I-Uahar Aynah'ray Haray

i-Uahar Aynah'ray Haray (Or: Aynah'ray, or: Haray. Also in modern times refered to demeaningly as Rampage) is the "Red Stripped Mare" the traditional war god of the Hamalfite pantheon pre-Celestial Cult. Haray is the patron diety for the warriors and the nobility and has thus sometimes been attributed as well to trans-tribal or trans-national politics. On more primitive functions she may represent the hunt as per the traditional rolls of dedicated warriors acting as hunters in peace.
Worship of Aynah'ray is predominately focused on the eight month of the traditional thirteen month Hamalfite calender.
==Origins==
Worship of i-Uahar Aynah'ray Haray is dated back several millennium. In particular to the legendary tribe known as the Uahshar who ruled over the vast south of the continent. According to legends it was said the Uahshar took as a sigil a bloodied zebra. To the tribe, it was believed the endurance of the zebra and their reported ferocity was an inspiration to their tribes men. In particular those that attempted to domesticate the wild beasts, though no attempts clearly stuck.
The spread of their symbol as worship to their venerated father spread in the gradual mixing of the pre-Hamalfite peoples through tribal allegiences or even military campaigns against one or another. Over time the gender of the Uahshar father shifted to a feminine one and took on the form of a goddess. Though associations with the bloodied zebra remained, it was no longer viewed as strictly male and the mainstream view of the Goddess is that it is a zebra mare; even among the priests and the scholars part of the cult.
Haray's jurisdiction over warfare also evolved to create a loose set of doctrinal traditions in combat. Particularly reverence to fight in the evening or early morning when the sun is the most red. Or in respect to honorable duels as a means to settling affairs or even to close a battle before it begins. Often times in the most fundamentalist ranks gladiatorial competitions may be made in her honor: though such public shows are banned in the Caliphate on order of the Magi of the Celestial Cult.
===Dietific Origins===
In the celestial existence the poems dedicated to Aynah'ray speak of her being born from the burst of the stars across the universe by C'lestia and L'wna coming into existence. At such a moment the light pierced the arteries of darkness spilling its blood, and mixing with the magic of the stars.
On the rain that fell on the world the blood pooled into puddles or diffused across the emptiness of the universe. Of such a pool came a thirsty horse, or zebra who in desperation and in fleight from lions drank the blood. Invigorated by the energies the animal's wounds healed and it became infused with energy and immortality and wisdom. In slaying its pursuers it was contacted by the celestial body of L'wna and invited to Heaven where it became more enlightened outside of its physical form and came to exist as a god.
Though minor in power in comparison to the many higher beings that had come before it, Aynah'ray grew in strength on the creation of conflict which it studied with great intensity. It came to understand conflict as something more complex than predation and recognized the possibility of armed, social, and tribal struggle as merely not "seeking and fleeing" but "approaching, challenging, meeting, overcoming, and incorporating". Approaching the First Men she met with the fathers of the Hamalfite and taught the man named Uashar how to overcome his enemies and not only hold his property and women, but to obtain more.
==Worship==
Like many Hamalfite deities i-Uahar Aynah'ray Haray doesn't have a well defined, centralized worship practice. Though shrines to her exist throughout Hamalfite lands or Hamalfite influenced lands their roll isn't strictly defined or practiced, often leading to such places being small. Though limited in use there are a few rituals which may be practiced in sight of a shrine, or within. Of particular:
*The commemoration of a warrior: Those that are bound to the traditional allegiances may approach the shrines of Haray to seek a life-long blessing for combat. Often with prayer, the would-be warrior is anointed with lamb's blood as a priming for feeling the blood of a man, or even his own blood on his flesh. Otherwise, he may choose to be cast to fight in a melee for twelve hours or until collapse; after which he is taken, healed, and blessed with his experience.
* Duels: Through Hamalfite history duels have often be the decider in a number of matters, whether until blood or onto death. Often i-Uahar Aynah'ray Haray's name is invoked in offering a challenge and likewise in receiving. It's considered an insult to yourself, your challenger, and the God to refuse and to not proclaim a location. If and when available a shrine is often preferred for the challenge to be held in or in sight of. Greater glory and guidance in the afterlife is believed to occur to the loser in such an event he dies in sight of the shrine.
As well, marriage may be conducted in Haray's honor in which case it is often said in the ritual the husband is not only taking a woman as his wife but the Aynah'ray. Marriages between tribal and clan elder's daughters and sons are often done in Aynah'ray's name.
==Icon==
i-Uahar Aynah'ray Haray is commonly depicted as being a zebra with red or bloodied stripes, as per her avatar. Often times this depiction includes the display of taxidermied Zebra hides or heads adorned with decorative elements. More abstractly representation revolves around the geometric use of reds and whites arranged with "broken lines".
More simply, the Evening Sun has been used to depict her. In addition to the sword, the spear head and the arrow tip. Depiction of such must always be pointed outwardly on the sharpened edge as a sign of offensiveness against one's enemies, or defensiveness against one's foes. To turn the points inwards is an offensive against her as it depicts treachery and betrayal: her antithesis and often considered a symbol for Basdar, or Treachery.
Physical depictions of the Goddess are not unheard of and often times statues or paintings may be found depicting her as literally a horse in armor, or a woman of red-skin ready for war. Such iconography is regarded as being a left over from a time when many women - third or fourth born daughters - may have served their shiekhs as warriors; or when the ancient priests and priestesses were highly feared warriors.
Category:New Voldrania Category:Haisonuuna Category:Religion