God of the Pagælin
Wielder of the Bloody Spear, Grey Slayer of the Weak, Master of the Elkyri
Lesser God [1]
Saraen is described as a tall and muscular Pagaelin warrior carrying a magical spear.
Even those Pagaelin who have not joined the cult of Aedlad the Imprisoned do not worship Saraen directly. He is a figure who exists in their mythology, and who grants powers to the few Pagaelin shamans, but the general tribesmen have never worshipped him. His primary role is as the 'husband' of the Elkyri, who forces them to cooperate with one another through various cruel and violent means.
Pagaelin demigod of the sea [2]
Chaal is a jealous and angry god, who brings storms and destruction to those who cross the seas. He was once the principal god of the Pagaelin, until they moved inland and his influence dwindled. He is described as a large gray whale.
Pagaelin demigod of warriors
Yarlac is the deity closest to the Pagaelin warriors, although they do not worship him directly. Instead, he is seen as gifting warriors with their animal totems which determine their particular skills. The demigod himself is a terrifying hybrid creature: part wolf, part bear and part mountain lion.
Harbingers of Doom
These evil demigoddesses spread sorrow and suffering across the world, and are rightly feared for the disasters that follow in their wake. They also drag the souls of defeated warriors down to hell. They can look like normal human women, but more commonly take the form of ravens. There are known to be eight Elkyri, although their individual names have been forgotten. Since the Elkyri are women, they are obviously not capable of doing anything important on their own without being beaten into submission first, a fact which Saraen knows well.
Source: Sarajin 1-4, Online Pagaelin write-up, (see also HRT Sarajin index)
What the Shaman Says
Where did the world come from? [3]
Kethira was created by the First Gods, whose names are all long forgotten. They were beings of immense power, so it was only natural that they soon fell to quarelling. They created the Lesser Gods to help them in their conflicts, and those gods in turn created men, beasts, and spirits to continue the fighting. Eventually, all the First Gods destroyed each other, or were destroyed by Lesser Gods who rebelled against them.
The Lesser Gods continued to fight, and do so to this day. That is why the world is such a harsh place, with violent storms, angry winds, fierce beasts, diseases and evil spirits. One day there will come a Final Conflict so extreme that Kethira will be torn asunder. Only the strongest and most cunning will survive that cataclysm to go on to a new world where only one, victorious, god will rule.
Where did I come from?
Men were created to fight on behalf of the Lesser Gods. However, the truly cunning and powerful man acts as slave to noone, not even a god. That is why we do not worship the gods and subject ourselves to our will as the weak and foolish peoples around us do. Because of this, we are stronger than they and they will never conquer us.
Women were created as tools to serve men, performing tasks which would degrade or inconvenience us, and providing us with pleasure whenever we wish it.
Why am I here?
You are here because the gods created humans with the power to reproduce themselves, which was less effort than creating us anew each time we died in their battles. Now our purpose is to become as strong as we can, and to live as long as we can so that we will not go to hell when we die. Every time you defeat an enemy, be it through violence or cunning, the gods will know that you are a strong man and the Elkyri will come to fear you, and leave you alone.
What happens after we die?
When we die the spirits of the Elkyri try to drag us down to hell, where our strength is stripped from us and we serve as slaves in a dank featureless underworld. The Elkyri haunt battlefields for this reason, capturing the souls of those unfortunates and weaklings who are defeated in battle. However, if you are strong and cunning enough then you will be able to evade them and travel to the land of Talgard on Yashain, where you will be able to steal eternal life and many other benefits beside.
True men do not enslave themselves to gods, and need have no interest in their affairs. Instead, once a boy is strong enough to fight for himself as a warrior, and thereby becomes a man, he selects an animal totem to guide him. There are five totems which grant power to the warrior. By marking yourself with their symbol, you may take their power, and use it in battle. Other warriors who bear the same totem will know you for one of their own.
The totems are [4]:
What can you tell me about magic?
Sometimes men are born with marks that set them apart from others. They may have a strange appearance, or may have ecstatic visions, or act in strange ways. Most such people die young, and any woman with these weaknesses would soon be abandoned. But a few survive by enslaving themselves to the god Saraen, one of the mightier warriors among the Lesser Gods. In return for this, they gain strange powers, some of which allow them to overcome their handicaps in battle. Although these people are ultimately doomed because of their reliance on gods rather than their own strength, they are permitted to live among us in return for using their powers on our behalf when we require them. But never forget they are different and weaker than we, and are not to be treated like a true warrior.
What of the other gods? What can you tell me about... [5]
Larani
This is one of the gods against whom Saraen fights. Her warriors ride horses and wear suits of metal. They show well the folly in enslaving yourself to gods, since they restrict themselves to ridiculous rules and often fail to follow through properly when they gain advantage. Larani doubtless laughs at the way her warriors follow the restrictions she set to weaken them, but one day Saraen or some other strong god will defeat her and treat her like the chattel that all women and goddesses really are.
Peoni
This goddess has been defeated by Larani and is now her slave. She also shows the foolishness of enslaving yourself to deities, since her worshippers have not abandoned her even now she has been defeated. So now they serve as slaves to the Laranians, and produce no warriors.
Siem
This evil god has created many devils which plague mankind, bringing disease, famine and other woes. His followers are skilled warriors, but they are usually too cowardly to leave their forests. It is best to leave them alone, for they are inhuman and without souls.
Ilvir
In times gone past, this god went insane and became a cripple trapped beyond the western mountains. There he creates Ivashu to fight for him against the followers of other gods. He cares nothing for humans, and only the very foolish and weak worship him.
Sarajin
Many among the Chelni now follow this god, which makes them weaker than they once were. Although his followers are good warriors who know how to fight, they lack intelligence and cunning, always preferring the frontal assault to ambushing and backstabbing while the true warrior should know how to employ both styles of warfare. Some say that Sarajin is brother to Saraen, but we do not need to care about such things.
The Walker on the Heath [6]
The followers of this god recently came among us, and showed him to be a powerful deity, with cunning and skilled warriors. His weakness is the opposite of Sarajin's, in that he ignores the direct battle in favour of the stealthy ambush, yet he is able to control the Elkyri from time to time (for, like all women, the Elkyri are easily cowed by any man who choses to threaten them, whether or not he is their true master.) Many of our people have begun to follow him, thinking that he will grant them power, but we who keep the old ways know that it is best to fight for yourself alone and to ignore all gods, no matter how strong they may appear to be.
Kualthurlu [7]
This is a goddess of the sea, who fights with Chaal for dominion of the waves. Her followers chose to hide by travelling out to sea where we cannot pursue them. Like all goddesses, she is weak and will be defeated in due course.
[1] The Pagaelin god is known to be an aspect of the Ivinian deity, Sarajin. The name 'Saraen' is my own invention. Note that this write-up concerns the original, native religion of the Pagaelin people, which has in recent years largely been supplanted by the cult of Aedlad the Imprisoned. None the less, around a quarter of tribesmen do remain true to the old ways.
[2] Chaal, along with the other demigods listed here, is not actually worshipped by the Pagaelin; he is a mythic figure whose former religious functions have been forgotten or abandoned.
[3] This differs significantly from Ivinian-Sarajinian theology, partly because it represents a much older, pre-Libram form of the religion but also because of the great cultural differences between the Ivinians and the Pagaelin.
[4] For suggested rules on the power of totems see the Pagaelin shamans page
[5] Not all gods are listed here. The Pagaelin have little, if any, knowledge of or contact with the religions of Halea, Save K'nor, Agrik or Morgath. They meet Halean merchants along the Genin Trail, of course, but they don't necessarily know or care who they worship.
[6] Naveh.
[7] The goddess of the Chymak.
To the Pagaelin shamans page
To the HRT Sarajin index
This document was created 31st May 1998 by Jamie 'Trotsky' Revell. Comments are welcome.