To the Keeper of the Holy Tower of the South, Greetings from this humble servant of He Who Is One. May He Who Is One bless you. Good Arlhan, I write to you of my research on the pre-Sinari pantheon of the Shanari tribes, which I undertook after our last conversation in Akbari before you returned home to Kaeir at the end of your pilgrimage to this most holy of cities that I live in. The topic is actually more complex than initially it seems. When you asked me what had happened to all the old gods, and why there were no signs of them left, unlike as the case in in our native Kaeir, I was at a loss for words despite my many years of living amongst our Shanari brothers here in the Holy City. And so, once you left, I began asking everyone who might know and reading all the records (as meagre as this society is - literate for only a generation). Here is what I have found and concluded: The Shanari pantheon was very extensive during the pre-Sinari period. Each tribe had several deities they exclusively worshipped, as well as a broader pantheon worshipped by all the tribes of the Calarnar. Cheif amongst the Shanari deities was Sin Alif, or as we know him, He Who Is One, the Pan-Creator. The Shanari have always known Him to be the Pan-Creator, but over the millenia have added to his status, creating him into the father of the gods, misunderstanding the true nature of Creatorhood. The other deities of the pantheon are: - Sin Adnani, the Lord of the North. I believe Sin Adnani is a deity derived from Bel'Adne, though it was very difficult to find much information about this god. - Sin Serai, the Lord of the Camps. Sin Serai bears many of the hallmarks of certain deities in the Midsea, though I have not yet identified which deity. - Sin Bomor, the Lord of Magic. Sin Bomor is definitely derived from Milakanur religion, and I am of the opinion that this is a masculine form of Miracradasa. Interestingly though, the only evidence I found of this deity was the name. All physical evidence of Sin Bomor's cult no longer exists, and I believe that of all the pre-Sinari deities, it has left the least signs of its worship for scholarly study. There are a number of conclusions that we can draw from this which I will discuss later. - Shanar, also known as Sin Sudan, or the Earth Father. Shanar is clearly the deified ancestor the Shanari. His worship seems to stem from the central Shanari myth of the destruction of the Gardens of Calarnar. - Wakilayyah - the Night Hawk. A female deity that bears close resemblance to Demerhaze. - Sudanayyah: the Earth Mother, often depicted as the consort of Sin Sudan. - Bilalayyah: the Moon Mother. - Sin Fitnar: He Who Lives In Mirages, The Liar, the Wish-Granter. A strange deity, possibly Ertoslator in a more humane form. - Hitam ni-Hitam: the Desert Nightshadow. Of all the Shanari deities, this is most definitely a demonic deity, possibly the Yawning Maw. The Desert Nighshadow is in itself the most terrible description I have seen in Shanari theology and demonology: "the bottomless horror lurking in the blackness of the innermost shadow in the highest dune in the deepest desert under a moonless sky on the darkest night". - Sin Naga: Lord of the Snakes. Very clearly a deity appropriated from the Panchayyah tribes to the far southeast. - Avaeriyyah: the Shanari demon pantheon. From a study of the names of the Shanari demons, they are clearly the ancient Avaeran pantheon demonised as evil. The central question is what happened to the ancient Shanari cults? This question was greatly answered an old brother who had previously served in the most unusual unit of the Commonwealth Army, the Witch-smellers. A native of Jabuar, he had been a Witch-Smeller, an ancient profession of the Shanari in which the person can detect magic and evil, sometimes even the intentions of people. He served the Jabuasi chieftain until the appearance of the Sinari Seeresses, who slew his tribe's chieftain and forced him into their service. The old Witch-Smeller told me of how during the rise of the Sinari, the Seeresses used the members of his ancient profession to track down the magic users of the Shanari, giving the wizards, mages and sorcerers they captured the choice of joining the Sinari or death. It was during this period that the Shanari cults were decimated, with particular attention payed by the Seeresses to wiping out the priests and shamans of the various ancient cults - it was for this reason that the cults of deities such as Sin Bomor and Wakilayyah were worse hit (to date I have not found even one shrine or talisman to Sin Bomor). When the Sinari went to war, the converted magicians accompanied the armies off to the north and far southwest, leaving the Calarnar even more magically destitute. When the Millat Shanar religion was founded by the Milakanuri, Faymiyun al Shawari, the magical history of the Shanari took a new turn. The newly formed Millati state began military operations against the remnent Sinari after the Sinari defeat at the hands of the United Army. Particular attention was payed to the Sinari magicians who were returning from the battlefield, who were systematically hunted down for their involvement in the horrors of the Sinari. Lastly, as the Shanari Commonwealth grew in strength and the Millati faith grew even more dominant in the Calarnar, the surviving remnents of the Shanari cults were unable to recover as the masses turned to the new faith of the Path. Two generations now separate the old pantheon from the contemporary Commonwealth, and two generations separate the old cults from the new religion of the Shanari. It is because of this history that none of the Shanari cults exist anymore, and why almost none of the magical traditions of the Shanari survive. The only sorcery that is known to have survived the Sinari is the secretive enclave of reclusive foreign sorcerers, the Bomorriya, in a hidden valley in the eastern Central Mountains. In essence the magical culture of the Shanari underwent a triple cataclysm potentially unparalled in recent Qaiyorean history, that left the Shanari culture a sorcerous wasteland. The blessings of HeWho Is One be with you, Orlcan von Nahnsaan Akbari 1457 ================================ Confidentiality Statement and Disclaimer ================================ This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and contains information that is privileged and confidential. If you, the reader of this message, are not the intended recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this communication. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return email and delete the original message. Thank you. ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
