This is a short melody composed by my husband Eric (who is a professional musician and composer) based on some ideas I had for Gotevian music involving pipes. It’s still in a baby stage and he said he wants to expand on it, but here it is for now! Also see the musical notational system he came up with for Gotevian music.
Next installment of the Orikrindian pantheon. This one focuses on the sea goddess and her half-mortal son.
One thing I want to note is the pervasiveness of the pantheon. These gods are recognized not only in Orikrindia itself, but also across eastern Ei. Some in Quarios also worship these gods, especially Orikrindian immigrants (such as Elucuna, of course). They did, however, originate with the native inhabits of Orikrindia (the island, rather before the “nation” itself was a thing), so they are referred to as gods of Orikrindia in Aeniith itself (as I will continue to call them in meta-documentation too). Worship practices do vary per region. My descriptions here apply to traditional methods in Orikrindia.
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Lumaya is a goddess who has domain over water. Primarily, she is associated with the sea, although her influence extends over all bodies of water. She is said to be the younger sister of Hestaya and Moltirin.
In Orikrindian depictions, she has pale blue skin and hair of seagrass. Sometimes she takes the form of a seal, and it is for this reason that Orikrindians, unlike some neighbors, do not eat the flesh of certain species of seals.
One of the powers of Lumaya are her eyes, which appear like swirls of abalone and are thought to be able to enchant those who stare into them. This is the origin of Orikrindian belief that gazing into the sea for too long can be dangerous to mental health.
Lumaya has temples by the edges of the sea. They are usually decorated with items that reflect the local maritime life and culture: carved driftwood, sea glass, shells, pearls, and other findings from nearby the temple. The priestesses of Lumaya are known to be “sponsored” by the national navy of Orikrindia.
Prayers to Lumaya are offered especially during certain very strong tides. She is revered by all mariners, who usually have an altar to her in their homes. Since most mariners in Orikrindia are men, this is probably the one female goddess that is worshipped mostly by men in Orikrindia. The devotees of Lumaya are some of the most vocal and open, possibly due to the island nature of Orikrindia as a country. Naval military successes are frequently credited to Lumaya’s blessing.
Epithets: Halumaya (Lumaya the Great, lit. ‘Great Water’), Ti-Hendessaya Cacalsaya (’The Infinite Sea’), Tu-Hemas Heltasye Plesstolsye (’the Lady of the Cerulean Voice’), Co-Lyosyal Tun-Golinorisi ‘The Grief of the Weak’), Syalanyas Culimyenya (’Queen of Journeys’), Tu-Syalanyas Yalunt Tellened (’The Queen of Star-eyes’), Tu-Hemas Estolis (’The Blue Lady’).
This is the child of Lumaya, Giessembe, who has control over bodies of fresh water. He is often depicted as a small child, a demi-god, who was conceived by Lumaya with a mortal man. The story of their meeting and relationship is told in the Ori epic poem Ti-Clespes Endessonisye na Bestini (’The Jewel of the Great Sea and the Earth’).
Giessembe’s name means ‘calm fresh water’, with embe being the word for any general body of fresh water.
In Orikrindian legend, Giessembe was sent to prove himself as an adult divine being, since he was weak as a baby, despite being a half-god. He was challenged by Apyolus, god of fire, to quell the fires of the mighty Cetispeltaya, a volcano whose summit cut through the fabric of the heavens. To accomplish this, he asked his mother to cause the sea to evaporate into clouds above the world, and a great rain fell for ten days without cease, and filled the fresh water streams and rivers. He then called on Moltirin to cause the trees of the forests to lie on their bellies so that his waters could flow freely around the world. Peltas (of the Twin Gods) was asked to make time flow quickly along the rivers so all the waters would surge across the land. Thus was Giessembe able to seep his waters down inside the earth (with the help of Hestaya) and extinguish the mighty volcano from the inside out.
Giessembe used his method of extinguishing the fires as a living hymn and tribute to the gods who had helped him, impressing Apyolus so much that he granted Giessembe the greater powers that were due him as a fully grown demi-god.
Epithets: Tu-Plenis (’The Half’), Tu-Prastanes (’The Clever’)
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Mintaka
In Orikrindian myth, Hestaya (the mother goddess, the goddess of the mountains and earth) bore 12 infants, which were conceived beneath the hardest rock in the earth, fathered by the fire god, whose life blood flows under the world as magma. The twelve children were born upon twelve hills that encircle the island of Orikrindia. In legend, the children were found by nomads of a group called the Lost Ones. The queen of this people, Crestellin, was the first to find one of these children, and then, one by one, she and her handmaidens found all twelve. She was a childless queen before this moment, but adopted the babies into her family and raised them as her own. According to legend, these demigod children grew into the founders of the twelve great cities of Orikrindia.
This poem is about Crestellin finding the first of the children of Hestaya.
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Moving like a green snake
In the dewdrops
A fragmented line of tiny sighs
Blooming life along the dusty horizon.
Clinging still to mother
Unwilling to relinquish
That summer warm smell
Of newborns and flowers and vegetables
Singing in the sweltering heat
Humming with an old life
You know who they were
The ones who came before
The earthy faces digging themselves out from under hills and mounds
Stones in the dusk
In the distance,
They approached
Farther and farther
Until we heard their breath
Whispering and scraping in the evening air
Like leaves against your cheek.
We took them in
Opened our wings
And drew in these
Infants.
We gave them the instincts
We had left,
Pretending
To be mothers
Pretending
To understand beyond the eons
What we were doing.
The children of the stone
The babies found
In the earth
Creeping into humanity
Latching onto a nipple
They were lucky to find
Vines covering the tomb
An ancient space
Threshold to a world beyond
We remained and named the children
After the wish of the Mother,
Hestaya.
~
Mintaka
Here are a few more members of the Orkrindian pantheon. Let me know what you think!
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 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’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
Continuation of Elucuna’s first days in Quarios. She and Glohitan meet a strange woman along the road outside of Naeglitan.
We took two amsas (1) to the edge of the city. My meager belongings were strapped onto the young female that was given to me. Glohitan called her Isma. I was unused to riding since it was not an activity considered womanly in Orikrindia, but I managed well enough given my inexperience. The mount was, thankfully, very calm and patient. Glohitan’s walking stick was tied to his back, wrapped in a saffron-colored scarf, and he rode just ahead of me as we made our way down a dark road near the outskirts of Naeglitan.
Poem about the Orikrindian goddess of the forest. I don’t have enough of the Ori language done yet to translate it BUT it still spoke loudly so I had to do it.
Moltirin (known alsois the Orikrindian goddess of forests, mysteries, vengence, the past, memory, and rebirth/reawakening. She is also the matron goddess of lost things, women who have died in childbirth, dead children, men who have died in battle, storms, and those who have been wronged.
the woman of the wood
the threads of days past
she weaves again
a whisper from before
taken up again
bright and vital in memory
damp with energy refound
glowing in the night
alight with vigor
surging forth once more
pulsing in the rain
dancing beneath the arms of trees.
and her eyes
lit like lodestones
a stormy blue
and shot through with light
like yesterday
the dust of an eon
settled and reformed
again we have awoken
the woman of the wood.
~
Mintaka
Untitled Rílin poem, originally written about my mother.
Mintaka
This is a Rílin nezeletŭ, along with its recording. This is called Tímalípin ‘We Remember’. It is, like all nezeletŭ, about the sorrow experienced by those Ríli who were driven from their forest home by the Tosi invaders.
Here is a new Rílin poem (well, newish), plus its audio recording. Got my h4n Zoom back so hopefully it sounds a bit better now.
Mintaka
So this is a song I recorded a long time ago (like ten years ago lol) that I wrote even longer ago in Old Rílin and Rílin. I was originally inspired by the lush vegetation in southern Georgia when I was visiting there a long while ago. The first verse is in Old Rílin and the rest in Rílin. I imagine it could be from the perspective of a Ríla visiting a southern country (as they are native to the northern half of Izoi and thus would not have experience with certain types of biomes, perhaps being very impressed by certain plants and trees as I was).
Composition, vocals, and lyrics are all by me. Piano arrangement and performance credit goes to Eric Barker (www.ericbarker.com).
http://www.whitealicemusic.com/music/BvePfaRi.mp3
Lyrics are below:
Bve Pfa R̂í
(old Rílin)
Bve Pfa R̂í
/bve pfa ʂi/
tree blue yearn
‘yearning green’
Goxe
/goxe/
stir
‘stirring’
bi-ly
/bi’ly/
seed-push
‘seeds springing forth’
bil-i
/bi’li/
innerground-wet
‘moist soil’
naqa r̂í
/naqa ʂi/
gentle yearn
‘gentle yearning’
na genk
inf sleep
‘to sleep’
re kanad
/ɾe kanad/
out.of forest
‘out of the forest’
be
/be/
smile
‘a smile’
(modern Rílin)
Phala tösh
/ɸa-la tøʃ/
air-instr ash
Ash in the air
Aghu
/aɣu/
Blind
Wunís myrûí
/wunis myɾʌi/
breath burning
Breath burning
(instrumental)
pilu ní
/pɪlu ni/
center.of.flower clear
Clear center of a flower
uka
/uka/
Companion
Be ŕíky zöet
/bɛ ʐi-ky zø-ɛt/
neg expel-imp trust-abs
don’t expel trust
Despyxa
/dɛspyxa/
Paper of tissue
Moías
/mɔias/
Tapestry
Kaíkr̂ŭ ŝala
/kaikʂɯ ʃa-la/
warmth.from.light petal-instr
Warm light through the petals
Aeniith: A Constructed World 