General:Uutak Mythos/Religion

Uutak Mythos Logo, featuring the Fourth Era symbol of Yneslea. (Drawn by Imperial Ascendance)

“The complete and utter absence of faith is truly impossible, my child. Even the belief in nothing, nihilism, is still a belief in something and the mere existence of that something enraged our progenitors to the point of obsession. We, their metaphorical children, are much more level-minded than the Deep Folk who came before us but at the same time we refuse to inherit the egocentric narratives that permeate the very water and soil of Tamriel. The gods have their own origins, aspirations, tales, relationships, goals, and miseries that lie far beyond the typical western arrogance of cultural narcissism. These parables and teachings serve as guidelines to maintaining one’s jasei—their moral center—while also explaining the intertwining nature of mortals and deities in general. When the gods are humorous, dead, struggling, or full of hubris, mortals are instead stoic, alive, peaceful, or kneeling in humility, and vice versa. But even still, is it possible to fully comprehend the mind of a god? And do the gods have faith in anything higher than themselves as well? Perhaps only apotheosis can answer this question drenched in limitations…” — Hrahanti Della’I

Like every race that exists within the Elder Scrolls franchise, the various races that drive the narrative plot of the Uutak Mythos world-building project are also host to their own unique pantheons, religious practices, mythohistoric structures, and more in the hopes of making them fully fleshed out and diverse cultures on par with (and possibly exceeding) the Tamrielic civilizations that the franchises’ community already knows and loves. And while the in-universe texts newly created for/readapted from the old version of the Uutak Mythos for NUutak are rather well-written, newcomers to the project often find themselves confused with or misunderstanding certain concepts in its theology. In order to remedy this, we have created this page in order to explain in-depth (and without any obscurity and/or esotericism) key aspects of the various religious mindsets of the Yneslean peoples’. May it help out with future readings.

Note: As of 10/03/2020, this page will be under constant renovation until all relevant texts are added and it reaches its completion. This process should only take a few months at minimum.

Echmer Religion: An Overview

The religious practices of the bat elves of Yneslea are as strange as they are distinct, due to the overwhelming mixture of theological influence they received in their cultural primacy. The first was the Dwemer, whose relationship (or lack thereof) with the gods caused the Nemer (ancient Echmer) to develop an extreme, almost childlike fascination with the gods during their enslavement to the Dwarves that reached near self-genocidal levels of holy war after the Disappearance of the Dwarves. Anhano Raelei, the First Gerent of In’eslae, is credited by modern scholars as being the Father of Nemeric Faith as well as the closest thing they have to as a ‘spirit of conquest’; he had experience with the malicious and sapient hell-realm known as the Nether Realm (sometimes called the Underworld), meditated with the Hyu-Ket in self-exile before returning to end the cult-fueled civil wars amongst his people, and was the first to try to name and chart all of the deities being worshipped at the time.

It was clear that Anhano, in his wisdom, combined Hyu-Ketic teachings (which in themselves were descended from a combination of Kítapoe, Orsimer and Aldmer practices) revolving around spiritual oneness with nature, familial structure of innumerable refractions of a singular deity, and specific roles in society with the particular ancestor worship found within Dwemeri society alongside their focus on ‘divine creation through the reconstruction of mortal degradation’ to create what some refer to as Neremericism—the belief that nothing but the gods is truly permanent as the gods were all born from one supreme deity, the gods created the mortal races together as a family as the lowest yet greatest aspects of their divine natures, and that as children of the gods mortals must pray, fight, and die for their favor ad infinitum.

Neremericism would turn out to lead to, well, several problems in future bat elf civilization due to its inherent message of ‘zealous war is the only option’, but this was mainly an Omali (the dominant Echmer ethnic group, who dwell in the expansive archipelago-spanning underground cavern system known as the Dweech) problem; the surface-dwelling, more peaceful Exul were much more influenced by traditional bug goblin beliefs and practices, but this would change when they started to interact with the Merethic-age structures left behind by early Akaviri travelers. Akavir served as the third major influence for Nemeric beliefs due to its heavy emphasis on purification, aquatic healing, spiritual meditation, and moral balance expressed through various elements, which vibed well with the Exul and they combined it with the less violent aspects of neremericism to create Jaseito—the belief that the gods created mortals to better understand morality, and by weathering the elements and their own inner doubts/weaknesses mortals can learn to control and let go of their earthly ties and desires to become truly equal to the gods.

Neremericism and Jaseito later fractured into more, less popular philosophies (like Elementalism or the Gei-Rah Edicts of Yarav) due to cultural shifts and misunderstandings, but the two founding faiths would remain the most followed despite falling in and out of favor over the centuries due to multiple reasons (read: the Divine Mandate and Hrahndeyl’s Ascension). The last and (slightly) less important cultural exchange that influenced bat elf religion to a noticeable degree was their constant interaction with the Maormer. The Sea Elves, who have an entire culture and society that revolves around the ocean, left a lasting impression on the Echmer during their sporadic acts of war and piracy, which resulted in a much higher focus on the element of water (and by extension, blood) in the latter’s mythohistory, as well as sea serpents and the metaphysical importance of aging to the universes’ mythic.

But due to the several ethnic groups that make up the bat elf race, as well as the continued creation of minor deviations of the two previously established belief systems, Echmer religion remained—in how they themselves would probably call it—an extremely volatile cluster-hug of hate and incompatibility until the Divine Mandate. And with that said, let’s move on to discussing the most important themes of Echmeri religion that makes Tamrielics (and readers) scratch their heads in unified confusion.

Monotheism to Polytheism: The All-Goddess

P’hanoikhei has no real symbols, as she is not conventionally worshipped by Nemer or Echmer, although iconography created by minor cults exists… (Legends)

The most important deity in the Echmer pantheon is also, unironically, the least mentioned in theological conversation and spiritual practices for entirely justifiable reasons. And that deity’s name is P’hanoikhei, the All-Mother and the Divinity-Beyond-Divinity. P’hanoikehi is similar to the All-Maker of the Skaal, being an entity that is best summarized as: “possibly a combination of Anu and Padomay, but in all honesty, it’s probably it’s own thing.” The closest thing to worship of P'hanoikhei would be acts of abstainment or tutorship, which is consistent with her overall nature.

P’hanoikhei is the personification of the state of primordial being that existed before the Aurbis in Echmeri culture, and everything that exists is simply a subgradient of a subgradient of her all-encompassing existence. The et’ada (which the bat elves refer to as either ateda (“old spirits”) or numeda (“new spirits”)) were born when the All-Goddess grew lonely in the Void and thus made union with herself, creating the first deities who would subsequently make union with one another and give birth to even more deities. These deities would then go on to create the universe, which is called the Auribex House in bat elven parable, and then P’hanoikhei would go on to later ‘die’ delivering the last of her children—Aryus, God of Fire and N’urnani, Goddess of the World—into newfound life.

After this, the eldest of her children and the gods of order and chaos (respectively), Avki’tel and Zziuth’al collect her slumbering corpse (as the Echmer are firm believers that gods are truly incapable of dying) and the three of them pretty much disappear from the mythic entirely. This story is symbolic for several reasons, with the foremost reason being that the withdrawal of the personifications of light, darkness, and creation from the universe is supposed to represent the now constant moral and structural ambiguity of the universe itself. The ‘Death’ of Creation also represents how the Echmer believe that the gods are incapable of creating anything truly new, and that everything present in the material realms is just reimagings and/or forgeries of the All-Mother’s inventions and each other.

If you’re interested in learning more about P’hanoikhei’s limited role in Echmeri mythohistory, we recommend reading Spirits of the House, A House Divided, I: Auribex, and A House Divided, II: Mundex. And if you’re even more interested in learning how the bat elf gods’ sweet setup of immortality and no issues whatsoever ever was broken, I believe it's time we introduced you to the entity known amongst the Echmer as: “the divinity who made a lot of well-intentioned bad decisions, and then managed to make life worse than it ever had to be.”

Clarifying Laorghatu: The Dead God of Spacetime

The actions of Laorghatu, the Dead Dragon, almost resulted in the destruction of the entire Auribex House and ultimately divided the House into the standard planes of existence mortals know today. (Uutak)

The fourth most important figure in Echmeri mythohistory is Laorghatu, who due to linguistic similarities between their names is incorrectly surmised by many to be their interpretation of Lorkhan, the Missing God who is present in all known religions. This isn’t quite the right answer, as Echmeri theology differs from traditional Aldmeri narratives for several reasons, and Laorghatu is actually his own deity whose existence and role in their cultural narrative hinges on their severe distaste and lack of patience with the great schism between mankind and their merish siblings.

Laorghatu is best summarized as a strange fusion between Auriel and Lorkhan, who is simultaneously (in a weird fashion) an extremely odd interpretation of Akatosh. This similarity with Akatosh, who was born within the Imperial Faith, stems from how—in the Echmeri outlook—they’re both “the aurbilical cord between men and elves, light and darkness, made manifest”. But whereas Akatosh is skewed by the Empire’s constantly shifting messages and tone, Laorghatu is much more neutral, distant, flawed, and sympathetic; he essentially embodies both the best and worst aspects of men, mer, and beastfolk all at once instead of being a paragon to either’s prejudice worldviews.

The God of Spacetime and the First Dragon, Laorghatu’s decision to restructure the Auribex House in order to build N’urnani her own room (and therefore give her an actual purpose in the universe) ended up having more repercussions than benefits. While the creation of the Mundex gave N’urnani her own realm and a stage to enact the great performance that is life upon, it came at the cost of the entire multiverse’s instability through cataclysmic and thoroughly unneeded categorization; super-realms such as Uioan and Eithent were born from this endeavor, as well as several others, and thousands upon thousands of divine entities were crushed when the House nearly collapsed into itself.

While Invighna, Laorghatu’s closest friend and brother, was able to avoid most of the destruction at the cost of being barred from reentering the House, the First Dragon was not so lucky. He and countless other spirits who helped him were crushed underneath the House and were left to die by their brethren, who viewed this as a suitable punishment for their accidental murder spree while also mourning them all the same. In his death throes Laorghatu cursed his siblings and mother, as he felt this judgement was unfair, and that curse caused two more gods to be born from his decaying corpse: Akkrahz and Seiru’udac. And while N’urnani and Aryus constructed the moons as memorials to honor the Spacetime God, none of the surviving ateda and numeda realized that the corpses of the fallen had transformed into a hellscape of a quasi-realm until it was too late; Har-Guan, the Nether Realm/Underworld that threatens to infect and absorb all of existence, had been born. To learn more about Har-Guan, as well as the rest of the Echmer’s viewpoint on cosmology, be sure to read Realms Beyond the Veil. In the meantime, let’s move on to Laorghatu’s spiteful and mischievous children.

Akkrahz: The Dragon-Demon of Time

Interesting enough, the only thing the Imperial Akatosh and the Echmeri Akkrahz remotely share is their choice in hue. Akatosh is adorned in pristine golden scales, while Akkrahz’s scales are often drawn soot-ridden, bloody, and burnt a darker orange from hate. (Legends)

It is said that when the dust settled and the blood started pooling in the basement of the Auribex House, Laorghatu’s heart continued to beat all the same. Enraged at the immaterial death of its body, the heart’s anger mutated and corrupted into a monstrosity of an entity that became known as Akkrahz—what Western (Tamrielic) scholars traditionally view as the Echmeri cultural replacement for Auriel or Akatosh. But unlike his other ‘selves’ in Dawn’s Beauty, Akkrahz is so negative and demonic that members of the Imperial Cult and other religions are often filled with disgust and indignation at a being almost completely considered to be 'evil' in the In’eslaen archipelago.

Also known by the titles of He-Who-Riddles, the Dragon of Dusk, and Old Smog Himself (as his fiery rage once blotted out the sun), Akkrahz is the god of injustice, eternity, time, and plans who is the father of all true dragonkyn: drakes, jills, khimerae, and hydras (who birthed wyrms; sea serpents). While not entirely malicious, as the bat elves consider him a deity to be both pitied and respected, he is also known to be incredibly spiteful, arrogant, and prone to fits of madness that leave the majority of the Echmer population fearing and ignoring him and his children as much as they possibly can. After being taught by his corpse-brother the art of storm-tongue he learnt from his wife (see Seiru’udac below), the two corpse-gods waged the War of the Underworld with the other ateda for untold millennia until it ended in a few deaths, some odd marriages, and an uneasy truce. Akkrahz is also the Essence of Mer, and sided with them after the Muon’merith split from one clan into two; the bat elves believe he taught primordial mer the unfamothable mysterious behind Tower Lore in order to preserve their history and spite the other gods.

Raokkra-Nem, an Echmeri term that translates into ‘gnashers of fate’, are mortals that Akkrahz makes dragon-kindred when he wishes to either create or destroy a possible abridgement in time. These minorly possessed avatars of Old Smog are considered to be highly destructive and dangerous by the bat mer, and they are often hunted down to be exorcised or detained at the quickest opportunity. If one wishes to read more about Akkrahz, or how he created dragonkind, please read Akkrahz's Rage.

Seiru'udac: The Storm-Ghost of Space

Whereas Akkrahz was born from Laorghatu’s still beating heart, Seiru’udac is all that remains of the First Dragon’s soul (or, at the very least, is the largest piece of his vestige that remains self-aware). Being the equivalent of a ghost of a god, Seiru’udac is the closest to the standard regional recollections of the Missing God found in Tamriel (like Shor or Shezarr). In Echmeri mythohistory he is known as the Lord of No One, the Storm-That-Is-Approaching, and the Feaster Who Longs for Empty Halls; he is also called the trueblooded father of every Jai’kar-ri—a word in the bat elven language that roughly translates into ‘avatar or demon of conquest’—that manifests periodically within the Mundus to annihilate the woes of men, usually in the form of a wandering hero or rising king who acts as a rampaging cure to foreign aggression. Historical figures like Ysgramor, Pelinal, Reman Cyrodiil, Tiber Septim, and Uriel Septim V are all (usually) documented by Echmeri mythohistorians and enigmaticians as Jai’kar-ri for this reason whenever they inscribe Tamrielic affairs through a Yneslean viewpoint; even Talos, who may or not be the obscure god known as Tjalon in ancient Echmeri faiths, is seen as nothing more than a possible son or avatar of Seiru’udac himself.

Like his corpse-brother, Seiru’udac is a god of possession as well as his usual spheres of storms, space, temporalism, betrayal, and ghosts; he barely qualifies as a trickster deity, as his ‘pranks’ are usually nowhere near funny. He is also considered to be a war-god who is associated with the restless dead, and is often depicted as a spectral snake with a dog’s head who haunts battlefields in search of warriors for his army (as he plans to wage a treacherous war with the Outer Heavens at the End of All Things). Rites to Seiru’udac are generally uttered during exorcisms or funeral rites in order to ward off or get rid of troublesome spirits, alongside placation through burning oils and hymns.

The Moral Ambiguity of the Gods

The Imperial Mara is considered by the Echmer to be a waterdowned, and almost insulting, version of the ‘actual’ goddess of romance Maorai. (Blades)

In In’eslae, the terms aedra and daedra do not exist for several reasons, with these reasons ultimately boiling down to a simple statement: “whereas the various peoples’ of the West place extreme emphasis on where their blood first flowed from, the East cares about little else but the blood itself.” Every god, demigod, lesser spirit, mortal, animal, and plant that exists within the oddly imprisoning but nevertheless beautiful Auribex House is family in the eyes of the Echmer (no matter how ‘dead’, ‘immoral’, or downright irritating they are) and therefore must be respected…if not cautiously. As mortals are nothing more than creations/children of the gods made in their image, then the gods are fully capable of experiencing the entirety of the emotional spectrum (joy, bliss, sorrow, rage, apathy, envy, greed, and so on) that mortals have but on a much greater scale due to their divine natures. As the gods encompass unfathomably large concepts, and in consequence even larger minds, they are able to experience dozens of emotions all at once or even splinter some of these emotions into their own singular entities for indeterminate periods of time. Because of this, the Echmeri ateda are viewed as amoral beings—deities neither purely benevolent like the Divines or strictly malicious like the Daedric Princes.

In truth, the Bat Elves dislike those forms of deific classification heavily and believe them to be one of the reasons why the West, specifically Tamriel, is constantly at odds with the heavens due to their constant provoking of their pantheons’ negative traits. The Echmeri ateda and numeda are instead categorized by their realms of origin and their clan-contributions to the mythical narrative (which is why foreign races who enter Yneslean dioceses, cathedrals, abbeys, and monasteries are quickly introduced to concepts like dead-gods, torch-gods, star-gods, chaos-gods, and the like).

Two good examples of this mindset can be found in the Echmeri deities Le’pergon and Maorai:

• Le’pergon, who can be read about in the book Lost Spirits, Volume I, is the god of radicalism and cataclysms in the Echmeri narrative, with rampant and careless destruction going against the god’s origin and interests (as he seeks to impose violent reformations and damage on the world in order to help protect it from its cyclic nature of death and rebirth); when he destroys, he destroys with purpose and when he requests change from his servants, he requests it for a reason. Meanwhile Mehrunes Dagon, Le’pergon’s western brother-self, is usually depicted as a nightmarish entity who craves destruction needlessly and is associated more often with natural disasters than social upheaval and reform. Another strange facet of Le’pergon is that while he is technically a god of destruction, he also represents self-destruction and the fallacies associated with that concept, meaning he is a god that often hurts himself intentionally with his decisions and seeks that behavior in those that call themselves his followers.
• Maorai, however, is a deity that many Western scholars believe to be near-identical to the traditional mother goddess known as Mara. Tamrielic Mara is a deity of truly positive love, who is all-caring and all-nurturing, and who largely holds no negative thoughts to other beings nor hides these negative thoughts in favor of a more benevolent outlook. Yneslean Maorai, on the other hand, is a fickle goddess; after having died in the Echmeri mythic during strange events known as the War in Heaven and the War in the Underworld, Maorai was kindly resurrected by the god Gralmoghal after N’urnani’s cries threatened to destroy the Mundex. Because of her newfound nature as an undead deity, and quite possibly the first vampiress if one believes in the bat elven narrative, Maorai and her twin-sister Debalut became much more combative and bloodthirsty. She is still the goddess of romance, marriage, and company like how she is viewed in the West, but these spheres in actuality extend beyond mere mortalhood. Love for your fellow warriors-in-arms, for the fight, for glory, and ‘marriage’ to such things such as work, duty, and pain. Maorai (and Debalut) are outright considered to be minor war-goddesses who crave violence as much as peace, which is something modern Imperial Cultists find to be in complete lack of taste (although Nords are more than fine with this interpretation).

The Divine Mandate

The Divine Mandate was a decree that happened shortly after the destruction of the Cakaphon Dynasty of rulers in In'eslae, when Gerent Hanzu E’ga-Zi cleansed the archipelago and the Dweech below it of monstrosities during his infamous Li'kaan Crusades. Hanzu, having bore witness to the bloody decadence of a society that had begun caring more about the wills of the gods than the wills of one's family, immediately entered into talks with his Council of Dull Chimes upon taking the Rhetoric Throne. Gerent Hanzu knew that it would be impossible to completely wipe out worship within the Gerency/Gerentate, as that would lead to nothing but open revolts and needless death, but he did believe that through the emplacement of practical laws and guidelines on how to serve the gods it would result in less violent cults and faith-fueled massacres (as well as preventing a similar situation as to what occurred to the Disappearance of the Dwarves, a magical incident that still haunted the Echmer severely).

In order to help with this endeavor, Hanzu formed a new organization from veteran members of the Shen'shiyami civil militia and the Magus Legions of Pasa'vaga―two groups who cared more about physical or magical prowess than worship―and named it Eskar'eda (Spiritual Law). It would fall on the Eskar'edai (Spiritual Lawsmen), a group often confused with witch-hunters and exorcists in modern times, to make note of any transgression and enforce the punishment of said transgression against the prohibitions inscribed within the pages of the Divine Mandate. The Eskar'edai also doubled as a execution force and an infiltration force during times of great war and strife, similar to the Blades, except that members of Eskar'eda were sworn to the Council of Dull Chimes as well as the Gerent (which meant infighting occurred quite often).

Considering that the Mandate is a nine-hundred-and-seventy-five page document that not even the most law-abiding citizen of Yneslea has taken the time to read, most people usually summarize it into these core principals and commandments:

• The public gathering of more than five people in worship of the powers that be (not mortal, ancestral spirits) is forbidden, especially when combative arms are present or the gathering is for the conduction of a ritual.
• Magic shall hereby be forbidden to practice on pain of death or worse unless the individual in question has received an approved license from high-office in order to learn sorcerous, alchemical, or enchanting capability.
• The promotion of a god's negative traits over their positive traits, or vice versa, in order to intimidate, manipulate, confuse, or otherwise harm another individual is a crime punishable by death.
• Collective census of faiths, while appreciated, is not completely necessary unless it revolves a new and unrecorded faith; cultures or clans of In'eslae that have strong, essential ties to their gods and practices are permitted to continue to do so as long as they swear an oath not to use these practices as an excuse to wage war or advocate condensation.

While it took several decades for the Divine Mandate to be taken seriously at the start of the E'ga-Zi Dynasty, it only took a few centuries after its installment for its statements to cause a major shift in Echmeri culture. While some ethnic clans and minor organizations retained their religious freedom and worshipped the god/gods of their choosing, the majority of the bat elven population had stopped actively worshipping the gods altogether when they realized the peace that came with it. Hanzu E'ga-Zi would go down in Echmer history as one of their greatest kings due to several of his reformations, but even his decrees struggled to survive to the Fourth Era (with Hrahndeyl's ascension to godhood and the demigod conquests of Hannar Almost-King being two noteworthy, but separate incidents).

Inhabitants of the House: The Echmeri Pantheon

In comparison to the pantheons of the West, the Echmeri pantheon seems practically limitless due to their acknowledgement of a multitude of deities that are unrestricted to the tight categorization of other deific groups.

• P’hanoikhei | The Start of the House: P’hanoikhei is the All-Mother, the First Mother, who existed before the Auribex House itself was constructed by her eldest sons. Devoid of and yet possessing all forms and meaning, P’hanoikhei made love unto herself through different aspects and gave birth to the first ateda. Nearly all gods are her children, and mortals her grandchildren (through the apotheosis of mortallic bloodlines via strength and prose), but eventually the pains of labor grew too much for her to bear. Childbirth is painful after all, despite the love it brings, and P’hanoikhei died surrounded by her numerous offspring. Her eldest sons would then take her slumbering corpse to the Space Beyond the House, where she could rest in peace. The Death of P’hanoikhei marks the slow approach of doom to the universe, and the emergence of misery to the realms of god and man.

• Laorghatu | The Doom-Dragon: The God of Space and Time, third child of P’hanoikhei, whose birth brought meaning to the Aurbis and inspired the lives of all who dwell within it. He was the First Dragon, a great and majestic being with a mane that encircled the world and eight-limbs that represented the sacred number of truths his mother had entrusted him with. After the death of P’hanoikhei, N’urnani approached Laorghatu and asked for his aid in building her a room of her own as the Auribex was devoid of space. Working with his siblings, he restructured and organized existence (creating Oblivious and Eithent, the latter of which Westerners call Aetherius), but grew haughty when he dared to rebuild the chambers of P’hanoikhei herself. The Auribex House nearly fell apart then, condemning the Doom-Dragon and his helpers to death underneath it, while P’hanoikhei’s chambers transformed into the Mundex. Although he meant well and we must remember that, Laorghatu’s dying breaths were filled with nothing but hate for the siblings who had abandoned him to his fate, which caused his corpse to give birth to the demon-gods Akkrahz and Seiru’udac. What remains of his body infects the Mundex with his negativity, although vestiges of his love remain in obscure places.

• Yra’fenna | Changeling of the Wilds: Wife of Laorghatu, who followed him into death, and the Goddess of Nature, Fertilization, Beasts, and Bone. Before her death, it was her duty to watch over young N’urnani and Aryus, who loved their older sister so much that when they heard of her death, they created the moons as an everlasting symbol in the heavens for the love Yra’fenna and Laorghatu shared. It is believed that every being that lives on Nirn, from the smallest blade of grass to the hardiest of free-thinking folk, have inherited a small semblance of her soul and love for the environment around them. Druids are able to harness this love and call upon aspects of Yra’fenna’s soul, for a short time, whether to work worldly miracles or to directly speak to what remains of her psyche.

• Avki’tel and Zziuth’al | The Light and the Dark: The eldest twin sons of P’hanoikhei, born first of all the gods, and devoted to their mother in the absolute fullest. Avki’tel is the god of order, light, and perpetuity while Zziuth’al is the god of chaos, darkness, and reversion; despite their contrasting natures, they loved each other dearly and worked hard to create the Auribex House so that P’hanoikhei and their younger siblings could have a place to live. After P’hanoikhei died, they entombed her within the Space Beyond the House and became the guardians of the Auribex. It wasn’t until the actions of Laorghatu and Invighna that the brothers were forced to intervene in a negative way, punishing their younger brothers for their crimes before traveling to the Space Beyond the House to stand vigil for their mother’s tomb in case the wraith-gods came for her. It is believed that the twins will awaken P’hanoikhei from her death when the Auribex faces Destruction.

• N’urnani | Maiden of the World: The youngest daughter of P’hanoikhei, and the twin-sister of Aryus. N’urnani is the Goddess of Rhythm, Prose, Maturity, and (most importantly) the World itself. It is through the stories that she tells her siblings, by voice and letter and doll and dance, that forms the realms of Mundex (which is, consequently, her room within the Auribex House). When one story ends, so does that iteration of the world, and as a new one begins so does the next existence. While some of the gods wish to subvert these tales, the majority of her siblings find them endearing as they honor the life of the All-God. Despite her status as an eternal maiden, all finite beings of Nirn are her children by proxy, and she teaches us the important difference between being alive and actually living.

• Aryus | Infinity’s Furnace: Bearer of the titles Drifting Sun, Old Hammer & Tongs, and the Excitement of the World, Aryus (recognized in the West as Arius, mainly due to stories of my people) is the god of fire, warmth, and the hearth within all hearts and homes. It was his incendiary birth that marked the end of poor P’hanoikhei, although no one truly holds him accountable for her death. Although he has a realm of his own, Aryus can be found intermingling in the rooms of the other ateda, as fire is the essence of all life and its nature is to be everywhere. Because of this his flames can represent a plethora of concepts (inspiration, knowledge, even destruction), although here in the Directorate he is mostly recognized as the forge-god and a survivalist god. Aryus is one of the kinder gods and loves mortals, materializing in the Mundex to share his heat with mortals before disappearing once again to parts unknown.

• Invighna | Bearer of the Light: Called Ivig’nah in the ancient language. The god of magic, creation, knowledge, and the wonders of life. Fourth of P’hanoikhei’s children. It was Invighna who helped Laorghatu in his plan to construct a new room within the Auribex House for N’urnani, but when Avki’tel and Zziuth’al came to punish them for it he chose to run from the House to escape a dreadful fate. His eldest brothers instead made his flight a part of his punishment, barring him from reentering the House and making him keep a silent, lonely vigil at the edge of the Void. He carries the Torch of Aryus (a powerful walking-staff that burns with the first flames of his youngest brother), a celestial object we know as the sun, which radiates light, warmth, and magicka into the Mundex. It is believed that the goddess Noyx (see the Keeping-Gods) is either his mistress or his wife, and she along with several star-gods of the Eithent travel beyond the boundaries of the House from time to time to share with Invighna company and N’urnani’s stories.

• Hrahndeyl | Lapis Lazuli: The Goddess of Sound, Words, Talk, and Language. As a mortal she was born Hrahanti Della’I, but upon her apotheosis she took on the name Hrahndeyl (a word from our archaic verse that means “I speak, therefore, I be”). Hrahndeyl is both the greatest Venerant (I’d advise reading the book In Veneration of our Ancestors if you wish to learn more about Echmeri saints) of my people and a birth-god as well, due to the nature of the path she took to godhood. As a finite being within N’urnani’s Theater, Hrahanti was a genius and a radical who strove to improve the Echmeri way of life but was shunned and mocked due to the risky nature of her experiments. Ultimately, she was exiled from the archipelago and spent more than twenty years exploring the world in search of the secret to life and a purpose for our people (even traveling to the Underworld, which killed a part of her soul). Hrahanti wandered so far, she wandered outside of time, resulting in P’hanoikhei becoming her mother, and when she returned from her travels she was anointed in divine language and proved her godhood by attuning the souls of my people to the Space Beyond the Auribex, something we had desperately wished to achieve. Lapis Lazuli dwells within the Pleonastic Spire, a majestic fortress and librarium in the center of the Dweech, where she advises the Council of Dull Chimes and protects our people during times of strife.

• Paeikael | Ever-Swinging Pendulum: Paeikael is one of P’hanoikhei’s oldest sons, born after Laorghatu (whose nature he compliments severely) and considered to be his ever-watchful shadow. Like his elder brothers he is what we would consider a true dragon―a deity birthed from the womb of the All-God, not one of the countless spawns of Laorghatu’s corpse-sons Akkrahz and Seiru’udac (although the latter not so much). Paeikael is the God of Balance, entrusted with the duty of maintaining the natural order of existence through acts of pestilence and misfortune by Avki’tel and Zziuth’al before they departed on their journey. Despite his overly kind nature, his patience and understanding with mortals hides a far more sinister side when faced with concepts that tip the aurbical scales too far in one direction, and many earthly spirits find his methods too harsh and uncaring. After the death of Laorghatu, Paeikael became the facilitator of space and time in the realms outside of Mundus (he was too late to stop Akkrahz and Seiru’udac from doing this within the Mundex, a great failure that almost drove him to despair).

• Kiaina | Turbulent Wind: Although many of her brethren had thought she died with the rest of their siblings when the House collapsed, the second wife of Laorghatu had in fact survived and escaped from the hellscape that is the Underworld. The goddess of the heavens, weather, and cultivation wandered the Auribex and the Mundex for untold years before she was approached by Seiru’udac, who offered her his hand in marriage. From that day forth Kiaina took on the aspects of both war and nature, incorporating the defense of earthly spirits into her sphere of power (although she was clever not to let the more demonic aspects of her husband consume her). She was the first to teach mortals the secrets of storm-tongue―an art that originated in the East, before it spread to the West and took on different shapes and forms.

• Maorai & Debalut | Sisters of Passion: Handmaidens and Sentinels of Kiaina, who gifted them seer-sight and aligned their natures to the duality of twilight. Maorai is the Goddess of Romance, Marriage, and Companionship, whose influence is prevalent during the day, and Debalut is the Goddess of Pleasure, Expression, and Emotion, whose influence is felt more during the night. Although they are delicate and lovely, you should not let these attributes fool you. For a mortal can find sentimental value in anything, not just others of their ilk for which they seek affection, and the sisters are matrons of everything that elicits positive feeling in the hearts of humans.

• Tr’eram | Master of the Broken Blade: Tr’eram has had several names he has worn throughout his long, tired existence, but he has discarded them all to keep his purity intact (his true name has become lost to all forms of life, including himself). The god of honor, determination, war, exchange, and sacrifice, he braved the depths of the Underworld in his effort to hunt down Seiru’udac. But the Ghost-God set upon him demons of betrayal, murder, and visions that waged war with him for eighty days and ninety nights. When the battle was won, Tr’eram found his being fractured. Torn. His blood had become his armor, his rage a series of broken horn-like bone, and his arm a sword that embodied his insatiable need for vengeance. Abandoning the Underworld Crusades of his younger brother Jaigorach, Tr’eram instead turned to hunting down the triune that hounded him and their children of fur and ashen skin, building magnificent armies out of children of his own.

• Jaigorach | The Last Crusader: The tale of Jaigorach is one of sadness and failure. The greatest disciple of Avki’tel, he is the god of thinking, order, calculation, and absolutes as well as a war-spirit. He led many of the birth-gods in a great battle against Akkrahz and Seiru’udac within the Underworld, but the bloody arguments proved too much a toll for Jaigorach. The insanity of the Deep drove him to madness for a time, and from those twisted thoughts was born the demon Sheu’gilag, who quickly made a mockery of everything Jaigorach protected. In order to survive, the god retreated to the endless seas of Oblivious where he could gradually restore his power. Although he vanishes from the mythic in other lands, Jaigorach’s presence is still acknowledged here in Yneslea, where he is favored by warriors and mathematicians. Mind wards are often consecrated in his name to fend off the evil influence of Sheu’gilag.

• Mystara | Lady of Tomorrow’s Blessings: Sometimes spelled Mysta'ra, and the Wife of Jaigorach. An almost dead-god, often conflated with the star-gods of Eithent that sneak out of the House to bring Invighna tales of the Mundus to dull his loneliness. She is the goddess of alleviation and hope, which complimented the hard, calculating nature of her husband. When the madness of Jaigorach gave birth to the wraith-god Sheu'gilag, the demon went on to rip her apart, leaving her in an unconscious state; her husband hid her away in his realm of Mytheria before he disappeared, so that no aspect of evil may ever find her again. Despite her physical absence, her sleeping mind still observes the world, and she is quite popular with beggars.

• Reimeloi | All There Is & Shall Be: After Invighna was barred from the House, Reimeloi took pity on him and descended from the Eithent to the Mundex, being the first to craft a torch of her own to light the way. She asked her brother what she could do to help, and he asked her to bring him something to drink to parch his dry throat. Reimeloi found water in the Mundex, born from the thoughts, dreams, and tears of the mortals and dead-gods spoken of within N’urnani’s stories, and brought him pitchers of it to satisfy his thirst for the family he had abandoned. Eventually the other, older gods found out about Reimeloi’s unsanctioned prowls but gave her their blessing instead of admonishing her (for indeed, they had forgotten that there was no substance in the Space Beyond the House). Thus, did she become the goddess of memory, water, and the oceans, otherwise known as the Blue Star.

• Axar’k | The Trick at the End: As mortals made fruit and multiplied within the Mundex, as they always do when N’urnani begins a new story, it was Axar’k who watched them carefully from a distance. He realized that if let unchecked, they would grow so plentiful and powerful that they would threaten to overrun the Auribex Theater and consume the entire House. So, he traveled to his older brother, Paeikael, and asked him for advice on this conundrum. The Green Dragon gave his younger sibling the task of making sure every story had an end, and to make sure the earthly spirits knew of this end. And so did Axar’k bring the first deaths to mortals and the world, creating souls from the energies of the Eithent and Oblivious so that we may all know some aspects of our natures, and created multiple realms within the House at the behest of his family so that these souls had a place to go after their corporeal forms wasted away. The Husband of Reimeloi, he is the god of death, the seasons, and salt (which he taught us how to use against vile spirits).

• Narhi’ma | Mamma Nama: Narhi’ma is recognized as the strongest of the keeping-gods, particularly due to her holding the greatest claim to the souls of my people (as it was her who created all the creatures of the dark, including the bats that we descend from). The goddess of carrion, entropy, the Downtrodden, and the Restless Dead, as well as the Wife of Paeikael. Upon the death of P’hanoikhei, Avki’tel and Zziuth’al explained to a young Narhi’ma the meaning of motherhood and loss, who strove to become a mother herself. She eventually lingered too long in the cellars of the House in her search for knowledge, where she encountered the decaying corpse of Laorghatu, and unleashed a part of his taint into the rest of the Auribex. Although Narhi’ma was able to contain this scuttling darkness from overtaking the Mundex, it still created a void in the Oblivious that gave birth to all sorts of dark creatures. Narhi’ma made this ancient darkness her realm, and claimed these new beasts as her children until the end of time itself.

• Noyx | Ever-Approaching Temptress: The temperamental goddess of night, mystery, shadows, and the Cunner's Fortune. The beloved sister of Paeikael and known as the Absence of Light. Noyx is one of the oldest daughters of P'hanoikhei, if not the oldest, and holds the greatest admiration for her elder brother Zziuth'al. When Invighna's Torch begins to fade, she sneaks out of the Auribex House in order to bring him a new one, a legend that inspired the first thieves of the world. Praised for her beauty and charm, Noyx uses her wiles to distract her more authoritative relatives as she plunders the House's secrets. One of these secrets, Probability, is something she is fond of bestowing to seekers such as herself (but she is a thief, after all, and is more than likely to steal it back).

• Sh'aemi | Master of the Leering Cup: All know the god of blood, alcohol, and the Heart's Indulgence, who calls himself the Warmongering Drunkard and Belly-Warmth, and finds our ability to indulge in the red drink without harm amusing. One of the younger gods, which befits his adolescent nature, but a surprisingly strong one. He brewed the first ales out of a mixture of salt, water, and embers fermented within a rusted helm, which is why heavy drink drives warriors to frenzy, and it is said that the first party was actually a fight dedicated to his name. While lethargic and hedonistic, Sh'aemi is still a god of war and tests the loyalty of soldiers with visions of dishonorable and unlawful acts. He eternally sips from a cup filled to the brim with all the spilt blood of the world, and it never empties.

• Gralmoghal | The Stone-Demon of Chains: Once, Aryus set a great stone aflame in order to warm his siblings between one of N'urnani's stories. But the flame grew too mighty despite their dousing, and eventually it cracked and gave birth to Gralmoghal. The god of power, intensity, corruption, and the Damned, who lusts over the darker aspects of our bestial nature, Gralmoghal was sent to guard the Underworld due to his incredible might and stature after Jaigorach’s Crusades ended in failure. But the whisperings of Seiru'udac caused him to develop an interest in souls, their cultivation, and their perversion. He abandons his post quite frequently in order to further his research into the nature of souls, despite its evil, in his hopes to break Laorghatu's curse. He despises dragons of all kinds due to his hatred of Akkrahz, and consumes their souls whenever he has the chance (which is why we call him the Drake-Eater).

• Akkrahz | King of Monsters: The Flesh-Dragon, Mad Riddler, and Old Smog Himself. The demon-god of eternity, plans, wyverns, and injustice who dwells within the Underworld. Akkrahz was born when Laorghatu’s heart, possessed with confusion and hatred over his own death, decided to keep beating and grew limbs of its own to ensure its survival. While he does commit deeds that benefit the world (such as fathering the four Dragon-Lords of Time, as described in Akkrahz’s Rage) and helped uplift Clan Mereth from desolation, he is still possessed by a pitiable bitterness that drives him into conflict with the other gods. After Seiru’udac taught him the art of storm-tongue he learned from Kiaina, he taught it to his children so that they, he, and his brother could win the Wars of the Underworld, but the other gods of the House enforced a stalemate instead. In retaliation, Akkrahz taught his chosen people―the elves―how to construct monumental stories that would ensure their permanency, an odd feat that had occurred in none of the worlds before; only Dwemeth declined his offer, a decision he ensured haunted them to the grave.

• Seiru’udac | Lord of No One: In comparison to his corpse-brother, Seiru’udac is oddly more benevolent (perhaps due to the gentle nature of Kiaina and her handmaidens providing some measure of peace to his soul). But he is still a wrathful god, the Essence of Mankind, and he beliefs wholeheartedly that the unjust death of his father will be rightfully atoned. Born from the largest piece of Laorghatu’s soul, Seiru’udac is the god of temporalism, ghosts, betrayal, and storm-tongue, who hoards the spirits of his followers and children in his secret realms so that he may attack the upper echelons of the Auribex House at the end of N’urnani’s stories. He is also the god of possession, a foul technique he taught many of P’hanoikhei’s children and grandchildren, and one he is keen to use so that he may pass unnoticed within the Mundex. Depending on his mood, he likes to depict himself as a ghostly warrior or a spiritual snake (but even a wraith-god can be exorcised).

• Lyednharh | The Amoral Silence: The less I speak about this god the better, as he―like Hrahndeyl―is a fragment of Echmeri culture given divinity. When Hrahndeyl got ensnared by the tortuous depravities of the Underworld, it tore pieces of herself away. Parts of her troubled mind, of her weary soul, became consumed by the malevolent energies of Laorghatu and took on a life of their own, becoming the god of silence Lyednharh (a word that means, ‘desist speaking, cease to be’). Although Lyednharh claims to be trying to help our people, we must be wary of him; the gifts he bestows upon us (like silence magic) are dangerous and easily corruptible. He seeks not peace but complete and utter control over every aspect of the Echo Folk and will never stop his efforts to achieve that. He is also known to speak of heresies revolving around his and Hrahndeyl’s true relationship with one another, but do not believe them. He is called the Greatest Deceiver for a reason.

• Duiiad’al, Jasihai, & Teshi’raki-ral | The Gerents of Time: Although Akkrahz is the god of time, he is often a fickle and destructive deity whose machinations often cause more harm than good in the Mundex for mortals. He is, however, aware of his maddening state and had children with ancient, mortallic goddesses of the land so that they may assert dominance and control over his more malicious feats. Duiiad’al is the god of drakes and the end of time, who eats the worldly songs of N’urnani that Aryus doesn’t burn so that new ones can be sung. Jasihai is the goddess of jills and loss time, whose duty is to fix the errors created within the Auribex House when Sheu’gilag’s Curse takes considerable hold on her father’s mind. And Teshi’raki-ral is the god of khimeras and time-yet-to-come, who travels beyond what his father can see to defeat the tenebrous creatures that would bring harm to the worlds of mortals. Although the Gerents were never traditionally worshipped outside of some strange hermetic groups, iconography depicting them can be found in ancient Nemer temples to Akkrahz and on idols constructed by the Deepseekers around Portentous Whelm.

• Carugharughurac | Cradler of the Earth: When Akkrahz, the Father of Monsters and dragon-god of time, made love with the oceans of the world in order to claim them as a “bride”, their union brought a race of dragon-kin that would never reach the status and privilege of the jills, drakes, and khimeras above―sea serpents. Except for one, however, as the status of firstborn is metaphysically important in regards to every marriage in the Auribex House; this firstborn was Carugharughurac, the god of drowning, sadness, tsunamis, and forgotten time. Carugharughurac is the greatest of the sea serpents, as well as being the first hydra (a type of sea creature with nine, intelligent heads and possessing great magical capability), except he has twenty-five heads in comparison to the nine heads of his children. Despite his fearsome appearance and powers, the hydra-god is actually rather benevolent and trustworthy, as he is the one that remembers everything that everyone else residing in the Auribex House forgets about, and he too hates his father just as much as his older siblings Duiiad’al, Jasihai, and Teshi’raki-ral. According to his own admission when sought out, he is so large that his body wraps around Nirn three times (although he can alter his size, when he feels like it). It is rumored that the Young God of Yaan’denae made a mysterious pact with Carugharughurac that gave him his reversive form of immortality at the start of this latest iteration of the mortal story.

• Haerokii | Spear of the Heavens: The son of Laorghatu and Yra'fenna, who escaped his parents' doom. Also known as the Antlered Drake, who runs around in pelts to hide his presence from his corpse-uncle Akkrahz. He is the god of metamorphosis, hunting and gathering, and the primal instinct of all living things. Back in the ancient days, his worship and recognition were popular until the Li'kaan Crusades that ended the harsh rule of the Cakaphon Dynasty. Now, only ranger guilds and beastmasters can be found acknowledging him openly through charms and regulated rites of passage. Commonly associated with the moons, as N'urnani gave them to him so he could guard the eternal epitaphs of his parents; he honors the anniversary of their deaths with the Great Hunt, as a celebration of the fruit that is mortality, and signifies it by turning the lunar red.

• Dru-A’gaa | Petal-Queen of Heirac: As described in the book Hrahanti’s Many Mentors, the eponymous ever-wandering scholar (in the years before her apotheosis) spent time in the western land of Ta’dastan and encountered many strange, divine powers and spirits. Once she returned from her voyages as the goddess Hrahndeyl, she shared stories of these foreign beings with her people and some of them became quite popular for a time. Dru-A’gaa was a star-god that abandoned the heavens to help cultivate the earth, becoming the goddess of flowers, gardens, and the essence of spring who served as the chief handmaiden of Yra’fenna. Haerokii was enamored with her and the two of them traveled the Auribex House frequently. Unfortunately, after the death of Yra’fenna and Laorghatu, Dru-A’gaa became tragically ill and her form slowly turned to stone as a manifestation of her heartache. Haerokii honored her by placing her stilled form within a peaceful grove of his favored hunting grounds, and taught mortals the art of sculpting so that she could see through the eyes of the statues placed in their gardens and admire their beauty. During the Great Hunts, Dru-A’gaa is said to return to normal and accompanies Haerokii in his search for interesting game.

• Iridieen | Charioteer of the Light: The result of a fleeting tryst between Invighna and his mistress Noyx, and one of the ateda known collectively as the star-gods (possibly being the strongest of them). Birth-Mother of Baracalis, the Wishmaster and Spirit-Gambler, and Foster-Mother of Le’pergon, who she nurtured after finding him orphaned in an abandoned world. In the old tales, it is unclear if she is the sole spouse of Gralmoghal or if she is his greatest enemy (although in some of these tales, both interpretations are equally valid). She is the goddess of constellations, greed, wealth, and the purification of foul spirits (which is why exorcists often emblazon their tools with hymns and symbols relating to her). The Cakaphon Dynasty might have suffered the loss of Haerokii, but they ensured the damnation of Iridieen’s worship by forcing her Incandescent Wanderers to reveal her Assault on the Firmament, which led to their public executions during the Great Drownings.

• Baracalis | Riddler of the Caves (Birth-God): It is said that in the olden days when the Mundex was still new and the Dreaming Sleeve had yet to activate, Iridieen (whose hoarding knew no limits) spirited away the souls of the fallen from the Death God and organized them in her Luminous Halls. Gralmoghal, who wished to use these souls for his experiments, demanded them from her and so Iridieen offered him a deal—if the Drake-Eater could seize her before the sun went down, she would give them to him. And so did Iridieen flee across the Eithent, aloft on an emerald bird, but at the end of her journey laid a smug and irritated Gralmoghal, who had cheated his way through eternity to make it to the end of time. The result of their union was the god Baracalis, who inherited his mother’s greedy nature and his father’s interest in souls. While a fun god (as he is the god of games, jests, deals, and wishes), he is more than naught a cruel god (as he is also the god of sacrifice, debt, contracts, and equivalent exchange) who will stop at nothing to receive his earned due. Signs of Baracalis and his faithful Hound are usually avoided at all costs outside of betting houses, where the phrase “baracaline gambit” is uttered quite often.

• Le’pergon | Blade of Disaster: The four-armed god of radicals and cataclysm was originally not of this world, having been a simple spirit that wished only to help those around him. When N’urnani’s tale of his world came to an end, Le’pergon was spurred on by Seiru’udac to plead with the end-god Duiiad’al so that his realm could be spared from the Eating; Duiiad’al almost agreed until he saw the chuckling figure of his corpse-uncle behind Le’pergon, and in his fury ate Le’pergon whole. Although the child survived, the otherworldly insides of the end-god had disfigured him badly and left him with a twisted view of protecting the worlds that came after—he would destroy them before Duiiad’al could get the chance to consume them. Armed with the Knife of Names gifted to him by his caretakers, he continues to wage war in the heavens and will not stop until mortal-kind is “liberated”. His complete disregard for societal norms always left him an ill-figure amongst the Echmer, but he is often quoted by revolutionists and agents of change.

• Tjalon | Ever-Approaching-Conquest: An outsider-god (a term suffragans and diocesans use to refer to a god that emerged seemingly from nowhere), whose presence was first witnessed by the Deaf-Seer Belu Wu’hon in the late First Era. When Belu was crucified by a sect of hedge-mages dedicated to the wraith-god Seiru’udac, the prophet laughed a deep and disturbing laugh and told them: “soon will come the day the ground will shudder and quake, the sky will turn red, and the golden virus of the Last Heart-Kings will break the neck of your laughable god with the tip of a vengeful blade. Soon will come Tjalon, divine crystalline, and he will come for you.” Beyond this, not much else is known of Tjalon, other than the fact he is referred to as the “coming god of new ages, of righteous betrayal, and of the dragon’d moon” by self-proclaimed wise men and wild-beggars.

• Aelivaem | The Drowsy Omen: The goddess of sleep, dreams, absentmindedness, nightmares, and visions. She is the wife of Sh’aemi (for alcohol dulls the senses, and invites her embrace) and Noyx’s favorite little sister (as the darkness of the night serves as perpetual lullaby to the minds of mortals). Once, when N’urnani was telling a story Aelivaem grew upset when her favored character was excluded from the performance and got into a fight with her sister. This caused the story to become too malleable, too unstable, and it dripped into an incomprehensible mush of liquid words and metaphorical fluids. Stealing this bizarre mixture away, Aelivaem coveted and used it to create stories of her own that could be told at any time, and these stories became the sweet dreams and night terrors mortals experience upon rest. While puppetry magic is often associated with N’urnani, its darker aspects are associated with Aelivaem (for better or worse), and determined individuals can learn to make powerful charms with them at the risk of their health.

• Sheu’gilag | Fool of the House (Wraith-God): The Random God, to whom the curse of unadulterated insanity belongs to and is unhesitant in preying on the minds of the young and old alike. His very existence advocates its own deprecation. When the horrors of the Underworld and its encroachment on the Dreaming Sleeve took its toll on Jaigorach, the depraved thoughts of his mind giggled and ripped its way out of his head to the utter disgust of the other Spirits of the House. Sheu'gilag's essence left him hated by all of his "kin", Akkrahz and Seiru'udac included, and his attempted murder of Mystara earned him the righteous fury of the star-gods that will stalk him to the end of time. It is wise to ignore him and not speak his name, for it is him who looks at the constant whirlpool of turmoil that is the Auribex and somehow finds a way to jeer at it all.

• Magomak | The Planarian Curse: Magomak was once a mer of Ta’dastan (Tamriel) in ages long since passed. While born with natural talent in the arts of sorcery, he was but one in a numerous cabal of the most skilled and powerful mages of the continent, and as an all-consuming envy started to slowly devour his heart so did Magomak grow increasingly discontent with his position in life. His heart darkening to those around him, the sorcerer turned to the subtle arts peddled by Gralmoghal in an attempt to curry favor and power with the first spirits. His efforts were thwarted time after time by the divine laws of Axar’k, however. Jealous of that god’s dominion over life and death as only a mortal could be, Magomak sought countless ways to topple the God of Death. At first, he furthered aligned himself with Gralmoghal in an attempt to gain greater power, but his subsequent act of betrayal against his divine master could not go unpunished, and so did Gralmoghal torture Magomak for centuries outside of time before casting him out of Oblivious to wander the Mundex once more. But then came the Fourth Awakening of Zaer’roh, whose presence drove Akkrahz into such a frenzy the Mad Dragon split time into three. Magomak used this untime to his advantage, manipulating godly energy across broken timelines until he accumulated enough that when the julls restored the world’s story, he had ascended. Now known as Magomak the Thriceborn, God of Undeath, he reshaped himself into a great lunar cog that fell deep into the Lullaboros, corrupting even more the design of Axar’k’s great machine.

• Fieo-lai | Lady at the Crossroads: When the realm known as the Weir willed itself into existence by happenstance, none of the ateda or numeda of the House wanted to deal with it. It’s intersticial nature was confusing, even for gods such as them, and those that did attempt it were often shunted by accident to various parts of the multiverse. It was then that wise Paeikael, who knew much in the ways of balance, sought out the quietest of his sisters―the young Fieo-lai. Despite being a goddess Fieo-lai was also incredibly shy and fearful of the company of others, as she blamed the togetherness of the House for the deaths of the All-Goddess, Laorghatu, and several of her other siblings. Although she disliked the loneliness sometimes, she also wished to observe the actions of the other gods from a distance, so when the Green Dragon came to her, she was undeniably skeptical of his plan (but she listened to it out of love). Paeikael told Fieo-lai that if she took up custody of the Weir, she would never have to worry about being around others, and she wouldn’t lose the privilege to interact with the rest of the House; she would become an important facilitator within the Auribex while still being largely anonymous to the material realms. Agreeing to this position, Fieo-lai became the goddess of portals, teleportation, doors, crossings, and decision-making that lives in a common palace within the Weir. She is believed to have had dozens of children with other beings, which doesn’t match her description in most tales as an elusive deity who intentionally avoids mortals and immortals outside of the rare occurrence.

• Shoen & Shien | Treaters of the Dead: Shoen, the god of burials, and Shien, the goddess of cremation, are two of the three children born to Axar’k and Reimeloi upon the completion of the artificial realm of souls. Originally without purpose, the two wandered the Auribex House as a duo for countless generations until their aunt N’urnani and uncle Aryus offered them the lunar memorials of Laorghatu and Yra’fenna as their spheres of influence. Skeptical of their own self-worth but overjoyed at the opportunity to prove their usefulness to the House, they accepted their duties seriously and watched over the moons for eons until they were visited by the early Muon’merith of Ta’dastan, before their breaking into two tribes from one. The Muon’merith, terrified that death was now a permanent state for them, wished to ask these two death-gods for advice on what to do with the mortal form once the soul left it (as that had never been an issue before!). Shoen, who spoke to those that would become the Muon’kai, suggested that they should return the bodies of their fallen to the earth in order to demonstrate their love for the material realms. Shien, on the other hand, spoke to those that would become the Mereth and asked them why wouldn’t they burn the corpses of their loved ones, to fulfill their communal desires to be free of the material realms? And it was with this exchange that the moons and their attendants came to embody the Kingdoms of Men and the Dynasties of Elves, respectively, until the end of time.

• Earena | Scourge of the Seas: Mere decades after the Tsaesci and the Kamal laid siege to the Yneslean archipelago (which permanently alerted the growing Echmeri civilization to the negatives of the Greater World), a newer threat emerged in the Padomaic Ocean―the pirate-queen Earena of Yaan’denae (the Ek’hi terminology for Pyandonea). Earena had been born inherently fortunate and powerful due to being one of the nine Brine-Princesses born of the Young God of Yaan’denae, but she desperately craved the immortality her father fiercely denied her. Taking to the oceans, which she loved more than anything, she attacked foreign port after port until the legend of the Ageless Wellspring reached her ears. Earena hunted the Wellspring for decades, as it was rumored that the constantly shifting relic had been a gift given to the material realms by the gods, and whomever drank from its waters would gain their own divinity. Her journey ended in In’eslae, where she fought her way through the cliffside temple constructed around the relic by the local villagers. But the temple’s archmagister sought to foil the foreigner’s plot, and trigged a magical earthquake that caused the building and everything in it to fall to the salty waters below. Yet clever Earena did not die, for as the Wellspring’s water entered the sea she drank heavily in the throes of suffocation, and three days later resurfaced as a deity. Now the goddess of piracy, treasure-hunting, and the high seas, Earena sails the realms of the multiverse in an eternal search for wealth; finally free of every sovereignty aside from her own.

• N’otorgo | Faster Than the Wind: N’otorgo is the god of couriers, deliveries, constant physical movement, and the passing of information, who runs so fast that not even time and space can approach his pace. The matter of N’otorgo’s parentage can be confusing to some, as although his father is Aryus and his mother is Kiaina, he has a second mother in the goddess Fieo-lai (it’s left unclear if she’s truly his second mother in a “blood” relationship sense or if her parental duties are more adoptive in nature). Nevertheless, N’otorgo is the Messenger of the Gods and the Father of Hyperactivity―modern-day dragomer, who are descended from ancient Nemeric oracles ordained in N’otorgo’s name, still possess precognitive texts that state that if he ever ceases his runs than Nirn itself will freeze still and fall from the Mundus. N’otorgo is traditionally depicted in Echmeri art and puppet theater as one of the few deities who chooses to manifest as completely inhuman, being described as an abstruse fiery storm that phases in and out of the House on a whim.

• Raen-N’tai | Planter of the Seed: A god that saw a limited resurgence of reverence in the West underneath the simplified name of Raen before said worship fell to more popular deities like Z’en and Zenithar. Raen-N’tai is the god of agriculture, of the scythe, and of the fertility of the earth and of the flesh. He is both the brother and son of Maorai & Debalut, born from their union shortly after they first set sole on the new dirt of N’uan (Nirn), and emerged from their shared wombs with a great scythe formed from the living spine of a great dragon. Noticing the barren wastelands of the world he traveled from nymph to nymph, beast to beast, and god to god collecting the cores of fruits and vegetables and helped spread greenery across the Mundex alongside the other disciples of Yra’fenna, which is why he is counted amongst their number. Also known as the Lustful Harvester, Raen-N’tai can be found in the company of bountiful mortals and spirits across existence when he’s not fulfilling his duties as the Divine Farmer.

• Sh’andara | Avenging Spirit of Victory: A genderless war god that once hailed from the plane of Oblivious, and who was subsequently exiled by the gods and spirits of those realms due to their unfortunate decisions; Shandar is this deity’s name in their more masculine aspect, and one more well-known in the Western Hemisphere (even if it has faded over time) of the World. Sh’andara is the god of victory, soldiers, martial discipline, familiarity between ranks, and the Kyn (the species of numeda (lesser spirit) that is more popularly known as the Dremora). They had served the chaos gods unswervingly for countless eons with the armies they loved like family, and wanted nothing more than to be of use to their brothers and sisters within the Auribex House. But when Shandar temporarily disappeared from the mythic, everything changed. The original spirits were frightened that Sh’andara had been devoured by the Tenebrous God, or had gotten lost in the treacherous Shadow Realms. The ateda waited and pondered until Sh’andara finally returned, but when they did, they had drastically changed; the war god was now solemn, weak, remorseful, and anxious about conflict. Eventually Shandar called a meeting with the most powerful of P’hanoikhei’s children to discuss something (apparently) serious, but the discussion had been so blasphemous, so sinful, that they were told by their brethren to leave the immaterial planes and never return. Cast out from the heavens, the Echmeri account of Sh’andara’s fate discusses them wandering the material realms of the Mundex as a pacifistic ronin armed with a wooden sword, whose strides constantly takes them outside the reach of their Dremora children.

• Ama’leisea, Seitusal, & Vei-Vaak | Demon-Lords of Usurpation: Of all the provinces of Tamriel that the Echmer speak about in their earliest legends (either acquired from Clan Noraken, passed down to them from Hrahndeyl, or beaten out of passing pirates and invaders), it is Morrowind (known to them as Vel’dayn) that features the most. And this makes sense, for that is the homeland of the Deep Elves and their most hated enemies the Chimer, whose hatred for one another would eventually lead to the chain of events that would lead to the birth of the bat elves as a race. Shortly after the Disappearance of the Dwarves and the paralysis of Zaer’roh, the great Chimer king Neirev’n prayed to the three Sisters of Destiny―Asaria, Mena-Faham, and O’ithea―for the wisdom and power to lead his people. But when the sisters came to the Mundex, his brothers and sisters slew them with profane tools, and whispered heretical words drenched in betrayal to usurp their godly powers as their own; the deities known as Ama’leisea, Seitusal, and Vei-Vaak had been born. With powerful mnemonic sorcery did they unbind Neirev’n’s soul and life from N’urnani’s story (effectively erasing him from normal existence), and took the land of Vel’dayn as their own. Hrahndeyl, during her time as a mortal, traveled to Vel’dayn and learned many things from these Demon-Lords (although she had to sacrifice a part of herself as payment for each lesson). Ama’leisea is the goddess of lust, arrogance, and backwards thinking; Seitusal is the god of introvertism, tinkering, and forwards thinking; and Vei-Vaak is the god of lyrical expression, two-tongues, and present thinking.