God-Spirit of Illûwyr

Identity

• Title(s) – Mother Air, Belyranyl of the Winds
• Influence – Air, Wind, Weather
• Appearance – A translucent old woman with long flowing hair and a layered vaporous dress

Attributions

• Symbol – A curl of wind
• Focus – A singing stone
• Color(s) – None
• Element – Air
• Animal –

Cult

• Center of Worship – Unknown location, Ilûwyr, Ælyri Ildûn
• Scriptures –
• Leader –
• Priesthood –
• Orders – Henge of Belyranyl
• Aspects – NA
• Touched – NA
• Holy Days –
• Friends – Ælyra, Ilwyryn
• Enemies – Ildûnyr, Cult of Drāūn
• Sayings –

Introduction

Corsōlos looked gravely around the chamber. Representatives from each of the Six Clans gathered in small groups around the great organ. Priests were leading the groups in hymns but few had the strength or will to sing along. The Ilwyryn had traveled day and night to the eastern wall of their homeland. They had witnessed terrible sights: villages burning, thousands marched to their doom, horses slaughtered and spitted over great fires, and everywhere the southern armies in their metal armor raising strange banners and foul-smelling offerings to unknown gods. The priests did all they could to drive them the clansmen forward; discouraging acts of valor; keeping to the valleys, forests, and stream-beds; moving during the night and hiding in the day. Upon reaching their destination they found no food or beds, only the organ with its great brass pipes rising into the cavernous sanctuary and the carved stone doors greeted the weary travelers. “Why have you brought us here?” Corsōlos demanded. “Why do we not summon the voice of Belyrányl and call every Ælyryr to rise against the invaders?”. The priests explained that the plight of the Ilwyryn was shared elsewhere. There was no one to answer the call and that only though patience could the invaders be brought down. The warriors bristled at the plan, but the priests promised that one day they would rise and kill the children of their conquerors. With this small solace, the great Ilwyryn retreated into their tombs and Malgāagyr sealed the doors.

Legends of Mother Air have circulated around Ilûwyr and the Ælyri Islands for thousands of years. She was the first of the great spirits to be invoked by the lands’ natives at each live-birth, and called upon as part of death-rites when the “borrowed breath” was returned. While depicted as an old ghostly woman with floating hair, the spirit is not believed to assume Yrūni form unless appealing to Mortals directly. Instead, her body is composed of all the air and wind, ubiquitous and without form.

There is no known relation between Belyranyl and Naðal, the Walker of the Winds.

The Cult

Like other Ælyri henges, the Henge of Belyranyl revolved around an esoteric network of monastic orders. These holy men and women served as spiritual leaders and teachers to the Ilwyryn. Each order hosted a dolrum within Ilûwyr, with the highest order charged with serving Dolrùm Belyranyl. Devout pilgrims (of means) would traditionally take one or two holy tasks during their lifetimes. The lesser task was to visit Dolrùm Belyranyl. The greater task, usually reserved for wealthy pilgrims who had completed the first task, was to visit all seven high dolrums. Those pilgrims that completed the “Ælyri Circuit”, were given the privilege of being buried in places of honor (i.e., equal to that of a priest) near their chosen dolrum.

The Priesthood

Not many specifics are known about the Henge of Belyranyl. The organization was eradicated with the conquering of Ildûn in 116 HK. Individual priests fled to surrounding regions following the Battle of Dolrùm Ildûn, but the Dekàlyr were intent on destroying the order and pursued them mercilessly. The Henge of Belyranyl was a threat to the new order because its power base was centered at the location of the new Ildûn capital. Dekàli historians described the burning of established and upstart Belyranyl monasteries, wherever they might be found, for decades to come.

If the other Ælyri orders can be used as examples, the Henge of Belyranyl had a simple organization of three tiers. The lowest tier were the Laity. These were members of the common population that assisted the priests or held services in remote locations and villages where no dolrum was present. The second tier were the Priests. These were preachers, teachers, and scholars that resided in towns, cities, and near dolrum. They were the only face of the organization that most people encountered in their day-to-day lives. The third and highest tier were the Hierophants. These highly esteemed priests were charged with the maintenance and protection of every major dolrum. Though all dolrums with the exception of high temples, appeared equal, there was an order of precedence between the locations. Dolrum precedence may have been based on the size of the supporting population, or a spiritual significance of a dolrum. Not much is known about the precedence of dolrums within the Henge of Belyranyl except that the Dolrùm Godyrmadh was particularly important. Hierophants would have been moved from one dolrum to the next as they advanced within the organization, with the most revered of their number being assigned to Dolrùm Beylranyl.

Daily Activities

Holy Days and Rituals

Places of Worship

Before the Dekàli invasions of the first and second centuries HK, the horse-clans of Ilûwyr worshiped the wind spirit Belyranyl. The lands of Ilûwyr must have seemed like a tempting target, as the Dolrùm Belyranyl was renowned as a Wonder of the Ancient World. The only problem was that the Dekàlyr never found the fabled temple. After eradicating the Ilwyryn and occupying the land for a millennium, the Dekàlyr decided that the Wonder was nothing more than a legend conjured by ancient peoples, and supported by failed explorers not wishing to disappoint their patrons. Interestingly, and perhaps evidence that the temple was somehow overlooked, was that no major temple dedicated to Belyranyl was ever found within Ilûwyr. That would make Belyranyl the only god-spirit of Aylyrea without a dolrum. Over time, the missing temple took on a life of its own in Dekàli folktales. Not only was it described as standing invisibly on a secluded hill, but as home to the last surviving Ilwyryn spirit-riders.

Much of what is known from native sources was included on a scroll in possession of the Cult of Drāūn in the City of Ildûn before the great devastation. Though the original scroll no longer exists, copied portions survived both in Vulmùra and Teréðor. The Skorū Belyranyl of the Iron Library includes the following:

“She walks in all places where the sky embraces the land. She breathes life into every beast and takes it back when life has run its course. She dwelt here long before the first breath and will bear witness to the last. A mother to all, she fills the chests of babes, and like a monster she rips the skin from all creation. She is eternal and capricious, enduring and unsteady, pacific and terrible. On her holiest day, they climbed to the High Place and held their stones against the wind so that she could sing to her faithful. Each that returned was filled with her presence, and could hear her song for the rest of their days.”

The Andul Illyri explorer Arōgh Oldnòrach described the temple with more detail:

“It was autumn when the spirit-riders carried me deep into their sacred lands. To preserve the location’s secret, I submitted to a pagan blindness, and was traded between several riders over the course of the journey. It is difficult to measure the distance since the horses are both tireless and swift. During our travel we never once entered a town or village but crossed many streams and fords. At the end of our trip a woman helped me from the horse and removed my blindness with a touch. I stood outside a circle of stones, not unlike other henges throughout the islands. A crowd of priests entered the circle, following a cross-bearer whose staff was hung with hundreds of bells. Though the temple’s high place commanded an excellent view of the surrounding country, I must admit to being disappointed by the ‘great temple’ which so many had claimed to be a Wonder. When the robed worshipers reached the center of the henge, the cross-bearer rapped the butt of his staff against the stone thrice and the ringing of bells signaled all the spectators and their horses to kneel, which they did. An uncanny gust of wind then arrived carrying autumn leaves from the surrounding lands. It circled the henge and then dove into the circle’s center. It is then that I beheld the most wonderful, unearthly experience of my Mortal measure. The music that issued from the henge was more magnificent than any monument fashioned from stone and hammer. It astonished me both then and now that my Yrūn ears were capable of hearing those Immortal sounds that must otherwise be reserved for the ears of gods. Dolrùm Belyranyl was indeed a Wonder and I forever changed for beholding it.”