COSMOS
Demiurge of Order.
Cosmos is the creator of Eriu. According to the legends, she emerged from the Nun, the endless black sea, carrying a giant golden egg in her mouth, and created a bubble to make life possible. From that Egg, Ceartas, Nádúr and Lir were born, and then Cosmos created the five species who inhabits Eriu. |
CHAOS
Demiurge of Disorder
Cosmos was not the only being who emerged from the Nun. Chaos seeks to destroy Cosmos’ creation, and for this reason she confined him into another dimension, but he took her with him. Since writing in Eriu is considered sacred, Chaos’ name is barely mentioned, and some texts refer to im as “the one with a bad temper”, and, even even if eriu inhabitants don’t know his true form, he is usually describled like "everwatching crawling darkness" He is usually worshipped only by Necromancers. |
CHRONOS
Demiurge of Time
Cosmos took this "young" Demiurge under her wings, to show him how to be a proper one. He keeps time flowing according the law of the world Cosmos established when she created it. He is the guardian of this world, protecting it from other Demiurges who might want to destroy it. He lives in the sea, preventing people to sail too far from the land. The reason is unknown. |
CEARTAS
The (deceased) King of the humanoids, previous god of the sky, and god of Justice.
When Cosmos created the humanoids, Ceartas became their king and watched over them, teaching them how to live in a society, giving them the first laws. He was later assassinated by Lir, the god of the sea, who tore him apart in different pieces, stole his crown, and ruled over Eriu until he was dethroned. Gealach and Grian searched for his body all over Eriu, but they couldn’t find the heart. Nádúr brought him back from the deads by giving away part of her power to Chronos, but since the heart was missing, he would have been able to stay alive only for a short amount of time. Ceartas started a revolution, and with the help of his people was able to defeat Lir, and chain him to the depths of the sea. Dead once again, he now rules in the Tir n’Aill with his daughter Réalta. |
NADUR
Goddess of the Earth and Nature.
After the death of her beloved husband, and after the 100 years war this caused, she became a more elusive deity, wandering in the forests instead of making appearences in public during holidays or special events. She has also lost part of her power to bring Ceartas back to life, and this is how the season were born. Now her colours change according to each season. She is most powerful in summer, when she can meet Ceartas again, and less in winter, when her husband passed away. Yet, she is still kindhearted, and tries to help those in need, without being noticed. She is one the most praised deity in Eriu, because she has lot of spheres of influences: love and fertility, agricolture and hunting, fishing and sailing, pregnancy and childbirth. |
LIR
The nameless god of the Sea and of the Weather.
Once upon at time, Lir was a benevolent god as well, but the Eriu inhabitants were, and are, afraid of the sea that surrounds them, and since they had everything they needed in their Island, Lir was never praised as much as Nádúr or Ceartas, and soon he started feeling an ever growing envy inside of him. Chaos whispered to him, feeding his hate and slowly driving him insane, until the god decided to take “what was naturally meant to belong to him”. He killed Ceartas, tore his body in many pieces, and spread them across Eriu, and finally stole his crown, and became the new king of Eriu. Unfortunately, he was not a good king, at all, and afterCeartas came back to defeat him, the people of Eriu condamned him to the damnatio memoriae, and so his name was lost in the dust of time. Now he is chained to the bottom of the ocean and plans his revenge against the mortals. Some people, especially travelers or merchants, make food offers to old small altars on the coasts, to soften the anger of the deity, and give them good weather and a safe journey. |
GHRIAN
God of the Sun, of the Shadow (see The Soul page in Culture), and so of the life force and of emotion, he is the son of Nádúr and Cheartas.
Twin brother of Gealach, he was conceveid before his father's death, and after that event he watches over the nature of the mortals with his brothers. He helped his mother recover the body parts of his father, flying all the day long while his brother searched during the night. He is mostly praised by athletes, fighters, but also by cooks, because food is higly associated with strenght and life. People do believe that the night is the moment for "thinking", while the day is the moment for "acting", and that the sun gives life to everything, since everything under the light casts a shadows. It is for this reason that undeads don't have one. He likes to encourage people at doing their bests and overcoming their limits, and to enjoy life 'till the very end, feeling all the emotions it has to offer, both good and bad. He usually try to act serious, and speaks with a deep and powerful voice, but he is an hot head, and loves competition and good food! |
GEALACH
God of the Moon, of the Genius (see The Soul page in Culture), and so of the knowledge and of creativity, he is the son of Nádúr and Cheartas.
Twin brother of Ghrian, he was conceveid before his father's death, and after that event he watches over the nature of the mortals with his brothers. He helped his mother recover the body parts of his father, flying all the night long while his brother searched during the day. He is usually praised by scholars and artists, and he is not greedy in sharing his knowledge or giving advices and inspiration to artsists. People do believe that the night is the moment for "thinking", while the day is the moment for "acting", and that the moon lights the dark when it's most needed, like the knowledge lights away the darkness of ignorance. It is also believed that inspiration is related to moon phases, and so that full moon nights are the best to create. He is usually very calm, speaks slowly, and criticize his brother for being "immature", but deep down, he loves to prank him from time to time. |
REALTA
Goddess of Stars, of the Dreams, and of the Spirit (see The Soul page in Culture), Réalta is the daughter of Nádúr and Cheartas.
She was conceived when Cheartas was already deceased, during the Day of The Deads, an holiday known for two reasons: the great ammount of shooting stars, and the opening of the otherworld, Tir n'Aill. During that day, the souls of the deads can visit their family again, even if mortals can't see them. Cheartas met his wife Nádúr during that night, and a miracle happened: she got pregnant! But the little girl was born already dead, and now she watches over Cosmos's creation from the underworld. She is also the queen of the Beach, little bugs that create honey from our nightmares, and help us having a good sleep. A common praise is "May Réalta watch over your sleep" to wish someone to have a good and nightmareless night, or "sweet dreams" hoping that beacha will turn nightmares into honey. She has a joyful and curious personality, and she would love to walk around Eriu like her brothers. |
RÚN
God of the Unknown, of Fate and the scribe of names (see The Soul page in Culture).
Rún’s origin are a mistery. Nobody know where they came from, if the Demiurges created them, or if it was, like Anam, once a mortal who was deified. Yet, they exist. God of the unknown, of misteries, they know what others don’t, but according to Eriu’s culture some things are bound to remain a secret, like how someone is going to die, because it would affect people’s life. For this reason, Rún is not exactly workshipped: people believe in them, but they won’t call out their name. According to the myth, Rún knows the “true name” of everything and everyone, and for this reason they are also called “The Scribe”. While Eriu inhabitants don’t believe in things like “written destiny”, they do believe that there are some “connections”. The god sees all the destinies intertwined in a cosmic web, but they don’t interfere, they simply watch. Or, maybe, they might have meddled in mortal affairs once or twice, but people won’t ever know, so it’s like if they never did anything at all. |
ANAM
God of the Deads and of the Body (see The Soul page in Culture), Réalta’s husband, and father of Sláinte.
Unlike other gods, Anam was once a mortal, specifically the son of the one who became the Avatar of Chaos, but he rejected his role, and fought to stop his father, and so Chaos. He became a god thanks to Chronos, who gave him the power to stop the Avatar, and save Eriu from being destroyed. He is a psychopomp, he gathers the lost souls who wander on Eriu, and to guide them to the otherworld, Tir n'Aill. It’s important to underline that he is not a Death personification, but rather a guardian of the souls. After his deification, it became a tradition to put food next to freshly dead people, to thank him for his services. Against any expectation, he is very extroverted and has a friendly and cheerful personality, and he is also very sweet and empathic. He, like Grian, loves food, but is vegetarian. |
SLÁINTE
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THE NAME
Eriu language is not considered a simple for of comunication; in Eriu people believe in the likeness between names and things, so their language is believed to be holy, because it gives lives to them. They believe that until your name is still spoken, you are not really dead, and that your spirt can still pass through the Horizon and visit the livings. Writing or speaking the name of someone who is dead, can make them "live again". For this reason, the Damnatio Memoriae is considerd a terrible punishment. |
THE BODY
The body is the physical part of a morta, and inside of it there all the other parts of the being during its lifetime. Different cultures have developed different views about the conservation of the body after the death: some believes that the body must be conserved, even a little part of it, so that the spirit can still visit it; others believe that a dead body doesn't have anything left to do with the person it used to be, so they get rid of it (mostly by feeding it to animals), so it can be part of the cycle of the nature. |
THE SHADOW
The lights brings life, and the greatest source of life is the Sun, and everything touched by the sun casts a shadow. For this reason, the Shadow is considered the manifestation of the body, its life force and the totality of the passions of an individual. This is why undeads in Eriu don't cast them: because they have no life force left, they are not really alive. |
THE GENIUS
This is the part of the livings ascribable to their personality, their individuality. It is able to maintain the memories and the feelings during life. It is also associated with the expression of the self, especially through art, so it is considered to be the "creative" part of an individual, their "immagination". |
THE SPIRIT
It's the divine principle that lives inside every living being, the personification of both vital and pshychic forces in an individual, basically what remains after death. It's the part of the individual that flies to the "other land" Tir N'aill, and that can come back to Eriu only during the Day of the Deads. During the Post-dynasitc period, the spirits weren't able to reach the horizon anymore, so Anam became their guide. |