Religion

The people across the Western Peaks and Shenvah are polytheistic, believing in the existence of many goddesses and gods. The people may choose to focus their favor on one god in particular, or, most commonly, they spread their practice in the honor of many deities.

In general, while the peoples of the Western Peaks pay respect to the deities, it is mostly out of the knowledge that the deities are so much greater, larger, and more powerful than they are. That is where their respect lies. The peoples typically do not hold high devotion or worship to the deities, but are just as often to grumble and complain about the goddesses and gods.

## Deities

### Origin

It is said that the goddesses and gods were once all part of
one being, sometimes called “Tahluu” in mythology.  Tahluu ruled over every existing thing in
absolute – the entire universe, the sun, the stars, the moon, the earth, and
every soul.  However, the deity Tahluu
chose to separate itself in two, forming an “offspring” of lesser power.  Tahluu, in turn, lost some power by the
division.

The
goddesses and gods continued to divide themselves, in this way giving
themselves “sons and daughters.”  The
more the goddesses and gods divided, the less powerful they became, and the
smaller in size they became.  Whereas
once Tahluu could hold planets in the palm of his hand, now many of the deities
of the earth are small enough they themselves can roam the earth; they can
throw mountains and continents, but nothing greater.

Because
Tahluu became divided, the resulting deities found strength within certain
values and materials of certain physical make.
For example, the god Taranvor is the god of strength, bravery, fire, and
light; Hazhrahael is the goddess of compassion, acceptance, and water.

### Known deities

#### Hazhrahael

Hazhrahael is the goddess of compassion, acceptance, and
water.  She presides over the afterworld
known as the Reef of Souls, and she accepts all those human souls who have been
rejected by the other gods.  Those who
have traveled to the ocean would recognize her form as being similar to that of
an enormous whale.

Hazhrahael
is a goddess who holds unprecedented compassion and interest in human souls –
all human souls, regardless of whether or not they lived a commendable
life.  She regards them as her children,
in need of love and protection.  That said,
Hazhrahael is also snappish and sassy goddess who knows when to chastise or
punish her followers.  She is short of
temper and quick to instill justice.
Hazhrahael will suffer her followers questioning her ways to some
extent, but will nevertheless point out to them the fault, folly, and dangers
of their ways.

Worship to
Hazhrahahel has declined since the Fractured Sovereignty Period, during which
devotion toward her was widespread throughout the Vahim Regaad.  Because the majority of the souls Hazhrahael
accepts into her afterworld are decrepit, loathsome criminals, and because her
afterworld justly chains these souls forever in a floating underwater prison,
perception of Hazhrahael has changed from that of a benevolent goddess to one
of cruelty and horrors.  Tarans in the
Contemporary Sovereignty Period believe that Hazhrahael is the most fearsome of
the deities, and the one to avoid at all costs.

The few followers who seek after Hazhrahael now tend to be interested in the morbid,
completely clueless as to the true nature of the goddess.

#### Shenevezhah

Shenevezhah is the goddess of living creatures, specifically
non-human creatures and the corporal form.
Her form is that of a giant yak.

#### Shivezhah

Shivezhah is the goddess of infants, loyalty, protection, and
air.  She watches over the youngest human
souls, and will take them into her Cloud of Souls if they die before
toddlerhood.  Though she commends loyalty
– especially loyalty to family – and protection over the youth, she does not
take the souls of those who demonstrate these traits into her afterworld.

## Afterlives and afterworlds

After death, a human’s soul (*zi*) is taken into the
custody of one of the goddesses or gods, whereby the soul is henceforth
controlled by that deity.  Control of
that soul may be as absolute or lenient as the deity desires.  Since acquisition of a soul lends strength
and power to that god, providing extra spiritual energy by which to grant their
magic breadth and strength, most deities choose to store the souls in an
afterworld (*naati rozi zhe zhiehuk*, “land of souls after death”, or
simply *naati rozhi*, “land of souls”; sometimes also called *natsurr*
rotahluu*), where they may feed off the energy as will.  As a result, goddesses and gods like*
Shivezhah, Shenevezhah, Taranvor, Hazhrahael, and Xhavaemaret have all created
their own afterworld where they house their share of souls.

Within the afterlife, these souls
may eternally exist in the form of humans, still feeling and perceiving as
though they have a physical body with physical limitations.  The “age” of the body depends on “how old”
the soul perceives itself in the afterlife, meaning that youths may appear old
or the elderly young again.  It is said
that these souls could return with their spiritual bodies to the earth if the
goddesses and gods opened up portals from their afterworld to the land of the
living, but this was done only once with the war of the gods in 1063 NS, when
Taranvor sent his armies out from the Field of Suns under the command of Donaz
ra Sarkaf.  Through millennia of
practice, the gods do not allow the souls in their afterworlds to walk back to
earth.

Other deities allow a soul to return directly to the world of the living, either
through reincarnation into a new body, or by simply depositing the soul into
the earth to exist as an immortal demon.
In reincarnation, practiced to varying extents by Venaeramor,
Hazhrahael, Shivezhah, and Taranvor, the soul is reborn as an infant.  Though the soul’s personality traits will
remain more or less constant, the human will live a new life with no memories
of previous existences.  Since
reincarnation severs a deity’s power over that soul, only Vanaeramor practices
reincarnation in total.  This stands in
contrast to the demonic afterlife instituted by Xhoudaki, known as “the life
after living” (*zhe zhiehlarr*), in which the god may instill control over
the demon’s actions and spiritual essence as needed.  Demons also lack a body to call their own,
and must bind their immortal spirit to some sort of nonliving or living object.

The gods in antiquity created a pact determining the distribution of souls amongst the
deities.  Two main criteria determine
which deity gains custody over the soul of a newly deceased human.  First and foremost, human souls are
distributed based upon their loyalty to a specific goddess or god.  While the people live within a polytheistic
society that worship and recognize many goddesses and gods in tandem, an
individual’s greater devotion toward one specific deity determines which
afterlife or afterworld system takes them.
Devotion toward a goddess or god involves focusing upon that deity’s
specific attributes, philosophies, and ideals.
For instance, followers of Taranvor are instructed to be brave,
courageous warriors; if one does not pursue these ideals well enough in life,
than Taranvor might not accept that human soul after death.  For those individuals who do not follow a
specific god, or do not sufficiently uphold the values of their chosen deity,
they will be given the afterlife which best circumscribes to their own values
and actions in life.  In this manner, the
first criteria for soul distribution is deity loyalty; the second is personal
characteristics and attributes the soul demonstrated when they were a living human.

### Animal afterlife

The goddess Shenevezhah’s afterworld is understood perhaps
least of all the deities’.  Some claim
that she takes control of all non-human souls, including fish, birds, mammals,
insects, and *nedan*.  Others
believe no animals contain souls, and that the afterlife is dedicated to those
who bond closely to animals, especially cockatrices.  These accounts hold that wanderers who fly
through the skies, seeking truth and meaning, are the individuals whose souls
are reaped by Shenevezhah.  In this
account, some Tarans believe that Sirit ra Daraan Shatexh, the man who first
rode a cockatrice in the Vahim Regaad, entered the Animal Afterlife.

Though there is little understanding of any afterworld, Shenevezhah’s world is known least of all.  Many claim her world is unknowable since they
believe it is closed to humankind.
Nevertheless, even under that believe, legend tells of one adventurer
(variably named Shisaaq ra’Zhul, Zhul ra Shisaaq, Shesaak, or Sherasaak) entering
a portal and coming across an ever-living forest.

### Cloud of Souls

The goddess Shivezhah accepts the souls of all infants.  She takes these unformed souls into her care,
where they join together into a buzzing cloud of souls.  The souls remain unformed and do not grow
into maturity; they are conscious, but do not contain self-awareness as do
“adult souls”.  Shivezhah will frequently
watch over these souls and store them until they can be reborn into a new body
on earth.  Once a child reaches
self-awareness, they cannot access the Cloud of Souls.

### Field of Suns

Taranvor rules over the Field of Suns, an afterworld
consisting of an endless, uninterrupted plain.
Two suns constantly beam down over the land, never moving, creating
unending day.  Only the brave and strong
enter the Field of Suns; Taranvor places special emphasis particularly on
warriors.  In the Field of Suns, people
constantly practice battle strategy in preparation of the day Taranvor plans to
take over the entire afterlife system.

Souls who have entered the Field of Suns include Donaz ra Sarkaf, Shioka Kai-ri, and ra’Xedou Shataar the First.

### Reef of Souls

Hazhrahael accepts all souls who are rejected by the other
gods.  A goddess of compassion, she
presides over even the worst of human souls.
She reincarnates people with potential to provide them a second, third,
fourth, or fifth chance on earth.  For
those souls whose actions are particularly vile, she will store them
permanently in the Reef of Souls.

The Reef of
Souls appears to be a vast ocean.  The
only objects which float in the reef are chains, human souls, and Hazhrahael
herself.  Souls are chained together in
long lines, growing up from the sea like plants.  Every soul is chained to the lines of chain
in a unique respect; some will have a chain run through their hand or foot,
while others may find themselves in a more horrifying bondage, chains running
through their entire body or through their head.  The manner in which the chain runs through
the soul is in proportion to the wrongdoings they committed; thieves may find
chains running through the center of each of their palms, while a murderer who
strangled their victims could find the chain through their throat.  Those who commit worse crimes are also
further down in the depths of the ocean, where it is darkest.  Yet other masses of people may find
themselves chained and wound into an enormous ball which drifts through the
waters.

In general,
the souls float in stasis, unconscious apart from occasionally waking up.  They feel no physical pain and are generally
numbed.

Because
Hazhrahael’s realm accepts the worst of humanity, and because of its terrifying
appearance, few living humans actively seek out this afterlife – unless they
believe this is their only chance for redemption and reincarnation.

Individuals
who have entered the Reef of Souls include Rashurah Xhemi, Xhadou ra Tazharr
the First, Xhadou da Farih, Xhadou ra Zhokurr, and Hlenis ro Sengurr Rashurr.

##### Dena

Followers of Xhoukadi do not enter a unique afterworld, but
they are granted an unending existence on earth in the form of a demon (*dena*).  Demons are spirits bound to any earthly
object, most commonly some stationary object like a stone or tree.  They are not free to move about, though they
can transfuse to new objects with some effort.

Some Southern Vahim Regaad villages who revere Xhoukadi as their primary god will lay stones on their dead
relatives’ body in funeral, allowing their lost ones to fuse with that
rock.  These rocks are then placed in
household shrines, where they can continue to interact with their living
relatives.  In general, though, demons
remain in the wilds of the world, fused to rocks, undisturbed by living
humans.  They will remain unmoving but
fully conscious for hundreds of years, during which they lose their sense of
humanity and grow into a characteristic demonic restlessness.

After hundreds of years of dormancy, wild demons may occasionally find the
opportunity to enter a human host. Entering a human host requires either a willing subject, or a battle
between wills.  If the demon loses the
contest of wills, the demon cannot enter the body, but if it succeeds in
overpowering the human mind, it can enter and control the body for as long as
it lasts.  The human soul will remain
conscious, and can even mentally communicate with the demon.  Nevertheless, the host will be completely
unable to control their body unless the demon grants them control, a powerful
magician succeeds in exorcism, or the host mentally overpowers the mind of the
demon.  It is rare for any of these
instances to occur; typically, once the demon gains control of a human host.

Because demons
typically exist in the earth for hundreds of years before they possess a human,
they rarely exercise compassion on their host.
They have lost the ability to hold compassion over the years of
solitude, and wish to exert their control to experience sensations they have
missed for centuries.  To maintain
control, demons frequently subject their host to mental torture.  Demons may onslaught the human soul with
verbal abuse, or they may cause the soul to experience physical pain or undergo
realistic, horrifying hallucinations.
For instance, the demon Nalaagura, upon taking control of Tiy Xhadouk ra
Garet Rangar, forced him to experience hallucinated repeated incidences of his
wife and children dying gruesomely, as well as exempted him to experiences of
extreme physical pain and psychological torment.  Instead of feeling guilt for subjecting the
hosts to these pains, demons usually find the incidences amusing.

In addition to abusing their host,
demons will wreak havoc upon the human world once they contain a human
form.  They create chaos wherever they
run.  Having lived dormant and motionless
for so long, the demons take to their moving form with great exhilaration and
act with a notable lack of inhibition and conscience.  The presence of a demon in a land can be a
region-wide problem, if not a national one.

Demons contain enhanced magical abilities; inside a host, they are able to manipulate magic in far more potent manners
than humans ever can.  Demons do not need
to ingest materials and evoke an incantation action in order to use magic.  Their use of magic in a host allows them to
heal the body they are in; some demons have been known to possess corpses and
use their powers to prevent the body from decaying.

##### Neden

Usually, a host’s consciousness fades the longer a demon
remains in the body.  If the demon
suppresses the human will long enough, the soul will detach from the body and
be sent to one of the afterworlds.
However, demons cannot remain in a host body long without consequent.

The longer a demon remains in a body, the more it fuses with it. Demons are unfettered human souls, but human souls by nature fuse with human bodies. Therefore, over time, a demon’s magic powers may wane inside the
host.  On rare occasions a demon remains
so long in the body that it fuses completely with the body; the soul of the
host and the soul of the demon fuse into one consciousness, and the demon (*dena*) becomes a creature known as the *neden*. *Neden* can also be formed if a human soul consciously accepts a
contract and fusing with a demon, though these instances are extremely rare in
occurrence, little more than legend.

*Neden* contain a long lifespan but are mortal; they will die after 250-300 years
and be sent to Shenevezhah’s afterworld.
They are more magically powerful than humans, but less powerful than an
unfused *dena*.  Most demons avoid
becoming *neden*, and the process will happen accidentally.  On rare occasions of need, they may
consciously become *neden*, such as is the case with Nalaagura when she
fuses with the corpse of Shioka Kai-ri.

### Reincarnation

The majority of goddesses and gods have evoked reincarnation
sometime, though some practice it more than others.  Hazhrahael and Shivezhah regularly
reincarnate souls into new bodies at birth.
Taranvor typically reincarnates a heroic figure only in times of
pressing need, and uses it as a reward to his most successful souls.  Only the god Venaeramor practices
reincarnation in absolute; he sends all souls who follow him back into new
infantile bodies to live anew on the earth.