There are many religions in Ishara, the most common being Pantheonism--the worship of one or more of the goddesses in the pantheon of Duamutef. There are other religions with a great number of adherents, however. In particular, Pantheonism and other organized religions are less common among Fae and Monsters, who aren't as enthusiastic about temple worship.

Often, a group or individual's religion has more to do with their culture and their own sense of self than the spiritual truths of the universe. While the world is a complex thing filled with wonders and magic, that is not what draws people to religions--it is the need for a symbol. Something simple yet powerful that the person can use as a foundation for their life.

As such, religions in Ishara--even those based on real goddesses--focus more on ideals than on facts. They are the compass people use when they don't know what else to do. However, some will start to use their religion as a crutch, basing practically every decision on it. This is actually equally likely to happen to a person regardless of whether they are a priestess or any other birth class. In fact, in spite of the name, there are some priestesses who do not actively participate in any religion at all.

Some cultures combine religions, accepting the tenets of Totemism or Shotokan while simultaneously worshipping one or more Goddesses.

The religions held by the people of Ishara, like so many others, contain both truth and falsehood. While the Goddesses are very real, they are often not what their worshippers believe them to be and the Empiricist accusation that many manifestations of their "power" come from the priestess herself is also true. Likewise, the Totemist belief that there are spiritual energies behind everything and that these spirits can be contacted is partly true and partly false ('misleading' would be the best term).

Even religions that are totally, literally accurate in their basic beliefs--Celestians who believe planets and stars have spirits, for example--can have misconceptions about it. They can believe things about particular stars that really aren't true, or they can attribute great events to them when they were really just coincidence or the result of other forces entirely.

Even abstract, personalized religions like Shotokan find it hard to stay coherent. While their basic tenet of self-improvement is simple enough, no one seems to agree on what self-improvement really means or how it is achieved.

Religions can be personal or organized, depending on the culture. Many cultures hold elaborate ceremonies for their chosen goddesses every week, where others do little more than wear a religious icon around their neck and whisper a prayer when they are afraid.

Pantheonism

The most common religion overall, Pantheonism focuses on worship of the Goddess Pantheon. Most cultures do not worship the entire pantheon, but rather, they choose a few favorites who they feel the most in tune with. Both major and minor goddesses are worshipped, though ironically, the minor goddesses are often more popular than the major ones.

Goddesses are worshipped several ways: through prayers, temples and other dedications, and through actions, including codes of conduct. The things that will bring the favor of a goddess vary drastically from Goddess to Goddess, and cultures often worship the same Goddess in different ways. Demongut cults who worship Zaera, for example, show their dedication through orgiastic rituals in which they allow their fellow priestesses to swallow them, then wait until they are near death before regurgitating them. Bile Fane Demonesses, on the other hand, fill enormous vats with their own stomach acid, then trap as many prisoners as they can inside with an iron mesh. The mesh has a giant iron bar, driven by cranks and gears, that stirs the vat and it's victims together. They will often leave people in these vats for hours while they watch, screaming praises to Zaera and often touching themselves while they do so.

These are among the more extreme examples, however. Among girl clans, it is most typical to build a temple to a Goddess which is seen to by one or more priestesses. Those who wish to pay their respects to the Goddess will enter the temple and either pray, meditate on the ideals of the Goddess.

For many Goddesses, this is enough to entice them to watch over their followers. For others, however, a more active role is needed. It's a well-known fact that the best way to gain the favor of Trina is through acts of heroism, whereas one can gain favor with Ruble merely by being couth in the way one eats one's meals.

Totemism

Totemism is the belief that every creature, object, force, and element in the universe has it's own living essence--sometimes conscious, sometimes not. They see the existance of creatures such as elementals, ghosts and voodoos as proof of these beliefs (according to Totemist belief, an elemental is simply an essence that has gained consciousness). Totemists often invoke these essences in their magic, hoping to recieve the assistance of unseen entities on a more local level than the Goddesses. Because of their experience with spirits, Totemists are exceptionally skilled at dealing with ghosts, shades and other spirit creatures.

Totemism is most commonly found among Fae, but is found among Monster races as well. It is uncommon among other races, though the beliefs of Iris Angels and some girl clans bear certain similarities with totemism. While Angels in Brightwind do commonly speak to flowers and other plants, this is not proper Totemism because it is the result of the fact that Angels are naturally capable of communicating empathically, and plants in Brightwind have much stronger spirits than they do in other realms. (Angels do not necessarily believe that other, inanimate objects have spirits as well) It is virtually unheard of among Demons, who seem to think the only way to put a spirit into an object is to trap it there.

Celestialism (Solarism/Gaianism/Lunarism)

Celestialism is a religion similar to Totemism which focuses on the worship of stars and planets rather than local spirits. Celestians believe that each star and planet has it's own spirit and it's own capacity for magic--masters of Celestianism often claim to have communicated with them directly. The specific planets and stars worshipped varies according to where one is standing.

Regardless of the predominant religion of the world, there are always at least some Celestians on the world. The nature of these Celestians is typically determined by the "personality" of the stars and planets near to the world, as typically only planets and stars that are visible to the Celestian are worshipped.

Celestian worship of stars is typically called Solarism, worship of nearby planets is called Lunarism, and worship of the planet one is currently on is called Gaianism. Most Celestians primarily practice one of these three forms, often focusing on a single celestial body (a single moon or star) regardless of how many may be available.

Many people will pay homage to a celestial body when it favors their profession; a moon or planet said to favor alchemists will be prayed to by alchemists, for example, or they will carry out their duties within view of it's light. Worshipping one's own planet is a more complex affair and often requires pilgrimages to caerns and sacred sites; the rewards, insights and power offered by one's own planet are often correspondingly more powerful, however.

Shotokan

While most religions seek to explain the what and the where of the spiritual world, Shotokan is one of two different religions (along with Rumpibumpi) that seeks to explain it's purpose.

Shotokan is a belief in spiritual advancement. While Shotokan believers may or may not ascribe to the other religions, they see them as incidental and worshipping them as a matter of choice--the important thing is that you grow as a person in each life you live, because--while your body dies over and over--your spirit lives on, carrying with it the experiences of it's previous lives.

What separates this religion from the obvious, common knowledge of reincarnation (people keep their spirit bodies and remember parts of their previous lives each time they die) is the belief that there is something beyond even the spirit--something that persists even when the spirit body is destroyed. What this "something" is is a matter of great debate among Shotokan disciples; in fact, the concensus seems to be "no one knows." So instead of dwelling on the question, believers in Shotokan focus on improving themselves, whether through introspection, contemplation, training, spiritual journeys, or any of a thousand other means.

Rumpibumpi

In stark contrast to Shotokan, Rumpibumpi says that the purpose of life is simply life--that you exist so you can have fun existing. Rumpibumpi believers claim that pleasure, love and all the good things in life are the whole reason the universe was created. They don't worry themselves with trying to find any greater meaning than that.

Empiricism

Empiricism is, in essence, a firm reliance on reason and observation. Empiricists generally won't believe things simply because they're told; instead, they need to see evidence. Empiricists have a reputation for being skeptical about everything from the nature of magic to the very existance of the Goddesses themselves (one of the most controversial beliefs put forth by some Empiricists is that "Goddesses" don't exist and that their powers are simply the subconscious use of magic by those who believe in them).

Traditionally speaking, Empiricism does not mix well with other religions, and Empiricists strongly dislike being called a religion. They have taken to accepting it, however, as it does denote where they stand on spiritual issues.

This is not to say they don't want to believe in the supernatural--rather, they realize how easy it is to believe what you want to believe rather than what is true. Because of their challenging and studying of everything--particularly their own beliefs--Empiricists often have a greater understanding of the way the world really works than members of other religions. This helps make up for the lack of divine assistance they recieve (though good-hearted Empiricists often find themselves the unknowing benefactors of divine help more often than they would probably believe...)

• The Pantheon of Duamutef

Obviously, keeping the ecosystem of an entire reality in balance requires quite a bit of oversight. To aid in this, Duamutef has enlisted the aid of his pantheon, a group of beings who help in keeping everything in check and continually evolving the universe to make it more fun. These also give a sense of greater destiny to appropriately-inclined girls, who 'worship' the goddesses of the pantheon in exchange for powers. The goddesses work through these worshippers (Often called 'cultists' or 'priestesses', depending on the goddess, and depending on who you ask) to achieve their myriad goals. Nonetheless, the galaxy has had some time to refine it's designs, and being a goddess is, at best, a part-time job. (Even Duamutef spends most of his time goofing off...) The very nature of most of the universe tends to discourage imbalances and large-scale catastrophes, so the goddesses' jobs are largely confined to tweaks and self-amusement, along with the occaisional 'new feature'.
Each goddess has a particular duty, or duties, which they use their considerable powers to maintain. Few people outside of the pantheon actually know that they have duties, let alone what they are. Thus, most of the goddesses act under two different personas--the one they present to the world, and their actual persona which reflects their job, which is often an ironic twist in that their job is often the opposite of what you would expect it to be. Most of the goddesses are in actuality very mature and professional, but nonetheless they prefer to 'stay in character' and have a little fun with their jobs. The descriptions below contain both what these 'characters' tend to be and what their real job is.

Duamutef, "The Boss"

Duamutef is chiefly the designer of the universe. He engineered the energy forms, designed the spirit bodies, physical laws, biology, and the cycle of life and death, and commissioned each goddess to do their particular job. He is essentially the overseer of the entire operation, though ironically, he is the least well-known of any of the deities in the universe. (He is also the only deity who is male, though Isharans have no real concept of gender anyway, and he appears as a female when actually operating within it's boundaries.)
Most cultures that do acknowledge Duamutef refer to him as the great creator and generally accept that he's the top rung of the deific ladder but rarely do more than that. Since he doesn't maintain a deific 'persona,' he is rarely (if ever) worshipped. He doesn't hand out any powers (at least, none that can be traced back to him) and he tends not to meddle with stuff as visibly as the others. This isn't to say he doesn't meddle--indeed, his intervention tends to alter the very fabric of existance itself--it's just that nobody really knows it's him.
Duamutef designs the genetics, social structures, and abilities of most of the universe's creatures and determines the physics of magic and science. He designs much of the artifice and technology of the assorted girl factions before inspiring their people to build it via genetic memory, but that isn't to say that there haven't been times where a girl invented something on her own. (Duamutef just has a massively unfair advantage in that he's the only one who actually knows how the universe at it's core really works).
When the common folk do see Duamutef, it tends to be during times of personal crisis. He often appears to lend advice and perspective to those who genuinely need it. He designed the universe and thus understands what forces determine the lives of everyone in it, so his insight on "Life in general" is considerably beyond what most "mortals" could obtain. He never appears as himself; it is often as a friendly stranger, a simple member of the person's own species in whom they can confide.

In this same vein, there is one other duty Duamutef personally attends to, and that is being the overseer of the Shadow Angels. A broken soul is a very delicate situation, and one that requires great understanding and care. The decisions he makes do not always make sense to the goddesses; sometimes he will send a broken soul to Faneglut to be a slave, for example, rather than to Brightwind as many would assume. Though most Shadow Angels are literally angels, Duamutef has placed different Shadow Angel souls in just about every type of living thing that has existed in Ishara, including plants, and even a few nonliving things--rivers, mountains, or even the very stars themselves.

It is said among the goddesses that there is a creator even above Duamutef who empowered him to create Ishara, and that this deity is the one who taught him how to deal with Shadow Angels. Supposedly, he or she is also the one who places their souls in Duamutef's care in the first place. If such a deity exists, no living Isharan knows about them.

Ice, Duamutef's Secretary

Ice, or Iceberg as she is sometimes called, is simultaneously a buffer zone and a central organizing point between the other goddesses. She compiles reports of the overall situation of the universe from what the other goddesses tell her before giving them to Duamutef, and relays requests between the different goddesses. She attends to most of the administrative tasks of keeping the pantheon running as a whole.
Ice has a rather demented sense of humor, which occaisionally irks the others, but she never lets it get in the way of actually doing her job. Ice is essentially Duamutef's second in command (though the others refer to her as his 'secretary') and is in charge of the pantheon when he goes on his frequent jaunts into the mortal realm (See 'party month').
The smart worshippers actually pray to Ice when they want to talk to Duamutef--it's the 'entrance exam' of whether they actually know enough about how the universe works to merit actually talking to him. Practically no "Mortals" even know Ice exists, so most fail this exam. She has no goddess persona and operates exclusively with the pantheon's hidden side.

Lerania, Goddess of Digestion, Death and Rebirth

Lerania is one of the strongest of the Goddesses and one of the largest, and is in fact only slightly smaller than the Giantess Goddess herself. It is said that every creature that dies ends up in the churning belly of Lerania (Though this is only partially true--a more realistic figure would be 80%).

Lerania is so powerful an icon of the stomach that her body is actually the de-facto land of the dead for Duamutef's universe--it is as much a spiritual reprocessing plant as it is a digestive organ with boobs and a pretty face. The spiritual components of Lerania's digestive tract are vastly subtle and enigmatic--they are a mechanism by which souls are prepared for their next lives and finally deposited into a new living body, by complex means ill-understood even by Lerania herself. (It was designed by Duamutef, which means nobody else knows how the hell it works.)
The souls don't see it this way, however--they just see it as being shoved through a giant gastrointestinal tract. Despite this, it is said that Lerania's stomach is practically heaven--all pretenses of disgustingness, revulsion or other resistances to digestion are abandoned, leaving only the stimulation and intense pleasure of being churned in a hungry belly. Millions of souls--girls and monsters alike--are "digested" in Lerania's cavernous stomach every day, eventually being forced through her intestines on their way towards their eventual reincarnation into another body.
Lerania somehow maintains her sexy figure despite the tremendous load placed on her digestive tract (Often bodies are squeezed in from cieling to floor in her stomach), though she can rarely hide the loud , gastric groaning noises that perpetually emanate from her abdomen. She is a fairly affable goddess and very loving, though despite her tremendous meal schedule she is hungry alarmingly frequently. She encourages the swallowing and digestion of girls on planets, preferably by one another.

The 20% or so of 'Special Cases,' souls that do not end up inside Lerania, are dealt with in different ways--some end up in Duamutef's office (For numerous reasons), some have alternate or personal means of reincarnation, some become ghosts, and so forth.

Lerania's "Goddess Persona" is actually indicative of her real job--she is the administrator of reincarnation and the literal physical means of doing so. Her intestines guide new souls to their destinations. While to spirits it appears that they are being churned in a giant digestive tract, Lerania's numerous digestive organs are actually highly complex spiritual fabricators. Lerania's guts are the physical mechanism through which souls are linked with physical and spirit bodies and subsequently sent on to their new lives. Each of her phillae function like tiny portals, gradually linking the energy forms of a soul in her belly with the body that awaits it somewhere far away. Thus, once her intestine finally "absorbs" a spirit, it is whisked away to be reborn.
Duamutef considers this system to be one of his finest achievements, and Lerania takes quiet pride in knowing the souls of the entire population of the universe are churning away in her belly at one time or another. Her digestive tract is actually segmented and far larger than anyone suspects, due to the tremendous logistical loads placed on it by the number of souls it must process. It is literally larger than she is by several orders of magnitude, most of it existing in it's own small sub-realm that her body is linked to. Lerania is a very kind and loving person, and this is evident to most of the spirits that slither within her as they feel her presence around them.

Masalla, the Great Angel, Goddess of Good

The story of two of the most powerful goddesses in the pantheon of Duamutef are actually among the most unique. While anyone with enough strength and insight can eventually become a minor goddess all on their own, entrance into the pantheon of greater goddesses--those who work directly with Duamutef--is very difficult. Typically he chooses to appoint people to these positions according to his needs and their skills. This was not the case with two great goddesses--Masalla, the Goddess of Good, and Kamaruga, the Goddess of Evil.

Duamutef was never known for his sense of absolutes. He is, in fact, a moral relativist more than anything else; a pragmatist and a utilitarian who believes good is as good does. He holds little respect for moral absolutes like good and evil.

His people are not the same way, however. As the universe evolved, many people began to see the world, and the people in it, in simple binary terms. Angels were good, Demonesses were evil. Monsters were enemies because if you didn't kill them they'd eat you. Good people used light magic and evil people used dark magic. And so these simple sorts of associations began to propagate through the cultures of practically every world, because they resonated with people. They felt right.

Duamutef, though not surprised, was nonetheless frustrated. He didn't want to create Goddesses of Good and Evil because that would make the problem worse, yet it seemed many people were left aimless and empty without the simplicity of such an "ethos."

One such person was Masalla.

Born as a Summer Rose Angel in a peaceful part of Brightwind, Masalla led a happy life for many years. She had an exceptionally strong heart--it seemed that no matter how much love she poured into others, she yearned to share yet more. Other angels seemed to sense that there was something special about her--something bright, almost blindingly so, that seemed to transcend magic and even her angelic nature. Angels flocked to her and soon her small cherub hall became the center of a bustling city.

As it did, she came to hear tales of the other realms. She learned about Phaesili and the strange creatures who lived there. She learned of chaotic Beastspace and it's constant feeding, and of Prime with it's politics, industry and endless adventures. But what interested her most were the tales of Faneglut.

To Masalla, the thought of a realm without love stabbed at her. She couldn't understand why anyone would want to live without love--the only conclusion she could come to was that no one had ever showed them real love. So she resolved to show them herself.

It was a very bizarre sight to the denizens of Faneglut, seeing a tall Rose Angel offering her hand to passing demons on the street, but it did not last long. Masalla had heard tales of the "Evil" of demonesses, but she had never experienced anything like it, nor was she physically prepared to defend herself against it. The slavery she suffered for the next several years taught her all too much about the demonic way of life. Her Flesh Fane mistress used her as a trophy, offering her as a sex toy to every other demoness in the city. She would be bound, greased up, and tossed in a pit with several lustful succubi, or given to a foul-breathed Thaegon as a lollipop. Sometimes she would find her face buried in the crotch of two or three strangers in a single day, and her tongue became all but numb to the taste of demoness-nipple. Still, she tried to love them--she tried to use her angelic powers to touch their hearts even as they called her "angel whore" and "feathermeat."

Finally, one day, her demon mistress found her in her quarters, crying. She had never cried before--in fact, she had never even complained before, sometimes even faking a smile at the demonesses as they had their way with her. But now she was weeping, her pale frame shaking, looking weak and gaunt despite the fact that she had been well-fed.

Her mistress tried to resist, but the moment she saw this she felt a powerful wave of guilt and grief, whether by some trick of angelic power or the weight of her own conscience. Whatever it was, it almost overwhelmed the demoness.

"What's wrong?" She said.

"I can't love them anymore," Masalla simply replied. "I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?" her mistress asked.

"I tried to love them--really love them. But none of them loved me back. It just made them laugh." Masalla sobbed.

"So what if they laugh? They're demons. And they're not your mistress. I am."

Masalla simply looked back at her with tear-filled eyes. "Why do you make me do this? Don't you care about me?"

Her mistress was a bit taken aback. "Why would I care about you? I'm a demoness too, you know."

"Rose Angels can feel what other people feel," Masalla said. "Sometimes when I breathed my love into you, it felt like you were glad. But then you'd...you'd put me in a pit with a woman who wanted to swallow me up to my neck just so she could see the look on my face while my legs digested."

Her mistress felt strange...with a start she realized she had never felt so awful before. It was like she'd never even thought until now about what Masalla was feeling--and even more importantly, she'd never even thought about whether she cared.

"Is that why you're crying?" she said. "Because I let them hurt you?"

"No," Masalla said. "I knew when I came here that people would try to hurt me; that they'd humiliate me and use me. I'm crying because there's no love left in me. I always had so much love that I just wanted to share it, but no one else shared back. I can't feel love anymore. Now all I feel is their fingers, their legs, their tongues worming around inside me. My body feels pleasure but my soul can't feel anything anymore. Without love I can't be an Angel. I can't be anything. I can't give them anything. All I can be is another whore."

The demoness felt a lump rising in her throat. She realized she'd always liked her little pet angel in her own way--there was something charming about her innocence. And yes, she did have to admit, when she projected her love, it felt wonderful. But she'd never stopped to think that there might be a cost that wasn't being counted.

The awful feeling inside her got worse. As a demoness, she wasn't used to remorse, and wasn't even sure why she was feeling it--she was surprised she even could.

Then, as she looked into the tear-filled eyes of the angel in front of her, it hit her. She did love her. A creature so pure and strong that it would stay in a place like this only to let it's denizens know that someone was willing to love them was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen--and she had never even really seen it until now. Her demonic nature had kept her eyes closed, making her ignore the obvious truth. Now, not only did she not feel worthy to call herself mistress over this angel, she felt unworthy to even speak to her. Demons were supposed to be wicked, selfish, hedonistic...but somehow this went beyond that. She felt, for the first time in her life, like she had truly destroyed something precious.

Only her dignity as a demoness kept her from dropping to her knees and sobbing. She knew she could not keep the angel, nor could she ever possibly undo the damage she had done. As hard as she fought, a single tear did make it's way to her eye.

She clenching her jaw and tried desperately to hold back her feelings as she walked over and unchained the angel.

"Go," she said. "I'm sorry."

"I have nowhere to go," Masalla said.

"You can return home, to Brightwind. I know secret ways there."

"I don't belong there anymore," was all Masalla said.

This time, the wave of grief that followed did bring the demoness to her knees.

It took her some time to recover. "You don't belong here either," she finally said. "At least let me take you to Prime."

Masalla thought for a moment and nodded silently.

Her mistress led her to a hidden portal that led to a largely unspoiled world; it did not have a great amount of demon influence and was mostly a mild place to live. There they parted ways; the demoness too wracked with her newfound guilt to face her former slave any longer.

Masalla wandered this new world for what seemed to be an eternity, always feeling as though her very soul had left her.

She sought any sort of evidence that the faith she had once had in the love and benevolence of creation was real, but all she found was ambivalence and confusion. She often wished a monster would simply pounce and devour her, yet for some inexplicable reason they all seemed to avoid her.

Then, by pure happenstance, she came across someone who's heart was just as shattered as her own.

It was a young mage named Secilia Kaleta of the Darkswallow Clan. She had just returned from a particularly fierce battle with the Demongut clan--one which had left both sides decimated. What struck Masalla about this young mage was, like her demon master, the tears she saw. Darkswallows had a reputation as manipulators and cunning warriors, hard as steel and twice as sharp. To see one of their combat mages crying seemed almost paradoxical. A familiar feeling struck her, and in that moment she was taken back to that moment in her mistress' home when she had been crying herself.

And, for the first time in her long wanderings, she finally felt something. She was able to feel compassion for this woman.

"What is wrong?" she asked.

The Darkswallow suddenly hid her expression behind a mask of suspicion and indifference. She had apparently not noticed the angel before her until she had spoken. Yet, the powers of a Rose Angel are strong, and even Masalla's wrecked spirit had not stripped her of them completely. She could feel the source of this woman's anguish--everyone she cared about had been killed in the battle. Suddenly all of her pride in being a Darkswallow turned into a burning shame in her own foolishness and the futility of their whole way of life. This was how it all ended--with friends and lovers dead, and enemies who were doubtless about to come around to finish her off.

Secilia Kaleta had lost her faith. Faith in herself, faith in her clan, faith in the very order of things. Just as Masalla herself had.

In all her wanderings she had never found another person who was experiencing the same pain. She knew she could not let it happen to another person. She had to find a way to stop it. She had to give this poor girl something to believe in.

"Take heart, my child," she said. "Not everyone who cares about you is gone."

"I'm afraid they are, Angel," the Darkswallow replied. "You may want to care about me, but you don't even know who I am."

Masalla's jaw firmed. She now realized something about what had happened that night in her mistresses chambers. It was not that she had run out of love--it was that she had ceased to believe that it mattered. And if love didn't matter, nothing mattered.

She realized then that she had been right to go to Faneglut, and would be right to go anywhere and everywhere to share her love. Love did matter, more than ever before.

She knelt weeping before Secilia and placed her hand on her cheek. "It doesn't matter who you are. I will love everyone."

In that moment, she became her own symbol of love. She knew that even if the whole universe turned against her, she could still choose to give love back to it, and what's more, she needed to. If the universe would give her no more love, she would make her own.

This realization was so powerful that it came to the attention of Duamutef himself. He had already been watching her, debating whether he would need to turn her into a shadow angel, but now she had become something greater than any angel through her own insights alone.

She had already decided she would bring light and love to the entire universe...all Duamutef had to do was give her the power to do it.

Which, of course, he did.

Masalla is the icon of good and the patron of all who are kind, generous and loving. She is the protector of the innocent and healer of the broken. She is a popular goddess among healers and is all but ubiquitous among Angels. But perhaps most importantly, she is the healer and protector of all those who have lost their faith, giving them the strength of heart to rebuild their lives.

Kamaruga, the Omnidemon, Goddess of Evil

Kamaruga is said to be not only a person of great cunning, but also a force of nature. She is said to be everywhere, lurking in the heart of every girl, demon, fae, monster, and--some say--even Angel. There are those who say Faneglut is literally her body, it's many layers and stone canyons simply bones left over from her eternal growth into some unknown abyss. The deeper levels of Faneglut would almost seem to support this theory, riddled as they are with strange, organic forms and hidden maws that shuttle the unwary into hidden digestive organs buried deep beneath Faneglut's dusty streets.

She personally holds court in the deepest, darkest parts of Faneglut, where even most Demons fear to tread. In this place she appears humanoid, but only when she is pleased. Tales speak of her palms erupting into great, sucking maws and of terrible, multi-fanged jaws erupting from her breasts to engulf someone who has displeased her. These fearsome manifestations of her power look all too much like the unique groundmaws and plantlike beasts that fill every corner of this part of Faneglut, leading many to believe that her true form lies beneath it, devouring her fellow demonesses for her sustenance. Only the richest and most powerful of demonesses build their cities here--those who can afford to constantly replace their slaves. Despite these horrors, Kamaruga is said to be stunningly beautiful, another reason she is considered to be among the greatest of devils.

Kamaruga is the patron of people of great ambition; those who place their goals above all else, whether those goals be pleasure or power. She is the Goddess of selfishness, darkness, and slavery. She believes that those who are weak are destined to be slaves, while those who are strong can overthrow their slavers. By the same token, she believes those who are strong inspire loyalty; those who are weaker than their subordinates invite betrayal. She believes that all creatures act according to their wants; the only difference between the cruellest demon and the kindest angel is what they want. A demoness is cruel only because it brings her pleasure. An angel is kind only because it brings her love.

Kamaruga lives by this philosophy in all ways. She loves power and pleasure, which she revels in every day. She will devour anyone who wants to take it from her. Ironically, while she loves the power she has, she shares it generously with those who show true skill or loyalty, as both are very useful. Many demonesses vie for her favor despite the risks; while those who fail or offend quickly find their way into her grinding depths, while those who bring victory and pleasure to this demon of demons are rewarded with wealth, power, and sometimes even loyalty in return. The oldest and most trusted of Kamaruga's vassals seem truly loyal to her, and she seems almost protective of them; Angels sometimes whisper in hushed tones that even this she-beast, the ultimate icon of evil, loves her closest friends. Other Angels find the suggestion rather offensive, or at least naive.

Kamaruga is the "Chief" demoness of Faneglut and is considered to be at the top of the demonic pantheon. Most demonesses at least pay her lip service, but many--especially those in the upper levels or those living in other realms--consider her too "distant" to be worth bothering with.

Kamaruga's true duties are rather complex, as befitting her role as one of the most important greater goddesses. In truth, one of her main jobs is simply to serve as a symbol--an icon of evil that people can unite against (or under). For the wise--those who take the time to actually learn about her--she can serve as an object lesson that no one is really completely evil nor completely good. For example, it was Kamaruga who first created the tradition of having a code of honor among Demon Fanes, and it seems only she understands why many of it's tenets truly exist. Some of them are well explained: For example, the reason a demoness must swallow any slave who asks is because anyone who is brave enough to face death is too strong to be a slave (and, obviously, is truly miserable). Others, such as the fact that Night Fane demonesses must never betray a true friend, remain a mystery even to their practitioners. While the fickle, day to day whims of this goddess are generally unknown to the populace at large, one thing all demonesses do understand is that the quickest way to earn her disfavor is to break your Fane's code of honor. And the disfavor of the Goddess of Evil is not something you want to earn.

Like Masalla, Kamaruga came to her position out of a set of circumstances that befell a mortal, albeit a far more complicated set of circumstances. Kamaruga was an extremely ambitious demoness, but she shunned the traditional roads to power because the stiff competition involved did not offer the kind of odds she favored. Instead, she attempted to leverage new kinds of power. Tales that Faneglut is literally her body are not entirely untrue; many parts of it have been linked to her in both physical and magical ways. She linked herself to a myriad web of lifeforms, and everything they ate she got a piece of. She started with carnivorous plants, then as she gained in power, she linked herself to the lesser beasts of Faneglut, then the greater beasts, then the network of dark crystals that permeates all of Faneglut itself. This is how she advanced in power so quickly, and before long she was among the most powerful demonesses in Faneglut.

Ironically, this is when her philosophy of pure selfishness began to wane. From her lofty position she was able to see far more of demonic politics and interaction than practically any other demoness. She realized that, while efficient in some ways, selfishness without any form of restraint or social order was inefficient at best and dangerous to all involved at worst. By this time she was powerful enough to have discovered the existance of Duamutef on her own, and--ever being the pragmatist--Kamaruga struck a deal with him. She would become the greater goddess of evil, the Omnidemon, in exchange for shifting demonic culture in certain favorable directions. Interestingly, they often come to similar conclusions as to which directions are best before they even speak to one another, and Kamaruga needs little help from Duamutef in performing her duties.

Irael, the Goddess of Magic

Irael is a Goddess that many of the others fear. Magic is one of the fundamental powers in the universe and her mastery of it transcends that of all others, excepting perhaps Duamutef himself. Irael is a neutral Goddess, favoring neither good nor evil, and she attracts worshippers from many different cultures.

Zaera, Goddess of Acid

One of the most ruthless of the goddesses, Zaera is a powerful force in the pantheon and allows none to mess with her. Those who displease her find their enzymes running like water and almost inevitably find their way into their enemy's stomachs which have become firey beyond belief.
She has long black hair and clipped features, with steely-grey eyes and a deceptively moderate build. She wears a black vynil tanksuit that does little to cover her body.
As a member of the pantheon, she has many powers, not the least of which is the ability to eat things of nearly any size, and her powers as the goddess of acid allow her to digest nearly anything, from a walnut to a block of steel.
She is a cruel woman, enjoying her power over others and generally prolonging their torment as long as possible. To her, however, the only torment that is ever satisfying is to digest her victims alive. The actual level of suffering that her victims actually endure is questionable at best, what with the well-known "Pain equals pleasure, pleasure equals MORE pleasure" phenomena exhibited almost universally by creatures in Duamutef's world, but Zaera seems to ignore this and uses to her advantage the fact that many girls who are being digested don't *realize* how much they actually like it.
Several societies of Girls actually worship Zaera. Cultists are granted powers and spells by Zaera, and she finds watching their victims dissolve in her worshipper's bellies to be reward enough. Zaera worshippers tend to have stronger stomach acid than most, and also tend to be short-tempered and dominatrix-y.
Her actual job in the pantheon is to ensure that the digestive cycle is always maintained--specifically, she is to ensure that nothing can ever truly protect against digestion. This often requires tweaks from Duamutef, but he requires Zaera to bring problems to his attention. (This is made easy for her by the fact that she's the one the mortals come to when they're having trouble digesting something.)

Jitiiess, Goddess of Giantesses

Jitiiess is the goddess of all things abnormally large, and is physically the largest of the gods. She occaisionally preys on the others, and even makes excursions to the different planets at times--particularly during times of overpopulation. Such overpopulation will never last, as Jitiiess has been known to swallow thousands of unfortunate girls in a single feeding, often consuming entire cities--in many cases literally. In such times the entire city itself ends up in her stomach, leaving it's occupants with a few nightmarish hours fumbling in near total darkness, with corroded buildings, cars and screaming people sticking out of the roiling ocean of merciless stomach acid.
Jitiiess worshippers are fairly rare as most girls find it rather innappropriate to worship a giantess goddess (Seeing as how the most common habit of giantesses is to eat girls like them) but there are exceptions.
Jitiiess' job is to prevent giantesses and other size-mongers from overwhelming other planets. With the appetite and digestive capacity of giantesses, an overpopulation of them could de-populate the rest of the universe quite quickly. Though the occaisional giantess-rampage is often encouraged, she is charged with making sure giantesses remain in their place.

Yttme, Goddess of Victims

A relatively small and meek goddess, Yttme represents the collective lot of the girls in Ishara--they serve as food. Yttme is truly immortal; every time she is 'killed', she quickly reforms, seemingly good as new.
The other goddesses use this to their demented advantage and thus she has become somewhat of a mascot and a plaything. Yttme is, in fact, devoured by the other goddesses on as much as a daily basis, much to her chagrin. She does her best to escape, as all Girls do, but almost inevitably she ends up churning in the depths of Zaera or Lerania's guts until her body is no more. There are a few times, however, when she has gotten the best of her hunters; Zaera remembers with no small amount of humiliation the time she herself was forced to find out what it was like inside Yttme's own digestive tract.
Yttme's job is to ensure that it never gets too easy for prey to escape from it's predator's stomach. The innate defenses that prevent creatures from cutting their way out of stomachs or teleporting out are under her perview.

Pervertia

Pervertia is the counterpart to Yttme--like Yttme, she is a goddess of victims, but unlike the somewhat emotionally frayed Yttme, Pervertia enjoys being swallowed to the point that she seeks it out whenever possible and tends to extend her "Party Month" (See below) far beyond what is technically neccessary.
Most of the other Goddesses have a somewhat ambiguous relationship with Pervertia. Though definately a gorgeous and delectible morsel, some of them are unnerved by the fact that she will sometimes go so far as to ASK to be swallowed by one of them. This particularly seems to annoy Zaera.
Pervertia worshippers are exceedingly rare, exceedingly happy, and exceedingly short-lived. Most priestesses don't even know who she is and those who do often consider her a complete freak of nature. Those who do worship her tend to die very quickly as they go off and jump down something's throat, ending rather obviously in the thorough digestion of the exceedingly happy Pervertia cultist.
Pervertia's job is actually quite the opposite of her persona--she is charged with making sure that the idea of being swallowed always sounds perverse and disgusting, so newborns won't end up seeking it out too quickly. Many in the Pantheon consider the Cult of Pervertia to be a clever object lesson as far as this goes--they demonstrate that enjoying the idea of being swallowed is just going to get you killed right quick and that alone discourages others from seeking the same idea.

Ruble, Goddess of Merciful Devouring

Ruble is a slightly kinder, gentler goddess than the rest, but nonetheless will eat you whether you like it or not. She tries to make sure her victims are comfortable, however, and does not allow her stomach to squeeze them so hard that they cannot breathe. She will even play with her victims at times, making sure they feel loved, wanted, or even 'carnally satisfied', before she swallows them whole. Her stomach acids, while strong, are not as painful as most, and she will sometimes even sing her victims to sleep as they are digested.
Ruble's job is to discourage true hatred. Though rivalry and 'war' are often fun in the universe, she ensures that it never ends up in true hard feelings between spirits by keeping it as lighthearted as possible. She is, in essence, the counselor of the spirits of the universe. She does an astoundingly good job, and has easy access to Duamutef's ear, as if there's one thing Duamutef hates, it's hard feelings.

Ruble is commonly worshipped among angels who travel to Prime or other realms, as they often find themselves in need of a living meal and want to minimize their suffering as much as possible.

Trina, Goddess of Warriors and Heroes

Trina is essentially a combat goddess--she represents all the battles between the girls of Ishara and it's numerous monsters. She is not as warlike as her name would suggest--rather, she prefers to support single warriors rather than armies. She is the one who inspires girls to great acts of bravery and strength.
Trina worshippers tend to be much more bent towards the role of warrior. Many of them are more appropriately termed warrior-priestesses or paladins.
Trina's job is to maintain the balance of power--she is to ensure that no one spell, weapon, or technique ever becomes so powerful as to make a person or faction invincible, while still allowing for the occaisional hero to emerge. Her job is actually to keep tabs on warriors and make sure they don't become too powerful as a whole. She does often do this through mortal proxies as her "persona" would suggest, however--often, her solution to one faction becoming too powerful is to pit a legendary hero against them (one who, by virtue of being a single person, will not likely imbalance things the other way).

Phoebe, Goddess of the Intestines

Phoebe is a calm, get-the-job-done sort of goddess. She sees her job with clinical detachment, as she represents the organ that actually has to do the grunt work of dissolving and absorbing someone. Worshippers of Phoebe often gain more nutrients from their targets and find such targets losing their will to struggle when they reach their intestines. Most of the other goddesses respect Phoebe and the work she does, but at times find her grip a little too confining. She does definately have her sensual side, however, despite her single-minded industriousness.
Phoebe's job is to ensure that digestion as a whole remains stable--that digestion never gets too quick or too slow, and that it is never messed with too badly by the universe's denizens. She is also the designer of the digestive tracts in many creatures, alongside Duamutef himself. She has a singular knowledge and study of the biological and energy aspects of digestion and ensures that they continue to do their jobs. (This is a complex and delicately balanced process, and Duamutef appreciates Phoebe's surprising creativity and precision in keeping things running correctly)

Zyta, Goddess of Reptiles

This goddess, a human torso on top of a massive set of multiple python-like coils, is the power behind all things reptillian or amphibian--frogs, lizards, and the old standby, snakes, are her favorite things. She is the patron of the Naga races and all those who share a form like hers and digest victims within their own tight coils.
Zyta's job is to maintain a good number of reptillian creatures, controlling any serious problems with over- and under-population. She also designs some of them, using the simplified and modular "Biology Blueprints" that Duamutef has provided to those who are less technically minded (or inclined) than himself.

Liara, Goddess of the Sea

A normal sea goddess Liara ain't. She represents all the carnivorous aspects hidden beneath the waves--sea anemones, giant fish and girl-eating mermaids are all very common beasts that feed almost exclusively on unwary swimmers. The girls, being the oblivious (or sometimes just inexperienced) creatures that they are, still set out to sea in boat and bathing suit only to find themselves meals to these creatures. Such beasts range from small clams barely able to fit a small girl inside their bodies all the way to tremendous leviathans that swallow entire galleons whole, but the most common are by far the smaller varieties, the most successful generally being mermaids and xebbebbas (octo-girls) due to their higher intelligence. The second most common and successful are anemones and clams, both of which use valuable gems and pearls as lures.
Like Zyta, Liara's job is population control and making sure there are enough reasons to put out to sea or go for a swim that girls continue to do it, despite the risks. She often sprinkles great treasures beneath the waves, or encourages her beasts to "Back off" from a spot for long enough that girls make visiting a habit.

Technicia, Goddess of Technology

The less-than-subtle name of Technicia is indicative of her persona. She is the goddess of technology, the patron of engineers and scientists, and the guardian of space travel. She is less digestively-aspected than the others, at least on the surface, but she has a great time propagating such innovations as cybernetic digestive tracts. Many scientists pray to Technicia for inspiration or to protect their equipment when they're about to enter a dangerous space battle. While true "tech-priests" are something of a rarity, they do exist, particularly among the Mecki clan.
Technicia is assigned to making sure technology does not exceed a certain level and remains balanced. New innovations are great but a technology race ending in an all-powerful technocracy is something Duamutef apparently wants to avoid. She approaches this task with a very high level of cleverness, tweaking certain physical laws here and there to make old technologies gradually less effective than they should be, making new ones seem better when in reality everything remains at the same relative level of power.

Zicata, Goddess of Monsters

Zicata is a constantly shifting being of bestial features and claws. She is the patron of every beast that feeds on it's neighbors and is said to command a vast army of every kind of monster known. She feeds on both seduction and fear and is a master of the hunt. Though it would surprise many to learn, she is also adept at city and fortress sieges, as many monsters have to break through castle walls and scale giant cliffs, braving the weapons of city guards before they can get their meals. As a result, there are actually cults that worship Zicata expressly because their enemies have seemingly insurmountable defenses. Others simply worship her because it is the obvious course for anyone who wants to summon and control monsters.
Despite her reputation as what amounts to the mother of all nightmares, Zicata is actually fairly playful and occaisionally sends giant monstrousities to eat her fellow goddesses to amuse herself. She is a good sport about it and never holds a grudge when they extract their revenge by hunting her down and eating her using their own unique powers.
Zicata's job is to make sure monsters as a whole do not overrun girl societies or vice-versa. The rumor that she commands an army of monsters is only partially true--in reality, she can create an army of monsters any time she wishes and uses them both to weaken factions that have become too powerful and to simply rampage through overpopulated monster areas, using her own monsters to eat them and thus diminish their numbers. Nonetheless, she prefers to imbue particular girls with exceptional powers so that they may deal with the monsters naturally. (Most people don't know, and would be surprised to learn, that many quests to defeat monsters actually involve Zicata's direct aid just as often as Trina's...)
Likewise, when the monster population is getting dangerously low, it is Zicata who encourages the tribes to band together, inspires them to build siege engines and lairs hidden underneath the cities, and the like.

"Party Month"

All greater goddesses and other assorted deific employees are required to leave their offices and actually experience mortal life in the universe for at least 10% of their time, without their powers, and often temporarily without memories that they are goddesses. Duamutef claims that this is in order to keep them familiar with the realms they are essentially ruling over and to give them a clear perspective on what needs to be done, though some of the more cynical scholars theorize that it is merely to keep them humble. It is thought that Duamutef himself conforms to this rule, but whether he does or if he keeps a set schedule is wholly unknown. It is known that he spends quite a bit of his time in mortal forms anyway just for entertainment's sake, so the question is essentially moot. Occaisionally they are allowed to keep their powers and knowledge, so they know what to look for and can go about their lives with a bit more purpose, but this is often considered pointless as they can spy on mortals well enough the rest of the year.
The Party Month, as Duamutef calls it, is different for each Goddess and is generally assigned through request by Duamutef's secretary to prevent the pantheon from becoming spontaneously understaffed from everyone leaving at once.
Though technically not able to use their Goddess powers, the mortal Goddesses are still allowed to use any powers normally inherent to the forms they take, including magic, and it has been known for Goddesses to 'Twink' beforehand--placing powerful artifacts in hidden places that they can retrieve later. This is dangerous for two reasons, the first being that mortals can find, utilize and even bar access to such artifacts, and the second being that Duamutef's secretary seems to delight in putting the Goddesses as far away from their artifact stashes as possible.
The only goddess immune to this rule is Lerania, as her unique duties require her constant presence. Occaisionally, however, another goddess will bear the burden and pleasure of her duties, allowing her to enjoy the pleasures of mortal form for a time. (Nine times out of ten, it is Masalla who fulfills this purpose.)

• Lesser Goddesses

Lesser Goddesses are not as powerful as greater Goddesses, but they are a lot more numerous. Some have joked that if there is a name for it, there is a Goddess for it. The following is but a small listing of the more well-known lesser goddesses:

Samlia, the Goddess of Love, and Saclia, the Goddess of Lust

Samlia and Saclia are a strange case. They are twins, having grown from the same egg, yet despite that they are actually completely different species!

Samlia is a Daisy Angel and embodies all the things they stand for--joy, happiness, trust, nurturing, and most of all, love. She treasures the bonds formed between people and nothing to her is more sacred than two hearts drawn close together, whether in friendship or something deeper.

Saclia, on the other hand, was born a Succubus, and like her sister, she embodies all the extremes of that race--desire, pleasure, seduction, and most of all, lust. She loves the glitter that gets in a girl's eye when she sees a big pair of breasts; she loves curvaceous thighs and the overwhelming urge to take someone and hump their brains out.

Interestingly, though very different, these two sisters don't consider one another to be opposites. In fact, they see one another as quite complimentary. Samlia is the bond that holds two people together; Saclia is the magnet that draws them together in the first place. The two sisters are actually very close to one another and often work in tandem.

Despite this, few people worship both. Demonesses see it as demeaning to worship a goddess of love, whereas Angels see it as embarassing and inappropriate to worship a goddess of lust. Normal girl clans likewise tend to pick one or the other--whichever one they like best--since they often see love and lust as being in opposition to one another. Of all the different species, it is the Fae races who are most likely to worship Samlia and Saclia in tandem, as they see love and attraction as being pretty similar already. Monsters, for their part, don't typically worship either of these goddesses (with the exception of Naga, among whom Saclia is a popular Goddess).

Samlia and Saclia toe the line between greater and lesser Goddesses. Along with Gethross, they are on the upper cieling of lesser Goddesses--in fact, the only thing distinguishing them from the greater Goddesses is that they don't have an official duty in the greater pantheon.

Gethross, the Blood Contractor

A woman of order and duty, Gethross is considered one of the dark goddesses by some simply because of her immense popularity among demonesses. Her name is invoked on practically every major contract written in Faneglut, and blood contracts advocated by Gethross are considered to be quite binding and quite unwise to break. However, like the demons who favor her, Gethross has an overt prejudice towards the letter of the law. If a contract is not specific in one way or another, it is dangerous to assume it will be interpreted in your favor. Abuse of technicalities and so forth are quite acceptable to Gethross, which is another reason demons favor her.

Others, however, have found ways to use the power of Gethross to perform great acts of good. Not every contract can be abused; in fact, the great irony is that the masters of Blood Contracting know that, in many cases, the vaguer the terms, the better. Terms like "Sustained, good faith effort" can place enormous pressure on another party to perform where more specific language would have been easy to weasel out of. Masters of contracting, of course, use specific terms in some places and general terms in others--whichever is more appropriate at the time.

Gethross has the power to curse those who break their contracts in ways that vary from annoying to downright crippling. Contractees can choose to specify the curses that will be recieved (within reason) but it is generally accepted that Gethross prefers to choose the curses herself.

Temples to Gethross resemble nothing so much as law firms. They carry thousands of blood contracts and professional consultants on the wisest terms to use in a particular contract. The priests of Gethross residing in the temple can seal the blood contract, after which it is either stored in the temple or given back to the parties. All of these services come with a fee, of course...unless the person has or is willing to perform a significant service for the temple. This service is often a literal blood donation or a supplication to Gethross herself.

Fabulara, the Goddess of Fashion

Worshipped mostly by the Girlyburps and the Diamond Chord, Fabulara is--as her name implies--the Goddess of Fashion. The powers she grants are generously described as "circumstantially useful" and less generously described as "pointless."

Meisha, the Goddess of Cleverness

A friendly Goddess with a knack for solving problems, Meisha is the Goddess people pray too when there is something that is just too vexing for them to figure out. She does not hand out power, spells or protection to her followers; unorthodox and brilliant solutions are what this Goddess has to give. She is especially popular among the Mecki clan, but has been known to find many worshippers among others--the Darkswallows, Velvet Flowers and even the Girlyburps.