Religions of Mobius


The Mogulian Pantheon


Those 'Bright Kings of Enoch' who have been mentioned so far in COA or NWO (generally in regards to some Chaos Corrupted individual taking or being given their name) are:
(these are also up in the COA Encyclopedia)

Ysbadadden

In the ancient lore of the Panther Tribe, Ysbadadden was their Patron God, who ventured to far off lands in search of knowledge and glory. He is associated with early Mogulian lore (now believed to have been more real than anyone suspected) as one of the "Bright Kings" (The Third) who followed "The Mogul" and helped build the First City at Enoch. He became known as the Lord of Eyes for developing a third eye during his searching and mapping of the heavens. Ysbadadden, in Mogulian Lore, is the great astronomer and the Watcher of the Sky. He was also known for his terrible temper, his penchant for remembering past insults, and his desire for solitude. Divination was typically done using bones and the movement of stars. Worship of Ysbadadden, in numerous forms, spread throughout Cat Country and continues up to the present.

Mulciber

In ancient Mogulian Lore, Mulciber is known as the Trickster God, and the Patron of Rogues. Supposedly, he began as a simple charlatan who got by pretending to be a nobleman. Eventually, emboldened by every success, he grew more and more ambitious in his pranks. Finally, be tried impersonating a god, and after a time became one. He is known as "The Sixth" of the "Bright Kings" of the First City. Mulciber became known further as the Lord of Masks, because of his ability to impersonate anyone, and to spy on nearly any event. He is also associated with hurtful magics, lechery and perversion, but also perseverance and skill at games of chance. Mulciber was never widely worshipped.

The Devourer

There is no mention of the name Reptilian in ancient Mogulian Lore. There is mention, however, of The Devourer, the Seventh Bright King of Enoch. This is stylistically and linguistically a very different sort of name than all the other legendary "Bright Kings," and it had led some to speculate that the name Devourer was not the original, but a later invention created centuries later. Others have speculated that there were two Seventh Bright King(s). Or that they were aspects of one another, like night and day.

The Devourer is a Dark God, the God of Dragons, and the Lord of Flight and of Jade. He is also a god of betrayal, destruction, and disorder. Some texts go so far as to reinvent the name as The Disorderer, The Chaos Bringer, or The Mad Slavemaster. As befits a violent, destructive and powerful god, worship of The Devourer involves particularly brutal living sacrifices, debauched feasting (occasionally involving part or all of the sacrifice itself), and chanting to the point of exhaustion. Worship of The Devourer and all associated Blood Cults were supposedly wiped out in the fiftieth year of the First Mogulian Republic, several thousand years ago.

Recently, however, the old arcane markings have returned, in the dark and hidden recesses of the world, and in a secluded temple high in hidden mountains, the sound of tortured chanting ca be heard long into the night…

Elishiva/Sekhmet

In ancient Mogulian Lore, Elishiva is the two-headed goddess, whose compassionate and cruel sides alternated for control of her psyche (some have speculated that The Devourer is similarly given two personas in his interpretation, and yet others have speculated that The Devourer was originally Elishiva's protégé or son). She is generally depicted as a beatific female, with cloth wrapped around her eyes blinding her. In one arm she carries a doll, and in the other a sword.

As Elishiva, the Fourth Bright King (even though she is female), she is the God of Executioners and the Lord of Judgment, who condemns the guilty and the wrongdoers to punishment. Some translations also place her as the God of Judges, as a tertiary title. In this aspect, she was prayed to for swift and merciful punishments, and to grant the condemned a quick death. The doll is said to represent the other side of her persona: Sekhmet, sleeping when the doll's eyes are closed (or if the doll has no eyes).

Unlike Elishiva, Sekhmet was the cruel and vicious aspects of punishment. She was prayed to by murders and killers (as well as torturers) as the Maiden of Agony (or sometimes as a third specific god called Agony). She was the patron god of Slaughter in all its forms, and commonly called the Crimson Lady. A notable series of death cults can be attributed to the Crimson Lady, and her worship continues in parts of secluded Cat Country (for example: among the Bat Tribe). As Elishiva, she is associated most strongly with justice, but also tyranny. As Sekhmet, she is associated with cruelty, but also freedom. This is the dichotomy of the "Fourth Bright King of Enoch."

Rhadamanthus

Known as The Stalwart, and the World Smith. Rhadamanthus, God of Smiths, Lord of Works was the First Bright King of Enoch. He was the First that The Mogul took into His City, and he remained the Strongest and the First of the Seven when his peers joined him in that place. As the eldest, Rhadamanthus is seen as the most responsible of the Seven. He was the one given the hardest tasks, and the one whose loyalty to Mogul never faded. At the same time, he is seen as a god lacking in leadership, and one that never made decisions for himself. It is said that the only time he did something he was not told to do was when he sacrificed himself to save his master near the end of the God Wars (or Days of Fury, in Source-lore).

Rhadamanthus is seen as the patron god of canines, as well as workers: farmers, blacksmiths, and the like all prayed to him. For a time, he was also associated with craftsmanship, and artistic ability, before that aspect of creation became more closely associated with The Devourer. Supposedly, Rhadamanthus' primary duties were the creation and perpetuation of the seasons and the weather, and the movement of the world. Rhadamanthus was not mercurial by nature, and was slow to anger, but when he was enraged his fury was terrible to behold, taking the form of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and other phenomenon. Rhadamanthus is generally seen as the most benevolent of the Bright Kings. He is also negatively associated with poverty (or positively associated with thrift), and his temples were generally simple, Spartan affairs.

Rhadamanthus' religious legacy continues among Mobian canines. The Wolf Pack belief systems are closely based on his philosophy, and even Dingoism, though more distantly, has roots in him. Vulpines in the northern territories within or close to Kitsune Lands also actively worshipped Rhadamanthus until the near present, as the kitsune did not make any attempt to suppress Mogulian faiths within their borders.