Churus

Divine Overview

Portfolio

Churus' divine portfolio is divided into two broad areas. First, his esoteric aspects, associated with his role as a god of order in the Creation of the mortal plane: consciousness and thought, mysteries and the unknown, questions and searches, dreams and visions. Second, his aspects associated with inspiring the dawn of society: knowledge and history, the alphabet and writing, mathematics and numbers.

Appearance

Churus is largely viewed in the abstract, especially with regards to his first group of aspects. He is an ethereal force, beyond the Mortal Plane, within his own realm. However, he, or sometimes she, takes an avatar to appear to mortals when acting within his second group of aspects. This varies between cultures, from an old crone in the Boreal North, to an owl in Anhara.

Plane

Churus' plane is rarely contemplated, but throughout most cultures, it is viewed largely as a repository. As a knowledge-seeking god, Churus has various servants, depending upon where he's being depicted, that comb the world for new lore. These are returned to his realm for integration into his knowledge. The Orrery depiction of the planes summarizes these beliefs by calling his domain the Vault. In Anhara for example, this realm is viewed as a repository for scrolls, but the method of storage varies across cultures.

Historical Overview

Primordial Origins

Creation Myth

Churus, with his sometimes-twin Enos, are the two primordial ordering gods. Together, the gods of history and time regulate the threads that bind the Planes together and make mortality possible. While they serve an essential role, it is one that takes place largely behind the scenes and away from human depiction. Humanity simply accepts them as a part of the world.
Churus does come into the Creation story in one major role, however. Across cultures, he is depicted as the Notator of the Gods, recording the meeting at the start of the Great Task. In Anhara, these records are the Churus Scrolls,believed to be a real, tangible artifact that was lost in the Age of Rule. In other cultures, the scrolls take different forms, but nevertheless perform the same basic function of revealing the alphabet to mortals.

The Esoteric Churus

Churus, together with Enos, help keep the Mortal Plane in order. These are his more esoteric aspects, and their evolution can help chart the growth of mankind. His domains of consciousness and thought, the unknown and truth, mysteries and searches, must be some of the oldest beliefs ascribed to a god, for they are necessary to ponder the divine.

The Inspirational Churus

From pondering thoughts and the search for knowledge come results, inspiration. Naturally following his prior aspects are dreams and visions, and what they have bestowed upon man. Most nations ascribe to Churus the alphabet, stemming from the language of the gods translated for men, which he recorded at the dawn of mortality.
Associated with Churus are numbers and mathematics as well, bestowed often from visions and dreams. Many cultures have myths of maddening visions, from which came the concept of zero. These are believed to come from Churus, and from this his final association, the end of knowledge, the ever-looping search, the unattainable.

Contemporary Views

With society's development, things like the alphabet and numbers are no longer the mystical, divinely inspired cornerstones of knowledge they used to be. Now, Churus has moved to a god often associated with the search for lost lore, and the inspirer of academics.

Anhara

While Panag Rho claims the origins of mankind, Anhara contends that the Churus Scrolls show the gods laid the foundations of the world in their land. From this came language, and thus the Anharans believe theirs was the first tongue. Churus holds a special place amongst the numerous academies of this nation because of that, worshipped for inspiration to understand the fundamental underpinnings of the universe. While Ealaine is the goddess of academic research, Churus retains a higher, more esoteric role. His title as the Notator of the Gods also associates him with the recording of ancestries.
Churus is also thought of during the search for lost knowledge in modern Anhara. Many ancient ruins dot the landscape, many indecipherable runes line cave walls, and adventurers delving deep for lost tomes pray to him for guidance.

al-Tahat

A nation with a tumultuous history, Churus is often looked to here. He represents the preservation of tradition and heritage against the sands of time. In particular, the rescue of Tahati ways and artifacts from their ancient cities, buried under Tahat's wrath. Adventurers delving into sunken temples and tombs pray to Churus. Due to this, he is depicted as a rival, not a twin or partner, of Enos.
The elders that bind together many of the tightly-knit groups of central al-Tahat praise Churus as well, for he is to them the god of collective memory. In the east, their alchemist guilds hope for enlightenment from him as to the esoteric nature of things, perhaps even a chance to ascend beyond.

Boreal North

One of the key gods of the Boreal North pantheon, Churus' early prominence survived longest here. A massive continent, full of thirteen tribes tracing their origins to common ancestors, they are bound together primarily by a shared past and a shared language. Churus represents both, the god of inherited knowledge and runes.

Litoric Islands

The Litoric Islands have added an association with astrolabes and navigation to Churus. To this nation of sailors, knowledge comes with an understanding of the ways of the cosmos. From this as well stems the proliferation of esoteric cults in the Litoric Islands, many of whom have Churus as a patron.

Panag Rho

Divine Classification

Natural God

Domains

Arcana
Knowledge
Light
Order
Trickery

Portfolio

Consciousness & Thought
Dreams & Visions
Knowledge & Truth
Questions & Searches
Mathematics & Numbers
Mysteries & the Unknown
Writing & the Alphabet

Titles

The Binder
Nul
The Notator
Stalker Amongst the Shelves

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Gender

Male