Ipalnemoani / Nahni Iah ((E Pal Na MOnee) / (NAH-nee Yah))

Major Domains   Ancestral Spirits: Governance over the spirits of past generations, both human and animal, who guide and empower the living.   Visions/Divination: The granting of prophetic sight and hidden knowledge through sacred trances, dreams, and ritualistic vision quests.   Shifting: Authority over the sacred act of physical and spiritual transformation, the core ritual that connects the Makasi to their beast-soul.   Twilight: Dominion over the threshold between day and night, light and dark, representing all transitional and in-between states.   Knowledge: Custodianship of the ancient, primal wisdom of the True Way, the Law of the Wild, and the creation myths of the Makasi.   Adaptability: Embodiment of the survival and flourishing that comes from embracing change and thriving within one's environment.   The Two Moons: Influence over the dual nature of the Makasi soul: the Deep Instinct (Large Moon) and the Cunning Spirit (Small Moon), and the mysterious balance between them.  

Minor Domains

  Secrets: Protection of hidden truths, sacred mysteries, and the potent magic of true names, most notably his own.   Nature: Connection to the untamed, primal essence of the natural world, particularly the jungles of Quazel.

1. The Two Souls Within     Every Makasi possesses two souls intertwined: the Deep Instinct (your primal strength) and the Cunning Spirit (your adaptive wit). Embrace both. To deny one is to be half a soul. True strength is found not in one or the other, but in the balance between them.   2. Seek Vision in the Unknown   Truth is revealed not in comfort, but at the threshold of understanding. Walk the path of the vision quest. Seek revelation through sacred trials, for the greatest truths are whispered by the spirits to those who are willing to listen.   3. The Shift is a Prayer   Your transformation is a sacred conversation, not a mere tool. When you shift, you do not become a beast; you honor the ancestral spirit within you. It is an act of communion with your past and a prayer to the natural world. Perform it with reverence.   4. Honor the Ancestors in All Forms   The spirits of your kin—both of blood and of spirit—walk beside you. Listen for their whispers on the wind and in your dreams. Their wisdom is your guide, their strength is your inheritance. To dishonor them is to sever your own roots.   5. Guard the Sacred Secret   Some truths are too potent for the unready. The deepest mysteries, including the True Name of He By Whom We Live, are a sacred trust. To speak them lightly is to break the pact and dilute their power. Wisdom is knowing what to reveal and what to conceal.   6. Walk the Unwritten Law   The world of Kanach has an order, a Law of the Wild that exists beyond the laws of kings. Understand your place within it. Hunt only what you need, respect the fierce, protect the vulnerable, and leave no wound upon the world that cannot heal.

Ipalnemoani was not born a god. He was mortal, known only as The First Shaman. In the primordial days when the Makasi people were first scattered and struggling to survive in the unforgiving Quazel Jungles, he was a young boy whose family was lost. Alone and starving, he consumed strange, hallucinogenic fruits that granted him a profound vision of the Great Mother and the true purpose of his people.   Mortal Life: Through these vision quests, he understood the soul-deep kinship the Makasi shared with the animal world—they did not merely "become" animals; they communed with the very spirit of creation. He dedicated his life to wandering the nascent tribes, teaching this "True Way." He codified the sacred rituals, established the vision quest as a rite of passage, and taught that shifting was a conversation with an ancestor spirit, a way to draw strength and wisdom directly from the world the Mother had shaped. He was the architect of the original pact between the Makasi and the Law of the Wild.   Ascension: His original name was lost to time by design, for speaking it was considered as powerful and dangerous as speaking the true name of a spirit. For millennia, he was remembered as a legendary hero. His deification occurred during the spiritual upheaval of the Prophet King's "Tlāltonatec" reign and the creation of the Axayaca Empire. As society turned away from tribal totems, those who felt a profound loss—a stifling of their beast-soul—sought the source of their original faith. They did not pray to the animal spirits themselves, but to the first shaman who had taught them how to speak to them. Their collective faith, longing, and ancestral memory coalesced around his legend, They built a temple to him known as the Temple of the Moon and in doing so transforming him into the divine intermediary, Ipalnemoani, He By Whom We Live.   How the Hania see him: The Myth of the First Walker "The stories say that in the time before time, the People were scattered and lost. We knew the beast within was strong, but we did not know it was wise. We lived as animals, fearing the dark.   The First Walker was a man, alone and dying of thirst on the plains. In his desperation, he ate the bitter fruit of the spirit-root and drank from a cracked earth spring. The world fell away from him. For seven days and seven nights, his spirit walked the Star Road.   On his journey, he did not speak to gods. He spoke to Grandfather Buffalo, who taught him about strength in the herd. He spoke to Sister Wolf, who taught him about the loyalty of the pack. He spoke to Mother Bear, who taught him about fierce protection. He saw that their spirits and our spirits were made from the same clay by the Great Mystery.   He awoke from his vision, and for the first time, he did not just become the beast—he walked with it. He understood its soul. He returned to the scattered tribes and taught them the True Way: that shifting is not a change of skin, but a joining of spirits. He taught us the vision quest to find our own spirit-kin.   He was the first of us to see the true face of the world. When his body finally failed, his spirit did not fade. It joined the Star Road, forever walking between the world of the People and the world of the Spirits, guiding those who seek true vision."