THE BALGA: A COLLECTION FEATURING STORIES, TALES AND DESCRIPTIONS SPEAKING OF BALIAN RELIGION, IDEALS, CUSTOMS, AND MISC. TALES, FROM THE EYES OF A BLESSED

AUTHOR- Alexian Wivier

The Beginning

Balia is known for it's intricate history and legends, and have been heavily influenced and changed by the events of time. I, blessed by Tioq, have had the advantage of learning many old bits of information during the meetings with the god I serve. All information in this book has come from him, and any to object me are objecting the gods. This book is only for the art of teaching and the need for a recorded source. In a broad sense, the Balian religion and ideals are heavily orientated around balance, and the key need for their gods to be calm and rational. They believe that because the gods are of a higher power, and are tasked with keeping the world in line, they should be mature enough to handle it, and thus none of the gods are really “evil”. To them, the few “evil” gods only exist to counteract the few “good” gods. In relation to this, they also do not believe any god could be “good”, as all gods do what is required of them, regardless of their morals. Often the religion goes so deep, even the wisest of priest can’t explain the original thoughts of the founders, or even identify who the founder was. Tioq tells me Venis was the founder, for he was a god during his rule, but it’s still regarded as controversial.

The Balian gods are, much like many governments, ranked and sorted. You can tell how powerful a Balian god by the amount of letters in their name; the less letters, the more powerful. However, there is no god with less than 2 letters, because the Balian’s believe one cannot stand without another, so one letter cannot stand without another, and any name that is one letter is unstable, and unlucky. Because of this, even the gods do not have a central leader; they are ruled by two. Major gods also get minor god assistants. The assistants are often connected to them due to related subjects that they deal in, but in the case of Pelil, can be assistants to those they are related to by birth.

The Gods and Goddesses (Sorted in order of rank)

Su- (Sue) Androgynous God of Creation, Co-Ruler over all gods. The people of Balian worship them the most. His assistants are Migra, Wivre, and Tilomigua.

Lo- (Low) Androgynous God of Destruction and Emptiness, Co-Ruler over all gods. Isn't worshiped as much as Su, but highly regarded by Astrologists. Assistants are Aniqe and Ituelle.

Viv-(Viv) Goddess of the Sun and Fire. Her lover is Lum, and her son is Pelil. Often, she sends love notes to Lum through Pelil. Viv and Lum only see each other during the Solar Eclipse (see celebrations) Assistant is Pelil.

Lum-(Lum) Goddess of the Moon and Water. Is often described to have long arms and hands that aren't connected to her body. assistant is Pelil, causing the moon to be seen as romantic. Assistant is Pelil.

Rae-(Ray) God of Healing and Wind. Known to be very hyper and aloof. Is worshiped by healers and sailors.

Kao-(Kow) God of death. Very serious, hates that demons are seen as evil. His assistants are Aniqe, Nolel, and Yimatulan.

Marq-(Mark) Goddess of magic. Very sensible, but is often very anxious and can blow up at the slightest things. Her one and only assistant is Ilody.

Faye-(Fay) Goddess of Earth and Fertility. Very calm, kind but unforgiving, harsh, and in her anger at the human stupidity, she created many beasts that could take them down, hoping to destroy their ego. Her assistants are Wivre, Rokim, and Tilomigua.

Lira-(Lira) Goddess of Agony and Torture. She rarely speaks to the other gods, except for Su and Lo, and her power is often found in certain areas of the world. When she gets bored, she curses a random person to spice up that century. Doesn't visit her cursed kids out of laziness.

Form-(Form) God of Courage and Self-sacrifice. Often portrayed as the only god that gets hurt in wars, because he steps out to take the hit so often. Seen as a very cheerful, optimistic young man that often has bouts of pessimistic feelings.

Tioq-(Tea Ahk) Androgynous god of Knowledge and truth. One of the only androgynous gods. Very wise, never tells a lie. Easily angered by other's ignorance and stupidity. Very close to Venis. One of the three gods that were originally human.

L'aca-(Laca) God of Oppression and deceit. Rarely interacts with the other gods. Personality is unknown. Doesn't visit her blessed kids for unknown reasons.

Jasis-(Jay sis) Goddess of law. A very popular goddess to worship by high priestesses. One of the three gods that were originally human.

Venis-(Venis) God of Rulers and Guardians. The original king of Balia. Often portrayed to be much like King Alden. One of the three gods that were originally human. After Venis steps down as King to go rule in the Heavenly plane, he blesses the person he wishes to be the next heir. This kept the kingdom running fairly smoothly, as no devious person was able to get the crown.

Wivre-(Wiv) God of Nature. Laid back, but can be just like Faye.

Pelil-(Pelil) God of Love and Beauty. Borne from Viv and Lum. Is very conscious of his good looks, but very loving and doting, not often taking advantage of his lover like other examples of love gods and has a surprisingly good temper and handle on his jealousy.

Aloqe-(Ah lock) God of Storms. Very temperamental, and doesn't like tall things. Doesn't visit his blessed very often because he's so busy with his war on tall things.

Aniqe-(An eek) God of War. Frequently wanders battlefields in search of entertainment.

Nolel-(Nole) Goddess of Poison and Disease. Very snarky, very lazy. Once she accidentally leaned her hand too close to the earth and touched a few of Wivre's plants. It made them either poisonous or wrecked by disease, and Wivre is still a bit angry about it. Doesn't visit her blessed kids out of laziness.

Migra-(Migra) God of Protection. Often portrayed as strong and buff.

Ilody- (ill odee) Goddess of Illusion. Suspicious of everything, but can see through any lie or manipulation. East to frighten.

Rokim- (row Kim) Androgynous god of Color, Art, and Music. Very cheerful, very peppy, sings quite often. Blesses a lot of bards for fun.

Ituelle- (It oo Elle) Goddess of winter. When you hear angry screaming, it's probably her. Refuses to visit her blessed children because she doesn't like them. She's very contradictory.

Yimatulan-(yim ah too lahn) God of Blood. Surprisingly calm guy, although the people he bless often get curses. He never really means to curse them, and doesn't visit them because of shame.

Tilomigua-(Till oh mig you ah) God of Beasts. Mute. Acts very calm, but is easily distracted and quick to act without thinking.

Creation-

Su and Lo have always existed. At some point in the far, far past, they decided to plan out a world to take care of, to pass the empty time they had to spend. To put it simply, they were bored. So Su created the Earth, a planet covered in shallow water and large masses of rough ground below. They kissed the Earth twice; the first kiss brought Faye out of the shallow waters, and watched proudly as she raised up land and pushed away the rough seas. The second kiss was on top of an island, which would eventually become the island Balia rests upon. Lo congratulated their friend and got to work with crafting the stars and the emptiness around them. They also kissed the Earth twice; from the first kiss, grew Rae, to keep the air above the Earth from getting stale. The second kiss was on top of the same island as Su did. The island was then called Sulo, after the gods who blessed it with their kisses.

Su saw how the land was bare and dark, and the sea quickly freezing, so they created Viv to bring heat and light to the world they had begun to adore. Afterwards, they raised Wivre out of the ground and instructed him to create a world filled with light. Lo quickly saw that the Earth was too hot, too bright, and was burning all the life Wivre struggled to create. So, they created Lum to cool the Earth to a reasonable temperature and bring darkness for a period of time to give the life living upon it a break from the rays, and lastly, to control the raging seas. However, Viv and Lum quickly fell in love at first sight, and were greatly pained to find they would be separated for long periods of time. (Later explained below, under SEASONS)

Su created 4 last things before stopping for a while to rest; Humans, to rule the Earth and fill it with intelligence (which many failed to do, but Su came to love them too much for their quirks that they never really bothered to fix it. They find the human tendency to lie when nervous to be fairly cute.) They created animals, to fill the Earth with lovely sounds and activity, and created Tilomigua to take care of them. Lastly, they created Marq to rule over the unstable thing named magic, and do what she pleased with it.

Lo created 5 things before stopping a while to rest; The Seelie and UnSeelie courts, to rule the bountiful forests that Wivre had created, and to use the magic Marq stabilized. They created Aloqe, to work with Rae to bring falling water and billowy shade to the land. They created Ituelle out of the rainwater, to control the vivid cold created when Lum was at her saddest point. Lastly, they created Kao, to control the deaths of the living and to take them to the afterlife,

After the series of creations, Lo and Su retreated into their heavenly realm to rest and watch over their people.

Creation of other Creatures-

Elves- Created by Wivre: much like the Seelie Court, except more kind and less judgmental.

Merfolk- Created by Lum, to rule the see she loved dearly.

Zir- Created by Rae, to become powerful clerics. Are humanoid creatures that have a set of lungs and gills.

Driavek- Created by Viv, because everyone was creating creatures and she felt left out. A scaled, winged creature that stands with a humanoid posture. Can speak the common language, and is often found in packs.

Faerie creatures (Brownies, Nagas, Pixies, orcs, land/sea nymphs, dryads, etc)- part of Seelie and/or UnSeelie court

Demons- Created by Kao to help him with the Afterlife. Not usually as evil as they are seen by the other creatures. They merely have different laws and restrictions compared to humans. Also, they like the taste of human.

Kisaniet- A foolish King killed his family and supporters for power, and Kao was given the role of punishing him. Kao turned the king into the first Kisaniet, and all of the King's innocent descendants were cursed with the look. They're very meek creatures, but are often shaped to be cruel after harsh treatment. They have some type of horn or horns on their head, and often have strangely colored skin.

The First Leader

At first the world and its inhabitants were in chaos. A man rose up, Venis, to rule over them, and his companion Jasis created the idea of law that Venis would use to take control. Tioq, his androgynous friend, helped Venis inscribe the history of the people Venis would rule over. All creatures refused to follow them, until Su and Lo got fed up with their resistance and turned Venis, Tioq, and Jasis into gods. The Seelie and UnSeelie courts despised the new foundation of order, and tried to rebel, but before they could use their trickery and illusion, Tioq cursed them with required truth. They believed that the truth would keep the courts from tricking the other creatures around them, but it only made them craftier. From their trickery, Lira and L'aca was born.

Whilst Venis was still ruling, the Driavek wanted to declare independence apart from his rule. The war that commenced was later named the War of Creation for from its bloodshed, sprung many of the minor gods. At the moment of the first clash, sword against sword, Aniqe sprung from the hilt. The first drop of blood that fell to the ground caused Yimatulan to leap out of the droplets. As the Driavek Tivren defended his comrade Siliran from an arrow, Migra sprung from the stab wound. As Siliran fell, Nolel emerged- the arrow had been poisoned. Venis truly believed he would succeed against the Driavek, and many agreed, but his belief was an illusion. Seconds before the Driavek emerged from their faked chaos, (a simple trick to give Venis false security) Ilody was born, and with her birth came the win for the Driavek. Still high on the rush of adrenaline, they celebrated there on the battlefield, and from this passion came Rokim.

The Seasons, The First Eclipse

Viv and Lum must travel the sky during their respective times, to bring light and darkness to the creatures of the Earth. Sadly, the second before they began their work, they saw each other, and instantly fell in love. They always miss each other dearly, so often that Lum can often be seen as a shadow in the sky, watching over Viv as Lum rests, and Viv's weak light after working for so long can be seen as the scattered stars, watching Lum shine. Summer is when Viv misses Lum the most, as she has less time to watch Lum perform, and she heats up in despair so much she swelters the Earth. Winter is when Lum misses Viv the most, as Viv has less time to perform, so she freezes in tears, forcing Ituelle to control the withering cold she creates. During the spring and fall, they both have the same amount of time in the sky, and so they counter each other out.

There are only 3 instances in they are able to meet; In the Celestial plane, when they visit the children they blessed, when Su takes place as the sun and moon for a day (the times when the moon is red and/or when sun is orange instead of a bright yellow *not including the orange color of the sunset and sunrise*) and during an Eclipse. All must look away from an eclipse unless they have specialized eye-wear, or go blind from their wild burst of love and passion. During the week of the eclipse there is a festival, where they use a special tax supply *created just for this event* is used so none in the main city *and often in the other cities and villages* have to do anything they do not wish to do, in honor of the eternal sacrifice Lum and Viv make, doing something they must instead of giving up and joining together forever. Doing your job is frowned upon, but its alright if you want to continue, and cooks are often highly valued during the event. There's a common tradition of wearing face paint as the royals disguise themselves as commoners and join in on the fun. On the day of the eclipse, there is a countdown, similar to New Years. During the first known Eclipse, their love was so strong that in that moment, they gave birth to Pelil. 

Holidays-

The First Eclipse- mid-summer

Birth of the Earth- early winter