Articles on Faith - The Creator Pantheon II, Amoroa and Ishtar
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Articles on Faith - The Creator Pantheon II
Excerpts from Intermediate Comparative Theology, a textbook used in several magical schools of the Continent, including the Academy of Light
The Creator Pantheon’s first and second Goddesses of Love, Amoroa and Ishtar, despite both being deities of the same aspect, are as similar as day and night. This is unsurprising, for before the War in Heaven, Ishtar was exclusively the Archdemoness of Lust of the Demonic Pantheon. Since the War in Heaven and Amoroa’s death by the swords of Katsuro the Destroyer, the Queen in Heaven, Enin, desperate to hand the True Affinity of Spirit to a divine entity, else risk the end of the universe, handed the Wardenship of Spirit to Ishtar, and she joined the Creator Pantheon as the new Goddess of Love.
Amoroa
The former Goddess of Love, Amoroa. Born from the divine union of Eon and Enin, she was entrusted with wardenship of the True Affinity of Spirit, and through the births of her and Reavanna, it was possible for the forms of sapient life made by the other gods to be bestowed with true intelligence.
Amoroa was said to be a kind and gentle deity, with deep empathy for people, and often felt strong empathy and attachment to her faithful. She is known to have intervened personally in personal tragedies of even peasants and outcasts, and took great care in aiding those seeking or having obtained true love. A pacifist, she avoided all forms of violence and combat, though as her sister Reavanna was the Goddess of War, she avoided outright condemning warfare as part of her faith.
It is said that thousands of years ago she fell in love with a mortal man. This man died, as all mortals must, and her sorrow over his passing led to her swearing to be eternally faithful to his memory, as well as her creation of the Soul Bond, a magical binding which binds the fates of two souls together along with providing numerous great boons such as immortality so long as both live and feel true love for one another – created so others could avoid her own fate. Thus was Amoroa titled The Joiner of Souls. While Amoroa herself is gone, some immortals with this sacred bond still remain, however their immortality is fading as the residual powers of Amoroa vanish across the world.
BELIEFS
Amoroa greatly favoured monogamy and faithfulness between lovers, and so saw harems as immoral and hedonistic. Societies that greatly venerated Amoroa, particularly those in the Far-West and South-West, as such are considered highly monogamous societies. Amoroa shared her mother Enin’s dislike of infidelity, and it was one of the few ways to incur the wrath of Amoroa, though usually never to the extent of Enin.
As well as faithfulness, Amoroa placed great value in chastity and abstinence, believing intimacy should only be to those partnered with one another and not before or outside of such. She generally had great distaste for overt or excessive sexualisation and promiscuity, seeing such as immoral. Amoroan Priestesses wore crowns of lilies and other flowers with white veils, and were expected to be virgins and celibate for life.
Amoroa greatly valued aesthetics and beauty, a belief shared with her replacement, Ishtar, however she favoured graceful and subdued beauty compared to Isthar’s embrace of exaggerated and offensively sexual beauty. The concepts of “Inner Beauty” and “Inner Ugliness” are of Amoroan creation, and are often used in religious conflicts between Amoroan and Ishtari faithful. Far-Western Civilizations, particularly the former colonies of the Celestial Empire of Mu, are renowned for following Amoroa’s standards of beauty, with it being desired for men and women to both be highly androgynous and graceful in appearance, and with very small sexual organs on both men and women. The virtue of these standards are spread by extreme Amoroan factions known as “Flat Cults,” which are particularly popular in nations such as Celestial Eidolon and as its namesake suggests, Celestial Amoroanine. In these same societies, large sexual organs in men or women are considered sinful and hedonistic, as they are signs of Ishtar’s blood corruption, to the point that some Flat Cults will resort to violence upon seeing them. Despite the claims of some Ishtari propagandists and wishful Isekai, Flat Cults are devoted to slim women with slight features, not children, which even in those lands is considered obscene.
The Yowees of the Celestial Empire of Mu were considered to be closely aligned with Amoroa, and some believe they still are even after her death, although there is no way to know following Mu’s retreat into total isolation following the final loss of its colonies in the Far-West. The remnant of Amoroanite worship in the Central Kingdoms is found in the Schismatics of Wachstaat, Catatonia, and the Southwest of the Continent, who deny that Amoroa died in the War in the Heavens.
Amoroan-influenced cultures tend to be adverse to contraception, such as through the “demon herb” Silphium. Amoroa herself never made known her thoughts on the matter, however Amoroan believers developed this belief due to the connection between Silphium and Ishtar’s hedonism. Some scholars suspect Amoroa was actually in favour of it, due to seeing relationships as being orientated around love, not the need for procreation. This would indeed be made further ironic by the fact that while Ishtari followers often make use of Silphium, Ishtar herself is known to be against it as an aberration against her command for fruitfulness in relationships.
Amoroa, in stark contrast to Ishtar, was not only tolerant of, but an advocate for, couplings between the same sex, as well as the embrace of androgyny between the sexes, suggesting it may have even been considered a purer and more exalted form of love. While Amoroa’s faith in the Central Kingdoms does not take to the extremes of Mu in this matter, it is the Amoroan faithful’s belief that so long as love is chaste, faithful, and monogamous, it does not matter who those two lovers are. With Amoroa’s death and her replacement, Amoroan cults and churches generally rejected Ishtar’s new dictates, including on this matter, to the point that a major contribution to the Bruderkrieg conflicts was this changing of the guard. Numerous churches, such as the Schismatics, the Southern Church of Origin, the Far-Western Flat Cults, and the Celestial Amoroanine Cult, all reject Ishtar and continue to worship the deceased Amoroa, believing that she was not killed, only rendered comatose, and will someday rise from her sleep to bless her devoted followers.
While this fact is often left out of modern day preaching, Amoroa herself was said to be comparably tolerant of Isekais in the days before the War in the Heavens, and even aided Isekais in their own quests at times. There is even a tale in the Yankeevine Empire that Amoroa herself appeared before The Yankee to bless his marriage to Aamu “Amy” Fjardísdóttir, the Northern Shieldmaiden. Amoroa’s faith was popular in the Yankeevine Empire for some time but slowly died out as Amoroa became more estranged from Isekais as they increasingly embraced harems. It is unknown what Amoroa thought of Isekais when Katsuro the Destroyer beheaded her during the War in Heaven, however it is known that she did not defend herself, only pleaded with her murderer to turn back from his course before it was too late. Amoroa died childless.
SUNDERING
Following Amoroa’s death at the hands of Katsuro the Destroyer, the True Affinity of Spirit was briefly unshackled and partially unleashed upon the world, alongside the other affinities of the dead gods slain by The Destroyer. These unleashed True Affinities, being inherently chaotic entities whose mere freedom ensures the unmaking of the entire universe by returning them to the primordial chaos at the beginning of all things, unleashed great destruction before The Gods could reshackle them with new wardens.
While not nearly as destructive as the True Affinity of Water, whose release is said to have resulted in the deaths of at least twenty million souls and the catastrophic sinking of the Realm of the Sea-dwarves, the effects of the rampage of the True Spirit can still be felt today. Across the whole of the world, madness, murderous rage, delusion, selfishness, suicide, melancholy, and a host of other diseases of the mind wracked the peoples of all nations… and even nearly a century later, even as the True Spirit is shackled again, its pernicious influence can be felt as aftershocks.
Following the defeat of Katsuro the Destroyer, in an effort to prevent the inevitable apocalypse from the unleashed True Affinities, Enin made a deal with the Demon Pantheon. As only a divine entity could hold a true affinity captive, and only one per divinity, Enin was forced to give the Archdemons the fallen gods’ affinities, finally empowering them to their equals. As such, Ishtar would be given the Wardenship of True Spirit.
RELATIONS
Amoroa is known to have been close to her mother, Enin. With her sister Reavanna she had a more complex relationship, as while they loved one another as sisters do, they were also quite dissimilar. Amoroa was known to have been deeply in love with a mortal man who died thousands of years ago, whose name is believed to have been Endymion, though it is uncertain if this was truly his name or an apocryphal creation long after. Amoroa was known to be an adviser for the first Empress of Mu, is believed to have met The Yankee, and was a renowned and persistent archenemy of Ishtar, as they saw each other as morally repugnant. The current Saint-Empress of Celestial Amoroanine, Amaris de Isobel, claims to be the mortal reincarnation of Amoroa, however this is rejected by all outside of the Amoroanine Cult.
Amoroa is affiliated with numerous things. Unicorns are considered sacred to Amoroa, being a creature that only permits virgins to ride it, and the “Eyes of the Unicorn,” a power that enables those with it to see the purity and innocence of the observed, is said to be linked to her. Virgins were said to be specially blessed by her, and while she lived she often gave them special boons. The fragrant lily is Amoroa’s sacred flower. Rainbows are often associated with Amoroa. The tropical Pineapple fruit is also associated with Amoroa, particularly in the Far-West and Mu.
The act of hand-holding is sacred amongst Amoroans. Amoroans often weave flowers into their hair and wear chaste clothing that avoids bringing attention to sexuality.
ISHTAR
Ishtar, as in her human form. The obscenity of her true Demon Form is not for the faint of heart.
The current Goddess of Love, Ishtar. Born from the rape of the Goddess of Nature, Laaeshan, by the Traitor God, Sarut. The current Warden of the True Affinity of Spirit following Amoroa’s death. Prior to her ascension to the Creator Pantheon, she was – and still is – the Archdemoness of Lust in the Demon Pantheon, where she is worshipped as The Carnal. As the Creatorist Goddess of Love, she is called The Spark of Passion, or She Who Sparks Passion. While Sarut is the progenitor of the Demon, Monstrine, and thus indirectly the Demihuman races, Ishtar’s multi-millennia-long escapades have led to a significant minority of the world’s population descending from her in some manner, with most of the demon and monstrine races claiming descent from her, and many of the Central Kingdom humans, especially in the Southeast regions of the Continent such as Astem and Tourine.
Ishtar is said to be strong-willed, vain, fickle, and fun-loving, with a love of festivities and frolics. She is known to be one of the most interventionist of the gods, having appeared in the physical realm more than any other deity, though often for very petty reasons revolving around her own amusement or pleasure, or simply to observe mortals personally – again for her own amusement. She has had many, many, many relationships with mortal men over millennia, usually rulers and aristocrats who have proven to be highly masculine and attractive or achieved great feats of might. Of the brave few who had rejected her advances, immense woe and suffering befell them, as a warning to all others.
While not a proper War Goddess, she is a connoisseur of conflict and struggle, and enjoys spectating great battles, massacres and duels for entertainment. The Gladiator Coliseums of the Demon Empire are partially devoted to her, alongside Vaughst the Archdemon of Wrath, and champion gladiators that impressed her have been known to be rewarded most intimately. Ishtar, rarely, if at all, engages in combat herself. She has, however, at times instigated rivalries and even wars out of boredom. She is a patron of many great warriors and leaders of war, and favourites are at times given boons for good performance on the battlefield as well as in the bedroom.
Ishtar has had countless lovers and consorts over millennia, including hundreds simultaneously, and birthed more demi-god children than all of the other gods and archdemons combined. She leaves them on the steps of their fathers’ houses, or the steps of her temples, before moving on to the next mortal that pleases her. The sheer number of demi-gods birthed by her has become so renowned that the concept of a Demi-god itself is tied to Ishtar. Demi-gods are known to be highly powerful Nephilim and Eliouds, with enough power that some have been known to fight against an Isekai by themselves and come out triumphant.
BELIEFS
Ishtar greatly favours polygamy and polyandry, and sees harems as an ideal whose failure to pursue – or rejection of – is immoral. Societies where Ishtar has great influence are non-monogamous, with most being both polygamous and polyandrous – though some only pursuing polygamy or polyandry depending on the established gender politics of the region. The Demon Empire permits vast harems for both genders, however polyamorous relations from the lesser-status harem members are forbidden – harem owners themselves are permitted to pursue outside of the harem. Promiscuity is generally considered desirable, as Ishtar herself is.
Ishtar generally speaking has faithfulness oriented around power, although the tenets of her faith have no moral investment in relationship fidelity. Lesser members of a harem are expected to be faithful while the owner is not. If a lesser member is unfaithful, this is not considered immoral as they are only expected to seek out opportunities if given the chance, but rather a challenge of authority and dishonour to the harem head who cannot control his or her mate. This challenge can result in deadly ceremonial conflict, or simply punitive punishments. In the Demon Empire, adultery tends to be punished in the opposite way to the Central Kingdoms; a child of cuckoldry is punished – often by death, but sometimes by being sent to Ishtari temples – rather than the perpetrator of the act. This is actually condemned by Ishtar, since she is a Goddess of Fertility, however the law is implemented and enforced by the cults of Ishtar’s siblings, particularly the Archdemons of Wrath, Envy and Pride.
Ishtar puts enormous importance on aesthetics and beauty, in particular sexual appeal. Ugliness is considered one of the two primary evils of Ishtari belief, along with prudery, and all of her faithful should aspire towards beauty both of themselves and their surroundings. What defines beauty in Ishtari faith is hotly debated, with numerous schools of thought endlessly arguing over the finer points, however Ishtar herself tends to favour the highly sexualized and physical, with an emphasis on hyper-masculine males and hyper-feminine females, and detests androgyny and small sexual organs as ugly. Ishtar does accept that beauty can be gained, so while it is sinful to be ugly, it is possible to be rewarded with boons granting greater beauty in exchange for sufficient pursuit of beauty, beautification, success in other values of Ishtar, or even intense enough desire. Even the hideous can be saved.
Intense desire for, passion in, and practice of carnal pleasure is desirable in Ishtar’s faith. While an overwhelming pursuit of hedonism and happiness in life is more closely associated with Gaumat of Gluttony, Ishtar is quite close to her unwieldy brother and also promotes more general hedonism outside of carnality. That said, Ishtar will forsake those who pursue hedonism to the point of forsaking beauty or desire altogether. Ishtar does not believe in the concept of “marriage” except within the understanding of the Harem. Ishtar accepts intimate acts before marriage and does not recognize betrothal exclusivity. She does recognise Harem exclusivity to an extent, but only out of pragmatism, not morality. Intimate relations outside of marriage or the Harem is acceptable for the Harem owner. Prudishness is considered the second great evil of Ishtari faith. Excessive clothing is deemed offensive, and celibacy is seen as a great moral failing. Chastity is accepted only as a matter of power and pragmatism rather than morals. Ishtar herself often commits many adulterous affairs and births bastards, however anyone who cheats on her is doomed to a most painful fate.
Despite the circumstances of her birth and the views of the now deceased Demon God Sarut, Ishtar rejects rape. The act of rape is in essence considered an act of dishonour and an aberration born of the failure of lust to manifest properly, as only an ugly and weak creature could resort to it for being unable to seduce another into willingly accepting an advance. Aggressive attempts at seduction, catcalling, and manipulativeness in the service of said seduction, are accepted to various degrees. While slavery is legal in the Demon Empire, sexual slavery is illegal as it is considered inherently rape, so while chattel slaves may be sent to the mines, them being found in the bedroom can lead to severe consequences. All lesser Harem members as such must be free members of society, and are permitted to leave the harem at any time, though in practice this may result in honour duels or loss of reputation.
Ishtari-influenced cultures tend to be great users of contraception, such as through the “demon herb” Silphium. This herb is greatly prized in the Empire, with the heart shape of its seed pod stamped upon their coinage. Fascinatingly, Ishtar herself is actually opposed to the use of contraception, as preventing the conception and birth of children is an aberration against her command to be fruitful and refuses to use it herself. Despite this, she has not outright forbidden it due to the overwhelmingly pragmatic uses it provides for her worshippers, including the Sacred Courtesans of Ishtar, who while are required to have at least one child to achieve senior rank, often make use of Silphium in the process of their career, as the process of bearing and raising children is quite inconvenient in such a position.
Ishtar is highly intolerant of couples of the same sex, regardless of gender. These relationships are considered an aberration and failure of the manifestation of lust, and is considered a dishonour comparable to rape. In the Demon Empire, being caught in an intimate relationship with a member of the same sex can result in genital mutilation, with male Demons forced to become Eunuchs as punishment, although generally only those who willingly turn themselves in are provided positions as powerful palace Imperial Eunuchs, due to trust and security concerns. These Imperial Eunuchs are often tasked with guarding female harems, but also fill administrative and scholarly roles in the Palace. In the Creator Pantheon kingdoms where Ishtar has been introduced, the remnants of Amoroa’s worship has left an odd divide between religion and tradition, as Ishtar condemns such unions that were heretofore traditionally accepted. As such, in Kingdoms like Astem and Tourine, such couplings are not illegal and are tolerated, however usually are considered impolite to speak of in open society. The further away from Ishtar’s influence one is, the less taboo it becomes.
Ishtar tends to find race no obstacle and has personally interbred with many other races from Demons and Humans to Monstrines and Demihumans, and as such her following and descendants tend to be highly racially diverse. That said, her rules on beauty and physicality are maintained across races, so she is biased against those who do not conform to them, in particular Humans and Elves of the Far-Western civilizations, where Amoroa was strongest.
Ishtar’s views on Isekais have changed over time. Long ago she used to be neutral towards them, and while it is heretical to mention now, is believed to have slept with the more masculine of them. As times went on however and the nature of the Isekai changed, Ishtar started to view Isekais as pathetic and ugly creatures, while most Isekais believed her to be evil. The Yankeevine Empire in particular views Ishtar to be an abomination. Following the War In Heaven, Ishtar is officially opposed to all Isekais, as are all the gods and archdemons. In the Yankeevine Empire, there are few to almost no Ishtar worshippers, or Demon Pantheon worshippers in general, due to the labelling of those religions as Dangerous Cults, and the absence of any demons in the Yankeevine Empire due to soul consumption being illegal across the board. Any worshippers in Isekai-ruled lands as such are hidden, illegal cults practising in secret.
RELATIONS
Ishtar is quite close to her brother Gaumat, the Archdemon of Gluttony. Despite his morbid obesity, they bond over their shared rabid hedonism and similar views and interests. As such, they often form alliances against their other siblings. Ishtar has a rivalry of sorts with Nephemem the Archdemon of Pride, due to Nephemem’s supposed position as leader of the Demonic Pantheon simply because she was their father’s favourite. Nephemem in turn sees Ishtar as a useless wanton who only derives any power from her appearance, and only uses it for baseless pleasure rather than any actual lofty goals. Esephy the Archdemon of Envy has a rivalry with Ishtar, which is generally one-sided on her part. Vaughst the Archdemon of Wrath may quietly resent Ishtar for joining the Creator Pantheon, as he is known for his bitter hatred of the Creator Gods and his long holding of grudges. In the Cult of Tash, a Monstrine Demigod worshipped by demon-aligned Monstrines, Demihumans and Centaurs, it is said that Ishtar, his Half-Sister, laid with him numerous times, and so some powerful Monstrine clans claim descent from both as divine bloodline.
Ishtar tends to have little motherly connection to her many children after birthing them, with only occasional appearances and interactions with those who impress her, and sometimes divine intervention to protect those in mortal peril. Her partners simultaneously are given little thought, although she will provide them boons and support.
Ishtar saw Amoroa as her archnemesis and the root to all ugliness and prudishness. Enin and Ishtar tend to cooperate officially, however it is believed by some that Enin holds a great deal of resentment against Ishtar for replacing her own daughter. Despite this personal animosity, they are now close allies in the war against the Isekais, and are both seen as the two “Bitch Goddesses” by them. Laaeshan, Ishtar’s mother, loves all her children, and has accepted Ishtar into the Creator Pantheon with great enthusiasm.
Ishtar is affiliated with numerous things. The monstrous Bull of Heaven or Lamassu is considered sacred to Ishtar, and often she or her champion of the moment rides him into war. The Bicorne is also sacred to Ishtar, being once Unicorns that were corrupted, and only permit harlots to ride them. Ishtar is said to never move on her own legs, instead being transported by either a golden chariot pulled by thirty four Lamassu and Bicornes, or by a litter carried by numerous muscular men. The Silphium is her sacred flora, which despite her opposition is still heavily associated with her Sacred Courtesans and is contraception, an abortifacient, and a powerful aphrodisiac. The exotic Man-eating Watermelon of the Demonic East is her sacred fruit.
The closer to Ishtar’s descent one is, the more exaggerated one’s physical features are on both women and men. Due to this, one can make broad guesses on the influence of Ishtar in a region simply with a glance on the average man and woman, and will find the further east they go, the more extreme this becomes.
Sacred Courtesans are an essential component of Ishtar’s temple. In Creatorist nations where monogamy is still dominant, "Counsellors of Union" of Ishtar are actually more akin to relationship counsellors and sex therapists, typically tasked with aiding in the psychological well-being of couples, in particular aristocrats with troubled relationships, with the traditional Ishtari roles downplayed. In the Demon Empire, they are more oriented around hedonism and beautification, and are essentially holy cosmeticists, although still fulfilling the basic role of Temple Prostitution.
