The Ascension of Jolakiet

**The Ascension of Jolakiet** details the life of the Aran'akto Jolakiet, her relationships with the Aran'khutu, and how she became the judge of the Kentotran afterlife. This myth is transcribed from many sources, but only a few details vary between them.

## Myth

There once lived two married women who were devout followers of Motu'o. They wanted to have a child, but could not create one themselves. As such, they prayed to Motu'o and asked her to provide them with a child. As much as Motu'o wanted to help them, she was incapable of granting their wish on her own. After some thought, she went to her brother Thralzedar and asked him to impregnate one of the women himself. He agreed to do so under the condition that he would have no part in the child's life. His reasons for this vary from telling to telling:

(list)

Motu'o was irritated by Thralzedar's reluctance to be involved with his biological child, as she believed any parent should be at least somewhat interested in their offspring's life. Ultimately, however, she didn't push her belief onto him and agreed to his terms. After relaying the good news to the couple, they were soon blessed with a baby girl they named Jolakiet.

As Jolakiet aged, her divine parentage became more and more apparent. She was an alarmingly quick learner with an insatiable curiosity for the world around her. Her massive reservoir of knowledge and rock-solid reasoning skills let her skip several years of schooling, graduating long before reaching legal adulthood. Everyone praised her for her intellect, and she proved herself reliable in tough situations that required a level head and sound logic, resulting in her becoming a respected advisor for her community. She strongly believed in fairness, and she excelled in ensuring equal mutual benefit for all parties in a conflict.

However, Jolakiet struggled in resolving emotional conflict. She found it difficult to understand feelings or how circumstances can influence them, so her solutions for emotional conflicts often lacked the tact needed to validate and accommodate for these feelings. It didn't take long for people to stop opening up to her, fearing their issues would get mishandled. This combined with her stern nature and her general difficulties relating to others on a social level resulted in her lacking close friends, her classmates and neighbors only talking to her about intellectual issues. For much of her mortal life, her only close relationships were with her earthly parents, who loved her unconditionally and treated her as a normal child.

Sources disagree on whether Jolakiet knew who her biological father was her entire life or she was told by her mothers when she was older. Regardless of when she learned, she didn't find herself proud like others expected she would. Instead, she resented Thralzedar for not helping to raise her. She'd grown up in a loving home that set a high standard for parenting in her mind, so she considered this lack of interest borderline abandonment. At the same time, her inability to connect with her peers left her feeling isolated on her intellectual pedestal, and having someone to relate to would've soothed her lonely heart. Jolakiet spent years grumbling to herself about how disgraceful her father was, shrugging off any attempts at support from her mothers. Her lack of reverence for the god who gave her her intellect drove her and her peers further apart. She couldn't rein in her emotions and refused any guidance, so her isolation worsened.

Meanwhile, Motu'o shared details about Jolakiet's life to Thralzedar, the latter never listening. Why should he care about her academic success or social life? Clearly, he wasn't needed as the academia god to guide her. Emotional struggles and family disputes were not in his skill set, either, so he simply shut out Motu'o's insistence to do something about Jolakiet's angst. His daughter could think whatever she wanted about him; it took no offerings off his altar.

Once Jolakiet reached adulthood, she decided she was going to give Thralzedar a piece of her mind. She set off on a trip to his patron city to visit his temple. Her earthly parents prayed to Motu'o to watch over her and to Thralzedar to give her the answers she needed. Both twins heard these prayers, but Thralzedar was intent on ignoring the request.

TBC

## Significance

The judgment of the dead is a common belief in many religions as it gives followers an incentive to remain virtuous throughout their lives. One's actions during life determined how they would spend the rest of eternity, whether it would be in bliss or torture. While this belief had the potential to be misused and rein followers into total submission and obedience, Kentotra as a whole saw no need for such use. There was no total bliss or torture in their afterlife, as the ocean itself did not fall to either extreme. What made the coral kingdom was it was lied in Klakelaya's reign, the people living within it, and who Jolakiet believed would maintain the peace. The most torturous fate would have merely been stumbling in the dark without one's loved ones for eternity, only the company of fellow wrongdoers and strange sea creatures saving one from isolation. As Kentotra put great value in community support, an afterlife consisting of only that was good enough for them.