Cthonic vs. Chaotic Gods

[Nerdnumber1]

[/necro]

Speaking of Cthonic and Chaotic gods. How is such worship treated? I understand that the Cthonic Gods are far from popular, but are they publically worshiped/respected for purposes of avoiding their wrath (or at least is such worship socially acceptable).

For example, do sailors makes sacrifices to Lammala, the Sea Mother, to quell her fury before a voyage, or is it considered wiser to avoid drawing her attention/rousing her?

[DrPete]

@archon

Great question. In the Auran Empire, some of the Chthonic gods are inhuman horrors, the stuff of nightmares, but they can also take on a more human visage.
Here is the Chthonic pantheon:
Iskara – The Demon Queen, goddess of chaos, evil, darkness, and destruction.
Dirgion – The Doom Lord, god of hellfire, doom, and destruction.
Kaleth – The Blasphemer, god of profanity, obscenity, and madness.
Bel – The Slaughterprince, god of anger, violence, and killing.
Galmorm – The Poisoner, god of lies, treachery, and subterfuge.
Nasga – The Serpent, goddess of seduction, adultery, and decadence.
Raviled – The Bitter Prince, god of despair, woe, and regret.
Nargund – The Dusk Wolf, god of predators, hunting, and night.
Ornaron – The Godfather of Storms, brother of Rapanor, one of the gods of storms.
Rapanor – The Thundermaker, brother of Ornaon, one of the gods of storms.
Lammala – The Sea Mother, goddess of the murky depths and tidal waves.
Telith – The Great Earth Elemental, goddess of earthquakes and volcanoes.
Of these, Kaleth, Lammala, and Telith usually take the form of alien horrors, while Dirgion, Galmorm, Raviled and Nasga are most frequently anthropomorphic. Iskara usuallly appears as a dragon, Bel as a four-armed demon, Nargund as a giant wolf.
The word chthonic is actually a Greek word that refers to “gods beneath the earth” or “gods of the underworld.” The chthonic gods were worshipped at night, underground, and received ritual sacrifices (usually animals) burned or buried alive. Jungian psychologists align the chthonic gods as representing the unconscious spirit within, the Id - including envy, lust, sensuality, deceit, etc.
From this Greek derivative, I conceived of the Chthonic gods as being an ancient pantheon that is associated with darkness, the underworld, the earth, and with all of the irrational passions of man. These contrast with the Empyrean deities, associated with the air, the sky, the stars, the light of reason.
The word “chthonic” is pleasantly close to sounding “Chaotic” and “Cthulhu” so its admirably suited for a variety of uses, depending on your needs, of course.

Lies, all lies, spread by revisionist clerics of Ammonar!

Lammala and Telith are the Goddesses of the earth and the sea. Yes, when angry, they can cause destruction, but they are the mothers of all life, along with Ammonar, the all-father. They are worthy of reverence and appeasement.

Iskara is the dark twin of Ammonar, the personification of the very fabric of reality, the swirling mass of raw matter which was formed by order to create our universe. Despite the propaganda, we know that matter can be shaped into many more forms than those useful to man and civilization, and there is power in having a relationship with this raw perennial. As Ammonar’s first wife, she is also the spurned woman, and bears the fruits of his later work much ill will, though she will heed the cries of such women.

Dirgion is the Lord of the Underworld, and is still worshipped in many places by those seeking a comfortable afterlife for a loved one. Those who do not appear him in life, and are neglected after their death can expect to burn in the he’ll fires, as you know, for their sins. He is also three keeper of the gate between the living and the dead. Most of his worshipers appeal to him to keep it closed, though some seek the key to open it… For various reasons. Calefa is viewed by those of the old faiths as an interloper, but she won a portion of the underworld in a game of chance with Dirgion, and those who enter her domain are treated well there, with their status determined by the quality of their burial, and their descendants maintenance of their tombs, rather than by their sins. The other gate of hell is watched over by Raviled, and those who cannot find comfort from their loss feed him. It is just a different, older and more honest, mourning tradition.

Nasga, Bel and Ianna, of course, are the passion triplets, and represent the power of or animal instincts, whether anger or lust, though Ianna turned her energies toward more useful ends, finding and protecting a mate, rather than pure carnality and destruction. Her disciplined energy has served her well, though many find power in the rush of violence or sex.

Galmorm and Istreus are actually the same god, in different aspects. The god of secrets, and of the moon. In the full phase, under the influence of the sun, he seeks out knowledge. In the new phase, under the influence of the darkness, he hides the truth, and conceals it. He is usually worshipped on only one of these roles at a time, but they are two sides of the same coin.

Ornarun, Rapanor and Naurivus is another triplet, representing another set of brothers in which one has sided with man and the others have not. Mankind and its civilization has many myths of conflict of brother against brother.