Kaephus

Kaephus, the Law-Giver, the Weigher of Souls, is one of the five sons of Thaedon and one of the primary deities of the Thaedonu-Vaati pantheon. He is the divine judge of Utara-Vaati and in his hand is power over truth, justice, order, and balance. He weighs wickedness against righteousness, evil against virtue, and obedience against rebellion.

The souls of the Vanir-Vaati dead are judged by Kaephus in accordance with the chronicle of their deeds that is written in the Book of Aeons, and this judgment determines their fate in the afterlife. For the pure-hearted and righteous, the gate of Aenuvion is opened, and they ascend to dwell in bliss in the house of the gods. For the corrupt and wicked, the spear of Thrygon awaits, and they are cast into the torment of Karkharos. For the wayward but penitent, the door of Abrynus yawns, and they must wander in Xonoth's dim labyrinth for an age of purgation before they attain entry to paradise.

For obvious reasons, the cult of Kaephus is closely associated with judgment and justice. The administration of daily justice in the lands of the Vanir-Vaati is generally not handled by his priests; they are the devotees of the divine judge, who decides the fate of men in the afterlife. But the appointed judges of a city or kingdom will often be sworn to their duty in the temple of Kaephus, or will publicly participate in a yearly ritual (usually part of Kaephus's high holy days) where they enter his temple, make offerings upon his altar, and beseech his guidance in the discharge of their duties. In places where the rulers or law-givers also function as judges, which is often the case, they will publicly make sacrifice to Kaephus and ask that he guide the laws of their land, so that human justice will mirror the more perfect form of divine justice, sparing the innocent and condemning the guilty. In some places, under some circumstances, it may be the traditional right of the accused to request trial by the priests of Kaephus rather than by the normal authorities.

Likewise, those involved in trials and judicial proceedings (the accused themselves, the families of the wronged, and other seekers after justice), will all frequently make offerings and prayers to Kaephus, seeking favorable outcomes in their judgments. A condemned man might send a paid boy to make an offering or prayer at the altar of Kaephus on his behalf, beseeching lenience on his soul in the afterlife.

**Symbols and Attributes**

The most important divine attribute of Kaephus is the Ban Rhomu, his rod or sceptre (sometimes depicted as a longer staff or crozier). Such a rod has been a traditional token of authority for a magister or law-giver since ancient times. The Ban Rhomu is wrought from adamant, as befits the unbendable strictures of the divine law, and surmounted with the device of simple circular ring, symbolizing the unbroken integrity and completeness of the divine law. The unbroken ring itself is thus also a sacred symbol of Kaephus. A rod or staff topped with such a ring, made in the image of the Ban Rhomu, is carried by priests of Kaephus as their most holy emblem.

The other sacred emblems of Kaephus are also age-old symbols of justice or law-giving, as befits his domain. Most are associated with the juridical traditions of the ancient Oritheans, some of which have long since passed out of use but whose implements are preserved as symbols by the cult of Kaephus. Most prominent among these symbols are the yathrim-knife, the distinctively shaped bell called the xenti, and the juniper tree.

The *yathrim*, the executioner’s knife, is dagger of archaic design with a distinctively shaped hilt and a triangular blade tapering from a very broad base. It is considered a symbol of justice because of the fundamental association of the blade with cutting, thus separation: Separating truth from lie, good from evil, the innocent from the guilty. In ancient days, such a knife was the emblem of a judge and would be thrust into the earth in front of the place where he sat when holding trial to signify that the wrong-doers would be separated from the righteous. It also signified the threat of punishment that hung over the accused. Executions in ancient days were often by simply cutting the criminal's throat with the same yathrim-knife that had been thrust into the earth at his trial (or by stabbing it down through the hollow of his collarbone into his heart), although these methods are now no longer used in most lands, it being considered unfit to kill a man in the same way an animal is slaughtered. Priests of Kaephus still carry a ceremonial version of the yathrim-knife as a badge of rank, typically in a sheath front-slung from the girdle of their vestments, so that it hangs vertically in front of their waist. These ceremonial daggers and their sheaths are usually decorated with the emblems of the god and may also be used for certain sacrifices on the high holy days of Kaephus.

The *xenti* bell is a cylindrical or cup-shaped bronze bell studded on its outside surface with blunt spikes or knobs. It is another old symbol of justice that has long been associated with Kaephus. In ancient times, when a judge was chosen on a certain day of the year (often during Kaephusmoon) to hear the important cases that had arisen since the previous year, his court would be opened by sounding a ceremonial bell, after which the yathrim-knife would be thrust into the earth. (This tradition, unlike that of the yathrim itself, does persist to the present day in many parts of Orithea, where the tolling of a bell is still used to signal that a magistrate or lord is seated to pass judgment). High-ranking priests of Kaephus will have two or four miniature versions of these bells, each measuring only an inch or two, hanging from a crossbar or a pair crossbars just under the ring-shaped head of their staff of office. The tolling of the sacred bellks of Kaephus precedes judgment; their chiming goes before his priests, signifying the advent of divine justice.

The juniper tree is considered sacred to Kaephus for similar reasons: In long-past ages when judges held court outside under the open sky, such trees would often be used as a place for them to perform their duty. They would sit beneath the boughs of one and hear cases there (often with the xenti-bell hung from a branch), or circles of junipers would be used as places of judgment. Juniper boughs are often used to deck the temples and altars of Kaephas on his holy days, and carried by the acolytes in his sacred processions.

[XXXXXXX Some mythical creature, e.g. the griffon or sphinx (not actually these, they're just examples) might be associated with him as well—look in the monstrous manual for ideas, also consider inventing one of my own and coming up with a name for it. It should be one associated with perspicuity and keen judgment. The owl might also be a symbol of his... or the kingfisher if that isn't used for Kothaur.]

**Servants and Minions**

The foremost servant of Kaephus is Xonoth, warden of Abrynus. Lesser temmataiyu of Kaephus are the XXXXXX and the XXXXXX. The XXXXXX take the form of floating cubes, orbs, or other geometric shapes of luminous diamond-clear crystal, their surfaces covered in radial or linear patterns of blazing golden script spelling out the rightly-decreed laws of the god. The patterns of script on their surfaces form larger glyphs and sigils sacred to Kaephus. These can speak in a fierce and clarion voice which reverberates like a brassy bell, and may have wing-like haloes of rippling radiance extending from them. They are the messengers and emissaries of Kaephus. The XXXXXX, on the other hand, cluster about his throne; they are his attendants and never leave his presence, where they endlessly recite his judgments and verdicts in their divine perfection.

**Priests and Devotees**

Priests of Kaephus are seen as stern, unbending, and aloof figures, and not without reason. They are human representatives of divine justice, upholders of the mandate that each mortal soul must be punished or rewarded in proportion to their good or evil deeds.

The duties of the Kaephaic priesthood may intersect with the routine administration of worldly justice in several different ways, according to various long-standing traditions whereby their involvement may be requested or commanded. In the lands of the Vanir-Vaati, the overwhelming majority of legal rulings are handed down by various lords and magistrates without the priesthood’s intercession. However, XXXXXXXXXX

Needless to say, the Kaephusite priesthoods have primary responsibility for maintaining the various codices of divine law that are a crucial part of Utara-Vaati, along with all the accumulated commentaries and interpretative works and so forth that have built up around them through the millennia. They are also responsible for safeguarding the purity and rectitude of the "high" or "priestly" dialect of Tuvai used in sacred writings and in ritual contexts. They jealously protect the sacred lexicon of this dialect and police it against contamination by colloquial forms, intrusion by foreign loanwords, or gradual change over time. Thus the priesthoods of Kaephus include many grammarians and linguistic scholars.

**Temples**

Temples of Kaephus are typically centered on a circular altar-chamber with a high, domed roof. The god's cult idol or statue will be situated on a tall pediment that looms over the altar itself, an imposing reminder that divine judgment is handed down from on high to the men of the mortal world. Whereas temples of some other gods often have extensive adjuncts (for instance, the archives of a Gyrionic temple, the oracular chambers and sacred labyrinth of a Sidrene temple, etc.), those of Kaephus are usually quite simple. Besides the central altar-chamber, there is often only the triple-doored antechamber common to all temples of the Thaedonu-Vaati, and a set of quarters for the priests and acolytes who reside there. These quarters are often centered around a library where sacred books (commentaries on divine law and such) are kept, and a scriptorum for the study and copying of such texts, but neither are large compared to the collections found in temples of Gyrion. In some cases, the antechamber may also give way to side galleries flanking the altar-chamber, with niches or secondary altars for meditation by devotees, offering of minor sacrifices, and so forth.

**Holy Days and Propitiation**

The cult of Kaephus is an austere one, as befits his stern and unbending nature. His holy days are not marked by festivities and lavish offerings are not welcomed by his solemn priesthood. His high holy days fall in XXXXXX, and it is on these days that judges and magisters often swear their oaths of duty, or make their way to his temple and beg his guidance in their judgments. It was on these same holy days each year that, in ancient times, judges were often appointed to render verdicts on all the important cases that had arisen over the previous year. The other major holy day of Kaephus is the XXXXXX, in XXXXXXX. Executions are often performed just before, or just after, this day, and it is the traditional date when XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Cult Centers**

Major cult centers of Kaephus include the Temple of Oaths in XXXXXXXX, the House of XXXXXXX in XXXXXXX, and the Temple of Correction in XXXXXXXX, and the Great Temple of XXXXX in XXXXXXX.