Divinity within the Bestial - Servitude Uncovered

Divinity within the Bestial - Servitude Uncovered is a book discovered in the tunnels beneath The Pathmaker.

## Description

Bound in a tanned green leather covered in depictions of a wide variety of creatures, Divinity within the Bestial appears to be a philosphical text of sorts, discussing the appearance of lesser gods found in Ahlus, as well as their potential connections to the greater forces ever-present.

## Research

### Completed by Bren

Those that do not embrace the Ahlusian Pantheon freely are often unified by means of defining features. First and foremost is usually an isolation from conventional ways of living, either by means indirect through cultural histories, or directly due to geographical distance. The vast expanses of Halholm lack in civilisation for all but a few weeks every decade, and so consideration of more paganist beliefs are ever-prevalant, albeit centred around the figure for which the lands are named. In Courrakey and Lylcairn, spirits of the wilds are held in high esteem, every blessing or hex the will of a woodland creature. Some may scoff when they hear that the folks occupying the waters of the Cobalt Sea that do trade along the southern coast of Ahlus revere beings that manifest as a shark, sunfish or lobster - but is this truly a far cry from the manifestations of the Sixteen? Caihrnn is known to take the form of a giant crab, Ilemer a golden winged serpent. Further still, is it possible that these lesser beings seen as backwards and uncivilised are merely those in service of the Sixteen, created and chosen to watch over places further afield in their stead?

There appears to be further credit to this theory, first pioneered by philosopher and theologist Galthas Bittleroot, suggesting a number of familial relationships that unify the Sixteen with these other beings of lesser renown. The Wellspring Mare, a fey spirit that often takes the form of a dappled blue-green horse, shares an overlap in teachings both maternal and conservationist, suggesting a link between both the High-Mother and the Lord in the Quiet Places. Eorr, the Bather of Gills, overlaps significantly with the domains and portfolio of Veth, with the majority of Merfolk believing that Eorr was grown by the Pathmaker by means of a monstrous oyster, the Bather of Gills hatching from the subsequent pearl as if it was an egg. Conversely, the Hadean Tide with which the four major communities of merfolk and other affable aquatic races quarrel hold onto the belief that Carcharadon is a creation of Ophidian, commanding the shark god to claim dominion of the oceans in his name while he instead focused on more subtle efforts elsewhere.

It should be noted that while the heirarchy of lesser deities scattered throughout Ahlusian cultures, societies and settlements suggests an inferior power of such beings, these entities - whether they are truly individuals, or instead rather manifestations of particular aspects of the Principal Sixteen or the Malign - are still capable of immense power. They should not be confused with the Exarchs, which also serve as servants to the gods, but possess a fraction of the power of even the lowliest of true deities, although can instead be sometimes comparable to a corporeal avatar of a deity.