Persian Pantheon

### Known Aliases

The Ahuras, The Yazads, Persian Deities, Zoriastrian Deities, Iranian Deities, Gods of Ancient Persia, Gods of Zoroastrianism
- - - - -
The Urielim, Urielite Soldiers, Choir of Uriel, Servitors of the Flame of God

### Identity

Public Identity
(Believed to be Mythical by Most Persons)

## Membership

### Leader(s)

Uriel (as Ahura Mazda) (Original Godhead)
Mithra (Acting Godhead)

### Current Members

Amerdad, Anāhitā, Ārmaiti, Ashi, Ātar, Haoma, Haurvatāt, Hvare-Khshaeta, Kshatra Vairya, Mångha, Mithra, Rashnu, Sraosha, Tishtrya, Vanant, Vāyu-Vāta, Verethragna, Vohu Manah, Zam, Zarathustra...

## Summary

The Yazata are divine spirits once worshiped by the ancient Persians. Their names are still invoked amid prayers and hymns in modern day, even if the Zoroastrian population is now a mere shadow of its ancient glory. Nevertheless, the Yazata strive to prove themselves as champions of good, fighting tirelessly against ignorance, greed, tyranny, malice, and cruelty.

## Principal Members

No mystical power or being forces the Yazata to unite. Free will is paramount, and one must choose to stand against Ahriman; thus, the Yazata are the definition of chosen family. Their hierarchies are mostly voluntary, based on respect, with Ahura Mazda's sevenfold manifestations, Amesha Spenta, unite and direct them all. As the Persian empires and their diasporas were cross-cultural, the Yazata’s natures and foci vary, as they became Yazata at various points in history. From worthy humans who sang the message of Ahura Mazda, to redeemed Daevas who renounce their evil ways, all are welcome if they strive to prove their worth, irrespective of background.

They hold deep love and respect for each other, constantly offer each other praise and worship, and support each other whenever possible. While this results in less squabbling and plotting than in many other pantheons, sometimes it can be a formal and stressful affair to be Yazata, as if they can’t imagine ever relaxing in their quest for Frashokereti, their name for Judgment Day. They all carry a certain unconscious self-righteousness that outsiders rarely appreciate when it’s aimed at them.

## Cosmology: Avesta Kosmos

The cosmology of the Yazata has always placed less emphasis on the old stories of godly homelands. The focus was on the heroes who performed incredible feats in their name. Even in their myths, very rarely did they take an active hand, always empowering others instead.

In the Avesta Kosmos, the world is divided into two halves: Gētīg and Mēnōg. Gētīg is the material world where humanity dwell, while Mēnōg is the Persian name for Otherworlds.

### Hara Berezaiti

Towering over the world, Hara Berezaiti is the legendary mountain around which the cosmos orbits. The highest concentration of gates to this Terra Incognita exist in the Alborz Mountains outside Tehran, but all mountains contain gates leading there, which one can open by singing the holy manthras and offering sandalwood to sacred fires nearby.

### Chinvat Bridge

Mithra, Rashnu, and Sraosha guard the Bridge of the Requiter that connects the Avesta Otherworlds alongside a pair of four-eyed hounds. The bridge is ancient and imposing, made of rough-hewn stones stacked but unmortared, held together by inscrutable forces. Its entrance is located at the base of the Hara Berezaiti, though gates can also be opened when the Milky Way hangs in the sky overhead.

Dead souls seeking to pass through the gate first encounter the Maiden of the Bridge. Everyone who looks upon the celestial sees a different form: She appears beautiful, young, and graceful to some, and gnarled, aged, and withered to others. If one sees her as the beautiful Daēnā, she will gracefully lead them to Garōdmān where the righteous dwell alongside the Yazata. However, if one sees her as the hideous Chinnaphapast, she would drag them to Dūzakh where they are eternally damned.

### Hamēstagān

Souls neither good nor evil find the Chinvat Bridge narrow but crossable. Sounds of pain and torment rise from beneath the bridge, a dull thunder of moans and screams that never abates. Looking over the edge of the bridge reveals a huge desert populated by tiny moving figures. Once crossed, the Chinvat Bridge ends in a flat and featureless plain. When good and evil were weighed out, neither truly tipped the scales, and so these souls neither enjoy the rewards of living a good life nor suffer the punishment for an evil one.

Hamēstagān is a region of Purgatory that the Yazata carved out to become a limbo for their neutral souls. This is not the most pleasant place. The dead here range in a vast plain that opens up endless into the sky. There is no shelter and no earth to dig one in, just endless openness. Here, the sun still rises and sets, but its light is neither welcoming nor harsh. The Ayangha Khshushta, a blazing river of molten iron, flows through its heart. The dead here remain waiting for Judgment Day, when all would be purified to dwell in the House of Song together. They may feel a little bitter now, but few would choose the torments they heard as they crossed the Chinvat Bridge.

### Dūzakh

*For detailed information: Dūzakh*

Hands shake as the wind bites through the skin. Fingers grope for features that eyes cannot see. The Druj-Demánæ(Abode of Lies and Deceit) dispenses many punishments for a lifetime's sins, but no cruelty is worse than its utter isolation. This is the realm of Evil Deeds, Evil Thoughts, Evil Words, and Eternal Darkness. Souls that once used lies to darken the light of truth now find themselves trapped in an impenetrable, claustrophobic shadow. The only respite from loneliness is the unseen Daevas and Xrafstars who torment and devour the wicked dead.

### Garōdmān

*For detailed information: Garōdmān*

Like many pantheons, the Yazata make their home in one of the Overworld's many realms, known in ancient Zoroastrian texts as Garö-Demánæ(Abode of Music and Songs). The realm is divided into seven regions that mirror the cosmic structure believed by ancient Iranians, all separated by the world-sea named Vourukasha. At the center sits Khvaniratha, the largest of the seven regions and equal in size to the other six combined. At its center is Mount Hukairya, the tallest mountain of the Hara Berezaiti, whose peak reaches up so high as to literally touch the crystal firmament. The sun, moon, and stars revolve around that peak, and from its height pours forth the river Ardvi Sura, which runs down to feed into the Vourukasha. The six other regions are called Arzah, Savah, Voruearsht, Vorubarst, Fradadafsh, and Vidadafsh. They lie due East, West, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest of Khvaniratha, respectively. Each is separated from Khvaniratha by rivers, forests, or mountains of the Hara Berezaiti range.

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

#### General

* The Yazata smells like juniper and sandalwood smoldering in a crackling fire, accompanied by a murmured prayer.
* The Yazata are so dedicated to truth, order, and justice that it's sometimes difficult for them to believe someone would *want* to lie, sow discord, or be unjust. They are trusting and kind when they're not flying into a self-righteous rage, giving them an earned reputation for naiveté. If they're not careful, more unscrupulous divinities can turn the Yazata's zealous wrath and insatiable drive to their own ends with a bit of manipulation and a few good deeds.
* The greatest weakness of the Yazata is their self-righteousness. They hold that theirs is the way (even though each member has a slightly different interpretation of just what that way is). This arrogant inflexibility has often made it difficult for the Yazata to work with other pantheons even as they need allies the most. This has lead to a delicate balancing act of their ideals against the practicalities of the war against evil. But like all true idealists, sometimes the Yazata (as well as their Scions) have to sacrifice practicality in favor of what is “right.”
* The Yazata tend to have good relationships with all the minor divinities, demigods, and supernatural communities within their territory. Even in their heyday, the Yazata (at Ahura Mazda's insistence) never went out to displace local gods, even when their worshippers conquered larger and larger portions of the world. Instead, other deities, lesser and greater, were accepted as allies and left to be worshipped without harassment. In fact, mimicking the mortals’ division of ancient Persia into satrapies, the Yazata subdivided their territory in a similar manner, letting the local gods remain so long as they maintained Yazata standards.
	+ The benefits of their ancient actions are coming to fruition; even now, the Yazata often find friends in strange places, due to historic courtesy. For their Scions, the same benefit applies, as all across Asia and into Europe, many immortals remember the fair treatment they received and are willing or at least more easily convinced to aid the Yazata and their Scions.

#### Yazata's Scions

* The Yazata's Scions spend most of their time tracking down demonic threats in places of social disorder and moral decay. Inner-city ganglands, drug-lord territory, and civil-war torn nations are favored places for these Scions to go, and there, they try to put an end to the influence of the demons. While not always on the side of the laws - in fact, they are just as likely to be on the opposing side - the Yazata's Scions work with those whose ideals most closely match their own; after all, they do have a divine mandate.
* The Yazata tend to treat their Scions very well. They expect much, but they are more than willing to give advice or bestow gifts to help their children in the war. However, while some Persian gods may be generous with their children, they are not indulgence, and their Scions are held to high expectations of conduct, both on the battlefield and off. All the kindness and generosity can disappear in a moment should one of their Scions fail those expectations.
* The skills most valuable to the Yazata's Scions are Integrity and Leadership.
* A Yazata's Scion has to balance the Virtues of *Honesty* and *Free Will*.
	+ A Scion is caught between these virtues when he must choose between forcing someone to be Honest and allowing them to do the wrong things, knowing he'll have to destroy them once they do. A Scion drifts away from Honesty when he compromises his morals to achieve a goal, or others choose dishonesty when he gives them the freedom to choose. A Scion loses sight of Free Will when he strips others of their agency to compel righteous behavior.

#### Relationships

* The Yazata's relations with other pantheons have never been particularly amicable. When Cyrus the Great, one of their early worshippers, created the "first empire of the known world", the Yazata collided with many other pantheons.
* To the Yazata, the Devá are proud oppressors, genocidal tyrants, and untrustworthy to boot. Their very name proves they are demons, according to Ahura Mazda's fervent followers, as does their shared history of irrevocable conflict. The war between the two pantheons is currently a cold one like most divine conflicts, but Asuric Liberation Movements receive more than moral support from the Yazata. Still, a few Gods on both sides do what they can to finally achieve peace between their pantheons, such as Ganesha and Vāyu-Vāta.
* For centuries, the Yazata and the Theoi played a game of one-upmanship through their mortal followers: the invasion and conquest of Ionian Greece by the Persian Empire, the halting of the Persian invasion at Marathon and Thermopylae, the invasion of Persia by Alexander of Macedon, the Parthian destruction of the Seleucids, and so on. Even the invasion of Persia by Alexander the Great, the greatest blow the Theoi struck against the Yazata, was marred by Alexander’s adoption of many aspects of Persian culture. Some divine historians muse that his untimely death was punishment for not holding his Hellenistic culture above the Persians. Of course, the game still continues, with the Theoi contesting their vast influence on later cultures and the Yazata countering that their worship far outlasted the Theoi’s and their influence persists as a living thing.
* Another pantheon the Yazata came into conflict with led to friendly relations that persist to this day is the Netjer. When the Persian Empire conquered Egypt, the Persian emperor Cambyses II had himself sanctioned as a Pharaoh instead of coming in as a foreign conqueror, and worship of the Egyptian deities was accepted under the theory that they were allies of the Yazata.
* When the Theoi destroyed the Nemetondevos during a time when they were a common enemy for Gauls and Persians, the Yazata were one of the few that offered refugees (mortal and divine alike) a new home, which they make a point of mentioning whenever the newly reincarnated Gaulish deities argue with them.
* The Anunna consider they "bequeathed" control of their kingdoms and people to the young Yazata when they departed the world, and, as a result, are quite friendly with them (if a little domineering). The Yazata find their antics suspiciously selfish at times, but their help is welcome in the fight against evil.
* Like the Theoi, the Yazata have a somewhat stormy relationship with the Ilhm, whose people they have often warred with and whose track record for betrayal and deceit is more populous than they would like in an ally. The two work together well in theory and in most allied situations, drawing on their mutual desire to keep the world in order and establish moral authority over it, but things often break down on the political level and there is little affection on either side.
* Of all pantheons, the Ālihah are possibly the closest to the Yazata, who have in times past been their nearest neighbors and most ideologically compatible allies. The Yazata wish the Arabian gods would learn to make some decisions and do the right thing instead of always insisting on the idea that there is no "right" or "wrong", and the Ālihah have had their share of frustrations when it comes to their Persian neighbors' inflexibility, but both respect each other and are always ready to rise up and take arms in one anothers' defense.
* The Yazata have had a hard time dealing with some of the other pantheons, especially the Teōtl, whose excessively (as the Yazata see it) gory practices seem pointless and petty. The Loa, being far away and very strange to the Yazata’s sensibilities, are given polite (if cold) respect for having carved out a space in the Overworld. However, the Loa’s focus on harmony, one place at a time, seems a little narrow-visioned to some of the Yazata, particularly Mithra.
* The Yazata see the Shén as too concerned with the formalities of order, but they've always considered the Chinese deities to be friends despite the endless paperwork involved. The Yazata also don't interact much with the Kami; dealings with them have been positive, if limited.

### Notes

* "Yazata" means "worthy of worship or veneration".