Qinah, the Jealous

"If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and worship other gods'... do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people."

God created mankind, and they belong to him. Every prayer uttered, every mote of affection, everything belongs to Him, and he is a jealous god. Qinah embodies all the jealousy of the slain god - he wants to possess all of mankind, not as slaves or servants, but on a deep and personal level. They will all be his, in due time, and he will watch them close to ensure they love no one else but him. Children should slay their parents if they loved their children more than Qinah, and parents should dash the little ones upon the rocks rather than let them worship another. Qinah is a clever Demiurge, skilled at manipulating the hearts of men, first with rewards and affection but then with increasing scrutiny and violence. In the end, the Demiurge cannot help by turning people against themselves and against him. He is paranoid, looks for failures and suspicion in every act and word - inevitably, he finds them. There is always something that feeds that gnawing void within the Demiurge, that whisper that say "They cherish someone else."

Because it is never enough to simply be adored. The Demiurge needs to be the only one in his victims lives, the sole recipient of their love. Anything else is treachery, fuel to the consuming fire that is Qinah's constant, hounding demands. In the dreams of his worshippers, he appears as a vast and incomprehensible eye filled with smaller eyes that watch them. The longer they stare, the more color drains from the dream, until the only thing is the eye of Qinah, dominating everything with radiant glory. Even awake, it can take days for the grey to fade, and colors return to the world for the visited.

"For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land."

The Demiurge of Jealousy is a most demanding patron. Tribes dedicated to him hold prayers close to every day, paint themselves with his symbol and adorn their homes with his image. Nothing else may he celebrated in these homes but Qinah, not art nor other people or Demiurges. Even the act of praise for some accomplishment can draw the suspicion and ire of the Jealous One, and he demands that the tribe turn against their own for slights against him. Once in his grasp, he comes to own their hearts, alternating between love and punishment to batter his victims into paralysed obedience. No matter where he turns his attention, Qinah will always be most suspicious of women, always viewing them as his greatest rivals and worthy of his most inventive punishments.

It is no surprise then that Qinah stands alone among the Demiurges, unable to tolerate the idea that someone besides himself might be worshipped. In turn, most other Demiurges either as a pawn to play against others or an insufferable fool. Adamite tribes are often caught in these divine games, and the wars waged become especially brutal.

When Qinah appears in the world, he takes the shape of a large, marble statue of exquisite beauty and draped in fine clothing. He is carried by a mass of faceless and fawning mortals, spreading flowers before him and carrying censors of incense behind him. Such procession are accompanied by song, dance, and prayer extolling the glory of the Jealous demiurge. These poor souls are his favored, a fate worse than death. When the statue of Qinah moves, it does so with the grinding noise of stone against stone, and he speaks either with great love or terribly fury, with nothing inbetween. Unlike many others, Qinah isn't so sure he desires the destruction of New Eden. No, he is willing to extend them mercy, if only they fall to their knees and become his, and only his.

"The LORD will never be willing to forgive them; his wrath and zeal will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the LORD will blot out their names from under heaven."