GOZYDA RELIGION

by Trotsky

Oyinath

God of the Gozyda

The Ultimate Mind, Creator of All Things, the First Spirit

First God [1]

Oyinath is never depicted or described.

Oyinath is the creator of Kethira and the only true god in Gozyda mythology. Having created the world, he now ignores it and does not interact with mortals. He is never worshipped.

Source: Gozyda 1-2

Words of the Shaman

Where did the world come from?

In the beginning, Oyinath created the spirits. At first everything was peaceful, but with time the many spirits he had created became jealous, and greedy for more power. Oyinath refused them this, so they vowed to destroy him and to seize his power from him. Oyinath was mighty, far more powerful than even the strongest of the spirits individually, but he knew that together they might be able to defeat him.

So he went away for a time, where the spirits could not find him, and there he forged Kethira from the stuff of chaos. Once he had finished he returned to the spirits again and said to them 'behold, I have created a new thing, which I call a 'world', and I have locked my power within it. So strong and hard is the world that you, who are mere spirits, will never be able to break into it and steal my power. So now I am safe from you for ever.'

But the spirits were proud and arrogant, and they were very eager to steal Oyinath's power, no matter how much effort it would cost them. So they all flew to Kethira in a great swarm and began to attack it, to try and find their way in to reach the ultimate power they all craved. And with a mighty bang, Oyinath slammed the world shut and trapped them all within it. Of course, his real power still lay within himself as it had always done, and Oyinath strode away laughing.

Once they realised they were trapped, the spirits began to fight amongst one another. Those who won became spirits of the water, which can wear down even the hardest stone. Those who came close became the spirits of rocks and of the wind. Others used cunning, and became demons. Weaker spirits created temporary bodies for themselves, and became fierce animals, or else wandered shapeless at the mercy of demons. Weaker still were the spirits of plants, which the animals gobbled up, and humans who lacked almost any power and had puny bodies that could hardly survive in the harsh world Oyinath had so cunningly created.

Why am I here?

Life has no meaning. Your spirit was trapped here when Kethira was created, and can never escape or be destroyed. You are destined to remain here forever in one form or another. Your only hope for temporary relief is to use your strength and cunning to make things as good for yourself as you can, before you eventually die.

What happens after we die?

When you die your spirit leaves your body. You must then compete with all the other spirits of the recently dead, including those of animals and plants, to enter a new body. Obviously all the spirits want the best bodies, such as those of strong animals, so you must fight as hard as you can to be reincarnated in a better body. Most likely you will fail and have to make do with an inferior human body. You will fail because your spirit is weak; why else would you be in a human body in the first place?

What can you tell me about magic?

Some people have special talents which enables them to deal with spirits and trick them into serving them. If they can succeed, and force a powerful spirit to do their bidding, they become a shaman. If not, they will probably die, because the spirit will naturally be very angry with them. Once they have a slave spirit, shamans can practice all kinds of magic which are normally impossible for we weak humans, and can send curses and diseases against their enemies. So you must never anger a shaman, or you will likely suffer for it. In fact, it is better to avoid shamans altogether.

What of the other Gods?

There is no other god besides Oyinath. Foreigners can be tricked by demons, which are powerful spirits who pretend to be gods. These gods pretend that they can rescue the spirits of their followers from this world when they die, and take them to a better place. But this is all lies, because the demons are just as much trapped in this world as everybody else. So it is better not to make yourself a slave of any of these beings and to forge your own way in the world instead.

What of the Demons? Tell me the Truth about...[2]

Larani

This is the demoness followed by the Kandians. She teaches them to be strong by hiding inside cases of metal and towers of stone, and lets them enslave horses, which have stupid and inferior spirits. This makes them think they are powerful, but of course, they are all Larani's victims in the end. None the less, you can deal with Laranians, for they will not attack you without reason and can be fooled into helping you.

Peoni

This is another demoness, and the sister of Larani. She is pathetic, and always bullied by her big sister, as you can see by the fact that her followers have to slave away on their farms providing food for Larani's followers. Because her followers are weak, there is little advantage in fighting them, and you may as well leave them alone, for otherwise the Laranians may become angry at having their slaves and their food taken away from them.

Ilvir

This demon lives in the centre of Harn, far to the north. He is master of the Ivashu, strong spirits in dangerous bodies. His human followers are all fools, because Ilvir does not care about them, and his Ivashu often eat them!

Agrik

This demon is almost exactly the same as Larani, but his followers get very angry when you point this out to them. He fights against Larani, hoping to steal the lands of her people and eat the food provided by the cowardly worshippers of Peoni. Thus, it is good to fight Agrikans, because the Laranians will reward you for it.

Morgath

This demon is particularly wicked, and has enslaved many mighty spirits that walk the world clad in darkness. Although his followers are all doomed in the end, for Morgath will eat their souls, they become powerful in the meantime, and are dangerous enemies. They will make war on anyone, and kill anyone who does not follow their demonic master. They must be killed whenever they are encountered.

Manaclir [3]

This is a mighty spirit of the waters, and one of the most powerful of all demons. The Adaenum of the western islands beleive that they can appease him, but this never works, for he is as likely to drown them as anybody else.

Kekamar [4]

This demon is a wind spirit followed by the Tulwyn. He teaches them to be violent, and they are good warriors as a result. Of course, this just means they die soon, but they are too foolish to worry about this. It is best to avoid them, and leave them to fight the Agrikans and other lesser peoples.

[1] OK, that's probably a controversial statement, so I'll explain my reasoning. In Gozyda mythology, Oyinath is the creator of the universe and of the Lesser 'Gods', so he fills the same role as the First Gods in civilised mythology. Furthermore he is distant and no longer maintains any contact with his creation nor answers any worship or calls for divine intervention - again, just like the First Gods. Whether he is really a First God is actually irrelevant, since he doesn't grant any powers.

[2] Not all gods are listed here. The Gozyda have little, if any, knowledge of or contact with the religions of Siem, Halea, Save K'nor, Sarajin or Naveh.

[3] The god of the Adaenum, only known to Domi Gozyda.

[4] The god of the Tulwyn.