On The Nature and History of Storm and Disaster Deities

CW: This article contains mentions of deaths caused by natural disasters, including tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides, and flooding, as well as genocide. If these topics will cause discomfort, I would suggest only reading the opening two paragraphs, the sidebar, and the section on Reszket and Viharbal (including the section about Cooking Pot Lake).

  Deities across different pantheons cannot and should not be expected to all slot into neat, identical boxes of "storm deity" and "natural disaster deity," but archaeotheology from the current and prior two eras has yielded a disproportionately large volume of material relating to divine figures who fall broadly within those domains. Most scholars attribute this to the wide-reaching and often catastrophic impact of the events these deities either caused or were assigned blamed for– destruction, after all, tends to leave a greater mark than quiet reverence.   Select deities and historic events summarized in On The Nature and History of Storm and Disaster Deities by Belen Katopodis are outlined below.

Katu & Keersik

Katu and Keersik are often referring to as the twin deities of destruction. They are nearly always pictured together, typically holding hands, and having nearly identical appearances; they are short, either eternally childlike or perhaps Halfling or Gnomish in origin, with curly dark hair, and heterochromatic eyes. The two are typically differentiable by the coloration of their eyes; Katu has a blue right eye and a brown left eye, and Keersik has the reverse. Even across great spans of time and space, this particular detail is incredibly consistent.

Creation of the Astrum Sea

The Astrum Sea is the largest inland body of water in Aidonia. Located in the southern half of the star-facing continent of Adis, it was artificially created roughly 4000 years ago (circa TE 2100) in a devastating event attributed to Katu and Keersik.   The Siljak Mountains once ran all the way through Adis and to this day serve as a natural border region for a number of nations, but those borders were irreparably changed when a section of the mountain range spanning approximately 1100 miles was nearly flattened. Some stories say that the destructive twins punched through the mountains with such force that they were vaporized, while others say the mountains were screamed down, their voices carrying the sediments all the way to the ocean. Many stories claim that after, the Ninium river, once supplied by the melting of snow from the Siljak mountains, began to flow backwards and would do so for weeks, rushing to fill the vast empty space now carved out behind it.   The Astrum Sea today covers an area of just over 1.2 million square miles, roughly equivalent in size to the Dienlian Dominion and the Maldock Trading Company. The presence of sea-crawlers in the duskward part of the sea bordering the Avarian Divine Empire has made archaeological research attempts nearly impossible. It is unknown how many towns or people once occupied the area.  

Reszket & Viharbal

While not as closely entwined as Katu and Keersik, Reszket and Viharbal of the Lizdah Pantheon often had overlapping areas in their divine domains. Reszket, a massive serpentine god whose corpse has been slowly decaying in southern Adis for over 700 years, was typically associated with earthbound catastrophes: earthquakes, landslides, wildfires, and volcanic eruptions. Viharbal, whose ultimate fate remains uncertain, was more often associated with oceanic and atmospheric disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, and flash floods.

Cooking Pot Lake

One of the few events on this list that was not entirely destructive, the formation of Cooking Pot Lake in Vriddasa is often attributed to an act of mercy by Reszket for those who offered it adequate worship. The caldera lake created after Mount Refu blew its top off approximately 2000 years ago (circa LE 1560) provided a sustainable source of freshwater for local communities and alleviated a terrible drought which had lasted for over two years. The largest lahars caused by the eruption flowed down the northern side of the volcano, the one side which would avoid hitting any nearby towns, and the smaller lahars only caused damage to forested areas and agricultural fields.  

Avari

Frequently referred to as God-Slayer and not often enough as Genocider, Avari is the current deity of storms and natural disasters, as well as the ruling god-king of the Avarian Divine Empire, a colonizing nation built on the blood of millions. By any measure, he is among the most powerful deities still extant. And yet, unlike the majority of Ayadane divinities– who, by unspoken consensus, remain in their own realms and engage with mortals only from a distance or via emissaries– Avari refuses even that basic restraint. Instead, he exploits his power to play king on the material plane, creating entire peoples to love and worship him since holding tsunamis and earthquakes to people's heads hasn't historically worked out well.

Destruction of Saktos

Saktos was one of the most formidable thalassic nations of the late Lizdah and early Ayadane eras. Commanding the entire Caelestis Ocean, its shipwrights and navy remained unmatched until decades after its annihilation. Though their dominance was primarily naval, Saktos controlled numerous ports across the Caelestis, and the homeland itself lay on the central duskward coast of Adis, near Dimitra Bay.   In the early months of AE 96, the genocider began laying claim to various lands in the southern- and central-duskward regions of Adis, working his way from south to north. Many smaller nations submitted willingly, or had any resistance quickly crumble when faced with dropping pressures and booming strikes of lightning growing closer and closer. Those few who managed to lay eyes upon the personified storm did not survive much longer. Except for Saktos.   Ever unafraid and willing to die on their hills, the people of Saktos who lived on the mainland– mostly the very young, the elderly, and the few sailors who returned to port in time– refused to abandon their land. According to scattered accounts from survivors, the genocider himself is said to have praised their courage... and departed. But the storm did not leave with him.   The first earthquake would rock their shores two hours and seven minutes later. The first wave arrived tweleve minutes after. Seismographic devices were not available at the time, modern estimates based on the degree of destruction and how far away it was felt place the magnitude between 8.3 and 9.0. It lasted nearly four minutes and generated waves up to twenty-five feet tall- easily enough to bury the low-lying coast.   Attempts at calculating the death toll vary, but it is believed that between 3 and 3.6 million people, or 75-90% of the population of Saktos, were murdered in the span of approximately one week in late spring. The Avarian Divine Empire would be officially founded in early summer.