Erigonio

**Erigonio** is the God of violence and music, sharing the possessive power of both. Just like music invades and subjugates its listeners with its rhythm, so Erigonio dominates body and soul. He is considered malevolent by the Etoi, while the Agrauran associate him with Phòs, the furious Solar God. Iskuzai and Hattusas believe he is the favorite son of Phoeraia: generous, cruel and unpredictable. Most myths say that Erigonio was made insane by the loss of his head, while other stories tell he was born headless, indifferent to the laws of Gods and humans. His feasts are strictly regulated, which is due to the hallucinogenic substances ritually consumed, that otherwise might turn the celebration into a rampage the outcome of which is impossible to predict. Erigonio’s Head is said to be preserved in an ancient sanctuary across the sea and protected by a caste of bloodthirsty eunuch- priests who castrate themselves in his honour. He is part of the Tetrad of Askedoria.

## Epithets

* Adumeles (He With Beautiful Melodies)
* Akephalos (the Headless One)
* Artamenos (Mutilator)
* Basanistes (Torturer)
* Erigonio (Bringer of Discord)
* Kateudon (He who Rests)
* Maltakos (the Meek One)
* Musnos (the Pensive Musician)
* Niktos (He Who Dwells in the Night)
* Paterrythmos (Father of Rhythm)
* Philokteanos (He Who Loves to Possess)
* Phòskephalos (Sun Head)
* Scorpiogenetes (Father of Scorpions)

## Worship and Sacrifices

Erigonio’s cults are astonishing in their multiformity. The God exerts his power through the merciless joy of excess and destruction. Throughout the year, sacrifices are offered to *Erigonio Kateudon* to pacify him and prevent his manifestations. In these rites, the God is begged not to approach the community and the celebrants call him by the name *Maltakos* (the Meek One), thus trying to appease his desire for catastrophes. Citizens, however, know that Erigonio cannot be controlled, so festivals at the end of winter have to give free rein to madness and excess, trying to limit manifestations of the Deity to these specific moments of the year. Despite his notoriety, musicians turn their minds to Erigonio in search of inspiration and call him *Musnos*, the Pensive Musician, offering him white mice or doves. It is known that Erigonio is feared even by the Molubdenoi, who associate him with the number two. Although they are reluctant to talk about theirtraditions, when questioned, they explain that two is the only prime number that is also even, therefore in this peculiar coincidence strife and conflict manifestthemselves. In the archipelagos of the east, Erigonio is associated with sacrifice, renunciation and the sweet moment before sleep. In those places, unlike any other region, it is periods of abstention that coincide with the celebrations of the God.

The God delights in extreme acts that subvert laws. Erigonio appreciates blood sacrifices, vows of abstinence, refusal of marriage ties, adultery or whatever involves transgression of city rules. On his altars, animals with white fur or pale plumage are killed, and milk, cheese, or wine are offered. Erigonio protects scorpions and crabs, but during the warm months these sacrifices, burned in bronze braziers, are appreciated. In the north-western cities, macabre offerings are made to *Erigonio Artamenos* – the Mutilator. The faithful leave, on black basalt altars, tatters of their own flesh: severed fingers and hands, or other pieces of their bodies, ripped off in an act of self-mutilation.

## Temples and Sanctuaries

The **Kentron Crypts** are an underground temple, hidden under the islands of Ancylus Lake. Among fossil scorpions and painted sarcophagi, initiates celebrate the secret of the God’s resurrection after his beheading. It is said that the only way to be initiated into the cult is to find the crypts on your own, braving the wildland plagued by malaria, wolves, bands of brigands and the savage Iloboi, the bearskin people.

**Manasara** is the sanctuary dedicated to *Erigonio Kateudon*, located in the woods of the island of Tartus. The temple is on a large glade inhabited by peacocks, lambs, wolves, leopards, and numerous other animals, living in peace with each other through the enchantment of the God. At sunset, a lamb or a peacock spontaneously offers itself in sacrifice to the predators. Likewise, the carnivores serve the other, meeker beasts, defending them from hunters and intruders.

**Kephalos** is the temple where the head of the God is believed to be preserved. Those who have seen it say that his face still shines with beautiful, blinding light and it must be wrapped in seven veils and seven cloaks and tied with seven laces so that the splendor of the God does not consume the eyes of those who look upon him. Poets sing that a cult of eunuchs, the Scorpionidai, guards this relic. They cover themselves with purple dresses adorned with a single gold brooch in the shape of a scorpion. Some argue that the temple is located off the large island of Melas, others say that it is somewhere on the northern coast of Adramis, hidden among the peaks of the nearby rocky archipelagos. Other, smaller temples, built in its image, can be found in Irria, Beitris, Mindos, Coiea and Iapitos.

## Rites and Festivities

The **Krubdai** are festivals celebrated in the fields. The faithful gather and one of them – usually a man, but in the East it could be a woman – is chosen to be ritually beheaded. The head is then buried in the ground, the body burned. After that, the bride of the sacrificial victim is shared among the faithful in an orgy that lasts until dawn. A less brutal form of the rite has spread following the Etoi influence on Askedoria. The human sacrifice has been replaced by offering a goat, or an ear of corn whose apical part is cut off.

The **Rites of the Cup** are celebrated in all the southern islands at the wedding banquets of the warrior aristocracy. Each guest receives a cup full of seawater, with a rare type of water scorpion, called Erigostes by the Iskuzai, swimming in it. The animal possesses powerful venom, but in small doses it only causes intoxication, euphoria and superhuman appetite. Those who dare to participate in the ritual put their hand into the cup and wait for the animal’s stinger to pierce their skin. In the Etoi tradition, this is a prelude to the possession by Philokteanos, and the celebrants wait for the God to manifest himself by invading their bodies. Among the Iskuzai, it is a challenge: the winner is the one who does not withdraw their hand from the cup for the longest time, risking a fatal dose of poison.

The **Banquet of Scorpions** is a ritual dating back to the times of the Iloboi, who reigned in Askedoria millennia before the Agrauran. The Moons are said to be the ones who revealed the ceremony to mortals, so that they could defend themselves against the power of the Akephalos. After a seven-day fast, the celebrants gather to devour scorpions and spiders, recently captured and locked up in large painted jars. This tests the discipline as well as the stomach of the faithful, as they try to swallow the animals still crawling in their mouths.

## Talismans

The **Sistrum of Erigonio Kateudon** is a gift said to have been given by the God to Eriscoe, sister of Auleo. Poets say that it is adorned with a representation of Erigonio’s lost head and that no one can hear its music without experiencing a dangerous addiction to that sound. Where the object is kept is a mystery - myths say that after the death of Eriscoe, it was brought to Psantes. Many believe it is still there, buried under the tall city walls for protection.