Spirits and Myths

Superstition is common everywhere in the Horizon. With the possible exception of the most ardent disbelievers in the Foundation, the Dark between the Stars makes everyone nervous. Stories of black magic, necromancy, and dark covenants involving blood-curdling rituals or mechanical cadaver clocks are common among the Firstcome people. Some scientific studies have even found signs of similar mythology among semi-intelligent species such as ekilbri and skavara. The universe is also thought to harbor many other things that the Foundation’s sensors and tomographs cannot explain. Black birr, hadra clouds, djinni, and maajib are all signs that the world is not at all simple or easy to comprehend.

DJINN

The djinn turn up in almost all Firstcome fairy tales and myths, although sometimes as yin, jinni, janna, or bokor. Djinn are thought to be unpredictable spirits, full of tricks. In folklore, the djinn are sent by the Icons to assist heroes or punish tyrants and liars. They often show up as mirages, whirlwinds, or just a shimmering in the air, but they are said to be able to take human form, or even the forms of snakes or winged creatures, visible only at the corner of your vision as they shoot past you. The djinn are thought to be able to possess humans and control their actions. It is believed that it was a malicious djinn who caused the prophet Maluk’s madness, in which he slaughtered his whole congregation. The most dangerous of the djinn, according to the prophet Hauram, is the efrite, who seeks out catacombs or space stations where corpses aren’t cremated in order to possess their inhabitants – living or dead.
As mentioned, not all djinn are evil – some of them can even be of great help. The Nine Muses, masters of all the arts of pleasure, are spirits often worshipped by courtesans who pray for success in their profession. The marids, or maajib, are arrogant djinn with almost Iconic powers who are said to grant wishes, if you can pay the price. The Silver Fox is a trickster spirit, thought by many to be an aspect of the Deckhand. It is said to dwell among forested hills, where it takes the form of a beautiful man or woman to lure unsuspecting travelers down into its hole. The guests are offered cups of chai or kawah and then bewitched, or possessed. Judicator Ahmed testified to finding the bodies of several children in a hole in the ground just outside of the Conglomerate when the serial killer Atali roamed the planet. The hole also contained fox droppings. Ahmedi was so shaken by the whole affair that he turned in his badge and went to lead an ascetic’s life in the jungle.
SORCERERS Apart from spirits and djinn, there are many other stories about the dark arts in the Horizon. Parents on Kua and Coriolis scare their children with tales of the man-eating spirits that primitive Firstcome called sarcofagoi. In other versions, the sarcofagoi are spirits who infiltrate spaceships on long hauls, turning the crew against each other and sowing madness. When the crew has finally killed each other in their mania, the sarcofagoi feast on their corpses. Other sorcerer figures in folklore are the bokor, who can reanimate dead cadavers.
They are said to hang around slums and tent towns in cities such as Akhander-O-Sharif and the Conglomerate. When it comes to the now extinct faction, the Nazareem’s Sacrifice, the worst evils imaginable are mixed with a certain amount of truth. It is commonly believed that they practiced human sacrifice, performed dark rituals, and formed unholy alliances with evil spirits and djinn.