Six Gods

KENUT is god of rain, plants, the sun, farmers, drought, and the sky. His priests slather their skin with wet red clay so that they may walk naked beneath the radiance of noon.

Burn a bushel of unripe wheat at the height of day to remind Kenut to send the rain.

BRELL is the god of sand, cattle, the wind, and scorpions. His voice is in the driving sandstorm, his pleasure in the meat of a fattened calf, his wrath in the sting that comes unseen. Aspiring priests of Brell sting themselves with a deadly scorpion, then eat the heart of a cow. If they finish the heart, they are favored and will not die. A priest in a venom-trance can read patterns in falling sand. 

Drive a cow into a scorpion nest, and the rest of your herd will be safe from sandstorms.

UYMARA, called the night eater, is god of dawn, dusk, the sun, things that hunt at night, and lizards. At dawn, she is the eater of night. At dusk, she is the night that eats. Uymara’s priests gorge themselves on lizard meat until they retch, and read the future in their own bile.

If someone is too sick to move, leave them on a palette beyond the light of the campfire overnight. When dawn comes, Uymara will have taken the sickness or their flesh.

HORBAN is the god of fire, the night, childbirth, midwives, and death. His priests are inducted into the night mysteries: a novice must spend the night outside around a campfire, an adept must spend the night outside alone with only a torch, and Horban’s chosen spend the night outside alone with no fire at all.

Leave dead bodies to cool overnight before burning them, or the soul will not be released. Pass a flame under the feet of every newborn child, that Horban’s fire may enter them (lest they be cowards).

GERGIN VOS is the god of blood, marriage, travel, and war. He is called the arrow that shows the way, the maker of cities, the red blade. Priests of Gergin Vos find omens for travel and war in their own pain, and they carry bronze ritual knives for the purpose. Elders among them have scars on every patch of skin.

For betrothal: prick the lovers’ fingers and mingle with a silver bowl of sheep’s blood. Everyone in both families must drink from the bowl.

SUY-LA is the god of the outsiders, also called the betrayer, the hunger, or the hatred. Foreigners claim to worship many gods, but these are all secret faces of Suy-La. 

Strike down servants of Suy-La wherever you find them.