Orikrindian pantheon (pt 2)

Here are a few more members of the Orkrindian pantheon. Let me know what you think!

Orikrindian pantheon

Pultas & Peltas

 The Twin Gods—consisting of a brother and sister. Pultas (the brother) represents the past: wisdom, tradition, caution, prudence, understanding, experience, knowledge, but also implies regret, resentment, and weariness. Peltas, his sister, is the future. She represents ambition, vigor, intuition, risk-taking, daring, innovation, creativity, but also foolhardiness, misguidance, naïveté, childishness, and lack of attention.

As an individual neither can exist, for both are defined in terms of the other. Together they are worshipped as Time, or Sortas in the Ori language.

Epithets: Tin-Buta (The Two), Tun-Plembiltasa (The Twins), Tun-Biltasa (The Children), Lilemas na Liloris (Girl and Boy).

At their altar (the share one), people leave items that refer to or represent the dual nature of Sortas (e.g. double-tined forks, calpabeans (which have two kernels within one shell), double fruits).

Twins are sent upon their first birthday to be blessed by a priest or priestess of Sortas, and many twins end up becoming clergy of Sortas themselves, usually serving in the same temple together.

Sortas is one of the most represented in sculpture of the Orikrindian gods. Their statues can be found in almost every town over a certain size (>20k population, typically), and cities usually have more than one statue of them. They are often depicted intertwined together, or as two sides of the same person. Often, they are shown with an hourglass in one of their hands. Pultas may hold a skull or a book and Peltas may hold an infant or a fruit.

Calcurassen

Calcurassen is the god of justice, law, and order. He is called Arbiter of the World and Father of the Law. His domain is the taming of chaos and the establishment and maintenance of order in the world of his people.

Often depicted as an elderly man with a long beard, he wears the Robe of Forethought and golden diadem on his head. The jewel in this diadem is called the Jewel of Truth (Ti-clespeya Nalemasye) and can reveal any falsehoods told. Devotees of Calcurassen will often wear a clear jewel (often quartz) around a chain on their neck to indicate their devotion to the god of justice.

Epithets: Tetuya Nalemasye (Father of Truth), Tu-Calisoris (The Arbiter), Tu-Haneris (The Good Man), Tu-Gintes (The (Paternal) Uncle), Tu-Calpas (The Strength).

Asteren 

Asteren’s name means Light. He is the god of knowledge, learning, wisdom, logic, and reason. He is also the patron god of music, art, creation in general, and skilled work of many kinds (various artisanal works, such as sculpture, metalwork, ceramics, woodworking, ship-building, architecture, weaving, etc.)

He is often depicted as a young man dressed in scholar’s robes (blues and purples, usually). He hair is worn long, as is the style of scholars in Orikrindia, and he wears purple gems on his fingers (purple is the color of scholarly class in western Ei and Orikrindia).

His temples are essentially schools. For a rather generous fee, one can become a devotee of Asteren, and receive an education like none other in Orikrindia. Many young nobles are educated in the temples of Asteren, and even some foreigners who travel to Orikrindia.

Epithets: Tu-Selisis (The Teacher), Ayaloris (Opener), Ti-Nelcaya Nulyuya (The Tall God), Sullinseris (He Who Makes It [Knowledge] Flow), Tu-Taris (The Speaker).

Asteren is also described using metaphors of water; the water represents knowledge and Asteren himself is sometimes spoken of as a spring or well of water, allowing knowledge to flow throughout the world and the minds of his worshippers. The common prayer “Receive with a goblet” is written about Asteren in this manner.

~

Mintaka

6 thoughts on “Orikrindian pantheon (pt 2)

  1. I love Pultas and Peltas and their entire concept around being twins and how as an individual neither can exist. I also find the items offered to them to be very interesting !! I want to add that your languages are so fitting and they just create so much depth to your world and really bring it to life. I enjoy when you include words from your constructed languages and I look forward to reading each deity’s epithets !! In your posts it is reflected how much effort and thought you put into each process and creation of your world, I can’t wait to continue learning more.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I really like reading your descriptions of the gods and all the details you include (such as how they are described or the way people worship them). It’s also interesting that Peltas represents ambition, innovation and risk-taking, which is the opposite to how mortal women are expected to be.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Right, Peltas is a bit of a contradiction, culturally speaking. Her femininity is in line with the cultural views of Orikrindia that women are sources of life and newness, and also the idea that they lack some fundamental good judgment in general (at least when in the earlier stages of life). This association ties femininity in to the concept of “the future”, which for Orikrindians is associated with a lack of certainty, possible myopia, and possible over-enthusiasm. At the same time, Orikrindians think of the future as something where ambition, innovation, and positive change live as well. So you get the contradiction that Peltas represents to them, as a female deity of “future time”.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. It seems like the Orikrindians are comfortable with contradictions; I remember you writing that in Orikrindia people are often named after traits opposite to what they are hoped to have (like a woman having a name that means ‘Bold’ and a man being called ‘Shy’).

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Orikrindians also seem very invested in fate to me. They tend to be superstitious, and believe it’s possible to “jinx” their fate and that of those around them. Thus the reasoning behind the “opposite naming” (which I am guessing is used only in certain circles—maybe amongst nobles?those with certain religious tendencies/traditions?) . At the same time, just the use of this “avoidance magic” (using magic in more of an anthropological sense than a literal one in-world), attests to their willingness to try to defy their fate by manipulating the attention of the fates/gods/whatever they believe controls their lives.

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