Ezeva mythology

Ezeva mythology is a set of myths and metaphysical systems associated with Ezeva culture. Featured is a polytheistic pantheon, the idea of distinctions as the fundamental aspect that identifies things and concepts, and the "real-time updating" of mythology to reflect changes in patterns of religious practice, as opposed to most cases where mythology is seen as a largely complete set of stories to "set the stage" for history. In Ezeva mythology, new stories are constantly being generated for it set in contemporary times - events unfolding in real time are interpreted as myths in action, as opposed to other cases where all the myths and drama are essentially "done".

Coverage

The following is transcribed from the in-universe sources:

Ektir

In the beginning, there was Ektir: the world itself, undifferentiated. Nondescript yet encompassing everything. It was Ektir alone and nothing else. But for there to be any meaning in the world, something else must have come to exist; Ektir could not be compared to itself if there was indeed anyone to do the comparing. To consider Ektir a person would be to imply there was something other than Ektir that was an inanimate object. To consider Ektir red would be to imply there was something other than Ektir that was green or blue. To consider Ektir powerful would be to imply something else that was powerless. But there, by nature, wasn't. Ektir simply was.

The first meaning

And Ektir split into two beings - two fundamental essences of the world, giving it meaning, as now they could be compared. They were an opposing pair - what else could they be? Mind and matter. Dreams and reality. Animacy and inanimacy. Spirit and body. In the Ilgiric interpretation, light and dark too originated from this fundamental distinction, hence why at night we sleep and dream, yet at day we wake and engage in reality.

But these were not yet "gods" in the conventional sense, as they were not agentive beings - rather, they defined the very thing it meant to be an agentive being, and thus anything else was.

Gods

Instead, from there, further distinctions arose. The material world split into earth and sky; their spiritual counterparts followed suit. Earth became land and sea. Sky gave the air and the heavens.

And the interactions between their spirits - the first "gods" - would give rise to phenomena which could then in parallel become their own gods.

For example, as Nuven, the Air, and Chuya, the Sea, interacted, they saw the clouds take form, then rain, and then thunder. Nuven and Chuya wished both to separate these essences out into their own beings. The eventual result was Kaemar, the clouds and rain, who would facilitate the exchange of water between Sea and Air, and who later allowed Yurei to become her own being and then many (albeit retaining herself in the spiritual for the purpose of continued interaction with Kaemar), the Rivers guiding water from Earth back to Sea. Most known are the Nine Naiads, the gods of the nine great rivers of Ester: Lielber, Lesikha, Addeon, Aryami, Rikram, Elserik, Nemazo, Nashan, and Harliko. And from thunder came Valther, who would later acquire the identity of a deity of rage and warfare.

The day and night came as the heavens brought the moon Merdu, the sun Sinyo, and the stars Ramazir. And in general, the story of the world's creation is marked by the establishment of these fundamental concepts from which the modern world and the gods that take form from it derive.

Life

The Earth brought forth life, and life diversified rapidly. The origin of the consciousness of humans is directly attributed to the dedication of the essence of Maurat to embodiment in a non-godly form, allowing yet another distinction to be made. Maurat lives in all of humanity, and represents the collective will of humans as a species. Yarov are as well derivative of Maurat, but exist independently of any pre-existing available physical manifestations (and thus they form their own).

But such a distinction resulted in the emergence of the immaterial part of any individual human. Due to the nature of the Mauratic essence available, when a human died and its SOUL eventually decayed, the essence of the human would be taken to the realm of dreams, where Kainosa governed the human's life after death, and Haidomanz prepared it for rebirth into a new body. At the same time, a human body's inhabitant spirit would imprint on the body itself, leading to other observed phenomena. And this was why the Panavic practice of SOUL absorption was looked down upon.

Summary

The essential point being made is that the identities of gods are not static. They have evolved and changed over time, and they often incorporate other domains into themselves or otherwise reorganize and split as a result of their interactions and observations of the world. For example, Ramazir eventually merged with a god of navigation, Zairami, to form the modern Ramazir, and Kainosa and Haidomanz formed from the divergence of Ky-Helan.

Of course, the gods also have had various encounters with one another and interact with each other as people. Ramazir's merger with Zairami was motivated this way, as were several other perhaps unintuitive associations or distinctions. In this way, people and gods can be compared, but it is a mistake to say that the gods are as anthropomorphic as in Pavrona culture. For example, Kainosa and Haidomanz are like twin siblings.

Twelve major deities

The set of twelve deities considered supreme by the Ezov as of 854 SR (and the list most commonly cited) are the modern embodiments of what they consider to be the most fundamental aspects of the world and have the strongest roles in their own culture.

• Walther, the god of thunder and warfare, who is associated with the "berserker" warriors of Ezeva cultures, and by extension other altered mental states. Panavis is strongly associated with Walther as well.
• Kainosa, the god of death, related to remembrance and legacy, and the effects of time. Kainosa shows their face directly in dreams.
• Haidomanz, the god of renewal and rebirth, sibling of Kainosa. Haidomanz prefers to interact in signs in the waking world.
• Falaerin, the god who serves to mediate between the primary deities and the people of Ezvelan.
• Ramazir, the god of knowledge, navigation, silver, and the night sky.
• Yaseo, the god of ice, the cold, the mountains, and the windy heights.
• Andzej, the god of the sun, gold, and fire, having acquired Sinyo in recent history.
• Serzo, the god of the ocean depths, the bay, and ocean storms and winds.
• Kristin, the god of togetherness, community, and the home. Arvent and Meren were originally part of an identity which also contributed to modern Kristin.
• Dani, the god of art, in the sense represented by music and poetry, who also acquired the identity of a playful trickster deity ("Vuto"), hence the more common name Dani-Vuto.
• Marzo, the god of the forests, crops and harvest.
• Heljun, the god of the moon and copper (by most accounts formed from the merger of Merdu with another deity), whose domain also relates to craftsmanship and innovation.

Miscellaneous

Inconsistencies in the exact nature of the metaphysics (largely, exactly how anthropomorphic the gods are and how they relate to, define, or are defined by their domains) are, to the disappointment or perhaps intrigue of Hesanic scholars looking to build a framework, often present; that is simply how Ezeva myths tend to go. Similarly, there are various conflicting accounts of the relation of the modern major deities to those of the world's creation.

And also, Errai is the lingering essence of Ektir, which wishes to erase the distinctions between things in the world that give it its nature, returning it to a nondescript nothingness. Errai is significant in that Errai's name was used to denounce the colonial practices of Myalvi after several raids on Ezeva settlements, but those of Myalvi misunderstood the accusation and started associating with "Errai" themselves.

In conclusion, the conflation and evolution of gods as mythological concepts is near universal in cultural contexts that include gods, but Ezvelan uniquely bakes this phenomenon into its own metaphysics, perhaps due to the short lifespan of ezov (on the scale of 45 years) hastening cultural development, or perhaps by complete coincidence.

Other notes

In general, the domains tend to follow Ezeva cultural or historical associations. The copper age was recent enough that its beginning is well within written history, hence Heljun. The ezov navigated by the stars to cross the great bay, hence Ramazir. The cold is a major environmental risk even for the rather hardy ezov, hence Kristin (and hence Arvent's festival in the winter). And the sun's golden light is associated with the metal gold, hence Andzej.

Myths as a result of historical events

Invasion of Yarzon-Watershed

TBD