Mithura

**Mithûra** (**Mittiraz** in later Vozonid), was a queen who ruled a kingdom on the planet of Ārentos during the war between the Poreseai and Pilakurum galactic empires. In later times, she was revered as a goddess in some cultures, such as the Ontemazei and their Porasonid descendants.

## Appearance

Mithura is often depicted with long purple or blue hair, wearing flowing violet robes and golden armour, and with flowers or skulls scattered all over her hair. Her helmet crown has six strands around its circumference.

As a deity, she is depicted with a halo, but it has three diagonal lines across that represents her status as an evil goddess.

She uses a spear as her weapon, waving a long flag that burns or blinds any enemy it touches.

## Biography

According to surviving Ārentosian records, Mithura was a student who studied under one of two empresses. She became a captain of her own army, and used her soldiers to kill the other empress, several sorcerers and other threats to her ruler's empire, and eventually her own ruler before becoming the next empress.

She fell in love with a certain royal guard, Gorûso, and created a family with him. Their children quarrelled and split their empire among themselves. The two rulers fought against a great box-like monster that devoured many people, and were killed and eaten by the monster in the end. That monster was buried by an earthquake, where it laid there for centuries until it starved to death.

Many years after her demise, the Ārentosians worshipped her and Goruso as defenders of their civilisation against the competing spheres of the Poreseai and Pilakurum empires, sparing their planet from being strip-mined or harvested. She was invoked during a revolt against the Konjor Supercorporation's oppression against Ārentos and its people, and treatment of her character as a toy product, that ended in the destruction of the planet.

## Mythology

Because the Ontemazei were created from the remains of harvested Ārentosians, and that a portion of clones were produced as copies of the two, Mithura and Goruso are worshipped as their spiritual guardians. After their liberation from the Konjor empire, the early Ontemazei venerated clones of Mithura and Goruso as priests before their then-new Vozonid gods.

The Ontemazei Empire worshipped her as the goddess of war, knowledge, and fire, and made her the national deity of their civilisation.

This lofty status in Ontemazei culture led to the Vozonid nations reviling her as a symbol of their enemies, and afterwards as a ruler of demons. In Vozonid folklore, she is depicted as a cannibal who seeks to exterminate humanity from the world and impose chaos, but her frequent status as a villain made her into a pathetic cliche to be laughed at.

In Vozonid culture, Mithura became a death goddess, an embodiment of destruction and chaos. Whoever who sees her will be pursued by her, or will die within an amount of time. And whoever who sees her when they are going to die will be taken by her to her abyss, or Hell.

When old films of her legend were unearthed in archaeological sites, a stage adaptation was developed in the traditional Vozonid manner, and it became a popular hit that spawned dozens of television series and more films in Vozolaz and other nations. Although Mithura was not worshipped in Zaqo, some women dress up as her on Zomjonor's birthday to act as villains and bring their boyfriends (who were dressed as armoured Gorusos) in dates. There was even a beauty contest where the woman who wore the best Mithura costume won a cash prize in thousands of min.

As this legend got popularised in other countries, some artists also made Mithura a warrior, and they depicted her using fire spells for her association with stars and the setting sun. For example, Mithura became a popular character among female fire mutants in Marnos, while Goruso became popular among male lightning mutants. In Vovtarla, another Vozonised civilisation, Mithura is instead depicted as a demonic empress who rules over a realm of perpetual ice and frost.

Others, however, poked fun of the superstitions around Mithura. In one depiction, Mithura brings the souls of deceased people into the afterlife to be judged in the afterlife, and gets annoyed by people being afraid of seeing her.

Meanwhile, the remaining Ontemazei nation of Porashon reveres Mithura and her husband, without the cruel rites of the Ontemazei Empire that they rebelled against. In Porashon, Mithura and Goruso are revered as the protectors of the Porasonid race, as noble warriors serving under the rule of Shiva and Parvati. Porasonids worship her and Goruso by burning offerings of flowers, roast venison, sheep, and birds, and cheese.

Most modern Ontemazei in Bujan do not worship Mithura and Goruso, having moved on to adopting Dharma or the Rodnover religion of their new homeland. But like most religious people in the kingdom (who can pray at other temples and shrines for good fortune), they may occasionally pray to her for good luck. They still dress up as her and her husband in festivals or in costume parties, often improvising them in beautiful designs. Some were even inspired by Marnosyn superhero comics where Mithura became a fire goddess, so they design splendid suits of armour based on the goddess.

In Bujan, she is known as Misūra, or Vrana Misūra ("Queen Mithura"); and among Ontemazei as Maharani Misūra.

## Trivia

* Mithura was inspired by Hekate, Rangda, Athena, and Twilight Sparkle. Her myth-story was also influenced by a certain McDonald's commercial where Twilight was chased by a box.
	+ Her name was influenced by "Mithuna" (a Hindu astrological sign) and "Mithra".
	+ Her more benevolent aspects were influenced by Princess Celestia, Twilight's teacher.
* In ancient times, Vozonids used to leave "offerings" of cheese to images of Mithura as they cursed her image, as the original Mithura disliked cheese. This led to the Porasonids leaving cheese as actual offerings to Mithura, as they claimed that Mithura now *loves* to eat cheese.
	+ This was possibly inspired by Twilight's fear of quesadillas.

* One popular Azgovian film was about a Goruso cosplayer rescuing his girlfriend from a street gang on Zomjonor's birthday. While he defeats the gang and saves the girl in the end, an alternate ending suggests that Goruso was the mysterious stranger who helped him sneak into the gang's hideout deep within a bazaar. It also features dozens of ridiculously-impossible stunts involving sitting and posing on flying cars.
* Two people who liked to pretend being Mithura were Radumo and Aljona. Radumo preferred to act on her characteristics as a beautiful princess, while Aljona focused on depictions of her fire powers.
* Another bringer of death is the berzatri, a black or white spirit who brings souls to the underworld where they are judged and sent to Paradise or Hell. Because Mithura was considered to be very cruel and sadistic, people would rather meet the berzatri to die rather than encounter Mithura.

## See also

* Ontemazei mythology
* Kauoria Buondakei