Rukanian mythology

**Rukanian mythology** is the vast store of myths, legends, and characters from the ancient civilisation of Oruz, now known as Rukania. It is a distinctive form of Slavic mythology.

## Rukanian pantheon

### Royal pantheon

The Royal Pantheon consisted of several High Gods: Perun, Makosha, Daiboro, Streiboro, Khoras, and Simagro.

* Perun - King of the Gods, god of thunder, trees, war, and life.
* Makosha - Queen of Heaven, goddess of rain, weaving, earth, and death.
* Daiboro - god of the sun and the main lord of farming.
	+ His symbol is either a rising flame as a diamond, or the sunflower.
	+ His sacred animal is the wolf, seen as his messengers.
* Strejboro - Lord of the Nine Winds, god of the winds, and sea. Holds a trident.
* Khoras - god of the sun and fire.
* Simagro - the beast of the northern star
	+ Possibly inspired by flocks of gryphons nesting on mountains.

### Council of Heaven

In a popular depiction of the high gods, twelve other deities were seen on a council with these: Svaroh, Jarilo, Berehynia, Svitovit, Lada, Memajon, Shumal, Trihlav, Svarozhych, Rujevit, and Radohast.

This led to the modern belief in the Council of Heaven, where all these form a circle of twenty gods.

* Svaroh - god of the forge, the sun, industry, invention, and technology.
	+ Like in Bujan, Svaroh is the god of technology, machines, and science; venerated by engineers and scientists.
* Jarilo - god of trees, plants, flowers, and forests.
	+ Worshipped by the Ontemazei minority as their patron god, as the Ontemazei are plant-like aliens.
	+ In ancient times, Jarilo's cult had darker aspects where frenzied cultists indulged in carnal pleasures and fought in bloodied fistfights. This death cult was later suppressed by other kings for hunting people as sacrifices. Thankfully it no longer exists in Rukania, and nearly everyone in the kingdom is disgusted enough to compare the cultists to Terrans.
	+ In some legends, the spirits of those deviant Jarilo-worshippers became demons. Their murderous ways already made them enemies of Jarilo, cursed even before they were put down.
* Berehynja - goddess of the earth, guardian of Rukania.
	+ Her sacred day is the first day of October, which comemmorates all knights and the Royal Armed Forces.
	+ One common depiction of the goddess Berehynja is a tall woman in queenly robes, holding a vast cloth. They called her Berehynja Pokrova, Berehynja who protects, in honour of her intervention in one battle that saved many lives and helped them defeat an invader.
* Svitovit - four-headed war god popular among Pogimmellians and Baniorelians.
	+ Also the national god of Bujan, one of Rukania's friends and later its student.
* Lada - goddess of spring, marriage, and weddings
	+ She is popularly worshipped as the goddess of agriculture. Daiboro represents all agriculture in general (especially the sun and staple crops); Memajon represents wine, berries, and juices; and Lada represents the growth of plants, and specifically fruit.
* Voloz - god of cattle and wealth.
* Memajon - the god of summer and the arts. Formerly a great musician who cut his hair to a single knot to honour his new friends, the Valjad knights.
	+ When he died, the gods turned him into a god of music, because they wanted him to live with them in their palaces and play his beautiful songs.
	+ He missed his friends and his life back on Jerde, so the gods let him visit the world for half of the year. His arrival and departure are marked by the sighting of a star: when the star is over the city of Vyspori, his spirit has returned to the world, so he is celebrated by a festival of song and dance at the start of summer.
	+ The Rukanian New Year, at around November 11, marks the date when he has departed to Heaven and the start of winter. This is when Memajon's Star, Kanopion, is no longer visible anywhere in Rukania as it is now only seen in the Southern Hemisphere.
	+ Archonians and Hothrovians associated him with another god, Apelljon, because he is also the god of music. Some also associate him with Diwanos, god of music, trances, and wine.
	+ Worshippers of Memajon are not supposed to pour wine on the ground. They should leave the cup or goblet at his altar, and drink the wine hours later. Drinking the consecrated wine supposedly blesses the person using it.
* Shumal - god of the forests, a friend of Jarilo. Guardian of travel, later god of travellers.
	+ People who go on voyages tend to pray to the merry bearded god for his protection. A traditional offering, recoded as early as in Gauvajut times, would involve the meat of a chicken and a cup of wine.
	+ In forests or night time, travellers would flip talismans on their necks or wrists to display Shumal's face and sing hymns to him, to ward off strange, supernatural terrors.
* Trihlav
* Svarozhych
* Rujevit
* Radohast - god of guests, feasts, celebrations, and hosts.

### Other gods

* Kupailo - god of love
* Torjan, Palija, Hromovyk, Birivnyk - minor deities who guard the four directions. Formerly prominent deities in the ancient Oruzii religion, where great stone circles were built in their honour.
	+ Torjan is the red warrior god of the east, wearing a helmet with a crest made of red feathers.
	+ Palija is the yellow farming goddess of the south, holding a sheaf of wheat.
	+ Hromovyk is the green god of the west, trees, grass, and dance, wielding a scroll of ideas made of grass leaves.
	+ Birivnyk is the blue goddess of the north, rain, snow, and weather. She holds a bag of ice and rain.
* Kujora - the first king of Oruz and the founder of its civilisation. For helping his people survive as the nation of Rukania, he is worshipped as the god of leadership and advisors after his death and ascension to heaven.
* Chuhal - mad god or giant of the forests, dances, madness, and frenzy. Known for killing maviky, fairies, ghosts, and other spirits or anyone unfortunate enough to be in his way.
	+ Shumal and Chuhal are brothers. Shumal represents the benign aspects of nature, while Chuhal represents capricious weather and disasters.
	+ He is seen dancing with an axe.
	+ He and Shumal have seven other brothers, who appear at different times of the year. One way to keep them away was not to listen to any strange music in the forest, or to sleep with ears covered.
	+ To ensure that Shumal would protect travellers in cursed forests or at night, his image has to be put up. Whenever anyone sees a strange person dancing in the forest, especially with an axe, they should sing hymns to Shumal to ward off Chuhal's madness.

## Other powerful beings

These beings are not worshipped in the Rukanian religion, either because they are irrelevant, or they are evil.

They are still gods nonetheless by their descent or power, even if some of them would also be considered as "demons" elsewhere because some of them are evil.

### Other divine beings

* Pryvyscha, the Green Knight - a messenger, Poldunyk, who wandered far into the east, entering into a glowing cave and never came out. He reappeared as a ghost in green armour, riding on his shrivelled horse and wielding a sword.
	+ Some depictions of Pryvyscha have him holding a cackling, flaming skull or a smiling watermelon. He catches evil ghosts and drags them to the underworld to be punished.
* Vernyhora - a heroic giant who can push mountains.

### Evil beings

* Veluni - Voloz's evil brother, god of corruption, murder, and deceit.
* Ranei - god of pain and torment

## Heroes

* kharatyn - sorcerers and masters of many skills. As priests or mages, their powers were given by the Gods to protect the world.
* bohatyr - demigods or divine warriors of human origin.

## Locations

* Nebo - Heaven, realm of the higher gods
* Rai - Paradise, realm of the virtuous and innocent dead
* Sultsora, Sontsora - Path of the Sun, alleged course of the sun as it goes across the sky between horizons
	+ Chorna Sultsora - Dark Path of the Sun, the path of the sun below the sky and the world where Daiboro's chariot fights and slays demons every night. Initially this was believed to be under the earth, but with the discovery of other planets in the Eighth Age, it was believed to be under the cosmos.
* Navj - the realm of the dead, misty land of shades
* Pjednestvo - the underworld, Hell, world of the dead, chaotic realm of the wicked dead
* Tynir, Tyr - the anti-world, Terra, a realm of evil people.

## Spirits and beings

* berehyni - nymphs, dryads
* ubyri - vampires, ghouls, demons
	+ The ancient foes of King Oruzla and his knights.
* maika, mauko - merpeople, sea or river wights
* mavika - malevolent mermaids and nymphs of the rivers and lakes
	+ Rukanian traditions forbid people from swimming or bathing at night to avoid provoking the maviky. Those who did so would instead get stabbed by their knives and claws, as they would be mistaken for animals.
	+ In order for musicians to perform near water without being attacked by maviky, Rukanians throw food offerings or ashes of offerings to the rivers to distract the maviky so they will not emerge for a single night. Those offerings usually consist of bread, meat dishes (like venison and ham), and grape wine.
* vyki - demons
* polvyk - field demon
* domovyn - house spirit
* lisovyn - forest spirit
* lisvyk - forest demon
	+ also a name for Ontemazei during the Green Years.
* vodjanyk - river wight, usually a male
	+ In later times, vodjanyky are considered as the male counterpart of maviky. Maviky can get pregnant and lay eggs, which hatch into maviky if female or vodjanyky if male.
	+ In modern Rukania they became the subject of fanfictions. Heronoi couples love to dress up as bare-chested vodjanyky and maviky in dresses, even risking public mockery if they (as adults) went around scantily clothed in the cities.
* voikulok - werewolf
* vizma, vidma - witch, sorceress, cursed mage
* nevri - savage warriors

## Religious practices

* Domes are used in larger Rukanian temples. In major cities they are built with white marble and tiled with gold.
* The colour of the domes represents which god is the patron deity in any particular temple.
* Every village has stork poles, where storks build nests and raise chicks. Any stork nest is also considered a holy site.
* Stork feathers left behind are placed on family shrines inside homes.

## Religious terms

* volkhov - a high priest, a sorcerer
* kapische, kapaschak - a shrine, a sacred field
* khram - a great temple
* sontsokolo - stone circles built in ancient times as temples. Some of them are still used today.
* sontsokhram - sun temple
	+ Sontsokhramy are known for their golden domes and solar facades. Inside are marble statues of Daiboro where people pray to, surrounded by figures of saints, demigods, and other solar deities and heavenly spirits.
* Trjezab, Treizonbo - the trident, former emblem of Oruzla's dynasty that became a national symbol.
	+ It became popularised as a traditional symbol of Oruz and Rukania since its usage by King Oruzla slaying vampires in the north. Legends claim that it was originally a gold-tipped spear that started bursting into flames, taken as a sign that the Gods were supporting him and his knights in their crusade to save the north.
	+ Alchemists later found out that the Spear of Oruzla was unknowingly created from a different metal that was flammable, or coated with a substance. It was later used to create flaming arrows and ballista bolts, and eventually contributed to the invention of firearms and cannons.
* Spear of Oruzla, Trident of Oruzla - King Oruzla's spear that was broken into three blades after killing a mighty vampire. He also found that it burned when exposed to the sun's light, making it more deadly to human foes, creatures, and vampires alike.
	+ Considered as blessed by the Gods, and dedicated to Dazhboh, the Trident of Oruzla became a holy relic to the Rukanians. It was later syncretised with the Trident of Stribog, another god worshipped by the Slavs of the north.
	+ The two tridents are shown together, one wreathed in fire and the other in ice, to represent the two nations being allies.

## Trivia

* While Rukanian mythology was primarily based on a mixture of Ukrainian folklore with Slavic mythology, parts of it were also influenced by modern Ukrainian pop culture, Greek and Egyptian mythology (representing the ancient kingdoms of Oruz and Roriz), and the Warhammer Fantasy nations of Kislev and Bretonnia.
	+ "Pryvyscha", a punisher of the undead, was inspired by the "Ghost of Kyiv", a legendary pilot in modern Ukrainian folklore who supposedly warded off Russian invaders. He was also based on the Headless Horseman, the Green Knight of Bretonnia, and the hexwraiths.
	+ Memajon was based on Cossack Mamay, another folklore character. The author also based the god Memajon on Dionysus of Greek mythology.
	+ Berehynja was also based on depictions of the Virgin Mary, as her aspect of Pokrova or Bohoroditsya (Mother of God, Theotokos). In Ukrainian folklore, she supposedly saved the lives of Cossacks who were fighting an enemy.
* Some of the Rukanian gods supposedly correspond, or were inspired by certain Greek deities.
	+ Memajon would correspond to Dionysus, as gods of music; or with Apollo as summer deities.
	+ The forest god Shumal would correspond to Hermes, as protectors of travellers.
	+ Lada would correspond to Demeter, as goddesses of farming.

## See also

* Rukanian language
* Rukanian glossary
* Bujanski folklore
* Sevraejan mythology