The Color Spyral

Isle kaasht are perhaps the most religious of all kaasht on Tryne, their beliefs and faith a part of them from the very moment they are born and given their caste ranking. Tribal lore is as rich with relgious tales as tales of cultural significance and societal behavior, perhaps more so, for even historical and behavioral traditions are often said to be induced or influenced by the gods and by fate.

Maakyoosak
The most well-followed faith in Isle kaasht culture, usually taken as an aspect of some other religion, is that of maakyoosak, a word taken from the words for master and place, meaning, in a word, fate. The belief that a kaasht's life, place in life, and future deeds are foreordained by whatever force the kaasht happens to believe in. If an Isle kaasht were faced with a hopeless situation, or sometimes even just a difficult situation, he or she might resign himself to a poor outcome because that was what had obviously been fated to happen.

This maakyoosak, this fate, can be influenced in small ways through the concept of emuua, or luck, and sometimes through petitions to the gods. Emuua is a fairly random phenomenon, and trying to puzzle out its ways and workings keeps some kaasht busy for their whole lifetimes. If a kaasht makes a very good, very lucky kill on the hunt near a certain stream, he or she might take a stone from that stream as a charm to influence his or her hunts in the future. Even if the stone does not seem to have an affect, the kaasht will keep it for at least a year, out of tradition if not belief.

Deeskiin Mraakaa'n
No matter what the tribe, nearly all Isle kaasht follow Deeskiin Mraakaa'n, or "dark gods." This highly ritualized faith supports the presence of three deities, known of corporately as the Dark Ones or the Dark Gods. The first, most commonly known as Friashiraliin or a similar name, is the goddess of Death and portrayed as a copper kaalaa in a state of decay, with powerful build disproportionate to the visible ribs and spare flesh. The second is the god of time, colored purple for water flows just as time does, in all directions, and is most commonly heard referred to Riithaaniriaan, or some veriation thereof. The third, the god of darkness, is pitch black in color, prone to changing sizes depending on the number of shadows in a given place where he shows himself, and is usually called Gorriikinalin or something similar.

Though the deities remain more or less constant from tribe to tribe, the following of the deities does not. Some tribes revere life, believing violent death to be the realm of the Dark Ones alone, while others rejoice in the sacrifice of anything from rus to kits. Some tribes require public religious meetings while others preach solitude, though most commonly tribes have been documented to follow a mixture of the two, leaning slightly towards more public meetings than private meditation.

A common denominator for all followings of Deeskiin Mraakaa'n is a connection of the three deities with the three moons. Lymia is connected with the god of darkness, Xyan with the god(dess) of death, and Sirencia with the god of time. When each moon is full alone, a ceremony of some sort is always held, be it a night of affirming tribal love or a night of mutilation of the innocent.

Deeskiin Mraakaa'n aav Ciirriiaa and Deeskiin Mraakaa'n paroota Ciiriiaa
Some Isle kaasht tribes include a fourth deity in their worship, the Bright One, a goddess of love, life, and light, all three concepts bound up into a single form. She is supposed to be a kaasht colored white, yellow, and gold, so bright as to be blinding to look upon, with three tails, all full and fluffy, and eyes of crystal blue. Her aspect is the sun and her time is the dawn, until noon.

Despite what she represents, the Bright One is often feared in Isle kaasht tribes. She represents chaos, a breech in the natural order of life passing into death, for all she can be found in the very natural love between friends, siblings, mates, and especially a mother to her kits. She is the counterpart to all three of the Dark Ones, the balance that is supposedly stronger than any one or even two of the Dark Ones alone. She does not even have a name, for she cannot be identified and controlled.

Because she is an unknown element, the Bright One is given different treatments from tribe to tribe, fairly evenly split between a positive light and a negative light. Some tribes, lumped together under the Plataeu's heading of Deeskiin Mraakaa'n aav Ciiriiaa, or Dark Gods and Bright, see the Bright One as a deity to be feared and revered, the ally and leader of the Dark Ones, the other half to make a whole. These tribes devote a day a season to her worship, often the happiest days of the year, for even the most bloodthirsty tribes would not dare to kill on this holy day.

The rest of the tribes, however, fall under the category called Deeskiin Mraakaa'n paroota Ciiriiaa, literally translated Dark Gods against Bright. In these tribes, the Bright One is considered evil, the enemy of the Dark Ones, and her title is a curse. Some tribes even take to spending their entire lives being nocturnal, to avoid the eye of the Bright One, or the sun.

Rreesha Maaxmraa'n
Because of the isolation and fanaticism of Isle kaasht tribes, the breed is prone to the development of rreesha maaxmraa'n, "small religions," or cults. These cults are often secret and often elitist, but vary greatly across the face of Tryne. Plataeu and Cave kaasht see in the phenomenon of rreesha maaxmraa worlds of information to study, but have great difficulty penetrating to the cults' inner circles and thus learn very little of what actually goes on behind the scenes of the comparatively open secret rituals.

Sailkorol-nemshikol - "Cult of Death"
Perhaps one of the darkest and most evil of Isle kaasht rreesha maaxmraa'n, Isle kaasht religious cults, is Sailkorol-nemskihol. Its name, taken from remnants of the Old Tongue Daishan, means "powerful blood in death", and its rites and practices all focus on death and death's goddess, Friaashiitaalmiliin (Friaashii is her more common, simpler name). It is centered in a string of islands in the Jesk Sea and lead by its founder, a black Isle kaasht priestess named Naiasha Akaavaa who is frighteningly clever and has even higher ambitions than her swiftly-growing cult.

The cult's name is reminiscent of what it does: the cult is focused mainly on sacrifice-- and not just any sacrifice, but sacrifice of innocent kaasht, in as frightening, shameful, and painful way as possible. The higher-caste the kaasht, the better an offering he or she makes. The priests and priestesses, members of the cult, hunt down young, high-caste, innocent victims-- the younger, the better-- then keep them in rich, contented seclusion until their third-level birthday. Keeping them safe and sacred to the gods, they say. Then, on the day of their third level, they are ritually washed, ritually adorned, ritually raped by three privileged male acolytes, and then ritually killed by Naiasha Akaavaa herself or another, rarely privileged acolyte, usually female.

Not every ritual includes a special, pure, high-caste sacrifice; those come only once every other year, if Naiasha and her following are lucky enough to catch an appropriate kaasht often enough. For the rest of the sacrifices that demand a teknikaasht victim, in a ceremony held twice a year, any young kaasht will do, of any station. The remaining ceremonies, held every time Xyan is full, only require an animal.

Because of its focus on violence, death, and rapine, the Sailkorol-nemshikol draws mainly kaaerds to its ranks. There are many kaalaas, for Isle kaasht as a whole are a vicious breed, but they are outnumbered three to one by kaaerds. Naiasha Akaavaa does not encourage female membership, for it is too easy for kaalaas to be taken advantage of in the largely male population-- not to mention easy for other kaalaas to envision themselves in her place, and perhaps scheme to take it. As it is, having two female acolytes who she intends to train to take her place once she reaches her eighth level is quite enough for her to worry about protecting her position from.

The Sailkorol-nemshikol has been only a century in the making, but already it is the strongest single cult in the string of islands it inhabits. Its leader Naiasha Akaava is not content with the mere spiritual power she commands and her followers enjoy; she has plans, ready soon to be put in motion, that will bring the cult more-- much more.

Aumakai Mraakapri - "Cult of Life"
The rreesha maaxmraa Aumakai Mraakapri has been around so long that most do not remember what its name means, though it is generally assumed that its meaning is something along the lines of "one bright goddess"-- for that is what the religion is based upon, the singular goddess of love, life, and light known to the Isle kaasht as the Bright One. The cult has been in existence for nearly two millennia with no set center, no specific following, and no safety. Whenever it is discovered by the less tolerant, more traditional Isle kaasht in an area where it surfaces, it is harshly persecuted and, in most cases, either directly or indirectly driven away and killed out. It never really dies, however, for at least one member escapes to begin the cycle over again on some new island, and most cells never completely die out, going in hiding or relocating.

After almost two thousand years of this, there is a loose network of Aumakai Mraakapri throughout the Jesk Sea, the Meshan Ocean, and the sea south of the Sandglass Desert. Cultists to the Bright One hold their monthly meetings in secret, with rarely more than three kaasht in attendance at once for reasons of safety and protection. On the morning of Fwalaanos-shavaa, the last day of the last season of the year, as many kaasht as can travel to meet together choose a safe spot to celebrate their three-fold goddess. The monthly meetings are largely gossip sessions with special, ritual prayers for opening and closing and times set aside, if applicable, for the introduction of new converts, kits, and mates. The yearly meetings are less social, though the aftermath generally turns into friendly chattering amongst participants, following a fairly strict guideline and with more of a focus on praise, petitions, and thanks to the Bright One, herself.

At the head of this network are three kaasht and their protectors. These three kaasht, the High Priestesses of Aumakai Mraakapri, are always female, always possess a very strong Fusion ability, and are always yellow, white, and gold, the colors of the Bright one. They are titled by their colors: the White One representing love, the Yellow One representing light, and the Gold One representing life. The only three criteria for this position are enough to make them very difficult to fill: the kaasht must be female; the kaasht must, obviously, be a member of Aumakai Mraakapri; and the kaasht must be able to join their Fusion with two other kaasht, not just one. Needless to say, this is an incredibly difficult criterion to fill, so any kaalaa discovered to have Fusion is immediately tested as to her ability with it. These three travel Tryne as often as they can to grace the small cells of followers with a Manifestation of their goddess: a three-tailed, tricolored kaalaa born of their Fusion.

The Aumakai Mraakapri is a religion of peace, tolerance, and love for the fellow kaasht and the family-- at least as much of any of those three are present in any Isle kaasht spirit. For this reason, it tends to draw mainly kaalaas. Those few kaaerds who do find their way to conversion into this very unIsle-like cult tend to end up into a small corps of defenders for the High Priestesses of the Manifestation.

Just because the Aumakai Mraakapri follows the Bright One does not mean they deny the existence of the Dark Ones-- they simply see her ways as better and often view her as more powerful. They also follow a tradition of strict noninterference with other religions-- be they Isle kaasht or otherwise-- largely out of self-preservation. There have been those who disregarded this rule when faced with injustices in the name of religion, and though these individuals are celebrated as heroes-- and often martyrs-- they are few and far between.


All Species: The Color Spyral, The Path, and The Three Moons Wreoo Shraackn'n Single Species: Mountain Kaasht Cave Kaasht Beach Kaasht Valley Kaasht Tundra Kaasht Isle Kaasht Greater Minena Back to Religion	Isle kaasht are perhaps the most religious of all kaasht on Tryne, their beliefs and faith a part of them from the very moment they are born and given their caste ranking. Tribal lore is as rich with relgious tales as tales of cultural significance and societal behavior, perhaps more so, for even historical and behavioral traditions are often said to be induced or influenced by the gods and by fate. Maakyoosak The most well-followed faith in Isle kaasht culture, usually taken as an aspect of some other religion, is that of maakyoosak, a word taken from the words for master and place, meaning, in a word, fate. The belief that a kaasht's life, place in life, and future deeds are foreordained by whatever force the kaasht happens to believe in. If an Isle kaasht were faced with a hopeless situation, or sometimes even just a difficult situation, he or she might resign himself to a poor outcome because that was what had obviously been fated to happen. This maakyoosak, this fate, can be influenced in small ways through the concept of emuua, or luck, and sometimes through petitions to the gods. Emuua is a fairly random phenomenon, and trying to puzzle out its ways and workings keeps some kaasht busy for their whole lifetimes. If a kaasht makes a very good, very lucky kill on the hunt near a certain stream, he or she might take a stone from that stream as a charm to influence his or her hunts in the future. Even if the stone does not seem to have an affect, the kaasht will keep it for at least a year, out of tradition if not belief. Deeskiin Mraakaa'n No matter what the tribe, nearly all Isle kaasht follow Deeskiin Mraakaa'n, or "dark gods." This highly ritualized faith supports the presence of three deities, known of corporately as the Dark Ones or the Dark Gods. The first, most commonly known as Friashiraliin or a similar name, is the goddess of Death and portrayed as a copper kaalaa in a state of decay, with powerful build disproportionate to the visible ribs and spare flesh. The second is the god of time, colored purple for water flows just as time does, in all directions, and is most commonly heard referred to Riithaaniriaan, or some veriation thereof. The third, the god of darkness, is pitch black in color, prone to changing sizes depending on the number of shadows in a given place where he shows himself, and is usually called Gorriikinalin or something similar. Though the deities remain more or less constant from tribe to tribe, the following of the deities does not. Some tribes revere life, believing violent death to be the realm of the Dark Ones alone, while others rejoice in the sacrifice of anything from rus to kits. Some tribes require public religious meetings while others preach solitude, though most commonly tribes have been documented to follow a mixture of the two, leaning slightly towards more public meetings than private meditation. A common denominator for all followings of Deeskiin Mraakaa'n is a connection of the three deities with the three moons. Lymia is connected with the god of darkness, Xyan with the god(dess) of death, and Sirencia with the god of time. When each moon is full alone, a ceremony of some sort is always held, be it a night of affirming tribal love or a night of mutilation of the innocent. Deeskiin Mraakaa'n aav Ciirriiaa and Deeskiin Mraakaa'n paroota Ciiriiaa Some Isle kaasht tribes include a fourth deity in their worship, the Bright One, a goddess of love, life, and light, all three concepts bound up into a single form. She is supposed to be a kaasht colored white, yellow, and gold, so bright as to be blinding to look upon, with three tails, all full and fluffy, and eyes of crystal blue. Her aspect is the sun and her time is the dawn, until noon. Despite what she represents, the Bright One is often feared in Isle kaasht tribes. She represents chaos, a breech in the natural order of life passing into death, for all she can be found in the very natural love between friends, siblings, mates, and especially a mother to her kits. She is the counterpart to all three of the Dark Ones, the balance that is supposedly stronger than any one or even two of the Dark Ones alone. She does not even have a name, for she cannot be identified and controlled. Because she is an unknown element, the Bright One is given different treatments from tribe to tribe, fairly evenly split between a positive light and a negative light. Some tribes, lumped together under the Plataeu's heading of Deeskiin Mraakaa'n aav Ciiriiaa, or Dark Gods and Bright, see the Bright One as a deity to be feared and revered, the ally and leader of the Dark Ones, the other half to make a whole. These tribes devote a day a season to her worship, often the happiest days of the year, for even the most bloodthirsty tribes would not dare to kill on this holy day. The rest of the tribes, however, fall under the category called Deeskiin Mraakaa'n paroota Ciiriiaa, literally translated Dark Gods against Bright. In these tribes, the Bright One is considered evil, the enemy of the Dark Ones, and her title is a curse. Some tribes even take to spending their entire lives being nocturnal, to avoid the eye of the Bright One, or the sun. Rreesha Maaxmraa'n Because of the isolation and fanaticism of Isle kaasht tribes, the breed is prone to the development of rreesha maaxmraa'n, "small religions," or cults. These cults are often secret and often elitist, but vary greatly across the face of Tryne. Plataeu and Cave kaasht see in the phenomenon of rreesha maaxmraa worlds of information to study, but have great difficulty penetrating to the cults' inner circles and thus learn very little of what actually goes on behind the scenes of the comparatively open secret rituals. Sailkorol-nemshikol - "Cult of Death" Perhaps one of the darkest and most evil of Isle kaasht rreesha maaxmraa'n, Isle kaasht religious cults, is Sailkorol-nemskihol. Its name, taken from remnants of the Old Tongue Daishan, means "powerful blood in death", and its rites and practices all focus on death and death's goddess, Friaashiitaalmiliin (Friaashii is her more common, simpler name). It is centered in a string of islands in the Jesk Sea and lead by its founder, a black Isle kaasht priestess named Naiasha Akaavaa who is frighteningly clever and has even higher ambitions than her swiftly-growing cult. The cult's name is reminiscent of what it does: the cult is focused mainly on sacrifice-- and not just any sacrifice, but sacrifice of innocent kaasht, in as frightening, shameful, and painful way as possible. The higher-caste the kaasht, the better an offering he or she makes. The priests and priestesses, members of the cult, hunt down young, high-caste, innocent victims-- the younger, the better-- then keep them in rich, contented seclusion until their third-level birthday. Keeping them safe and sacred to the gods, they say. Then, on the day of their third level, they are ritually washed, ritually adorned, ritually raped by three privileged male acolytes, and then ritually killed by Naiasha Akaavaa herself or another, rarely privileged acolyte, usually female. Not every ritual includes a special, pure, high-caste sacrifice; those come only once every other year, if Naiasha and her following are lucky enough to catch an appropriate kaasht often enough. For the rest of the sacrifices that demand a teknikaasht victim, in a ceremony held twice a year, any young kaasht will do, of any station. The remaining ceremonies, held every time Xyan is full, only require an animal. Because of its focus on violence, death, and rapine, the Sailkorol-nemshikol draws mainly kaaerds to its ranks. There are many kaalaas, for Isle kaasht as a whole are a vicious breed, but they are outnumbered three to one by kaaerds. Naiasha Akaavaa does not encourage female membership, for it is too easy for kaalaas to be taken advantage of in the largely male population-- not to mention easy for other kaalaas to envision themselves in her place, and perhaps scheme to take it. As it is, having two female acolytes who she intends to train to take her place once she reaches her eighth level is quite enough for her to worry about protecting her position from. The Sailkorol-nemshikol has been only a century in the making, but already it is the strongest single cult in the string of islands it inhabits. Its leader Naiasha Akaava is not content with the mere spiritual power she commands and her followers enjoy; she has plans, ready soon to be put in motion, that will bring the cult more-- much more. Aumakai Mraakapri - "Cult of Life" The rreesha maaxmraa Aumakai Mraakapri has been around so long that most do not remember what its name means, though it is generally assumed that its meaning is something along the lines of "one bright goddess"-- for that is what the religion is based upon, the singular goddess of love, life, and light known to the Isle kaasht as the Bright One. The cult has been in existence for nearly two millennia with no set center, no specific following, and no safety. Whenever it is discovered by the less tolerant, more traditional Isle kaasht in an area where it surfaces, it is harshly persecuted and, in most cases, either directly or indirectly driven away and killed out. It never really dies, however, for at least one member escapes to begin the cycle over again on some new island, and most cells never completely die out, going in hiding or relocating. After almost two thousand years of this, there is a loose network of Aumakai Mraakapri throughout the Jesk Sea, the Meshan Ocean, and the sea south of the Sandglass Desert. Cultists to the Bright One hold their monthly meetings in secret, with rarely more than three kaasht in attendance at once for reasons of safety and protection. On the morning of Fwalaanos-shavaa, the last day of the last season of the year, as many kaasht as can travel to meet together choose a safe spot to celebrate their three-fold goddess. The monthly meetings are largely gossip sessions with special, ritual prayers for opening and closing and times set aside, if applicable, for the introduction of new converts, kits, and mates. The yearly meetings are less social, though the aftermath generally turns into friendly chattering amongst participants, following a fairly strict guideline and with more of a focus on praise, petitions, and thanks to the Bright One, herself. At the head of this network are three kaasht and their protectors. These three kaasht, the High Priestesses of Aumakai Mraakapri, are always female, always possess a very strong Fusion ability, and are always yellow, white, and gold, the colors of the Bright one. They are titled by their colors: the White One representing love, the Yellow One representing light, and the Gold One representing life. The only three criteria for this position are enough to make them very difficult to fill: the kaasht must be female; the kaasht must, obviously, be a member of Aumakai Mraakapri; and the kaasht must be able to join their Fusion with two other kaasht, not just one. Needless to say, this is an incredibly difficult criterion to fill, so any kaalaa discovered to have Fusion is immediately tested as to her ability with it. These three travel Tryne as often as they can to grace the small cells of followers with a Manifestation of their goddess: a three-tailed, tricolored kaalaa born of their Fusion. The Aumakai Mraakapri is a religion of peace, tolerance, and love for the fellow kaasht and the family-- at least as much of any of those three are present in any Isle kaasht spirit. For this reason, it tends to draw mainly kaalaas. Those few kaaerds who do find their way to conversion into this very unIsle-like cult tend to end up into a small corps of defenders for the High Priestesses of the Manifestation. Just because the Aumakai Mraakapri follows the Bright One does not mean they deny the existence of the Dark Ones-- they simply see her ways as better and often view her as more powerful. They also follow a tradition of strict noninterference with other religions-- be they Isle kaasht or otherwise-- largely out of self-preservation. There have been those who disregarded this rule when faced with injustices in the name of religion, and though these individuals are celebrated as heroes-- and often martyrs-- they are few and far between.