Category: Lore

“When we beheld the Great Pantheum of Iulianopolis, before it we made three great sacrifices in thanks; to Brahma Fabricator, for our wealth, to Mercurius Sobrius for our safety on the road, and to Mithras Tauroktonos for our honest kin.”

-Journal of a Syrian merchant

Where there reside men, there reside gods. Gods defend all beings, having before partitioned the earth to their liking, and granted all gifts and curses to the world. Gods who wrote the natural laws, by which all must follow, even the most rebellious and strong-willed, for no king may command the rise of the tides, the fall of leaves, and the growth of pastures. No king may conquer the gryphons that fly, the krakens that swim, the bears that roam, for they serve masters higher and more powerful than any king may imagine themselves to be, even the prideful master of Halicarnassus.

Persia, foremost, seems to be the land of gods. From the center land through which all trade must flow, Persia gathers all the superstitious and pious into one land, and spreads them outwards to all the roads that emerge from it. The emperor of Persia has given himself to the god known as Hormazd, who is the highest of all the gods, who is caretaker of wisdom itself and writ into the stars the law of magic and nature. Below Hormazd are his loyal slaves, called Yazatas, who care in part for the world and its functions. Greatest among them are Sarosh, Mihr, and Rashn, who each in part care for the dead, as well as Bahram and Tir, who serve their master in war. His brother and foe is the vile Ahriman, whose slaves the Daevas are equal in number and strength to the Yazatas, but seek the destruction of all that is good. The Persian worshippers hold the three elements of fire, water, and magic in highest regard, and build grand temples within which they may be housed and kept pure. The college that keeps the cult of Hormazd, the Mobads, are strictly open to those skilled in the art of commanding magic.

Elsewhere in Persia is the worship of Mani’s god, the practice of which is forbidden both in Persia and in most of the world beyond. The priest Mani held a god known as Zurvan up to the highest rather than Hormazd, and below him are his sons, who Mani’s superstitious believe to be the gods of all other cults. His foe is the Darkness, known by many names, and their spawn, who entrapped the world of the mind in the world of flesh and of the physical. Thus, it is the view of the cult of Mani that wisdom is the mind attempting to escape from its prison the body, and respect highly the act of death. Mani’s cult demonstrates clear derivations from more ancient cults, which they justify by claiming that all cults before are simply imperfect observations of the great truth, and all cults after are corruptions of the truth already granted.

East of Persia lies the empire of Chandragupta, who has dared to claim all of India for himself. He has dedicated himself to the god Vishnu, who preserves the balance of the world, and alongside his two brothers Brahma and Shiva are responsible for writing the laws of nature. Below them are a number of other gods and daemons, greatest among them being Ganga, Shakti, Ganesha, and Aditya, although Emperor Chandragupta allows the worship of cults to each of them, some of whom proclaim their own gods to be above Vishnu himself. The priestly body of Vishnu, called the Brahmins, are called often to be personal advisors on all matters to the emperor, and are known to conduct themselves strictly, studying many earthly matters and rejecting the consumption of meat, fish, and eggs. Despite this, the gods of India have been known to accept the sacrifice of animals, especially that of horses, the practice of which is associated with royal legitimacy.

India is also the origin of the mystery cult of Buddha, which worships a number of gods who had through great study and the rejection of hedonism and lavishness ascended from mankind, and calls their adherents to do the same. Some consider Vishnu and the more ancient gods of India to as well be ascended men, and make sacrifices to them in much the same manner as the Gupta lords. Despite the rejection of personal wealth, the cult of Buddha has been known to construct great and magnificent temples, equaling or exceeding that of other gods in their splendor, and receiving the patronage of great kings. Another cult, that of Jain, grows in prominence in the same region, much similar in many ways, but which is strange in the idea that their practitioners believe that all peoples are themselves gods, or that there are no gods at all.

West of Persia is the lands of Rome, wherein the emperor has proclaimed a mandate recognizing the sun as the foremost and highest of all gods, and from which all things emanate. The imperial cult equates the sun, which they call Sol Inuictus, to be equated as well with other grand concepts as logic, the universe, magic, and goodness. Sol has very recently, within the Roman world, usurped an older god by the name of Iuppiter as foremost of all gods and daemons, and many subjects of the Roman emperor continue to venerate Iuppiter before Sol, as father or kinsman of each of the other gods now decreed as lesser. Below either Sol or Iuppiter are a number of lesser gods, greatest among them holding rulership over some portion of the world and its forces, including Neptunus, god of the seas, Dispater, god of the earth, Diana, goddess of beasts, and Minerua, goddess of wars. The Roman religion is rarely strict in its practice, often adding the gods of their conquered people as siblings or children of the gods they already worship, yet with the recent upheaval that practice has swiftly waned.

South of Persia is the grand empire of Axum and its ring of clients, who worship the cult of Christ, which has been banned in both Rome and Persia and not for the first time. Unlike the other religions, the followers of Christ do not believe in a single great god ruling over lesser gods, but either a pair or a triumvirate of gods, who share the task of managing all the universe between themselves. One, the elder god (who to the Christians is nameless), shares its worship with the cult of Iudea, although the two cults despise each other fiercely. The younger god is called Joshua Christos, or Galileo (by his place of birth), and is the son of the elder god by an Israelite woman, or alternatively the elder god himself having been birthed through an Israelite woman. Occasional practices recognize a third or fourth god, they being the Sacred Form, which is again often interpreted as the elder god by another face, and a vile god called Shaytan or Diabolos.

“The Serpent-men are known to be as wily as they are powerful. Perhaps this task is better suited to the Lords of Odisha.”

-Report to Samudragupta, regarding a failure to pacify the eastern coast

The peoples of the ecumene are many; their forms, innumerable. Many philosophers, priests, and thinkers have wondered as to the origins of man, and many answers have emerged from such fruitless questioning. Herodotus posited that it was humanity that emerged first, and with the power of magic now lost shaped the beasts around them to familiar forms, that they would serve as guides and slaves in climate once unsuitable for settlement. Sallustius Crispus claimed that all the peoples of the world once shared a single origin, and the realities of different climes wrought themselves upon the first colonies of civilization. Ammonius Saccas suggested that in fact there are many origins of flora and fauna alike, and that all paths of descendance converge upon a single perfect form, which would thus be the form of the gods. For whatever reason, it is clear that humanity is not the sole master of the earth.

The Yejibi people are often seen in two forms, with one being far more common than the other. In both cases, they are a hairy tribe, with a long face like a snout and elevated feet as if standing upon their toes. The striped Yejibi is a wandering people, perhaps as humans once were when they expanded the breadth of the world, coming to settle much of the Persian Empire, Arabia, India, and where Africa meets the Internal Sea. The striped tribe is known to coexist well with humanfolk, speaking the many tongues of their many homelands. The spotted tribe, conversely, is insular, and known only in the lands of Aethiopia. Rare are the cities of men able to pacify their clans, and they have only been known to speak the Ge’ez tongue of Axum. There has, in various legends persisting among both the peoples, of a third cousin of the Yejibi, of solid coloration and powerful inborn magics, but such a figure has never been recorded except in folklore.

The Anura people are said to have emerged from an island off the coast of Africa, though such a landmass has never been found. Anurai are often of a sticky, smooth skin, often saturated in water so as to be slippery. However, the barbarian variant known in Transdanubia and Gallia are often seen with rough, mottled skin, which may cause sickness on the touch to those not of their blood. No matter the type, Anurai are known to have large and bulging eyes, and are incredibly rarely civilized or accustomed to urban life.

The Karbash is a scaled tribe, known most often for their strength and large stature. A common myth among their clans are that they possess the heritage of dragons, and that the gods reside on a hidden island far to the east of India. Today, the Karbash are commonly seen about the latitude of Syria and southwards, but any further north and the sight of them becomes very rare. No matter how well integrated with their neighboring tribes, the Karbash people have a tendency to avoid the consumption of plant matter, but do not shy away from meats often deemed unsuitable by the other tribes, including spiders, worms, and (in the case of Karbash following the Jewish religion) oysters and pigs.

The Nagaji is among the most variable in form of all the tribes, with some not even possessing legs and rather ambulating on one large leg that slides upon the earth and ends in a point. The Nagaji are most associated with the land of India, where they are more often well-integrated with other peoples and most often seen in ruler positions, but there are many variants existing in all three known continents, and the Germanic Nagaji clans are much-feared by the Romans on the other side of the Rhenus. It is commonly considered that the Nagaji are of one ancestry with the Naga beasts (also commonly of India), but why one branch developed limbs and became civilized while the other remained largely barbaric is currently beyond the natural philosophy’s limits of understanding.

The Mejaw, conversely, are the most variable in terms of culture and adaptation to the spread of human society, and are thus known by the most names. Mejaw are befurred and snouted, yet distinct from the Yejibi in visible ways. The Mejaw of Egypt have long held a special status in the age of their empire, and have thus most persisted with those millenniae-old ancient traditions even now that the majority of them have converted to Christianity. The Greek Mejaw (or “Leonidae”) are known as fierce warriors, and it is a common stereotype from the Roman perspective to see gladiators as maned with golden fur.

The Rodens is one of the few tribes found most commonly in the lands of Europe. Rodentes are rarely above half the height of a human in stature, with large ears above their heads and, in the case of most Roman Rodentes, large and durable teeth. Indeed, many of their clans were among the oldest allies of Rome as they bloomed from a city-state to a nascent empire. Since then, Rodentis colonies and communities have appeared in every port along the Internal Sea, though some barbaric groups persist in the mountains of the Caucasus, in Germania and Slavia, and well beyond. Imperial Rodens families have even been elevated to the Senate (especially during Caesar’s rule), although none have yet managed to wear the diadem.

The Corvid is as well a mostly European tribe, though their clans are most usually less peaceable than most. Corvidae are feathered, as well possessing a blackened beak in place of a nose or snout, and clawed of feet. Their clans are often wanderers and raiders, and lands where they once lived have at times displaced them through wars and conflicts. It is commonly considered among the people of former Carthage and Numidia (where the Corvidae were often most well integrated) that this people had a natural inclination towards sorcery and the magical arts, and Corvidae were able to attain high status in those societies before the Roman conquests.

The Vanara are thought to either have descended from or are the ancestors to humanity, at least according to myths common among their clans. Indeed, they do in many ways resemble humanity, excepting their more nimble feet and notable tails. Vanara clans are incredibly common in India and Aethiopia, but very rarely elsewhere in the ecumene, excepting a notable few Amazigh clans just south of the Atlas Strait.

Finally, the Florid people are by far both the most widespread, surviving in lands where even humans do not dare to settle, and the least populous. Floridae are often green-toned in their skin, but the coloration of them are so diverse that it’s possible no two are even remotely alike. Little can be said of these reclusive people, as they only ever seem to appear in vagabond bands, and the rare few clans that come into contact with Florid societies are non-literary, and thus nothing much can be said more than that said individual Floridae seem to share an inherent kinship with those of their own blood, no matter the distance between their origins.

-Map of the world according to Pomponius Mela, as designed by Konrad Miller

“It was the thousand and one hundred and thirty-first year from the founding of the City . . .”

-Saturninius Salustianus, Neoplatonist scholar

“It was the six hundred and ninetieth year from the dawn of Iskandar . . .”

-Shapur Sakanshah, governor of Sistan

“It was the four hundred and thirty-seventh year of the Krita Samvat . . .”

-Ramagupta, exiled prince

“It was the three hundred and eighty-first year from the birth of our Lord . . .”

-Frumentius, bishop of Axum

. . . and the emperor was dead. Year after year, one after the other. The causes were many and, to all the greatest thinkers of the age, seemed unrelated. Four great lights, four conquerors who belonged to the four centers of the earth, snuffed as their flames reached their greatest heights. Civilization itself seems to have taken a step back, paused to lament its loss, or perhaps, having been blocked of its rise, descended again into the mire out of which it was pulled. The sun dimmed on those days, it is said, and the wind lost its swiftness. The tallest trees bowed and the beasts slumbered the entire day. What is to become of the world now?

In Rome, the Companion of the Sun has departed to rejoin his master. In his place is his son, adopted from the line of his cousin, the gentle Claudius Iulianus Procopius, to whom it seems the gods have turned against. His late father built the empire of Augustus and Traianus into a sphere of marble and steel and gold, the first land under the sun and the first to touch its light. Such an ascendance was paid for heavily, in seas of blood both Roman and barbarian. Now that the godlike presence of his predecessor is gone, those he has subjugated now consider Rome an open gate. Will the numerous tribes pay their tribute, no longer cowed by the might of legions? Will opportunistic generals and Caesars dutifully serve? Only the sun knows, and it is silent.

In Eranshahr, there sits upon the Takht-e Padishah a young Shapur III, thrown into the glamor of the Persian court where the hidden knife strikes deeply and in complete silence. His father spent his whole life staying assassins and those who buy them, with bribery, with force of arms, with the strength of his own will and the brutality of dubiously loyal servants of the state. The Seven Houses, each more unpredictable than the last, close in on the new king of kings, a boy just shy of growing into manhood. He may have his father’s blood, he may even have his father’s spirit and mind, but one man alone, even a great man, does not rule in the mountainous land of Hormazd. To be shahanshah is to give trust those who do not deserve it, and to pray often.

In the Gupta Raj, kin slays kin, and the call of power is irresistible. Lord Chandragupta II has made a name for himself on the field of battle, such that those sworn to him have taken to calling him by the name “Vikramaditya”, and it was true. With spear in hand and hatred in his heart, he truly does become for but a moment the sun, and he carries the army as a burning ray to scorch his enemies red and black. But the man held a lust for battle, perhaps insatiable, that can only end with his surrendering it for the peace of the gods or his dying in a pool of his own men. Whispers under the gaze of the maharajadhiraja persist, after having been rooted out and crushed many times, of his brother Ramagupta, the man who despised war too much, such that it drove his own brother to kill him. If he yet lives, the mere second son’s reign may prove tenuous after all, no matter how many victories he claims.

In Axum, an upheaval of conscience may just sweep the realm itself away. The kingdom has collected its loyalties under its previous kings, tribe by tribe and city by city. A hundred peoples, perhaps more, look to the mouth of the Red Sea for a ruler to guide them. Yet, who is to say if the ruler who does not have its own head could be held responsible for others. The new god is no friend to the old gods, and a way of life so ancient and entrenched is at once uprooted. Negusa Nagast Ouazebas loves his new god, but if the people do not share his zeal, he might not be able to call himself king for long. The tributaries export their treasure and their gifts, and import a strange new doctrine of total subservience and fear and awe before the one star that dots the sky. Such a strain pulls taut the fabric of society that could snap suddenly, and tear an empire from the pages of history.

One thing is for certain; the world is young again. Four boys stand where four men did once, and with each passing day the worth of gold becomes replaced by the worth of iron. A life of battle is to be the life of ignobility or a life of greatness, and that allure summons both slave and lord alike to abandon their lives on the farms in favor of a life in armor. There is wealth in this world, hidden in its harshest crags and its deepest marshes, buried under tombs centuries old and with long-dead kings. To claim it is only natural, for those who envision themselves heroes.