#godsmouth

[serpentface]

The members of the Lion party, magisters of the city-state of Titenegal who support unification with rival state Godsmouth to better oppose other enemies (at the cost of the former's autonomy). The party's name was an adoption of a former derogatory epithet "lionmen", referring to their significant dalliances with Godsmouth's lion-themed war cult (the odonii).

Left to right: Pavas Aeb-Vriswa, Yann Hamasere, Helei Wisawe, and Odelas 'the Aurox' Palla.

Places and terms:

Royal Dain - southern kingdoms of the dainlands, along the banks of the Viper and the inner seas. Historical enemies of Wardin and Bur.

Finnerich- a former royal Dain kingdom, now a client state of the Wardi empire.

North Finn/Royal Finn- Semi-Autonomous region that rejects Wardi rule and has been in a constant state of conflict with Finnerich and Wardin. Frequently raids the waters of both Wardin and the Burri regions.

Wardin/the Wardi Empire- Formerly the Eastern Burri empire, which collapsed into individual city-states and was then re-conquered by the state of Wardin. It's an empire in somewhat loose terms- its territory is not fully contiguous, and conquered/allied states may continue a degree of self-governance so long as tribute, serfs, and soldiers are provided, but usually wind up absorbed in the long run.

Godsmouth (Od-Yacha) - The wealthiest city in Wardin due to its key ports, and a center to the Faith of the Seven Faced God

Burri empire- formerly vast empire (which had three incarnations). The western Burri empire was its last embodiment, which slowly and quietly collapsed under fraying political alliances and is now functionally extinct as a political entity.

Titenegal- Formerly poor agricultural city-state that became a sprawling and wealthy port city in response to rising sea levels. Now the most powerful city in the former Western Burri Empire. It is a representative democracy run by an elected magistrate of 10 and senate of 50.

Kosov- a city and region formerly of the Burri empire, brutally sacked by Godsmouth 30 years ago after trade related conflicts but never absorbed into Wardin. It has yet to fully rebuild and many of its people have scattered.

The Mouth- an economically significant waterway, as the only passage from the outer oceans into the inner sea and the Viper for thousands of miles.

The Inner Seas- narrow salt water seas dividing the interior of the supercontinent and connecting most of the largest civilizations in trade.

The Viper- a narrow sea bordered by the Dainlands to the north and Wardin to the south. It comes close to emptying into the ocean, but a canalway has never been successfully built.

Odism- (non-in universe) name for the religions sharing a common origin and figure of Od the divine ox as a creator god. In the religion of the Burri pantheon, he figures only into the creation story and is minimally worshipped. In the Faith of the Seven Faced God, Od is interpreted as the ONLY god. (There are several other religions under this umbrella, but these are the two of greatest political significance).

Regional Map for clarity.

The Lions wish to unify Titenegal (powerful citystate of the now defunct Burri empire) with Godsmouth in a political and military alliance, which would make Titenegal functionally a client state of the Wardi Empire.

Both city states experience regular harassment by Dain kings and the rebel Royal/Northern Finns, both of whom exploit the divides between the two powerful city-states on the banks of the Mouth.

The Lions argue that a unified front will secure the Mouth, bring economic prosperity, and repel the Dain kings and rebel Finn invaders who trouble the waters of the Mouth and the Viper. The Lions also believe that defeat by Godsmouth would be inevitable in the event of a conflict, though this is rarely part of their public rhetoric. Titenegal is weakened and no longer closely allied with Bur, and they see voluntary submission as a pragmatic choice to avoid a violent sacking and come out relatively intact.

The opposition is referred to as the Bulls, the five members of the magistrate who are firmly against alliance with Godsmouth and subjugation by Wardin. (The one remaining member is unaffiliated). Bulls appeal to loyalists to the now-defunct Burri empire, and wish to see it recreated and its enemies destroyed. They encourage rebuilding the armies of Titenegal and demanding allegiance with other former cities of Imperial Bur in order to repel the ambitions of the Wardi empire.

The two city states are close neighbors and demographically very similar, with the biggest divisive point being their religion. The pantheon of Bur and the Faith of the Seven Faced God share common origin and religious figures, but differ significantly in their worldview and interpretation of their texts. The Bulls weaponize this division and depict the Seven Faced God as a perversion of the pantheon, casting It as a bloodthirsty demon as evidenced by the prominent role of sacrifice and the presence of human sacrifice (which is altogether reviled by the Burri). The Lions instead attempt to soothe the differences between the religion by emphasizing their commonalities and turning the peoples focus instead on a common enemy- the heathen faiths of the Dainlands.

-----------

Pavas Aeb-Vriswa is a rather reluctant member of the Lions. She has no wish for Titenegal to become a client state, but opposes the Bulls hawking for war. As a survivor of the Sack of Kosov and firsthand witness to the brutality of Godsmouth's legions, she believes that to war with Godsmouth is an act of suicide. She is the second-longest serving member of Titenegal's magistrate, and holds great respect among the common people for spearheading major improvements to the city-state's infrastructure after years of stagnation. One of the least corrupt politicians to ever exist.

Yann Hamasere comes from a prosperous noble family whose wealth lies in the breeding of prize war khait. He is the youngest magistrate and generally regarded as the weakest, both due to inexperience and poor public speaking. Aside from his patronage of the arts (making him rather popular among intellectual circles in Titenegal), most of his career has been ignored by the public eye. However, he was wed to the odonii Rhea Sur-Tigiiz of Godsmouth to secure a partial military alliance with the city-state, and now finds himself the target of political sabotage and multiple assassination attempts.

Helei Wisawe is the only known remaining descendant of the last imperial family of the West Burri Empire, and thus supposedly a descendant of the gods Titen and Vasharum. Though the Lions (and the magistrate as a whole) intend to divide power evenly among its members, she has emerged as a natural leader and is the main reason the outnumbered Lion party remains politically viable. She is a shrewd politician, keeping her religious affiliations ambiguous enough that both followers of the traditional polytheistic Burri pantheon and the monotheistic(ish) Seven Faced God believe her to be one of them. Though she advocates submission to Godsmouth and Wardin, she sees this as a step towards a rebuilt Burri empire that unites all the people of Odist religion, though only a chosen few know of her designs.

Odelas "The Aurox" is a former war hero, made famous in the Third Finn War where he lead Titenegal's navy to victory against the superior numbers of the Finn and Royal Dain fleet. He has a brash and aggressive personality and is not particularly deft in politics, though is highly popular among the people for his war hero status, and critical in securing the allegiance of Titenegal's military. His interest in unification is rooted more in hatred for the rebel Finns and Dain kings than any love for his ancestral homeland of Wardin, (a fairly common stance for Wardi diaspora in the lands of Bur). He changed his nomme de guerre from 'the Bull' to 'the Aurox' after the development of the Bull party.

[kittypie]

Inktober 2017 #6 God's Mouth

[foulserpent]

the Odomache, one of the seven high priests of the God of Warden, in ceremonial armor. Day to day wear is slightly more practical and less purple. lore about this role below

Background: The God of Warden (has many names that would mostly translate to 'God') is the object of monotheistic worship and the official religion of Warden’s five city-states. Core dogma holds that the first man sacrificed God, and used Its body to create a world in primordial chaos. God’s soul remains bound to the world and incarnates into seven ‘faces’, understood to be aspects of the same being. Each face has at least one dedicated monastic order, under command of seven high priests. The seven are functionally the ruling body of Warden, though each city-state has its own leadership.

The Odomache is part of a martial-religious order called the Odonii, a monastic cult centered around God’s ‘lion face’. The role was historically mostly martial and religious, but the recent historical shift towards Warden as a state identity has seem the Odomache become a representation of the state, a living embodiment of its wholeness and sanctity. 

She is particularly tied to the citystate Godsmouth (and the role likely derives from earlier practices before even the formation of the state), and is its chief military commander, and presides over all military rituals to ensure success in battle.

Young girls are selected for the role from the families of ranking soldiers. They are trained for their varying roles for about a decade and care for the prides of white lions kept in the palatial gardens. After a gauntlet of tests and based on their prowess in training, a new Odomache is selected by the previous one, and the role transferred.

The triumphant Odomache then sacrifices one of her lions, in a ceremony replicating God’s sacrifice at the hands of the first human. She divides its body among the heads of the Five Nations of Warden, is painted in its blood, and wears its raw pelt in the initiatory Lion Dance ritual, where she leads the Odonii and her soldiers in a weapons dance.

Neither nudity or sex is taboo in this culture, but profound significance is placed on both (and the body as a whole). A state of nudity is understood as being metaphysically vulnerable and malleable, necessary for transformative rituals but profoundly dangerous. Sex (particularly receiving penetrative sex) is especially vulnerable. The gaze is also understood as magically potent and potentially dangerous (in the form of an ‘evil eye’ curse and related beliefs.

All this necessitates the Odomache's body to be closely guarded (the other 6 high priests have similar practices). She will only ever be seen nude during this initiatory lion dance, after which only her face, hair, hands and feet can be exposed publicly.

The penalty for seeing an Odomache’s nude body is (intended to be) death, at the hands of the Odomache herself, who will be anointed in the blood of the offender to be ritually re-consecrated. The only exception is other odonii, and her attending servants (all people designated women or eunuchs). Celibacy is similarly enforced.

As with anything, there are violations that go unchecked, but there are relatively few Odomache with known scandals throughout history, and all of these ended with their willing ritual suicide, When your body is symbolically identified with the health of the State, the People, and Literally God, the stakes are pretty high (and psychological consequences sometimes severe)

[thirteen-jades]

I recently completed my very first D&D (technically Pathfinder) adventure of non-trivial length! It was actually a little while ago, but I was waiting for someone to draw a thing before posting that. Not sure if that’s going to happen, so I guess now’s as good a time as any!

@self-loving-vampire ran Godsmouth Heresy for a few friends/acquaintances and I, and it was a blast. In addition to the dungeon crawl that was built into the adventure, she created a whole big side dungeon that was a lot of fun to explore, filled with all sorts of unique encounters. It was an ancient prison that had been abandoned millennia ago, but whose prisoners were largely immortal or magically prevented from aging and thus had languished there to the present day. Of special note was the “main” prison room, where seven immortal prisoners were held inside small cells behind walls of force. We freed several of these, including an Azata and a hag that offered us martial assistance, a lamia matriarch that gave us information, and a vampire that we freed mostly because my character liked vampires and wanted to befriend one.

I was utterly smitten with my character by the end of it; she was a half-vampire necromancer named Pythea Nightbough that was very begrudgingly hired along with some other adventurers by an undead-hating church to kill off another necromancer that was essentially operating out of their basement. She was also an awful person, but not in the way that necromancers tend to be. Rather than edgy or brooding, she was essentially a lost sassy child that didn’t give a single fuck about anyone else in the world other than herself.

This turned out to work really well, as it allowed me a reason to work with the party (she may not care about them, but they’re the thing between her and getting mauled to death by a demon, so she needs them anyway), and also lead to some fun decision points here and there. She committed at least one deeply evil act with the specific reasoning that it would benefit her personally, and the aftermath will be somebody else’s problem. I’ve rarely played evil characters before, but I think I want to do it more often now; it’s remarkably fun to be presented with a moral dilemma and solve it by not caring about morality in the first place. And just being an ass in general is fun sometimes too, as long as it doesn’t detract from the other players enjoyment of the game, which I tried hard to prevent and was pretty successful at avoiding.

I really want to run this character again in a campaign more suited to large-scale necromancy, as even beyond evil being fun, I think she has quite a lot of potential. She grew up entirely bereft of friends or other healthy interpersonal relationships, which she handled by projecting *hard* onto the skeleton minion she started with as well as the other undead she dominated. Her starting skeleton was named Mister Rattles for the sounds his bones made, and was what remained of the most vicious of her childhood bullies.

Pythea always referred to dominating other undead as befriending them, and she did quite a lot of befriending over the course of the adventure. Most notably, the boss of the side dungeon was an allip, the specter that remains when someone commits suicide and can’t let go of the world. He emerged from the final treasure room in spectacular fashion, leading us all to panic about how we were going to fight this thing in our exhausted and battered state. I happened to get very first initiative, and tossed out a Command Undead spell on the odd chance that it’d work. One bad Will save later and I’d befriended the boss of the entire side dungeon, easily the strongest single creature we fought, and won the encounter in a single turn.

When we finally got to the end boss of the main dungeon we were powerful enough to easily wipe him, but instead of just leaping to combat the encounter took a much more interesting turn. We discovered that the necromancer was a former cleric of the church employing us who had figured out a way to reanimate corpses with alchemical methods instead of necromantic magic. He incorrectly thought the church wouldn’t be opposed to this, and was promptly excommunicated for it.

While Pythea was of course interested in his methods, he also proved a somewhat sympathetic character. He’d used his knowledge to attempt to cure a woman afflicted with a wasting disease, and though she ultimately died, she did revive as a sentient undead. The two of them quickly fell in love (maybe before she died? I don’t remember), and he continued his work in order to try and restore her body and eventually overthrow the church that he had once belonged to. Rather than killing him, we persuaded him to give up trying to destroy the church (to placate the party members who cared about things like “morals” and “ethics”), and in turn we helped smuggle him and his lover to safety.

The whole campaign wound up being remarkably wholesome in the end, too. While she started out bitter and lonely, Pythea slowly did forge several genuine friendships over the course of the campaign, and managed to maintain them even into the epilogues. While she was still an objectively terrible person, her friends were considerably better. This lead to some positive character growth, with lots of potential for more in her future. Ultimately, I’d say things ended about as well as they could have for her, which is great. She really needed it.

In addition to playing the game, I kept a journal from Pythea’s perspective, which turned out to be a really good idea. I now have a permanent record of the game, which really helps the part of my brain that’s desperately afraid of losing things, and I can share it with others, too! And it feels great to have a finished product like that, like (somewhat) tangible proof that it all happened. It’s always nice to have created something, at the end of the day. I’d like to maybe get it bound one day; I’m planning to keep journals for all my campaigns henceforth and would like to collect them somewhere as they finish.

[fkahersweetness]

ummm you guys CTA! got reviewed alongside actual books on a review site AND SHE'S NEVER SEEN HANNIBAL AND SHE LOVED IT REGARDLESS LOL here is a snippet of her review:

At the centre, is sixteen-year-old Will, a boy destined to become the Godsmouth on his seventeenth birthday and to spend the rest of his solitary life channelling the word of God to his people. It's a cruelly huge responsibility to place on such young shoulders and I could completely empathise with Will's reluctance to embrace his destiny any sooner than he absolutely must. Hannibal Lecter's character arrives as a young trainee physician, only a few years older than Will. Hannibal really doesn't have any understanding of quite what he is walking into and I won't reveal too much about it either for fear of spoiling the intense atmospheres that FKAHS creates. Suffice to say that Come, Thou Almighty is as much a coming of age story for Hannibal as it is for Will.

here's her full review

why aren't you reading CTA! yet??

[googlenaija-blog]

#google-naija_entertainment #triple-man #runtown #back_2_D_BASELINE.It #iamharrysong #5starmusic #iamdavido #kellyfresh #TRUELOVE #godsmouth #inshot #girls #cute #summer #blur #sun #happy #fun #dog #hair #beach #hot #cool #fashion #friends #smile #follow4follow #like4like #instamood #family #nofilter #amazing #style #love #photooftheday #lol #my #nocrop

[3spirecity]

Basic Info

At first the rumors of a fertile continent far to the South sounded too good to be true, but after months at sea I saw it cresting the horizon - that strange and lovely new land that would become my home, my obsession, my downfall..." Caris Industries is attempting to bring the industrial revolution in the Northern kingdoms to the people of the newly discovered land Haven Cradle. Despite efforts to make peaceful alliances, cultural misunderstanding, rising crime rates, and political upheaval have accompanied their arrival. As tension grows, the Old Gods of the land begin to stir and foreigners and natives alike begin to dream of The Tatterman - a harbinger of destruction and change. ________________________________________ My name is Sarah Joy and I'm the DM! My main blog is @SarahPetrulis Three Spire City is a (90%) homebrew Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 campaign setting. I'm adapting material from Pathfinder adventure paths/modules Tales of the Old Margreve, Strange Aeons, The Godsmouth Heresy, and Council of Theives for gameplay. We started at level 1 and I expect to finish around level 18-20. This blog is mostly a resource for my players but also a (potentially interesting to others?) chronicle of the story we're telling together.

[gullinbjorn]

So, yeah. I should be sleeping now. And tomorrow I should study...

But I'm thinking about the text I'll write for God's Mouth 2.0, thinking about the changes I have to make on my answers to the Pagan Piety Survey, and downloading the last episode of Dexter.

I'm sure I won't get into an university and die ashamed and alone everything will be alright.

[blondealabama]

Amen #yohji #yamamoto #black #godsmouth #ohwiseone #genius #wearenotworthy #dontbotherme #iwontbotheryou #gospel #peaceout

[serpentface]

Here's all the main character birthplaces btw

[serpentface]

Palo and Tigran standing casually in place to provide an outfit reference.

They are wearing the most typical day to day clothing for Galenii monks. This consists of three main parts:

-A simple, ankle-length sleeveless robe (white in initiate monks and black in the fully initiated). -A dark woolen cloak, which doubles as a blanket. This cloak is the foundational item of clothing throughout much of Imperial Wardin as a whole, and worn by all social classes. They tend to be cut shorter and highly decorative in the upper classes, serving only the practical purpose of shielding the arms from the sun. Poor laborers may wear only the cloak and a loincloth and nothing else. In the case of Galenii monks, it is standardized, simple, and dark blue-gray. -The sash. This is a very long scarf that is the primary visual signifier of a Galenii monk. Its open ends drape down the front side of the body and are tied at the chest. It is slung over the shoulders and hangs in a loop around the back. These sashes are dyed an expensive royal blue, indicating the significance and relative esteemed status of this religious order.

Additional elements:

-The sign of the horns: a small iron pin used to fasten the cloak. This is the symbol of the Lunar Face Of God (the specific aspect to which the Galenii are devoted, which is primarily associated with fertility and the cycles of sacrifice and rebirth). This is very common among monks but not standardized wear. Galenii priests wear the sign of the triple horns (though more commonly as an amulet).

-Ear piercings: Galenii monks and priests wear thick earrings of dark meteoric iron and stretch their earlobes. One is added to each ear for each year of the initiatory process. Palo is a year in, and Tigran is fully initiated and has five bands per ear. Body modification is exceptionally rare in Imperial Wardi culture, largely in relation to taboos surrounding body integrity. The exception here is done with great significance and care- these earrings can be made only with true meteoric iron, considered to be the blood of God Itself. Permanently marking their bodies with this metal signifies this priesthood's integral connection to maintaining the continual cycle of sacrifice/rebirth that is believed to keep God's domain stable, and binds them to this role.

-Sandals: usually very simple in construction. Monks are often expected to go barefoot, but the cities are quite dirty so most prefer to avoid this if possible.

-Ceremonial dagger: a sign of a fully initiated monk. It is curved and its sheath is decorated with a tuft of lion's mane (a signal of the Galenii order's close connection to the Odonii order). Most of its uses are ceremonial, but it will be periodically used to perform animal sacrifices. A smaller razor blade is kept in the home for personal bloodletting.

-Hair: Fully initiated monks shave their heads, while those in the process of initiation have relative freedom with hair dressing. Palo is wearing his hair in a single braid tucked around the front. Broadly speaking, braiding the hair is associated with female beauty standards throughout much of Imperial Wardin (though generally in two braids). There is no cultural convention Against men doing so, but it is regarded as mildly effeminate (particularly in the south and southeast).

-Lore Friendly Sunglasses: Palo has photosensitive epilepsy. No effective treatments for epilepsy exist in the setting (most 'treatments' in Imperial Wardin are alchemical in nature, ie: ambiguously helpful at best or literal poison at worst), but understanding of the Nature of epilepsy as a neurological disorder is relatively accurate, and the concept of photosensitivity is loosely understood (though not with great accuracy, it's assumed to be caused by light in General). Palo had this pair of (VERY expensive) sunglasses commissioned as a youth, which Do slightly reduce the frequency of his seizures. Devastatingly stylish as they may be, his glasses do not offer much visual clarity so he only wears them in bright conditions.

[serpentface]

There are three hyaenids found within the Imperial Wardi region- the hisippate, the highland hyena (kyniche na chennandi), and the scrub hyena (kyniche). (None are actually related to the king hyena).

The hisippate (name is close in meaning to 'stinking one', sometimes instead called '(wild) ant-dog' ('kulichin-wannaukoma')) is very distantly related to the other two. They are small, mostly solitary animals that sleep in burrows during the day and emerge to hunt at night. They are almost exclusively insectivorous, and their diet consists primarily of termites and ants that are lapped up with a long, strong tongue. The hisippate has a wide range, with their populations being highest in grassland and savanna regions with a high density of termites.

They are named for their foul smelling anal gland secretions, which are used to mark their territory and can be sprayed short distances to repel predators. Their highly visible black and white coat (which is erected in threat display) indicates them as not worth the trouble of eating. This is partly an honest advertisement of its chemical defenses, but may function as mimicry of a substantially more threatening native badger that can spray with great accuracy at distances of up to 10 feet (while the spray of the hitsippate is untargeted and only potent within a meter of the body).

The highland and scrub hyenas are the most numerous and successful predators within the region, with their populations having exploded in the past several centuries with the decline of the Wardi lion. Both live in matriarchal clan structures with strict dominance hierarchies, maintained not by individual size and strength but by highly complex networks of coalitions. All members of a clan can reproduce, and young inherit rank positions just beneath that of their mothers. Most males eventually disperse, entering into new clans at the very bottom of their hierarchy. They exhibit no obvious sexual dimorphism, and females often can only be differentiated from males by the shape of their pseudopenis.

The scrub hyena is most widely distributed and can be found throughout most of the region in a variety of lowland habitats, faring best in savannah and open grassland with high populations of grazing ungulates. This species is distinguished by well-defined spots and stripes and a sparse mane, though their coloration varies by individual and population, ranging from reddish to pale white-brown. Their clans can number upwards of a hundred individuals in the most prey-dense territories, though most are smaller.

The highland hyena is unique to the northwest of the region. As the name suggests, they have specialized into surviving in higher altitude climes, but can also be found in the remaining pockets of surrounding forest (and once had a much larger range across the former northern forests). Their spotting is often less visible than their lowland relatives, though their base coloration is similarly variable. Their clan sizes are substantially smaller than the scrub hyena, as they inhabit regions with much lower prey densities.

Both are closely related (whether they are subspecies or separate species would be subject of debate by taxonomists) and can produce viable young. Heavily hybridized populations are common where their ranges overlap. Scrub hyenas appear to breed more readily with dispersing male highland hyenas than the reverse.

Hyenas occupy an overall minor space in most of the Wardi cultural sphere. They are noted negatively as man/corpse eaters, but are generally regarded as intelligent and powerful predators and avoid the stigma attached to man-eating scavengers. In most cases they are not ascribed much significance in comparison to the venerated lion or the massive and intimidating king-hyena, mostly being relegated to a threat to livestock and potential danger to lone travelers.

Many urban areas in the province of Godsmouth (including the outer unwalled portions of the eponymous city) have unique practices of not only tolerating but actively inviting scrub hyenas into urban spaces. These urban hyena populations have been genetically semi-isolated from their wilder counterparts for several centuries. Rather than hunting large prey, they fill similar roles to feral dogs in the urban landscape as cleaners of refuse and killers of pests, and benefit from their species being culturally regarded as powerful predators rather than lowly scavengers. They notably predate on the considerably more reviled feral dogs, and keep their populations much lower than other parts of the region. Their role is regarded as both a physically and spiritually cleansing force, with their presence neutralizing polluting elements (while not being sacred in of itself).

The Godsmouth hyenas show little fear of humans compared to their wild relatives, though their activity peaks at nighttime hours to avoid close contact. They are sometimes raised from cubs to be fully tamed (though are not truly domesticated) and used as guards or to assist in hunting (Godsmouth's designated dog hunters notably have traditions of keeping hyenas). This practice is essentially exclusive to the province of Godsmouth- hyenas rarely establish semi-urban populations in other parts of the region, and those who do have considerably greater fear of humans, usually sneaking in under the cover of night to feed on scraps and fleeing from encounters.

The status of hyenas varies in the other groups native to the region. For example:

Hyenas have a generally favorable status to the Cholemdinae, who have traditionally reckoned them as highest among predators, noting their stamina and intelligence. Body parts of hyenas are ascribed the ability to increase the wearer's stamina, and amulets carved from hyena bones are often worn while persistence hunting. Children born while hyenas are heard crying are considered to be strong and very likely to survive infancy (and will often be given names referencing the animals). The apparent androgyny of hyenas is allegorically attributed to the creation story- the first beings were dual-sexed, and split into male and female halves as part of their punishment for the theft of fire from the sun. The hyena escaped this punishment by digging into the underworld to hide and getting only its once long, luxurious tail chopped off (which was sticking out from the hole).

((TANGENT: The South Wardi have more recent common cultural ancestry to the Cholemdinae than to most of the other groups assimilated into the collective Wardi nationality. The notion of hyenas once having long, flowing tails that got chopped off in some mishap still appears in South Wardi animal folktales))

They have a largely disfavorable reputation to the Hill Tribes, and are generally regarded as gluttonous and brutish in nature. The Highlands have a naturally lower density of wild ungulates, made far lower by most grazing pasture being occupied by livestock. This causes hyenas (and other large predators) to more frequently predate on domestic animals, and thus places them directly in conflict with herders (and also makes them common rabies vectors). They are readily culled when found in proximity to villages. Hyena pelts are generally considered worthless, and culled hyenas will often be fed whole to livestock guardian dogs and their pups in hopes of teaching them to be fearless towards the predators. Were-hyenas appear in folklore- among the southwestern Hill Tribes they are most commonly the accursed spirits of cannibals, while in the northeast they are malicious witches who learned secret arts of transformation and take on these forms to wreak havoc upon their enemies.

[serpentface]

The Usoma Stavis Amanti displaying a full ceremonial crown and not being all that happy to be here.

The modern style of Imperial Wardi sovereignty is in large part rooted in regionally native traditions of kingship, particularly that of the present day provinces of Ephennos, Wardin, and Godsmouth (which are the most powerful and influential to Imperial Wardin's development). Some aspects are partly adopted from and modeled after former Burri emperors and other aspects of their legacy of occupation. These combined influences are highly visible in the details of the regalia.

The most prominent motif is the ornament of entwined and conjoined vipers. This derived from much, much earlier symbols of kingship among the Ephenni tribe. The original motif depicted two separate serpents entwined as if in mating, and symbolized the union of two prior ancient Ephenni kingdoms and the king's sovereignty over the two major river systems within Ephennos. This symbol was gradually generalized into representing kingly sovereignty in of itself, expanded beyond Ephennos into the broader Wardi cultural sphere, and merged with an entirely separate tradition of conjoined serpent imagery representing the Face of God Kusomache. The present day dual-viper symbol is wholly identified with Kusomache as the protector and benefactor of royalty, and is only permitted to be worn by members of the royal family (the dual cobra representing Kusomache more broadly has no such restrictions).

The crown contains valuable feathers- the tail plume of the skimmer gull, and black and gold wing feathers from the rare scrub unkata, fanned out in a pattern reminiscent of the male's courtship display. The scrub unkata is only found in small semi-desert stretches of the province of Wardin. The use of its feathers have a very, very long history of importance to the South Wardi as symbols of wealth and power, being worn by chieftains, lords, and kings (who often were considered to own most wild animals under their providence, with use of certain valued and/or sacred animals being restricted to these sovereigns). There are no longer status restrictions to wearing these feathers (and the animals do not have the same cultural protection as the sacred skimmer gulls), and wider demand for the valuable feathers has resulted in the already rare animals being hunted to probable extinction.

The crown features three solar-fans, one of two common motifs for the sun (the other being a circular solar halo). The use of this symbol in royal regalia is in part a relic of Imperial Burri occupation. Emperors of the 2nd Burri Empire were also the high priests of their pantheon's solar deity Inanariya, and much of their regalia consisted of the half-sun motif (a semicircle, specifically representative of a rising/setting sun). Governors and generals appointed to the occupied provinces also wore a half-sun motif.

Much of the core imagery representing Burri occupation was rejected (and outright destroyed) in the aftermath of Imperial Bur's fall, and largely forgotten in the two centuries that followed. Solar elements were a major exception. The Ephenni claimed the half-sun motif from their former occupiers and tied this to the battle in which three khait were set ablaze and spooked the Burri force's war lacetor, scattering their forces long enough to turn the tide of battle and starting a chain reaction that would end in their ultimate defeat and withdrawal from the region. The flaming khait came to evoke the solar Face Inyamache triumphing over a false foreign deity, and the Imperial Burri solar iconography was intentionally co-opted and repurposed with this meaning of native sovereignty (for the Ephenni specifically, who were largely absorbed into wider Wardi identity in the century to come). A couple centuries later, the adopted half-sun has developed into the present solar-fan motif, and remains a prominent part of regalia (though has largely lost the depths of its original connotations, instead being a more direct symbol of royalty and power).

Much of the decorative detail is based in metalworking traditions from the far northwest of the region, where the most significant gold deposits are located. This specific visual style was developed in relatively recent history (within the last century) in Godsmouth by its elite artisan class. Its presence in the crown has little intrinsic meaning (it's mostly there as a go-to native metalworking tradition associated with great wealth), but is reflective of Godsmouth's importance as the region's gate to the Inner Seaway, trading hub, and the center of most of its material wealth.

The fur here is white khaitsmane, which is a luxury decorative animal part. There was a long period where the crown instead contained sacred lionsmane, bodily relics of the Face Odomache (via sacrificed tame white lions) and symbols of sovereignty and power. This privilege was taken away in recent history under the conceit that only Odonii and their immediate blood kin can be permitted to wear this item, though this development was clearly symptomatic of deepening division and mistrust between the royalty and priesthood.

Underlying hairstyle (South Wardi-typical macho waxed back and oiled treatment) and full scope of his pained expression

[serpentface]

Couya and Faiza: Is there something you missed out on by joining the Odonii? Would you have *liked* to be doing anything otherwise?

Faiza:

Couya:

---

Neither of them are particularly bothered by what could have been.

Being an Odonii is an extremely privileged role, both in terms of social status and having personal freedoms inaccessible to other women. This suits Faiza very well, who is highly driven and ambitious, and fully agrees with cultural norms that most women are predisposed to frailty and live best within a father or husband's household but here's the thing: She's Different.

Couya kind of just thinks she was born for this. This is where she belongs. This is what she was meant for. Why would she want anything else? (Being initiated also took her out of her abusive and neglectful household so, that's a contributing factor)

---

*Odkotonnos is the 'province' of Godsmouth (the city-state and its tributaries). Each province has an appointed governor, who is the chief authority in its internal rulings but answers to the higher authority of the Usoma (and in theory is supposed to merely be his local proxy). Faiza was being positioned for an eventual marriage to the governor's son (but not yet officially pledged) when she was selected as an Odonii initiate.

[serpentface]

does rabies play a role in wardi perceptions of dogs?

Yes it does for sure

Mentioned this briefly in another post, but rabid animals are interpreted as being animals that have killed and/or eaten a person and are now possessed by their ghost (who has been prevented from moving on to the afterlife through their corpse's desecration and consumption, and twisted into a very powerful evil spirit). Being bitten by one may pass the spirit on to the bite victim.

The animal, whose body has been ravaged by the physical disease enabled by possession, soon dies, and the bite victim is now possessed by the same evil spirit (which has taken on traits of their host animal via inhabiting its body). Victims of bites who start exhibiting symptoms will VERY often commit suicide or be killed by others, to the point that human deaths directly due to rabies running its full course is relatively rare- one who is fully possessed by an evil spirit has their afterlife in jeopardy and will likely be trapped as a wandering ghost under the spirit's control, and killing oneself before the possession fully takes hold will be preferable to most. It's better than a tormented eternity as a soul trapped in the world of a living, deprived of rest among loved ones and God's full domain in the afterlife.

Feral dogs are by far the most frequently encountered rabid animals and are uniquely associated with this type of possession, sometimes to the point that most other rabid animals encountered are assumed to have themselves been bitten by feral dogs (ie a beloved and well bred hunting dog who becomes rabid certainly has not eaten human flesh, so must have been bitten by a feral dog (which, in practice, is often correct)),

This heavily reinforces cultural disdain for feral dogs as all-around unlikable, unclean, diseased animals, and bites on humans (whether actually by a rabid animal or not) will often be responded to by mass localized culls. In villages, towns, and small cities, this is usually done by members of the public, but most major cities have specially devoted dog hunters who respond to reports of possible rabid animals, other problem dogs, and potential man-dogs (see next paragraph). In Godsmouth, this position is of enough importance that a certified dog hunter will be issued their own firearm, which they can legally carry while out on culls.

This is also the source of regional lycanthrope-esque folklore- someone who becomes fully possessed and is strong enough to fight off the physical disease associated will now become completely under the control of a doglike evil spirit and behave like a vicious wild dog, becoming a man-dog. (In reality, there is no rabies vaccine here and someone who has been bitten by a rabid animal has virtually no chance of survival unless they are lucky enough to avoid the infection to begin with).

Most variants of the folklore include that the possessed human physically transforms into a dog (depending on folklore this is either permanent, or the man-dog is human during the day and a dog at night). The man-dog then wanders at night, killing people and livestock as their possessing spirit compels them. Man-dogs do NOT spread their possession or create other man-dogs via bites, but are instead dangerous as particularly violent and bloodthirsty beasts that kill at random and mutilate the bodies of their victims.

Man-dogs may mate with normal feral dogs. The resulting pups are mundane, but assumed to be unusually powerful and vicious. In theory they should be killed, but believed man-dog feral pups are sometimes adopted to be kept as guard dogs, to be used in combat, or for dogfighting.

Vagrants (especially those that are mentally ill or otherwise have difficulties with communication) unlucky enough to be caught up in a man-dog scare may be accused of being the beast in human daylight form, and become victims of mob violence. Actual dogs accused of being man-dogs are usually not rabid (a man-dog would have fought off the physical disease and not exhibit symptoms), but rather healthy and notably aggressive individuals, especially those known to have attacked or killed people. There are no surefire visual methods of identifying a man-dog, though a dog having particularly human-shaped eyes is compelling evidence.

Note my dog's relatively narrow, humanlike eyes, visible whites, and haunted, distant gaze. This may very well be a man-dog.

Once killed, a man-dog (whether in human form or dog form) should be buried in barren earth (which prevents spiritual contamination and 'traps' the spirit in the ground) and the ground should be consecrated by a priest to prevent any chances of the spirit wandering further. Anyone who has touched the body should undergo a full purification and blessing to remove any lingering attachments and impurities.

There are also (rarer) man-lions, man-wolves ('wolves' here are naturalized wild descendants of ancient domestic dogs), man-jackals, man-hyenas, man-king hyena, etc. An individual wild predator that is NOT rabid but shows an uncharacteristic propensity for killing and eating people is often assumed to be a possessed and transformed person. These wild variants are equally feared, but may garner a sort of terrified respect and awe that is not afforded to man-dogs.

This is especially the case for man-lions (given lions are highly venerated animals in this cultural sphere). They will be hunted and killed just the same as other assumed man-beasts, but their bodies may instead be cremated with the same full rites as a human- a proper funeral as an act of respect for the slain foe may cause the man-lion spirit to be soothed and to favor its killers, and remain as a localized guardian, patrolling its territory like a lion and fighting off malicious spirits and living man-beasts. This specific treatment is unique to lions, as they are the only potential man-eaters widely held as sacred, and this sacred quality may allow the evil of their possessing spirit to be tempered and shifted into benevolence via proper respect.

[serpentface]

Faiza: how did you come to believe your philosophy on your religion?

"I was introduced to the concept by my tutor. Shiyabi Erunara? You may have heard of him? He was one of the founders of the royal Couyinnacame* in Godsmouth. Disgraced himself in a scandal with one of his co-founders' wives, haha, sooo... Wound up on the opposite side of the empire, tutoring us little Haidamane brats and being exceptionally overqualified for it. And he absolutely knew it.

So he would expect a lot from us, you know? When he tested you, you wouldn't just let you give answers by rote, you had to explain in detail how you got to your answer. You can't just say 'because I know', he wanted to know exactly how you knew. He wanted you to justify it. Even if you had the right answer- any flaws in your reasoning? Nope. Mister Erunara wouldn't have it. You had to go over it again and again until you could explain it inside and out. It made lessons very, very long. I always thought he was just milking the hours for pay, haha. Probably was, but-. His convictions were sincere enough. I think.

So of course, when he'd teach religious studies, he'd make you work through that too. You couldn't just explain a rite to him, you'd have to explain the theory of the rite, the underlying logic of what makes every little minuscule step work. I mean, from personal experience, the average PRIEST doesn't even really think about that- like, we know, but we don't really have to know. We just do.

And there was this one time he was working through a lesson with me. We were discussing the rites of expelling dagi from the body of a child with the red fever. And I had it all down, I could explain every little detail, all the theoretical angles, everything. And I finish and he says, "Correct. And then it doesn't work. The child dies. Why?"

And I was at a loss. Because that happens of course, yeah? Sometimes you do everything PERFECTLY, immaculate, and it just- doesn't work. So I work through every step again in my head, and I'm drawing a blank. I don't have an answer besides, 'well, sometimes people just die'? And he's not going to take that. And I'm frustrated, and just want to get this over with so I can go play with the dogs, so I finally just throw my hands up and say "I don't know!". And he just- just kind of laughs and pats me on the shoulder. And then moves right on to the home economics lesson.

So, you know. I was a kid, I just thought this guy was an annoying, pedantic hardass, and that was about it. I was inducted not long after that, so the rest of my schooling was at the temple. I didn't see him again for a long time. But that stuck with me, you know? Why DOES it go wrong when you do every single thing right? And you can just say, "hey, this discussion is in a theoretical space, in real life conditions are imperfect. Your actions were right, but something was just a little off, and so the child dies". But it just nagged at me, it felt deeper than that. It was more like something was missing. Something about the theory itself was wrong.

I got in contact with him again after I was fully initiated. I wanted to keep pursuing my studies, get a little fresh air from the temple atmosphere, he seemed like a good option. So we started writing letters back and forth, just here and there. He'd send me old books now and then. Trade me for stuff I stole out of the temple library- Uh. Don't tell anyone. It'll be bad for you. Haha. And one year, he came back into town for the dry season festival, so. We met up.

And we were just chatting, you know? Nothing serious, just what our lives are like now, what we've been up to since he was my tutor. And I offhandedly mention the red fever lesson to him, how much it stuck with me. And I had always assumed he'd been messing with me back then, you know? I was champing at the bit to be done, so he made his lesson as meandering and frustrating as he possibly could. So I'm trying to laugh with him about it, how he was so successful at tormenting girlchild me that I still think about it- what IS missing? Haha. But he just looks me in the eye and says "You're trying to treat body with spirit. Body can only interact with body."

So we started talking about it very seriously. That's where I was introduced to the concept. And I mean, it's not that I'd never heard of the idea. I was mostly interested in political philosophy, but I'd heard of it in the abstract. Arguments that the cycling of God's spirit is false, coming from pseudo intellectuals with their heads so far up their own asses that they can't recognize the sun. But when we talked about it, it was just like, Oh. This isn't just - edgy philosophical masturbation, this is a theory. This could be what's missing.

I didn't come around to the notion immediately, of course. We said our goodbyes and I went right back to being a priestess. But that kind of only made me more convinced, you know? Doing the same sets of rites, over and over and over again. Sometimes they seem to work, yeah, and most of the time I have no way of knowing. But then sometimes-. I give Odomache's blessing to a pregnant woman, yeah, the strength to fight through her woman's war, and I do so impeccably. The sacrifice takes, the signs are good. Every little detail is right. My actions are unimpeachable. And then a month later I find out she and her child both died in labor. I bless a man and his sword, and that very night a robber takes it off him and sticks it in his gut. He drags half of his innards out before he manages to die. And I could just say, "Well, that's not really supposed to happen when you bless someone. Something must have gone wrong. I don't know!" and move on. But it kept nagging at me. It wasn't that something went wrong, it was more like the rites themselves were wrong, they were incapable of the material effect they intend.

So I thought about it a lot over the years. Did a lot of reading. Wrote to Erunara now and then, until he died. And it's just- with everything I've seen, everything I know, this is the only model that makes sense. Only body can interact with body. The nature of cause and effect is physical. Dagi must enter the body for disease to take hold. Rain must soak the ground for plants to grow. The realm of spirit- thought, willpower, belief- it has nothing to do with it. I can't make a barren field sprout by pretending to be the rain. And isn't that all that most rites are, when it comes down to it? Demanding for spirit to interact with body, and then throwing our hands up and saying "I don't know!" when it doesn't work?"

---

*Couyinnacame is the word for Wardi institutions of philosophy and academia, existing as physical meeting places. The Couy- root is the same as the name Couya and comes from an antiquated word for mind/spirit. -Yinnacame is an adoption of the Burri word for schools (Yiñacami), carried by a lot of Imperial Bur era institutions and their descendants

---

A little more elaboration- Burri-Wardi (proto)materialism generally acknowledges that both Body (matter) and Spirit (the soul, thought, willpower) Exist, but denies the notion that Spirit has any capacity to influence Body. This extends to God- God's physical corpse exists and can be interacted with in the form of the world, but Its spirit (the aspect that the Wardi Faith is BASED upon interacting with) is severed from the body in death and is thus noninteractive. (Some schools closer to actual materialism deny the existence of the soul/spirit itself, but these are Very niche (like on the level of a few singular philosophers on the very peripheries of the scene)).

This school includes like a proto-proto theory of the atom, positing that there is are fundamental, invisible states of Body that give different types of matter their properties- this is explanatory for plainly material effects that have no obvious material source (wind is an example), or questions as to how, if the Spirit is noninteractive, the Body of a living being is animated.

Common Wardi belief includes evil spirits called dagi that are the cause of disease, which are tiny and both spiritually and physically enter the body. This meshes very well with the materialist outlook, which would describe dagi as the Body of disease. Some variants posit that the fundamental Body that animates living beings can exist and act on other matter aside from living beings. This is also what allows for someone fully following this philosophy to believe in interactive evil spirits and even ghosts- just that these are ultimately composed of material Body rather than immaterial Spirit.