The Enenra Myth in Zheng-Kitar | World Anvil

The Enenra

The demon of choking flame that steals the breath of children and slays all in its path

The Enenra is classified as a Lesser Idol, and is capable of granting powers as a patron to witches and warlocks, and perhaps clerics and the like who venerate the demon of choking flame who reaps the breath of the innocent. Consult your GM if you are interested in following or recieving power from the Enenra as described here.
  Obedience: Spend an hour slowly strangling the life and air from another living creature, slowly immolating it as painfully as possible while you do so. When the hour is up, carve the brand of the Enenra into the creature then let it go free.   Effect: You can see perfectly in all smoky conditions. Once per combat, you can select one creature as your prey as a swift action - doing so lets your attacks act as if they carried the properties of Enenranite for 1 round plus 1 round per 5HD you possess.  

Summary

The Enenra is a figure of Othrakan myth that has since spread to become a cultural boogeymen of the Giyaani people - though it originally came from the earliest legends from the towering Othraka, that spoke of a horrible demon born of wind, ash, and darkness that visited newborn Othrakan children as they lay in the cradle to steal their breath away and infuse them with part of its unholy power in the process. To the Othrakan people, the Enenra is described as a cultural manifestation of their sins, a demon born of those Othraka who embraced their hatred and rage at their unfortunate lot in life such that their pure rage and corruption fused them into and gave birth to the legendary Enenra, boogeymen of their people.   It is described as a being of pure hatred for all creatures, who rampages and tears across the land on the wind, creating enormous superstorms of flaming lightning that wrack and rip across the deserts both day and night - killing as it pleases. It is described as having no solid form, and instead is described as a pseudo-shapeshifter whose form is mainly comprised of wind, ash, and cinderous flame - who only takes on loose humanoid forms to indulge its appetite for slaughter and mayhem, and who possesses and infuses others with its vile power to spread its bottomless misery and fury to others, that they might share in its pain and bear its burdens if only for a fleeting moment before they die and are consumed by the Enenra's power.

Historical Basis

As best as can be determined from Othrakan myth, the Enenra is most assuredly a real creature whose existence was first assumed by the towering sand vikings when their children began to manifest strange abilities and mutations during strange ash storms that ripped across their camps and tomb cities - as they noticed that some children had somehow lost the ability and need to breathe while others were wrapped in strange smoky cloth that let them explode into clouds of ash and travel short distances as ephemeral clouds, they began to uncover the existance of their most ancient and hated enemy: The Enenra.   Additionally, the most common events that can be traced back to the legendary beast of burning ash are twofold: both the highly dangerous and much afeared superstorms known as "Ashstorms" that rip across the deserts at irregular intervals are said to be byproducts of the Enenra, who dwells inside normal storms and supercharges them with its unholy might, corrupting the mighty Kaminari Kami who control the storm to infuse the entire cell with its burning, choking ash. Secondarily, the smoking material known as Enenranite has also long been attributed to the beast, whose rage and wrath towards all creatures can occasionally produce spires of this evil, vile material capable of slaying even immortals and the divine.

Spread

The legend of the Enenra is one mostly exclusive to the Othrakan people, though over the centuries it has also become a touchstone of the myth of the Giyaani people who dwell in the same desert that the Othraka do, who eventually got wind of this Othrakan myth and connected the dots themselves with the terrible havoc the ashstorms, Enenranite spires, and dead and dying children wreaked on them with this vile myth of the Othrakan people, adopting it into their cultural mythos and learning to fear it as the towering Othraka do.

Variations & Mutation

Though originally the Enenra was spoken of more as a formless thing that came and went on the wind, over time the legends have ascribed to it the ability to both possess the bodies and minds of others as well as to take on loose humanoid forms made of loosely packed ash, soot, and tightly controlled wind - as encounters with the Enenra have grown in number and have been more spoken of in recent centuries, its myth has become more solidified as rare survivors who have laid eyes upon it give coherence to its myth.   Though only made widespread in recent centuries, it has also been attributed with the power to infuse others with its vile power - for Othraka, this typically manifests in the wrappings around their arms or in their horns, which infuses them with the power of the legendary Enenra and allows them to come and go on the wind as well as create enormous ashstorms with their natural control over the wind, eventually culminating in the ability to create towering spires of Enenranite once they lose themselves to the beast's murderous fury and send all manner of storms ripping across the desert.   To other races, the curse of the Enenra manifests as pale grey or ash-colored skin that is cracked and smoky, and typically grants strange smoky powers as well as a somewhat limited mastery over fire and wind - though, like all cursed with the power of the Enenra, they run the constant risk of losing themselves to the murderous fury of the demon and becoming wholly possessed by its rage that will lead them to strike out at all without discrimination.

Cultural Reception

To the Othrakan people, the Enenra is their greatest shame - a representation of their people's communal hatreds and murderous fury towards the world that has bestowed unto them such horrible life conditions that they are endangered and nearly extinct, and now must mummify themselves to endure a deadly virus that rips through their populations. The Enenra, as well as the Enenranite that it produces, are both sources of immense shame for the Othrakan people, and are both things that they dearly seek to slay and destroy wherever possible - as real and living products of their people's inner darkness.

In Literature

There are few literary records of its existence - the Othrakan people in modern times attempt to shun the demon in all ways, including writing, but in times of yore ancient Othrakan historians and writers have written at length about the beast and its attacks, though these writings are only available to Othraka and those they trust immensely.

In Art

There are few depictions of the Enenra in art - the Othrakan people have a cultural stigma about invoking or replicating its appearance as they believe doing so gives the being power and invites it to the location to wreak havoc - however, they instead have many songs and stories of the beast. Inversely, the Giyaani have few songs and stories of it, but occasionally created beautiful stained glass windows that depict it in desert waystations, tapestries that hang from walls, and paintings that attempt to capture its horrible, haunting power.
Alternate Name(s)
The Demon of Choking Flame, The Breathstealer, The Great Darkness
Date of First Recording
The first records of the Enenra appear in Othrakan tales nearly 4500+ years ago.
Date of Setting
The Enenra has appeared in records as old as 4500+ years ago until as recent as the modern day.
Related Ethnicities
Related Species
Related Locations
Related Material(s)
Enenranite

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