, it helped drum up the idea for Laakin-Taakin, at least in Jhordo-Sasni language sets, to mean "Near one-Far one." 

Phreist is going to share Its name with a major river in the world. Right now, the thought is either the river formed from all of the smaller rivers of the High Plains that merge and run down the Veltimakos Valley into an unnamed inland sea, or the one that ran from the Folsts (formerly out of an underground kingdom) and cut through Malidine, the one Burcumsy (still pending rename) is designed around. "The Phreist" will carry a similar weight to "The Ivid" either way.

Zulstaad sounds a lot like an old character I'd had in my childhood, a somewhat evil black dragon named Volstaad that had probably been based on the dragon with the dagger in its chest from Tomb Raider II (which is a really weird sentence, come to think, and I had to double check via google that I was remembering the cinematic from the right game) combined with the dragon in the chasm at the end of R.A. Salvatore's second book, Streams of Silver, which I think was named Shimmergloom? Dang, he was. I haven't read that book since sixth grade. Anyway, he was a very dragonly dragon of dragonly darkness that could talk and was kind of an important pet to the cast of baddies. I guess what I'm getting at is that he was a childhood relic that wasn't on the table for reuse at all, but I like that the suffix of his name got to resurface when I needed inspiration the most. Maybe Viscombris, the Possessed-Bone-Golem-Wearing-Armor general that commanded Volstaad, will make an appearance. I do need a name for the Archon of Bone. He certainly won't be the same character if he does.

[Edit: About ten minutes after hitting the Publish button, I've decided a perfect alpha name for bone archon will be Visco.]

Anyway. These names are in alpha. The whole world is in alpha. 

I've been playing a lot of Guild 3 at the moment. I've never played any of them, but a bundle of all the past iterations just went on sale, so I grabbed them, too. It's a weird game for me to be playing. It's like Sims Medieval had the fun parts sucked out of it and replaced with a business and economics simulator, and then had a little Fable humor dusted on it here and there. Business and economics have never been of interest to me, but after playing it a few times, it's got me begrudgingly hooked and I keep going back to it like the achievement whore I am. 

It's had me thinking about family dynamics in the old world, though, and how different family dynamics are across cultures even today. Marrying people in and out of families in the game reminded me a lot about the blog post I'd written years ago about the Atavan Caste System. I'd like to revisit that and see if anything needs improvement. I'm only just scratching the surface of Erihan's potential. That culture has gone through several major overhauls, and I've barely started on the current version, but it is a very family centered culture on top of being more matriarchal. The Jhordo-Sasni are also matriarchal but are less interested in family and more concerned with trades and ability. They've been in a fog of mystery for a good while. It's good to have something to look forward to working on, though.

Soiled It

 Yeah, I already changed something and need to re-share the graphic. Tap to enlarge.

I swapped Concept to Law while I had the chance. The Archons had a redundant section cut out and are left with Name - Title (if applicable) and Domains. The major change is that Aowar's children are no longer Fauna, Flora, and Fungi, but Flesh, Blood, and Bone (which is a reversion to an earlier idea, but expanded upon.)

By Flesh, I don't mean only skin. Jarn, formerly Fauna, will preside over Flesh, Muscles, Strength, Organs, Leaves, Bark, Fruits, Produce, Fungi, a.o. If it's biomass that isn't hard or fluid, it's Jarn's domain. Speaking of, Blood isn't only that, but reigns over blood, saliva, taste, mucus, phlegm, excretion, semen, amniotic fluid, pus, sap, juices, a.o. 

You may point out, "There's already an Archon for saliva. You called It odd and brought up the Roman god of mildew." Yeah, well, Aowar won custody of that one and gave It more things to rule over. Ividnon's children are now Oceans & Seas (Shamaal), Ice, and Freshwaters (Rivers, Lakes, Springs, Ponds, Bayous, Swamps, you name it.)

Anyways, Bone is, of course, not only Bone, but also wood, teeth, shells, exoskeletons, fossils, horns and antlers, beaks, any part of an animal that's considered hard and be left over after the body decays (or take much longer than the rest, in case of woods.)

Oh, Birth got a name. I found an old document with names I wanted to use, and the only really good one was Enandurai. It fit a few of them, I thought, but we went with Birth. That's one less name to come up with. Probably just over twenty to go, still, along with around thirty titles to give out to make them sound holier than thou. (Although, there isn't much joy to be had from being called the Eulogist.)

Visual Layout of the God System

 I know, I said I was tired of thinking about the Gods and Archons and such. I wanted to share two mind maps I've put together to show what the hierarchy and categories actually look like compared to Thrum. First is a simplified form.

This simplified view replaces the names of holy entities with what they represent. Prima Materia represents Thrum, the core perfect state of the universe. Each entry outward is an emanation. The first emanation split Thrum into (in this order) Law, Energy, Matter, and Life, which I had written in as Mortality here. The second emanation split those concepts into three lesser and more specialized domains, and these are where the Gods are born. Things break down in the same order, where Law became Time, Order, and Entropy before Energy became Light, Motion, and Sound. The third emanation further defined these concepts into three more smaller pieces, such as Body becoming Fauna, Flora, and Fungi. These children are the Archons. Now, for a copy with names included and a better description of what they represent.

Hopefully it'll allow for zooming in once this entry is published, because the preview isn't.

Everything isn't in a chronological order (order of creation or calendar order) on this mind map, but everything is in the right category. Spaces with ??? are beings that still need names (I've only expanded the archons from twelve to thirty-six over maybe the last two weeks?) Some words are a little different on this one, too. (I've noticed I've called it Concept instead of Law here. It's the same thing, but I prefer Law now.)

Spring and Winter are represented while Summer and Autumn are not. Those are more symbolic associations anyway, as Cern presides over the motion of the seasons. Saliva is probably one of the more odd entries on this list, but if it seems too odd, remember that Romans had a god for mildew.  I've been toying with the idea of putting Shaegon over Arcana, too.

Someday, I'll draw this out with a cleaner transparent background and actual graphics. These are cropped screenshots from FreeMind.

The First Working Calendar

It's been unpalatable chaos at work and I haven't been able to work on much aside from scribbling about on my lunch break in a dot grid notebook I bought up just before tax free weekend obliterated the school and office supplies. Tomorrow starts my weekend and it seems my muse chose this evening to work miracles. I just sat down and almost effortlessly compiled the world's first working calendar. It isn't complete with moon phases and holidays, and none of the months are named, sure... but it has solid framework and I'm going to copy-paste it from my unpublished site here to (hopefully) make sure nothing happens to it.

Here's the paste:

Birth and the Archonical Year

There are twelve months and five to six unaffiliated days within each calendar year. Each month contains thirty days, which are further divided into three sets of ten days. Each of these ten day segments is a week and is devoted to a different Archon. Being born within that week determines which Archon the mortal's soul must learn from the most to be properly purified. On Earth, these years would begin on March 21st.

In Calendar Order:

1. Month One

1. The Archon of Birth [Time, Law]

2. The Archon of the Sun [Harskael, Light, Energy]

3. The Archon of Minerals [Urwal, Earth, Matter]

2. Month Two

1. The Archon of Flora [Body, Life]

2. The Archon of Duality [Balance, Law]

3. The Archon of Force [Motion, Energy]

3. Month Three

1. The Archon of Water [Shamaal, Water, Matter]

2. The Archon of Perception [Rubalkai, Thought, Life]

3. The Archon of Chaos [Entropy, Law]

4. Month Four

1. The Archon of Rhythm [Sound, Energy]

2. The Archon of Weather [Bismodus, Air, Matter]

3. The Archon of Instinct [Emotion, Life]

5. Month Five

1. The Archon of Direction [Time, Law]

2. The Archon of Color [Light, Energy]

3. The Archon of Soil [Earth, Matter]

6. Month Six

1. The Archon of Fungi [Body, Life]

2. The Archon of Multitude [Parkareth, Balance, Law]

3. The Archon of Gravity [Motion, Energy]

7. Month Seven

1. The Archon of Taste [Water, Matter]

2. The Archon of Knowledge [Groth, Thought, Life]

3. The Archon of Paradox [Entropy, Law]

8. Month Eight

1. The Archon of Voice [Adinathi, Sound, Energy]

2. The Archon of Wind [Air, Matter]

3. The Archon of Empathy [Emotion, Life]

9. Month Nine

1. The Archon of Ending [Eril, Time, Law]

2. The Archon of The Moon [Light, Energy]

3. The Archon of Metals [Earth, Matter]

10. Month Ten

1. The Archon of Fauna [Jarn, Body, Life]

2. The Archon of Fates [Balance, Law]

3. The Archon of Cycles [Cern, Energy, Motion]

11. Month Eleven

1. The Archon of Ice [Water, Matter]

2. The Archon of Creativity [Thought, Life]

3. The Archon of Arcana [Entropy, Law]

12. Month Twelve

1. The Archon of Vibration [Sound, Energy]

2. The Archon of Breath [Air, Matter]

3. The Archon of Intuition [Eudis, Emotion, Life]

Those born in the last five to six days (six in a leap year) are said to be souls that are quite young or unrefined and are said to be looked after by all Archons.

They Multiply Like Rabbits

 I did it again. I recently updated religion to have twenty-four Archons instead of twelve. 

We're at thirty-six, now.

Every God will have three children, or chosen Archons, who will help to build the world at their command in the creation story. Afterward, they will exist among races of mortalkind with avatars and represent their chief deity.

Jeohan, the Light God, has a child for the moon, the sun, and color. Harskael is Archon of sun and fire.

Kurdah, the Earth God, presently has a child for stone, metal, and jewel. Urwal is the Archon of stones and non-gem minerals.

Jhordone, the Air God, presently has a child for weather and scents. A third slot is under development. Bismodus is the Archon of all forms of weather.

Ividnon, the Water God, presently has a child for water, ice, and taste, as taste is seen as being paired with saliva. Shamaal is Archon of water.

Ta'al, the God of Sound, has a child for rhythm, voice, and vibration. Adinathi is the Archon of language and speech.

Aowar, the God of Body, has a child for fauna, flora, and fungi. Jarn is the Archon of fauna and is responsible for all variety of non-civilized animals.

Ordea, the God of Motion, has a child for speed and rest. A third slot is under development. Rest is associated with gravity. 

Probihan, the God of Instinct, has a child for emotion, intuition, and morality. Morality may be too similar to intuition. Eudis is the Archon of intuition.

Belgor, the God of Time, has a child for beginnings, ends, and the eternal. Eril is the Archon of ends and governs death and finality. Cern is the Archon of the eternal and governs the unending cycles such as seasons and the motions of the stars.

Akra, the God of Mind, has a child for perception, memory, and dreams. Dreams may replace morality under Probihan. Rubalkai, the Wandering Eye, is the Archon of perception and is every watchful of mortalkind, said to enforce the Gods' will with mortal death and punishment upon the soul. Groth is the Archon of memory and gifted mortalkind with written languages with which to catalogue history.

Balki, the God of Entropy, has a child for chaos, paradox, and arcana. These terms are in a state of flux at the moment.

Gorojin, the God of Balance, has a child for duality, harmony, and fortune. Parkareth is the Archon of duality and governs not only extremes, but the spectrums and varieties between them.

Of note, I've moved Rubalkai from Balki's custody to Akra's. 

I'm going to have a lot of naming and decision making to do.

Other notes:

Archons are worshiped as heavily as the Gods themselves. They are often worshiped in trinities by certain professions, such as Flora, Harskael, and Bismodus for luck in farming. Always present is a smaller idol to Fortune.

I'm not sure which Archon will be associated with the tide. Classical cultures are smart enough to understand the tide is tied to the moon somehow, and the moon is a child of Jeohan. Tides are a predictable perennial system, however, which is Cern's domain. And of course, Shamaal oversees the oceans. It could be an association with this trinity.

The painted forest of Atavai is locally known to be the product of Flora and Color's marriage celebration. 

Fungi is now its own child. I've decided not to leave it to the philosophers, after all.

Rest is associated with stillness and gravity is said to be Rest beckoning all things to come to a stop.

Birth defects and freakishly bizarre events are attributed to Chaos, Balki's child, but illnesses are Eril's domain.

Ordea is proving to be the most difficult to wrap my head around dividing into three. Jhordone isn't much easier.

Emanation Consolidation

Quick Overview of Changes

It's been awhile. I'm overhauling the Gods and Archons again. I had been thinking about it for a bit, but I uncovered a note where I had not only added a God, but named them as well, so I must have been on this path for awhile. Sadly, I doubt I'll be able to find any other notes on it. Here's a breakdown of the changes.

•  No lesser and greater Gods this time, and the months will be named according to the twelve Gods, not the Archons. 
• Only Archons will have avatars with which to speak with mortalkind, as mortals cannot handle the presence of the Gods themselves. 
• Archons themselves will be upped from twelve to twenty-four to make them more numerous and feel truly lesser or like "children" of their master God.
• Archons will have a much stronger influence over mortalkind in the third era. Previously, they had a stand back and watch approach. After the second era collapse, they'll more strongly govern civilization to keep it from happening again.

God Heirarchy

Thrum, the Prima Materia

The four faces/hands of Thrum - Matter, Energy, Law, and Life

The twelve Gods - Earth, Water, and Air for Matter, Light, Motion, and Sound for Energy, Direction, Balance, and Paradox for Law, and Body, Mind, and Emotion for Mortality.

The twenty-four Archons 

• Named:  Harskael* for Fire, Urwal for Minerals, Bismodus for Weather, Sharmiil* for Fluids, Adinathi for Voice, Groth for Thought, Eril for Death, Rubalkai for Arcana, Jarn for Fauna, Cern for Perception, Parkareth for Harmony, and Eudis for Intuition.
• Unnamed: Metals, Ice, Music, Chaos, Flora, Emotion, Scents, [light], [motion], [motion], Birth, 

The Emanations (Basic Form)

All things existed at once as one incomprehensible entity by the name of Thrum. This state of existence shattered, called a gift by some and a tragedy by others, creating the first emanation of Thrum. This pulse split Thrum into four primordial entities, sometimes called the Hands or Faces of Thrum: Matter, Energy, Law, and Life. This emanation spread to the boundaries of inconceivable existence.

The emanation echoed back and Thrum gave out the second emanation, further dividing existence into understandable parts. Each Face or Hand begat three Gods. Matter became the Earth, the Water, and the Air, giving birth to Kurdah, Ividnon, and Jhordone, respectively. Energy became Light, Motion, and Sound, birthing Jeohan, Ordea, and Ta'al. Law became Time, Balance, and Paradox, birthing Belgor, Gorojen, and Balki. Life became the Body, the Mind, and the Pathos, birthing Arkvunda*, Akra, and Probihan.

As the pulse made its way across existence, before it echoed back to Thrum, these Gods fought for dominance. There are places in the world said to be remnants of this fighting, such as canyons believed to be where Jeohan struck at Kurdah and missed, gashing the Earth instead. This volatile state was interrupted as the echo made its way back to the core and Thrum let forth the third emanation. This emanation further divided the definition of the world and created the Archons. Each Archon shadowed a deity as a tutor and extension of them, expanding upon their chosen master's domain. Because Parkareth expanded on the notion of balance and opposites to have spectrums and diversity as well, the other archons were able to add a variety to the world, such as Urwal creating a vast array of minerals and gemstones out of the Earth and Jarn weaving Body into all manner of animals. The conceivable world was complete, and when the pulse echoed back, it came to rest. 

...unless you're one of those heretics that believe the world is on its fourth emanation...

Heretics tend to explain the emergence of magic and spiritual powers as awakening in this theoretical emanation.

To see the old description of things, see this entry.

Reincarnation

Opposite of the world as we know it is the spirit realm. This is the realm where the soul is returned to Thrum or sent back into the waking world with a new life. It is believed this is the realm entered by shamans across the world. Almost every God (according to their Archon's avatars) has forbade any entry into this realm for the safety of the mortal involved. Rubalkai is expressly concerned with enforcing this, and is monikered "the Wandering Eye" for Its vigilance traveling and seeking out heretics from the shadows.

Death occurs in the waking world when Eril, the Archon of Death, harvests the soul, the particle of Thrum in every living being, and brings it before Eudis to be judged. A pure soul is allowed to rejoin and merge with Thrum. A soul not yet ready to rejoin the whole is given to the Archon of Birth* to be remade into the waking world again. Purity is obtained by the mortal by following the guidance of the Archons, adhering to their teachings and overcoming their difficult and often unseen trials. It is said that it takes an unimaginable number of lifespans to reach Thrum.

The Gods and Archons monitor mortalkind, guiding them along a path of purification until they can return to the whole. When enough of Thrum's fragments are returned to the whole, Thrum will be powerful enough to draw all of existence back into itself and all will be one with everything again. The Archons encourage explicit attention to their teachings and wishes to further their soul along, giving mortals incentive to submit to their will.

The Avatars

Each Archon is tied to a body chosen or given to them. These individuals retain their identities unless special conditions are met, in which case the Archon takes over, allowing them to communicate with mortalkind. Aside from a semi-annual meeting of Archons (how many years apart as yet undecided,) these situations are very rare. This is how the divines were able to communicate religion to the initial peoples of the world.

Zodiacs to Archons: God System Expansion

Drawing of God Jhordone, courtesy
of Logan, my cousin. 

     In this entry, I'll be getting the interested public up to date with the global religious system and the characters called the 'Archons.' Originally, there were only a few Gods. They were considered the 'big bad guys' of my world for various reasons. I've always preferred that all of a story's perspectives have a good and a bad side, however, and my Gods were no different. So, after years and years of dwelling on it, the first working religious system is going live for Drumlore. Here is what has changed:

Old Lore

New Lore

There were six Gods: Geovhentae,  Rhom'hiidra (worldshifted into cousin's world), Jhordon, Yvidnon, Yheciel, Arkvunda (who came to replace Yheciel) The Gods had no minions or non-human servants except for Geovhentae, who commanded beasts known as the Hounds. Each God had one avatar in humanoid form, save Geovhentae, who had a council. The Gods knew the truth behind their creation and lied to control the people. There was believed to be nothing greater than the Gods. N/A Demons had nothing to do with the God system and there were no evil anti-gods, save Shaegon, who was just a fallen god.

There are Eight Gods: Geovhentae, Kurdah, Jhordone, Yvidnon, Probihan, Balki (Gorojin), Sas-Akra, and Arkvunda The Gods have many servants and minions, most of which are non-human 'old world machinery.'  Each God has one avatar, including Geovhentae. The Gods are oblivious to their own creation and believe they created the world and all of its people. There are four entities greater than the Gods. Added twelve Archons, each with two avatars, male and female. There is a mirror pantheon of anti-Gods that sit poised to undo all of creation.

Zodiacs to Archons

     By now, those who know me have probably also noticed that I'm a pretty avid student of the ways of the zodiac. I don't take it all on faith--some of it I still feel may be a bit psuedoscientific, like daily horoscopes--but I see undeniable evidence all around me on how birth date correlates with a repeating pattern of traits. A fictional world is the perfect breeding ground for great new takes on overplayed themes, so I've established an 'archon' system. These lesser gods, in a manner of speaking, represent the zodiacs and their traits.

For Aries, there is Harskael. 

For Taurus, there is Urwal.

For Gemini, there is Bismodus.

For Cancer, there is Sharmiil.

For Leo, there is Adinathi.

For Virgo, there is Groth.

For Libra, there is Eril.

For Scorpio, there is Rubalkai.

For Sagittarius, there is Jarn.

For Capricorn, there is Cern.

For Aquarius, there is Parkaresh.

For Pisces, there is Eudis.

     What do they do? These beings watch over mortal kind as silent giants. Like the Gods, they never interfere,  doing their work in ways that mortals supposedly cannot understand, such as the manipulations of dreams, fate, and allotted fortunes. Like the Gods, the Archons preside over different things and have avatars to speak on their behalf within mortal kind. Unlike the Gods, these twelve beings have two avatars--one for man and woman. These avatars, like the ones for the Gods, take on certain attributes that reminisce of the Archon they represent. 

Pictured left is the artwork of Julie Dillon, one of my favorite artists. Her take on the zodiacs in mortal form heavily inspire my Divine Avatars. CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE!

     There is also quite a story that goes along with these archons, which takes us to the creation mythology.

Creation Mythology

     So originally, the Gods that be kind of made the world and that was that. I didn't have much more to say about it, but I've upped my game. Explaining this section may help to explain the other sections of lore, such as what the Gods do and mean. So, let me get started.

First, there was one thing in existence. This one thing is called Thrum. Thrum is everything in one substance. Thrum is perfection. Thrum is all three prime substances of existence as one undivided thing (energy, matter, and concept/invisible law). Don't strain too hard, it's more than likely impossible to fully visualize or comprehend this with the human brain. This is also the end goal of alchemists in my world: to discover the Deimor Grothis, or primal recipe that can recreate the essence of Thrum. See: Prima Materia. 

From Thrum came the first emanation. This first emanation, called the shattering of Thrum by some doctrines, gave birth to the first three separate entities in existence: Energy, Matter, and Concept/the Invisible Law. For help understanding what I mean by Concept/the Invisible Law, one should study or relate to the Tao in Taoism or the Demiurge of Plato's philosophy. 

When the emanation echoed back, Thrum poured forth the second emanation. This gave form to the first four Gods: Kurdah, Jhordone, Yvidnon, and Geoventae, each a representation of the foundation of existence that they brought forth with them. Jhordone exists as the great embodiment of the air, Kurdah of earth, Yvidnon of water, and Geoventae of fire, radiance, and heat energies*.
* Other divisions of energy are also attributed to the Gods. Kinetic energy, or motion, is credited to Jhordone.


When the elemental emanation echoed back, Thrum poured forth the third emanation. This gave birth to the second tier of Gods: Arkvunda, Probihan, Sas-Akra, and Balki, each representing one of the four building blocks of life. Arkvunda exists as the weaver of flesh and bodily matter. Probihan exists as the creator of the spectrum of emotions. Sas-Akra exists as the founder of the mind and all mental faculties. Balki exists as the spinner of the spirit and soul. Together, these Gods are responsible for all sentient life.

The Gods then created the land and the greatest of animal and plant beings: humans and trees.

Thrum, hearing the echo of its shattered perfection, gave its fourth emanation. This created the twelve Divine Archons. These beings, tasked by the greater Gods,  took the rough new world and refined it and each of the building blocks used to create it. They worked synonymously and, often, together to weave the tapestry that is the known world. Note that each Archon also added to mortal kind myriad traits depending on which zodiac they represent. These, for simplicity, will not be mentioned.


What each Archon created in the beginning is still under heavy development. What is known for sure is that the process more or less began with Jarn (Sagittarius) and ended with Cern (Capricorn), and they all work together in between. The Archons will be responsible for decorating the earth, sculpting its mountains, valleys, rivers, etc, and distributing resources across the map. The most important contributions developed result from the hands of Parkareth and Cern. 

Cern required more variance within life to forge a working system that would sustain the world. Parkareth took the blueprints of life given to the earth by the Gods and made the rest of the planet's plant and animal species as well as the different races and ethnicities of mortal kind. Because Parkareth is an Archon, an emanation further away from perfection than the Gods of life, these beings are not as perfect as Man or Tree, but they served Cern's purpose. 

     With Parkareth's touch of variance, Cern created all of the planet's systems. This includes the ecosystems, weather systems, the water currents within the oceans, the flow of magma within the earth, the movement of the moon and sun, the tide, and, most importantly, the cycle of life, death, and time itself. Most consider Cern to be the hand of the Invisible Law itself, and therefore, the most powerful of the Archons. When the creating and planning was done, Cern set laws in motion and, as time and history began, the Gods and Archons rested and watched creation unfold.

What the Gods and Archons do Post-Creation

     They rest on their laurels, of course. After creation went live without a hitch, according to stories, they watched from afar, waiting for mortal kind to grow comfortable with the world they were in. Once deemed ready, the Gods and Archons selected those who would become their Divine Avatars.

     These avatars took on an appearance that somehow represented their deity. Through the avatars, the Gods spoke to the people and imparted their wisdom, assisting them as they came to understand art, architecture, government, history, etc. Then, they communicated to the scribes of the different lands the story of their creation so that it forever be kept as a sacred memory and a testament to the bond between mortal kind and the celestial forces.

    There is a divine scripture that exists throughout all denominations of this near-global religion.  All sectors follow it to the letter as truth. However, each Godly avatar has expanded upon the text to create doctrines followed only within their own denomination. Much like the Talmud of Judaism. 

     The Gods and Archons now roam the planet, staying out of the affairs of mortals. The Archons, in particular, are difficult to find. The Avatars convene to handle affairs together semiannually or in times of crisis. The Godly Avatars hold more authority than those of the Archons, but all voices are heard. When not convened at the Senate, the avatars roam the map freely, observing the affairs of mortal kind and handling situations where they emerge. The Archonic avatars handle menial  issues that are too far below the Godly avatars to handle, such as checking in on temple clergies to monitor their handling.


     Occasionally, the Gods appear and come to the aid of their lands when suffering natural disasters. Jhordone and Yvidnon are most notable. The God of air poises himself between his cities and incoming tornadoes, either destroying them or redirecting them over or around the city. Yvidnon, governing typically hot and dry regions, delivers waters to drought stricken regions within his great vessels. Plagues and diseases are occasionally cured by the weaver of flesh, Arkvunda. While scarcely making an appearance in the material world, Balki protects the spirit from invisible harm, thwarting demons, possessions, and other ailments of a spiritual nature.

Reincarnation Ideology: Rubalkai's Affirmation

     Reincarnation is believed almost universally in various forms across the globe, whether it is religious or shamanic in nature. In religion, the concept was passed onto mortal kind by the avatar of Rubalkai (with the authority of the avatar of Balki) and is referred to by the name of Rubalkai's Affirmation. It goes roughly as follows:

• All beings are to reincarnate into a new body post death.
• There will be complete regeneration within new bodies; no memories will remain, only the soul.
• The soul begins under the care of the first archon, Harskael, and follows a circuit, progressing through the spheres of the other archons' authority (aka, born under the next zodiac) until the process ends in the care of the last archon, Eudis.
• The soul progresses through spheres by living: one must garner experience in life through facing the many challenges set by the archons presiding over them at the time. As they learn and adapt, from youth to death, they either further themselves toward freedom from the cycle or set themselves back.
• If the soul reaches Eudis and is not judged refined enough to leave the cycle (also referred to as transcending the spire), the soul begins another cycle under the care of Harskael.
• The soul must work through many cycles to become perfect in the eye of Eudis. This is the ultimate goal of all living souls.

     The journey through the cycles of rebirth is often pictured as a spiral minaret with many floors. At the bottom is the sun, at the top is the moon, at each side are the horns of Cern, and in the center is Rubalkai, depicted as a large solitary eye on a metal sun. Each cycle of Harskael to Eudis is pictured as a floor on the tower. At the top are stairs, a ladder, etc. that represents breaking free of the cycle, or transcending the spire.

     What happens after transcendence varies slightly per denomination, as do the rules governing cross-species reincarnation (troll to human, etc.) Which leads us to...

Racial Controversy

    Because the translations of the original doctrines vary due to language differences, disputes have arisen concerning certain elements. One of which is whether or not trolls, nokans, and humans are equal. Some translations specify that it was not man, but mortal kind that was made by the Gods of life, and that would encompass trolls, humans, and  the Nokanese people. Other translations hold trolls and nokans (as well as troll-human hybrids) to be of lesser divinity and sophistication than humans because they are a product of Parkareth adding variety to the world.

Ok guys I have put a loooot of stuff in this one blog post, so I'm going to give it a rest. Anything else will have to come in future installments.

Like, I know for sure that I'll be doing a post on the "anti-Gods" and "vortex of the dead" when I iron out the rest of the names and laws that go with them. That'll probably come up some time after this one.

I LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK. As a writer that's struggling to get going, it totally makes my day. Even if you only read the first sentence and then scrolled to the bottom! I'm okay with that!!!

In the works:

• The anti-god system.
• Divine literature and fables.
• An article on Races.
• Short Stories.

#fiction , #writing , #creativewriting , #fantasy , #fantasyfiction