Klakelaya

**Klakelaya** is the Aran'khutu god of water, marine life, and the mortal afterlife. She is the daughter of Mytori and Arjolas as well as the mother of To'hkadma, Mo'thagrah, Motu'o, Thralzedar, and Entame. Despite being the creator of humanity, she is hotheaded and petulant, which often puts her at odds with other gods.

## Appearance

Klakelaya is always depicted as a tall, slender mature woman. Her features, including her hair and clothes, are always long, wavy, and flowing like water. She often wears a long-sleeved dress with a slight train trailing behind her. The color varies, but it is most often dark blue or purple.

Her colors vary depending on the region. More realistic depictions will give her mid-toned skin and dark, almost black, hair. Fantastical depictions paint her light blue with seaweed green hair. Most, if not all, depictions gave her pale yellow eyes and golden accessories.

## Personality

Klakelaya holds a deep passion for her role as a goddess and caretaker. She constantly thinks about the lives she created and how she can give them everything they need and deserve. She dotes upon those in her care, whether they be her children or humanity, but she is careful not to spoil them. She is stern toward those who need strict guidance, and many fear pushing her sternness to its limits.

Klakelaya is infamous for having highly sensitive emotions. Due to the intense emotions surrounding her creation, she feels everything very strongly, positive or negative. While this includes her aforementioned passion and love, it also results in her having a quick temper that sparks violent impulses within her. Though she learned to better control her behavior over time, her contrarian attitude toward her fellow gods gives her a reputation as an instigator. Despite this, her appreciation and love make her attuned to everyone's needs, and she is widely considered one of the fiercest protectors in the Aran'khutu.

## Duties

Klakelaya rules over the ocean that supposedly takes up the majority of Kentotra's surface area, particularly the undersea kingdom where mortals spend their afterlives. She governs the kingdom with the help of her granddaughter Jolakiet and her many coral spirits, the latter of whom also alert her to changes in climate, species populations, and human involvement. She will intervene in extreme cases of blasphemy or endangerment, but she leaves most minor cases to the coral spirits. She also plays a key role in the creation of weather, moving her ocean water to the sky where Olakoye purifies it to produce rain.

## Myths

### Creation of Kentotra

When Arjolas and Mytori saw the world created by Olakoye and Kotamotu, they were filled with passion and a longing to be a part of this new and exciting prospect. However, their creations only had a temporary effect on the land, and they lamented having no lasting contributions to make. When Mazakyel struggled to grow her plants beyond a certain point, Arjolas and Mytori's respective fire and ice abilities only destroyed her hard work. They realized their current powers were too destructive for their friends' creation, and they needed an element in between their current ones to better benefit the world-- or at the very least, not damage it. Unfortunately for them, the energy they would have to expend to make enough for the world requires touching each other and painfully sacrificing their physical bodies. Realizing this would also produce a child, they lamented missing out on the chance to raise a family. Eventually accepting their decision, they embraced the planet and reduced themselves to mist that fell onto the planet and created water. From this fusion of their attributes was born Klakelaya and the waters she rules.

### Creation of Humanity

Though Olakoye and Kotamotu hoped to raise their friends' daughter alongside their own children, Klakelaya was a rebellious child who spent most of her time alone at the bottom of the ocean. The intense love for Kentotra present at her birth gave her strong emotions and a quick temper. Jealous of the plant-life created by Mazakyel on the surface, Klakelaya sought to make life of her own that was far more complex and impressive. She soon developed her own ability to make life, though the plants and creatures she created could only survive underwater. Even so, she rubbed her new skill in Mazakyel's face, claiming her ability was superior because of the time and effort she dedicated to developing it. This bragging resulted in a millennia-long feud between the two goddesses. They competed against each other by creating new organisms and improving upon the ones they had already made, resulting in evolution. Sometimes, however, their harsh words would turn to violent blows, resulting in mass extinctions either due to unnecessary aggression from one goddess or another god requiring drastic measures to intervene. As such, Klakelaya and Mazakyel were not allowed in each other's domains except in the case of an emergency.

Despite this conflict, Klakelaya's water proved vital for maintaining the planet. Olakoye purified it to create rain for Mazakyel's plants, and later animals, to survive and thrive. Kotamotu used it to erode rock and earth to more easily forge mountains, valleys, and caves. When Klakelaya was in a good mood, she revealed her innovative and passionate nature, constantly thinking about what the world lacked and how to provide it. With this mindset, she realized the gods may not be well-suited to work on some of the finer details of Kentotra. They may need extra sets of hands to accomplish this... smaller, mortal hands.

Over time, Klakelaya privately worked on a creature she planned to be just as innovative as the gods. After much experimentation, she finally completed humanity, a diverse group of aquatic primates formed in the gods' image. The other gods were impressed by her creations, but Mazakyel grew envious. Klakelaya twisted the knife by bragging about her humans, claiming Mazakyel's land was unfit for her precious creations to thrive. The only exception was Ro'Gathmu, the first human to set foot onto land. As he found happiness in the forest with Mazakyel, Klakelaya allowed him to follow his heart.

However, Klakelaya was woken up by her coral spirits one day and was told all her humans were missing. She frantically searched and found them on the island shore, where Mazakyel was teaching them how to survive on land, having very obviously stolen them. Klakelaya burned with fury. In a fit of rage, she threw her ocean onto the land in giant waves, crashing down into the forest and knocking down trees in their wake. Though she was careful not to hit any humans, she destroyed much of the land they would have called home. Go'Shrahd's attempt to calm her only fueled her anger. She whipped around, grabbed Go'Shrahd's eyes, and ripped them out. Her intense emotions imbued the severed eyes with her divine power, fertilizing them like egg cells. She threw the eyes into the sky, where they germinated into the sun and moon, To'hkadma and Mo'thagrah.

Only through hearing the many cries around her-- her terrified humans, her newborn twins, Go'Shrahd in agony-- did Klakelaya finally calm down. Upon realizing the destruction she'd caused, she wept, further flooding the coastline with her ocean water. This time, it was safe for Olakoye to come down and comfort the young goddess... followed by doling out the harshest scolding she could muster and rushing to her son's aid.

After a long meeting with the other gods, Klakelaya was forced to accept shared guardianship with the humans between all the other gods, only being able to fully watch over them when their deceased spirits traveled back down to the ocean floor. Though this pained her, she realized this was necessary to end the constant conflict. Go'Shrahd, still angry from being blinded and forced into fatherhood before he was ready, reluctantly agreed on split custody for their children. Klakelaya focused her time on being a doting yet stern mother, instilling the discipline she wished she had accepted in her youth.

### The Ascension of Jolakiet

Klakelaya's involvement in this myth stays toward the latter half of the narrative. She knew nothing of Thralzedar's biological daughter until Motu'o informed her of the situation. Disappointed by her son's coldness, Klakelaya secretly arrived at his temple to see Jolakiet still struggling with the riddle she was given. With a gentle murmur in the young woman's ear, Klakelaya reminded her of her horrific rampage that ended the conflict of human ownership. She admitted to Jolakiet her shame in letting her hatred toward Mazalyel overwhelm her good sense. Leaving Jolakiet to piece her answer together, she scolded Thralzedar for his methods. She tells him that no child should ever have to endure a "worthiness" test to earn their parents' attention. She had no qualms with him being a distant figure, but she told him that learning more about the emotional weight of the situation would benefit him and Jolakiet dearly. Klakelaya then left them both to work out their differences, opting to watch them both more closely to see how their relationship progressed. This is how she learned of Jolakiet's blunt but sound judgment skills that would benefit Klakelaya greatly in the future.

It would only take five years for Klakelaya to reapproach Jolakiet. The torment of her human spirits had been an ongoing issue since the creation of the undersea kingdom, but it was becoming harder and harder to keep the peace between them. Klakelaya asked Jolakiet to visit the kingdom and help restore peace. She was sad to see so many spirits cast into the darkest depths of the ocean, lamenting their inability to change their ways. However, upon seeing how much happier and peaceful the remaining spirits were, she knew Jolakiet had made the right decision. As such, she gave her Aran'uvum and the position as the judge of the dead.

Klakelaya's motherly side is on full display in this myth, guiding both her son and granddaughter in different ways to help them become better people. With the wisdom of her past mistakes, she helps her granddaughter avoid the path of vengeance she once took.

### The Reign of Chaos

Klakelaya only appears near the end of this myth, where she is summoned to her temple by Go'Shrahd to help him get back to their divine realm. She was horrified to learn that Mo'thagrah may be in danger, and she rushed with Go'Shrahd to find her. The sight of Esthra'ag hovering over her daughter with a dagger sent her into a rage. She viciously beat the newly immortal man, using her water to slam him against the ground until she realized in horror that he would not die. She resolved to merely restrain him and comfort Mo'thagrah until the other gods could come to take him away.

## Worship

All Kentotrans knew the myth of their marine ancestry, and they revered Klakelaya for their creation. They celebrated a holiday during the summer, Origins Day, devoted to the ocean. The beaches were often packed during this day as Kentotrans feasted on rare seafood and painted gills on each other's necks. Sailors and fishers would call upon her for calm waters and bountiful catches. It was a common belief that polluting or otherwise disrespecting the sea would anger Klakelaya, causing great waves that would wreck one's boat in an instant. Common offerings included washed up sea plants, coral, and other undersea objects. There was once a time when Klakelaya would receive the remains of fish and other undersea creatures from fishers' catches, but that did not last long after the stench of rotting seafood grew unbearable.

Due to her role in watching over deceased human spirits in her underwater kingdom, many prayed to her to protect their lost loved ones and grant them a peaceful afterlife. Families who recently lost a family member sometimes placed a copper pendant or seashell at her altar to grant their loved one safe passage, taking it back two weeks later when the deceased soul was guaranteed to have been sorted into the afterlife. Though The Day of Life and Death was mainly Go'Shrahd's holiday, she received some prayers on that day, as well.

Despite this widespread reverence, more devout followers of her and Mazakyel often argue whether or not she had the right to keep her sole guardianship over humanity. Arguments in Klakelaya's favor acknowledged the fact that she created humanity in the first place and would not have lashed out at Mazakyel had the latter not stolen her creations. However, the majority of the population saw the fault on both sides and did not engage.