[✗] The Moon and the Maker: Kharajyr Mythos

[ForeverGinger 147]

The Moon and the Maker: Kharajyr Mythos

 

 

Metztli, the Moon-Mother:

 

 

“Fruits of life do beg my pardon, / roaming astray my endless garden. / My will sees metal turn to rust, / And men grow tall from all but dust. / Find me not in book or tome, / For I am the breath and life of home. / Forge noble beasts and kings that reign, / I do this time and time again.”

~Visions of Nightfall | The Second Prophecy

 

Metztli is the goddess and creator of the Kharajyr. Old tales speak of her spiriting away children in the dead of night, with only the stars to witness, to bring to an island paradise of her own making. There she fused the children body and soul with the ocelots of the island through many twisted, magic-riddled experiments. Casting the husks of her failures into the sea, Metztli toiled on until one night the fruits of her labors were rewarded. Upon the beaches of the island stood an ocelot in human guise, his fur white as freshly fallen snow. The first of the Kharajyr was born, Tla’Jhaan, he of the purest form.

 

Metztli was filled with the maternal need to protect her creation, to nurture him in a cold and unforgiving world. She had created the pinnacle of perfection, and sought to replicate her accomplishment, but could never achieve the level of beauty imbued in the first. Nevertheless, she continued to fill the island with other, lesser copies of her creation until the day came where they were able to sustain themselves. She then left, departing the island to leave her children to thrive on their own.

 

Though the Kharajyr had no knowledge of the horror behind their creation, they continued to live on their island paradise, presuming they were always there and always would be. They had no inkling that a divine power had created them, and their worship was nonexistent. To the ancient tribes, survival was all that mattered. Metztli, feeling neglected by the very things she had birthed, decided to become once more entwined in the lives of her children. She returned to the Kha’, gifting their sages and priests with signs and visions, hoping they would unravel the secret of their own creation.

 

 

Absyyl, the Enemy:

 

 

“Absyyl, the name of the Sun.  It would come; taking the form of a great wolf, black as soot with a single burning eye.  Absyyl, the Enemy, who wishes for nothing more than the end of all of Metztli’s creation.  Absyyl, who would burn the land to cinders in with his wrath against the Moon-Mother.”

~The Black Prophecy | Book I

 

Absyyl is the enemy of all in the Kharajyr faith.  Even speaking its name is a grave crime against the Priesthood.  Often referred to as simply the Enemy, Absyyl represents all that is unholy and profane in to the Kha’.  It is often portrayed as a wolf, a single burning eye set in the middle of its forehead.  In later times, servants of the sun are depicted wearing red robes, and often appear to lead the Kha’ astray.

 

Kharajyr mythology holds to the belief that Abyssl is the sun, the antithesis of all that is holy in Kha’ culture.  Legend tells that after Metztli unleashed her creation onto the land, Abyssl grew furious with jealousy.  He turned his wrath upon Metztli’s children, shining down harsh and unforgiving as he sought to destroy all that his rival has wrought.  However, in his fury, Abyssl shone too bright, and could only light half of the night sky.  The other half was left for Metztli, and is from where she looks down upon her creation.

 

 

The Isle of Endless Night, Ilhuicatl:

 

 

“Tales have long been told of Ilhuicatl.  It goes by many names, the Isle of Endless Night, the Mountain of the Mist, the Palace of Moonlight, but only the Kharajyr know it by its first name; Home.”

~Ja’Kussak | The Nature of Death

 

When the creation of the Kharajyr was complete, Metztli left them to develop a civilization of their own upon the shores of an unnamed island.  There they lived, until a terrible crime was committed by one of their own.  Patricide, when Tla’Xerdun killed his father and took leadership over his crumbling empire.  This crime could not go unpunished, and in her fury, Metztli brought ruin to the island, prompting the Kharajyr to sail west to new lands.

 

However, Metztli had made a mistake in her anger.  The purging of the Khalenwyr Empire had left hundreds dead, and due to her tampering, their spirits were cursed to walk the mortal plain forever, deprived of the rest they so desperately wished for.  Metztli was wracked with grief over the destruction she had wrought, and tried to set things right.

 

She pulled the shattered pieces of the island from the depths of the ocean and, using them as a template, recreated the isle in her own realm.  She then gathered up the souls of the Kharajyr, shunned from any other afterlife, and gave them a place by her side in this new life, Ilhuicatl.

 

The Isles of Endless Night are the closest thing Kharajyr religion has to an afterlife.  The islands are told to be a peaceful place, with white beaches and shaded jungles.  The entirety of the island is shrouded in mist, for there is no sky above Ilhuicatl.  The only light comes from the Kharajyr themselves, who shine with a pale silver radiance.  Those who live on the isles often form small villages deep in the jungles of the land.

 

Several have reported visiting the Isle of Endless Night.  There are places in this land where the barrier between Ilhuicatl and the Mortal Realm is thin, and in those places travelers are able to pass through the veil.  Gates to Metztli’s realm appears mundane, a dark cave or a spring deep in the jungle.  They lie their head down for a rest by the spring, or follow a light deep within the cave, to emerge in the Isle of Endless Night.  These ventures cannot last long, however.  If a mortal is to fall while exploring Ilhuicatl, they will awaken where they entered.

 

Great beasts stalk the land, shadowy figures that lurk in the darkest jungles and the deepest lakes.  Some sources of Kha’ lore tell that these beasts were created by Metztli to test her people even in the afterlife.  Others say they are servents of Absyyl intruding upon the realm.  Whatever their origin, any Kha’ that finds itself in Ilhuicatl is bound to encounter one of the beasts.

 

 

The Night of Temoatlahuilli:

 

 

“There is but one thing the Priesthood fears.  The Night When the Moon Dies, Temoatlhuilli, for when Muuna’ leaves the sky, the souls of the fallen take up her battle.  We do not fear for our lives, for they are in good hands, but for the lives of those who are lost in the battle.  There are worse things beyond death, I fear…”

~The Dead-Sky Scrolls | Islands in the Darkness

 

Though there is peace to be found in the afterlife, there is also danger in living with the Moon-Mother.  Once a lunar cycle, the moon vanishes from the sky; Metztli leaves the Kharajyr for a night to rest and replenish her strength.  In her absence, the Kharajyr of Ilhuicatl are tasked with continuing her eternal struggle against the Enemy, Abyssl.  This is known as the Night of Temoatlahuilli, or the Night of the Fading Moon.

 

Temoatlahuilli is an especially holy night to the Kharajyr.  It is a night of fear and mourning, for many spirits fall in the battle against the Enemy.  When the soul of a Kharajyr dies in Ilhuicatl, they are forgotten.  There is nothing else beyond the Isle of Endless Night, and so their name is wiped from memory.  It is Abyssl’s greatest victory over Metztli, to wipe one of her creation from the earth, so ceremonies are headed by the Priesthood to lend strength to the Kharajyr of Ilhuicatl.

 

 

The Well of Moonlight, Metztli’s Intervention:

 

 

“Ja’Sahra knew nothing more after her vision.  She was enraptured by the light that struck the Moonpool, and her eyes lit a radiant white.  Her voice deepened, and she spoke, “Follow Rameethar.  Raise boats and set to sea like those long dead once did.  Flee this land, do not listen to Gazardiel, for he is of the Sun and a servant of the Enemy.”

~Ja’Sahra | The Guidance of the Goddess

 

After the creation of Ilhuicatl, Metztli turned her gaze back to her children.  She was shocked to discover that in her absence, tragedy has fallen upon her people. The Kharajyr Empire was falling apart at the seams as a plague swept through her people.  The disease resisted all that the Kharajyr attempted to treat it.  It spread like wildfire, a curse from the Enemy most likely, as it spread only amongst Metztli’s children.  There was nothing they could do to combat the plague, so the goddess took it upon herself to fix her children's troubles once more.

 

Metztli roamed Ilhuicatl for many cycles, searching for a place to begin her new creation.  Eventually she found what she sought, a shallow lake deep in the mountains.  She stood at the edge of the water, and raised a knife of stone to her hand.  In one swift motion, Metztli cut her hand open, and spilled her blood into the pool.  The waters began to glow, infused with the blood of a divine.  The lake took on a fraction of Metztli’s holy energy, the same energy that has created the Kha’, and gave her a window through which to see her children.

 

As Metztli shed her blood into the waters, a fraction of her power was lost.  That power is housed in the swirling waters of her occulus, and remains inaccessible to her.  After realizing she could not reclaim what she has sown, Metztli taught the oldest and wisest of her creation how to harness the energy produced by the Well.  This is how the first practicioners of Muun’Trivazja came to learn the art.  They were taught by the goddess herself through dreams and visions.

 

This creation became know as the Well of Moonlight to the denizens of Ilhuicatl, and is the lense through which Metztli sees the world and the echo of her voice in times of trouble.  Through this creation, Metztli is able to reach into the minds of her children and speak through them without fear of becoming mortal.  These interactions between Daemon and Mortal are, however, unnatural.  The messages are vague and cryptic, and never last long.  Meaning is distorted, and much of the communication is left for faith to interpret.

 

 

The First Moonpool:

 

 

“The priesthood grew fat and corrupt, gorged like carrion on the Moon-Mothers gift.  They became points of worship themselves, as Kharajyr turned to them for guidance instead of looking to Metztli.  The Moon-Mother knew something had to be done, lest her people close their eyes and block their ears to their creator once more…”

~The Dead-Sky Scrolls | The First Priesthood

 

As the first of her Sages learned to control the power of the Well, Metztli set them to cure the plague that had decimated her people.  The priests did so with ease, using their new powers as easily as they would their own limbs.  This caused Metztli to worry.  She saw her Sages rising, becoming points of worship themselves.  The people looked up to them instead of to her, and they grew arrogant with their new powers.

 

So Metztli walked once more among the Isle, gathering with her a great crowd of Kharajyr.  They walked to the peak of the mountain, and Metztli turned their eyes to the Well:

 

“See how my children have turned from me.  They have grown complacent and arrogant, gorged from feasting on my gift. I have been shunned by my creation before, I will not allow it to happen again!”

 

Metztli roared out her anger, a cry that shook the Isle.  She picked up the stone knife, still dark with her blood, and hurled it deep into the waters.  The torrent of energy that had once flowed from the Well to the Sages was severed.  Metztli turned once more to the gathered Kha’ and spoke:

 

“I will leave the watching to you, wisest of the wise.  No longer will the priesthood draw their gifts directly from my creation; They have lost that honor.  Instead they will draw from their own bodies, using only what they can hold.  No longer will they forget me, for when their stores run dry, they must come crawling back to my temple.”

 

And with that, Metztli reached through the Well and touched the waters in Her temple.  They began to glow, a dim reflection of the Well.  A bond was created, not between Metztli and her children, but between the Well and the water.  From then on, priests would draw from these Moonpools, and would never again forget their creator and the gift she had given them.

 

 

Spoiler

Conclusion: In this rewrite, the goal was to further define Metztli as a goddess, or perhaps more accurately, an Aengudaemon.  She has flaws, pride being chief among them, and is not the omnipresent entity her followers believe her to be.

 

Metztli does not know what is best for her children.  She continues to intervene, but just keeps causing messes for the Kharajyr to clean up.  She is like a child in this way, all sound and fury but inevitably accomplishing nothing.

 

Absyyl is not an entity in its own right in this restructuring, it is simply the name of Metztli’s enemy-of-the-week.  She wishes to keep the Kha’ and her followers faithful to her and her alone, so she brands any that slight her the Enemy, and simply tells her people to avoid them and their influence.  Absyyl is is simply a moniker for things and beings Metztli does not like.

 

Ilhuicatl is the Kharajyr equivalent of the afterlife, but it is also the training grounds of Metztli’s army.  The jungles are kept stocked with beasts to keep her people fit and strong after death, though why she would raise an army is open for debate.

 

The companion piece to this lore is A Gift From the Skies, and is a complete restructuring to Muun’Trivazja.  These two pieces are best read in the order they were posted, The Moon and the Maker, and then A Gift From the Skies, but are written so that they are able to be read in any order.

 

Keep in mind, this is OOC reasoning!  In the event this gets accepted, please do not metagame any of this justification.  If it simply here for context!

 

Thank's for reading!

~Ginger

 

[ForeverGinger 147]

Aww man, I had all these fancy dividers and stuff... Standby for mass edits.

[Archbishop 1781]

+1

[ForeverGinger 147]

Upon further reflection, I would like to revoke this lore.  Thanks to some internal Kha'nversation among the playerbase, we have decided that we want another stab at this topic.

 

((Yes, this is copy-pasted from the other post.  I'm lazy.))

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

Metztli also created the Hou-zi and whatnot, so make sure in your future iterations that you include that stuff if your goal is to rewrite the current Metztli stuff (doesn't have to be major but it should be talked about as Metztli is no longer just the deity behind the kha). @ForeverGinger

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

This Lore has been denied. Topic moved to Denied Lore forum.