Rose of The Prophet - The Gods of The Rose of The Prophet Series

The Gods of The Rose of The Prophet Series

In the world of Sularin, there are 21 gods: Sul (the Truth) is the light of truth, and the other 20 are facets of the Truth. The nature of each god is informed by an icosahedral jewel composed of 20 triangular facets the 12 vertices of which represent divine philosophies (Good at the extreme closest to Law, Mercy, Faith, Charity, and Patience; then Evil with Chaos, Intolerance, Reality, Greed, and Impatience). This structure creates three categories of god: Good (the five facets with Good at one vertex), Evil (the five facets with Evil at one vertex), and Neutral (the other ten facets). The powers a god has depends on how many followers that god has as well as their level of devotion. Every god has his or her own plane of existence that resembles who they are. Akhran, the god of the desert nomads, mostly rides on his mighty horse in a desert he made himself. When a god grows less powerful, his plane of existence also starts to disappear.

Many of these gods seem to be patterned after the gods of various Earthly cultures.

• Sul

The center of the 20-sided jewel, of which each god is a facet. Also used to mean the Sun, the Universe, the Jewel, and the God of Truth.

• Akhran

Nomad-God of Chaos, Impatience, and Faith. The series centers on his followers, who live more or less bedouinesque lives. Akhran wears practical riding gear and disdains formality. His realm seems to reflect a blend of Central Asian and Arabian nomadic cultures: his followers play baigha, which bears a striking resemblance to buzkashi, and drink qumiz, commonly transliterated kumis (fermented mare's milk), and their language contains basic elements of Persian (e.g., bale = yes, spahi = a kind of horseman), Arabic (e.g., use of the honorifics Hazrat and sidi to refer to respected figures), and more. His plane of existence is a desert. When the belief in him has faded, he lost his plane of existence and was forced to enter the planes of other gods in order to communicate with them.

• Quar

God of Reality, Greed, and Law. Quar, known occasionally as "the Lawful," wears stereotypical and ornate garb of a burnoose and silk turban. The main antagonist of Akhran. Can be analogized to "Babylon" per the Judaic tradition, with the connotation of moral and physical and material corruption. This god almost took over the entire world through his priest Feisal. The latter started an entire jihad in order to make Quar the only god in existence. He is also very opportunistic and cowardly. His plane of existence is a beautiful palace garden. When his powers are waning, the garden starts to rot away.

• Promenthas

God of Goodness, Charity, and Faith. Promenthas shares similarities with a standard Roman Catholic image of God: white beard, cassock and surplice, and hosts of angels and archangels. One of the few gods to encourage independence and study of the natural world by limiting personal contact with divine entities (such as Immortals). His plane of existence is a cathedral.

• Zhakrin

God of Evil, Intolerance, and Reality. Seems to be killed by Evren at the beginning of "Will of the Wanderer." Later, however, it is revealed that Quar imprisoned Zhakrin's and Evren's essences inside two fishes. Zhakrin's knights, the Black Paladins, got their hands on the fishes and planned to restore Zhakrin's powers through a dark ritual. Mathew successfully stops the ritual, but the essences of both gods are freed.

• Evren

Goddess of Goodness, Mercy, and Faith. She seems to die from exhaustion (from killing Zhakrin) at the beginning of "Will of the Wanderer." Later, however, it is revealed that Quar imprisoned Zhakrin's and Evren's essences inside two fishes. Zhakrin's knights, the Black Paladins, got their hands on the fishes and planned to restore Zhakrin's powers through a dark ritual. Mathew successfully stops the ritual, but the essences of both gods are freed. It is revealed that Evren sends Asrial temporarily away from Mathew so the young wizard would end up at castle Zhakrin in order to free both gods.

• Benario

"The Thief" God of Faith, Chaos and Greed.

• Kharmani

Wealth-God of Faith, Mercy, and Greed.

• Hammah

Warrior-God (attributes unknown) who wears animal skins and a horned metal helmet.

• Shistar

God (attributes unknown) who sits in a tea-garden surrounded by cherry trees.

• Chu-lin

Meditative God (attributes unknown)

• Hurishta

Underwater Goddess (attributes unknown) of the seas. Sailors throw golden rings into the sea as sacrifices to her; dolphins are considered her daughters and sharks her sons. She and Inthaban feud and their fights cause storms, according to superstitious sailors.

• Inthaban

Water-God (attributes unknown) of distant seas. Sailors throw iron rings into the sea in order to appease him and his "sons," whales, so that he might not grow jealous of their treatment of Hurishta.

• Astafas

Demon-God of Evil, Greed, and Reality, an enemy to Promenthas. He mostly resembles well-known depictions of Satan. His plane of existence is pure darkness. Some of his Immortals are called imps.

• Mimrim

Goddess of the Ravenchai who lives on a cloudy mountain.

• Uevin

Law, Patience and Reality. God who ruled the Bas. Bas live like ancient Greeks. Focus on politics and technology, with a Government system of City-States. His Immortals were made into 'sub-gods', each for one aspect of human life, just like the Greeks had one god for wealth, another for war etc.