Sunday, December 18, 2005

The Dhe’nar View Of the “Gods”: Zelia (Arkati)

12/18/2005

Most cultures consider Zelia to be the apotheosis of insanity, and though the Dhe’nar may agree to an extent, they consider such an assessment of Zelia to be merely the shallowest characterization of her.

To the Dhe’nar, Zelia represents wisdom. Not a gentle, enlightening wisdom, however, but a terrible, alien wisdom.

Bored with our world and always a lover of solitude, Zelia chose to dwell not in the physical or spiritual sphere of Elanthia, but rather upon the moons that circle it. From there, she cast her senses outward, into the darkness between the stars.

And what she learned out there in the Endless Void changed the workings of her mind beyond comprehension.

Newly possessed of a desire to share her insights with other sapients, she turned her attention back to Elanthia. Her brothers and sisters, terrified of her new knowledge and abilities have mostly shunned her, leaving her only the younger races with whom to share her wisdom.

However, knowledge that can crack the mind of a god is not so easily shared with mortals.

Zelia’s quarrel with Sheru is based in the fact that unlike Sheru, driving people mad is not her goal. She has great knowledge to impart. The fact that the mind of a mortal can barely contain it is simply an unfortunate side effect of the education process. Sheru’s victims are driven mad by losing their grasp on reality – Zelia’s “students” are driven mad by understanding far too much of it.

Dhe’nari clerics (and non-clerics who follow her Path) of Zelia spend a great deal of time trying to learn her secrets. Part of this process involves deep contemplation of unsolvable puzzles, in the hope that in trying to reconcile the illogical, they can perhaps grasp some aspect of what the Arkati knows. The problem is, those few that “succeed” are often incapable of passing their knowledge on to others, and aren’t much good to Dhe’nari society at all afterwards.

The Dhe’nar View Of The “Gods”: Imaera (Arkati)

12/18/2005

Imaera claims dominion over land-based wilderness. The Dhe’nar consider this rather arrogant and presumptuous of her, as the world existed long before the Drakes even settled it, never mind the Arkati. However, she has been able to dupe most cultures into believing she is responsible for nature itself – specifcally, plants and insentient animals - so there are few willing to argue the point. Even the Sylvan Elves, who the Dhe’nar tend to respect more than the Elves of the Nations for steering their culture clear of petty politics and feudalism, tend to look towards Imaera as a patron, which is a shame.

What is indisputable, however, is that Imaera does prefer to focus on areas of wilderness untouched by civilization. Also, she does have the capacity to shape and manipulate flesh, which she has used frivolously in the past to create all manner of beasts, including a few sentient races. Many creatures who seem to have no rational place in their ecosystem are credited by the Dhe’nar to Imaera’s careless experimentation.

Indeed, her desire to experiment with the creation of nothing less than other Arkati, led to her “birthing” of Cholen and Jastev with Eonak. Unable to manipulate pure spirit as easily as she does flesh, however, the experiment, while nominally a success, produced two very flawed Arkati, though perhaps she was less disappointed in the results than Eonak. The Dhe’nar believe that it was this experiment that led to Eonak associating with Imaera less. His pride and meticulous craftsmanship does not meld well with her often poorly-planned and executed dalliances with fleshcrafting.

Charl also makes certain that Imaera never intrudes on his domain. She may think Nature is her domain, but to the extent that that is true, it only includes that which exists above the waves.

The Dhe’nar do believe that she was at least partially responsible for teaching the basics of cultivation to the first sentient races, such that they would be able to settle and multiply.

Non-Dhe’nar Imaera followers might find it a bit unusual, if not horrifying, should they discover her Dhe’nari clerics experimenting with the vivisection and fleshcrafting of animals. The Dhe’nar, however, simply consider it following in Imaera’s footsteps, with the more primitive tools available to them as mortals.

The Dhe’nar View Of The “Gods”: Illoke (Lesser Spirit)

12/18/2005

Illoke is another Lesser Spirit that the Dhe’nar have little contact with, or knowledge of. He seems to limit himself to worship by the stone giant tribes, and seems content with exerting his domination over them. His followers, while dangerous, are limited in number and scope. His method of Ascension is unknown, and the Dhe’nar have almost no interest in his existence.