Thursday, November 10, 2005

The Castes In General: Updated

11/10/2005

If you have not read it before, or in a while, please refer back to my general overview of the Castes.

I have included some necessary exposition (thanks to Eoghain’s prompting) that clarifies that certain professions do not always belong to certain castes. I have also updated the specific caste overviews to take this into account. It was never my intention to declare that a member of a certain profession -had- to belong to a certain caste.

The Dhe’nar View of the “Gods”: The Huntress (Lesser Spirit)

11/10/2005

The Huntress is a minor deity, whose past is mostly lost to obscurity. Legends say she was once a bodyguard to royalty, but nobody can name when, or where, or even what race she once was. Legends also claim she was given immortality as a mortal by an unnamed Arkati, but did not obtain true Spirit status until she was slain (her death being the process that gave Arachne the power to Ascend as well).

Regardless of the truth of her past, The Huntress is, in fact, a Lesser Spirit, and one of the more prominent. She seems to bear Arachne a grudge, but as Arachne is completely mad and not much of a threat, there’s little to be gained by opposing her. She has been known to oppose Eorgina, siding with mortals against her machinations.

There are Dhe’nar who follow the Huntress’ path in order to determine the truth behind the legends of her origin, and to discover what exactly it was that inspired an Arkati to grant her immortality, if indeed that portion of the myth is true.

As a Spirit who was once a mortal, the Dhe’nar are a bit more trusting of the Huntress than some other Spirits, and most of the Arkati. She has displayed an attempt to counter the domination of mortals by the “Gods” in the past, and the Dhe’nar consider her perhaps an unofficial ally in their overall scheme.

The Dhe’nar View of the “Gods”: Gosaena (Arkati)

11/10/2005

Gosaena is a complete mystery to the Dhe’nar. While the shorter-lived races call her the Goddess of Death, it is indisputable fact that death existed long before Gosaena did. All she did was insert herself into the process somehow, and the reasons for, and results of her doing so remain unknown to this day. Nobody knows what the process of death was like before her interference, and nobody truly knows nowadays either. Gosaena herself never communicates with any but Jastev, and he clearly hasn’t shared any of his insight about this arkati, assuming he even has any.

As to whether Gosaena is gifted with the knowledge of when everyone and everything will die, the Dhe’nar dismiss that as one of the many mythical powers the other races attribute to their “gods”. There is absolutely no way of knowing whether Gosaena “sees” the future or not, since she does not communicate with anyone, so such beliefs are pure conjecture at best, and demonstrative of the irrationality involved in the worshipping of these alien beings by other cultures.

She is not known to ally with other Arkati, or have any enemies amongst them either. Aside from inserting herself into the process of death somehow, she shows little desire to interfere with the lives of mortals.

Gosaena may be rescuing souls from a horrible fate after death, or she may be gathering them for some sinister purpose. Those who follow her path seek to know these secrets, but the simple fact is that they may never be revealed.