Bulwari Pantheon

**Bulwari Pantheon** refers to the original religious beliefs and practices of the Bulwari peoples between circa 2800 BA and 1000 BA, prior to the establishment of the Bulwari Sun Cult as the main religion of the subcontinent. Originally, the Bulwari Pantheon was a polytheistic religion with the gods structured in a familiar hierarchy, with each city-state having a national god as the head of the pantheon. The religion later evolved to have the Sun god as the head of the pantheon.

## History

The Bulwari pantheon evolved over time, and is often divided into three separate periods: The God-king or Ancient Bulwari period, the Karqašlu period and the Sun Cult period.

The sources of the ancient period are very fragmented, and historians only manage to reconstruct some ritual practices and relations between the different gods. Some scholars theorize that the gods of the Ancient Bulwari Pantheon were in fact the original God-kings of each city, turned into deities after their death, but this theory is considered by other scholars as lacking evidence other than circumstantial one.

The Karqašlu Pantheon presents some differences over the previous period. We see the rise of the Sun god as head of the pantheon, popularized thanks to the conquest of Bulwar by the Karqašlu Empire. While there is evidence of the Sun being worshiped during the Age of God-kings, Sarqa, the Karqašlu sun god is considered more similar in representation and portfolio to Tapashur, the proto-Zabatlari sun god, than to Sar, the Bulwari sun god of the previous period.

In the Sun Cult period we see a great evolution of the pantheon. Sarqa, the sun of Karqašlu, merged with two other gods: Kirašqqu, the son of Kuza and god of agriculture and civilization and Qayiakal, the patron Sun god of the proto-Zablatari Akalites and creator of humankind, into a new god, Surakel. The new Sun god replaced Sarqa as head of the pantheon, and due to interactions with new races, like dwarves, gnolls and harpies, other gods of the pantheon were credited with their creation.

Scholars agree that the concept of a warrior Sun god was introduced in Bulwar by the nomadic Akalites that migrated from the Serpent’s Gift. According to archeological evidence, the concept of a Malevolent Dark or a god of Darkness was unknown in Bulwar until the Onslaught.

In this period we see the beginnings of the Sun Cult, which claimed that the gods of the pantheon were either dead or corrupted, and that Surakel sacrificed his physical body to become the Sun. Once the cult replaced the pantheon as the main religion of the Bulwari, the pantheon evolved into its current form that fits into the Sun Cult cosmogony. Is theorized that one of the reasons for the Cult's popularity was that it elevated Surakel, the god of Mankind, over the other gods, specially those who made the different races that invaded Bulwar.

## Cosmogony and mythology

The Bulwari believed in the existence of an innumerable number of gods, both major and minor. Major gods included phenomena like the sky or the wind, while minor gods were associated with certain objects or features, like river gods or gods of certain roads or crafts. In the case of minor gods, we have evidence of gods with overlapping portfolios, for example, Gillu, a minor god of scribes from the middle Suran plain, and Ata, a different god from Bahar associated with scribes and genealogy.

### Creation Myth

At the beginning there were only two primordials, Šadru, the mountains, and Abiya, the sea. Of their meeting and mingling, the world came into existence. The first generation of major gods started with Kuza, the Moon, and her light illuminated the world before the Sun came to be. After Kuza, the gods and goddess of Earth, Sky and Freshwater were born from the two primordials.

The second generation of major gods consisted of Nilšranu, goddess of the wind, Amaštu, goddess of nature, and Surakel, god of gardening and civilization.

The god of Freshwater was the progenitor of the river gods and goddesses and Amaštu gave birth to plants and animals, and their respective gods.

### The Domains of the Gods

The major gods had areas where their influence and power was stronger, but we only know a few of them. The Salahad was the domain of Amaštu, goddess of nature, and was a fertile plain with many forests in it. The Serpentspine mountains was the domain of Šadru, and the Divenhal was the domain of Abiya. Modern Bulwar was the domain of Surakel.

### The Garden of Surakel

Surakel was the only child to Kuza, and he took residence in the land of Surakeš, where he made his Garden. Surakel married the goddesses Suran and Buranun, and the three together created mankind to help Surakel complete his vision, a beautiful garden in the center of the creation.

### The Creation of the Dwarves

The dwarves were created by Šadru after learning of the existence of mankind. When Šadru saw Surakel’s creation, he said to himself “If my grandson is capable of such a creation, what will I, the fatherless one, be capable of creating? No doubt I can create a people so magnificent that it would put the humans of Surakel on the same level as Amaštu’s beasts.”

Then Šadru collected the strongest and purest metals from the mountains, and with them he made beings five times taller than men, but when he put his divine flame in their bodies, they fell apart.

Eight more times Šadru attempted, and eight more times his creations fell apart. The old primordial developed a grudge against his grandson, blaming Surakel for his failure. Then, Šadru made one last attempt, this time, he made his children smaller than humans, but stockier and stronger.

From marble he carved their bodies, with pyrite, citrines and topaz made their eyes, a heart of gold he put on their chests, and when he gave them his divine flame, the race of the dwarves was born, strongest as the mountains, and masters of crafting.

### The Creation of the Harpies

The harpies are the daughters of Nilšranu and her nephew Surakel. The oldest surviving version of the myth says that Nilšranu felt jealous of Surakel’s wives, so she used magic to trick Surakel to lie with her.

When Surakel became free of the spell, he pursued Nilšranu, who fled north, to a lake between the mountains. Fearing for his life and his future child, she pleaded with his father Šadru for protection from Surakel.

The primordial, still holding a grudge against his grandson, raised the lands between Surakel’s Garden and the lake, creating the Šad Našratu, the Harpy Hills. There, safe from Surakel, Nilšranu gave birth to Firanya, the first of the harpies.

### The Friendship of Bulwari and Dwarves

Surakel, wanting to avoid conflict with his grandfather and his children, invited Šadru and the dwarves to a feast in the lands where the city of Bulwar now stands. Food and wine was exchanged, and words of friendship were made. At the end of the feast, Surakel gifted a plant to the Dwarves, which he told them it can be used to make an alcoholic beverage.

The dwarves took the gift back to the mountains and the plant spread through the Dwarovar in a year. It's unknown where it happened, but the dwarves used the plant to create a new alcoholic beverage, beer.

Grateful for such a gift, the Dwarves swore eternal friendship to Surakel and the peoples of Bulwar.

### The Creation of the Gnolls

The gnolls were created by Amaštu in mockery of humans, as an insult to Surakel and with the duty to protect her domains from humanity. Some versions of the myth suggest that she made the gnolls from humans, and by that reason, the gnolls have the Light of Surakel inside them, like humans and harpies.

The gnolls in their original form lived in harmony with nature. They were not peaceful by any means, but they respected nature and its divine cycle.