ANOA RELIGION

by Trotsky

K'orr

God of the Anoa

Bridge of the Realms, Master of the Barren Cycle, Chieftain of the Fatherless Multitude, Judge of the Dead

Lesser God [1]

K'orr is described as a great green serpent with jet black eyes glittering with points of starlight. He is generally shown twined around a staff in the wooden carvings which form the centre pieces of his isolated shrines. The Anoa accept that he is a shapechanger, and that he can take on other forms at will.

K'orr is the 'Bridge of the Realms', who unites the physical and spirit worlds. He is the creator and master of the Ivashu, who are believed to be able to walk both worlds, and who are often seen by shamans on visionquests. In this role, he has power over all those who travel between worlds, and judges the spirits of the departed.

Source: Anoa 1-2, Gedan 1, Ilvir 1-5 (see also HRT Ilvir index)

What the Shaman Says

Where did the world come from? [2]

In the beginning, Kelestia was formless and chaotic. The gods separated themselves from the chaos, and gave form to the world. But the gods soon began to quarrel with one another, and the quarrels soon became so great that they began to wage war. They created many lesser beings to fight their wars for them, and so the fighting became even more intense. Eventually, things became so bad that the very stability of Kelestia was threatened. Finally, in one climactic battle, the gods actually ripped the world in two, sundering its parts forever. Thus was the spirit world separated from the physical world, which we call 'Kethira'.

Seeing this happen, K'orr, who was one of the mightiest of the gods [3] grabbed onto the spirit world with his jaws, and grabbed onto the physical world with his tail and held the two parts together with the strength of his body. Although even he could not rejoin the sundered halves into one, ever after he has been the Bridge through which all travel between the worlds must pass.

Seeing this, many of the gods stopped their quarrels lest the world be sundered forever and its beauty be destroyed. These gods chose to live in the spirit world, and although they did not truly make peace, they no longer fought on such a terrible scale as before. But other gods and spirits coveted power for themselves. They decided to flee into Kethira, and take physical form there, so that they could continue their wars away from the interference of those gods who now lived on the spirit plane and sought to limit future conflicts.

But K'orr would not let these spirits pass, so some were trapped in the spirit world and some in Kethira. The evil spirits became angry with K'orr, who denied them their chance to carry on their war and at the same time held the two worlds together, so that even if they did all escape to Kethira, the other gods could chase them down there if they so chose. So the evil spirits made war on K'orr and on his creatures, the Ivashu, and continue to do so to this day.

Where did I come from?

Humans were created as tools of war by the gods. Once the gods stopped fighting, many humans felt they had lost their purpose, and began to fight among themselves for no reason, since that was the only way they had known. But our ancestors remained loyal to K'orr, knowing that he was still beset by evil spirits. We fight on his behalf, that the universe not be destroyed, and so that the evil spirits may be defeated.

Those evil spirits which were trapped in Kethira became flesh, and had offspring like normal creatures do. In time, they lost their immortality and forgot their magical powers, for they had no means of contacting the spirit world any more. This made them angrier still, and they strove not only to fight K'orr, but to fight the whole of creation and destroy as much of it as they could. The descendants of these beings are what we now call Gargun.

Why am I here?

You are here to fight for K'orr, and to keep the traditions of the people safe. So long as you do this your immortal spirit is safe, and you may travel to the spirit world when you die. But if you do not, then not only do you risk your own soul, but the gargun and other evil creatures may overrun the whole world and destroy everything.

What happens after we die?

When we die, our soul separates from our body and travels to the spirit world. K'orr is the Bridge through which we travel, and he judges us for our worthiness. Those who have done evil are not permitted to pass into the spirit world and their souls are devoured by K'orr's servants, the Hru.

Those who are not evil will live for a time in the spirit world, and serve K'orr there. In time, they will 'die' in that world, and then their spirit will return to this one and be born as a new person. Because we must spend as much time in the spirit world as in Kethira, it is important that our souls are well prepared before making the journey. Thus, when we die, we are buried with our possessions, which we will be able to use on the other side. Our greatest heroes and chieftains are buried at the holy site of Gedan, where Kethira and the spirit world are very close. This ensures that their travel between the worlds will be a speedy one.

What can you tell me about magic?

Most people only travel between the worlds twice; once when they are born and once when they die. Certain special people, however, may walk between the worlds several times with K'orr's blessing. These people are the shamans, and because of their special status they can view the wheel of life, and learn the fates of individual souls. Thus, they can predict the future and can gain much knowledge and power from the inhabitants of the spirit world.

What of the other gods? What can you tell me about... [4]

Siem

Siem was a god who remained behind on Kethira when the others had departed. Realising the destruction which the wars of the gods had wrought, he tried to heal things on Kethira and to teach humans to live in harmony with one another. But the mischief wrought by evil spirits made his task too great, and eventually he departed for the spirit world as the other gods had before him. He still sends messages to humans in dreams, which it is unwise to ignore. Although he is not as powerful as K'orr and has little ability to aid us in practical ways, he is a good god, who tries hard to oppose evil.

Sarajin

Our Jarin brothers of the Order of Chuchlaen Wheelwright say that Sarajin is an evil god who wishes only for further warfare and that K'orr therefore takes delight in the slaying of his followers. They know Sarajin better than we, so it may be that they are right, yet it seems to me that his followers are not wholly evil, and they fight for no cause rather than for a wicked one. Therefore, while they do not serve K'orr, we can leave them alone so long as they do not threaten us.

Dafenn [5]

This evil being believes that he can still gain supremacy over the other gods through means more subtle than open warfare. Thus, he sends disease, madness, evil spirits and nightmares to torment humans. In so doing he hopes to weaken us and defeat K'orr in that way.

Cothllynn [6]

Like Siem, Cothllynn is a benign deity, who understands that the world should be healed of its wounds. However, she does not realise the immensity of this task, and so her followers are not as trained for fighting as we. The world can only be made safe through combating those who would cause its destruction, and this is a lesson Cothllynn has still to learn.

Wajok [7]

The followers of this god are not evil and do not cause harm for its own sake, but they have turned away from K'orr, and so easily fall into doing evil. Instead they worship this weaker deity who cannot teach them the best paths to the spirit world. They are foolish people, yet do not deserve our enmity.

[1] As is well known, K'orr is another name for the Jarin god, Ilvir.

[2] This differs somewhat from the civilised Ilviran theology, because it represents a much older, pre-Libram form of the religion which has remained largely unchanged for at least a thousand years. Whether this makes it more 'accurate' than the more sophisticated forms (especially the Order of the Ochre Womb, which is almost as old) is left up to the GM.

[3] Note that there is no specific statement as to whether K'orr is a Lesser God or a First God, although the latter is implied.

[4] The Anoa only have contact with the people of  Orbaal and with their tribal neighbours, so they know little of the southern gods such as Larani and Peoni.

[5] The civilised god Naveh, who features in Anoan mythology, but who the tribesmen generally do not realise has actual worshippers. The name is purely my own invention.

[6] The goddess of the Taelda.

[7] The god of the Ymodi.