Legends of Belariath

Triestan (the Vulpine Religion)

and General Vulpine Cultural Information

The Lady

The Lady is a ten-tailed Vulpine, as it stands She is unique for there are no other vulpines with more than nine tails. She is the mother of the vulpine race, and most serve Her in one manner or another. All vulpine tribes honor The Lady by never speaking Her name to outsiders, instead referring to Her as simply "The Lady", "Our Lady” or "The Mother of All Vulpines".  In Vulpani She's referred to as shuka triesta, hence the word triestan, which literally means "worship of The Lady".  But even this is simply Her "public" name, another name vulpines speak among non-vulpines.

Vulpines are devoted to Her service, though none see it as blasphemy to worship other gods, whether it is in their quest for wisdom or in their desire to appease the hedonism so common among their kind.  As with every large group of people, however, there are vulpines that are intensely devout, those who are casual practitioners of triestan, and those who choose to be agnostic towards Her.  The Run'ya Najaka cult is even actively hostile towards The Lady, seeing Her as the one who unfairly exiled their Beloved Leader, Najaka, from the earth.

There is some disagreement between various denominations of triestan as to The Lady's beginnings.  Some believe that She was once a mortal wolven, repeatedly raped and abused while on earth, who died and became a deity.  Others believe She was created by one of the "Big Four" gods.  Still others believe that The Lady has always existed since time began.

What is not generally in dispute, however, is how She caused the vulpine race to come into existence.

The Origin of the Vulpine Form

Many billions of years ago, before Belariath was created, The Lady existed along with all the other gods and goddesses. But She was without physical form; She represented Herself as a ball of golden light. Over a long period of time, the gods gave birth to the universe, along with the world of Belariath and all the flora and fauna in it. Eventually, they began to create sapient species.

The Lady was fascinated by all the creation going on, and She yearned to create a sapient species of Her own, in Her own image. But She didn't currently *have* a corporeal form of Her own, so first She had to choose one.

The Lady spent years traveling the width and breadth of the world, and eventually found a spiritual kinship with the fox, which is playful, cunning, and clever. So She created a form for herself that mimics the fox, with its fur, nose, large triangular ears, and tail. Only in Her case, She chose to stand on two legs, and She decided to give Herself ten tails. The members of the sapient race that She would soon create, the vulpine race, would all have the opportunity to be blessed with multiple tails by The Lady, which would be Her special way of showing unambiguous love and pride in that individual.

The Lady's Three Mates

The Lady, being the first vulpine and the Mother of every other vulpine who came after, thus didn't have a male vulpine at first with which to procreate-- which was something She very desperately wanted to do.  So She created a mate for herself, and designed him to be exactly like Her in every way except gender.  She gave him the name Qileya, meaning "the same".

It was a disaster-- everything She wanted to do, he wanted to do.  There was no exchange of ideas between them, no difference of opinion, and no independent thought came out of his mind.  Though She'd never have to worry about fighting with Her mate, The Lady realized that neither of them could truly feel fulfilled with this arrangement, and so with a heavy heart She sent him out into the world to visit other peoples, without lying with him to conceive a child.

Humbled by Her failure, The Lady didn't try again for six years, after which She decided She'd make another mate-- this time, one who was the opposite of Her in every way.  She named him Najaka, meaning "the opposite".  As one might expect, this relationship was even more of a disaster than the first time She'd created a mate.  The Lady and Her second mate argued over everything, never agreed on anything, and their differences of opinion and personality were so vast as to be utterly irreconcilable.   Worse, Her second mate didn't share The Lady's love and tolerance of others; he looked upon everyone with hate and anger, talking of other races as if they needed to be wiped off the face of the earth.

The Lady debated with Herself for a long time what She should do with him.  Obviously, She couldn't send him out into the earth to spread peace, love and brotherhood like She'd done with Qileya, to put it mildly.  She literally couldn't erase him from existence, and She refused to kill him, for She had too much respect for the right of everyone to exist.  So finally, to prevent him from hurting anyone, She turned Najaka into a constellation in the night sky.  Even today, the constellation Najaka is worshiped by a small, deviant vulpine cult named the Run'ya Najaka-- "followers of Najaka"-- who believe that one day he'll return to wreak havoc upon the earth, and that they will comprise his army.

After that failure, it would take Her another fourteen years to think about creating another mate.  But this time, before doing so, She went into some of the villages and cities of the world and observed how other people's successful marriages lasted.  She learned that husbands and wives neither agreed on everything nor disagreed on everything; everyone had their own unique qualities and idiosyncrasies that made them individual people.  There was give-and-take in every relationship, each person had unique, complimentary traits, and each person filled a void, whether great or small, inside their mate.  Learning this lesson, The Lady created a third intended mate for Herself (naming him "Trejani," meaning "his own man"), but this time created him as a baby and allowed two catperson friends of Hers to raise him as their own in a loving family.  When he came of age, The Lady returned to the village and got to know him as the person he'd grown to be, never once telling him that She'd created him.  And he fell in love with Her on his own, just as She'd hoped he would.  They married, and the children they had would spell the creation of the entire vulpine race.

The Lady and Trejani had fourteen children, known collectively as the Tayva Din-- "Original Children".  And when they went out and met other races, for the first several generations The Lady's influence allowed all their descendants to miraculously be born as full vulpines and not half-breeds-- therefore building and propagating the vulpine race.  Eventually, when the vulpine race had reached a point where it could perpetuate itself, The Lady lifted the restriction, and vulpines continued to multiply, also creating half-breeds for the first time.

The Sacred Teachings

The Sacred Teachings is a book written directly by The Lady, Trejani, and their closest descendants detailing the beginnings of the vulpine race, what The Lady demands of Her followers, and the earliest histories of vulpines in the mortal world.

What The Lady Demands of Her Followers

At its very heart, though The Sacred Teachings goes into sometimes-extensive detail about specific rules for triestan practitioners, the two most important rules are these:

Live your life to the fullest, taking complete advantage of all the pleasures and joys the mortal world has to offer, and;

Continually strive for self-improvement.

Worshiping The Lady

The Lady's most ardent followers would say they worship The Lady in everything they say and do, especially when it comes to making love.  In public they also go to temple services, which can be held any time of the day or night.  Vulpine temples are usually open every minute of every day, during which individuals, small groups or large groups can come and go as they wish.

In private vulpines often kneel before an altar with a statue of The Lady and some candles and/or incense.  Some important tools for worship include kinshosha incense (which smells of vanilla with a light hint of cinnamon), and hot yatava tea, which can be any flavor (yatava refers to the herb it's made with, which has an invigorating effect on vulpines).

Most vulpines believe in sex as being an integral part of worship.  Hiyazhin is a form of worship that involves sitting or kneeling in front of an altar and masturbating while reciting prayer.  Orinjin involves sex with one or more partners.

Vulpines' Immortal Souls

When vulpine spirits are ready to enter the world, they appear to their future mother in a vision, telling her that they wish to enter the realm of mortals, and letting her know when the best time to conceive their physical form will be.

Vulpines, however, are not born with their spirits.  When one uses the vulpine spirit to refer to a person, here are the stages of life they go through:

Felkonsh ("too young for a soul") are vulpines from birth to age eighteen, after which they're legally considered adults but are still too young to receive their souls.

In many tribes, newborn kits are unnamed for the first few days, even weeks of their life, and each kit in a litter is given their individual Naming Day, or Qzari, in which their parents announce the child's name.  This is done in descending order of age.  The name is declared in front of family and friends, and the announcement is usually followed with light refreshments and celebrating.

The reason for the Qzari is to give each child her own special day, since litter-mates naturally share the same birthday.  But every child is important and deserves to have the beginning of his life celebrated separately as an individual.  (However, some families, due to frugality or poverty, decide to hold the Qzari of all members of the litter on the same day.)

Felkulu ("soul-builders") are vulpines from age eighteen to twenty.  Only at age eighteen are the full details of triestan (and the complete text of The Sacred Teachings) made available to them.  Felkulu are the first age group legally allowed to experience the complete sensations of hedonism.  And some tribes have even set up voluntary or mandatory sex education training, which is exactly what it sounds like.  The best way to learn is by doing.

During these two years, felkulu are helped to prepare for what it will feel like to be joined to their immortal souls, and most of them, with this new information made available to them, settle on their first career choice.

The Soul-Joining Ritual itself tends to vary by tribe.  Some tribes send their felkulu out to fight and kill monsters in The Lady's name.  Some of them require a test of courage or of character.  Some tribes send the felkulu into cold mountains, scorching desert or treacherous rainforest without food, and they gain their souls by abstaining from their creature comforts and some necessities, hardening them for what is to come.  Some vulpines even spontaneously receive their souls for what seems like no reason at all.

In any event, once the Soul-Joining Ritual is complete, the felkulu who receive their souls become felkanibaz (literally "soulful one" and commonly shortened to felki), and traditionally celebrate with plenty of sex, good food, good drink and fellowship.

About one in every 15,000 vulpines does not initially receive their soul during the Soul-Joining Ritual, and for them, the Atonement Ritual begins.  Their oldest living felki sibling shaves off all the fur on his or her head, and goes into the temple to pray for their brother or sister to receive the soul.  (In the event the felkulu is an only child, a parent, best friend, teacher or other loved one may substitute, but that person must be a felki.) 

In the meantime, the felkulu undergoes a repeat of the Soul-Joining Ritual, this time alone.  The felki does not eat, and drinks only water, until the felkulu returns or until twice the time allotted for the typical Soul-Joining Ritual has passed-- at which time the Atonement Ritual is brought to a close.  (For example, if the original Soul-Joining Ritual takes place over a week's time, and the Atonement Ritual lasts longer than two weeks, it is brought to an end). 

If the felkulu takes longer than expected to return to the village, the villagers will search for him until he's found, or presumed dead.

If the Atonement Ritual is unsuccessful, the felkulu is declared to be a felkanitiban (literally, "soulless one", and shortened to felko).  Becoming a felko has dire consequences, as will shortly be made clear.  If the Atonement Ritual is successful, the felkulu receives a soul, becomes a felki, and the fact that they had to do the Atonement Ritual is not held against them.  The Atonement Ritual becomes, in their minds, little more than an unhappy memory, though it certainly has the potential to strengthen the familial bonds between the new felki and their oldest sibling who worked so hard to help make the Atonement Ritual a success.

In any event, after the Soul-Joining Ritual (and, if necessary, the Atonement Ritual), a vulpine is either a felki or a felko.

Felko ("soulless ones") are generally considered to be unworthy to be part of a vulpine community.  At best they're prevented from ever holding a prestigious job in vulpine villages, but more often than not they're exiled entirely.  And it's their eldest sibling's responsibility to be the one to exile the felko-- a viciously cruel irony, because the eldest sibling was the same person who tried to help their sibling receive a soul through the Atonement Ritual.

Because they have not received their immortal souls, felko have lifespans equivalent to that of humans and human-like races.  They will never live to be 900 like most other vulpines, or anywhere near that long.  And more often than not, female felkoni never receive the call from the spirits of their future children, asking to be brought into the world.

What is perhaps most devastating to felko is that, because they have no souls, they are permanently incapable of being resurrected. When they die, they die, and cannot come back to life.

Many felkoni turn, in their rage and despair, to the Run'ya Najaka cult, and declare war on mainstream vulpine culture, The Lady, and the non-vulpine world as a whole.

Felki ("soulful ones") are vulpines who have successfully earned their souls, and they are given the full rights, privileges and respect that a member of a vulpine tribe deserves.  Felkis' physical forms age extremely slowly by human standards; even a vulpine aged 500 years still looks and feels as spry as a human in their early-to-mid-30s.  Felki generally live to be 900 or so years old.

Three Kinds of Vulpines

In the contemporary teachings of triestan, it's generally accepted that there are three different kinds of vulpines, none of which are inherently superior to any other.  There are full-blooded vulpines, half-breeds, and what are called fuch'vulpines-- which literally means, "vulpines by choice".  Fuch'vulpines are people not born vulpine, who become romantically involved with or marry a vulpine.  One can also be called a fuch'vulpine by simply worshiping The Lady.

It is also taught nowadays that The Lady loves all three kinds of vulpines equally, without prejudice; however, only full vulpines and half-breeds are eligible to receive the vulpine immortal souls.  Fuch'vulpines are recognized colloquially as "having the soul of a vulpine", but the recognition has no practical effect on fuch'vulpine lifespans.  Some religious scholars have speculated that The Lady has a kind of "no-compete clause" with the other racial gods that prevents her from granting vulpine souls to fuch'vulpines.

All three kinds of vulpines are, by tradition and law, considered to be full vulpines with all the rights, respect and privileges awarded thereto, except that fuch'vulpines cannot lead a vulpine clan.  (They are, however, eligible to serve on tribal councils).

However, the recognition of the Three Kinds of Vulpines is a relatively recent phenomenon, only truly taking root about 2000 years ago.  For further details, we shall review the teachings and writings of an ancient vulpine priest named Gelafo.

Gelafo and Gelafo's Recitations

In ancient times, only full-blooded vulpines were permitted the full rights and respect of being considered vulpine.  Half-breeds were met with derision in even the most liberal villages, and in the most reactionary ones, they were exiled or even stoned to death.  Fuch'vulpines were not recognized as vulpines at all; in the eyes of mainstream triestan, you were either born a full vulpine or you weren't.

However, about 6200 years ago a charismatic young man named Gelafo rose rapidly to the high priesthood of the city of Mintaka by preaching tolerance and love for all The Lady's Children, whom he believed included half-breeds and fuch'vulpines.  (Indeed, he even coined the latter term).  He was considered a radical during his lifetime.  However, as The Lady continued to bless him with tails-- he ultimately ended up with eight, quite a rare sight-- many of his critics fell silent at the incontestable proof that The Lady was favoring what he was teaching.

Towards the end of his life, he wrote a book in Ancient Vulpani entitled Gelafo's Recitations, which ultimately formed a series of 207 sacred prayers.  The book was originally released in serial format, with the author publishing eight Recitations at a time.  Each recitation speaks on one specific topic, though some topics are brought up more than once.  The topics covered include the importance of being a good host, taking care of one's slaves, treating half-breeds and fuch'vulpines as fellow Children of the Lady, and so much more.  Ironically, though Gelafo was hardly a prude, sex is not brought up once in the entire text.

Each of the Recitations are eight lines long, except for the 207th, which ends abruptly after the fifth line because Gelafo died of old age before completing it.  After Gelafo's death, the 25 existing books in the series were put together with the remaining, unpublished Recitations, and became the complete volume known today.

Considered a radical, almost heretical book when the first volumes were published, today Gelafo's Recitations is found in vulpine classrooms, homes, libraries and temples throughout the known world.  While the original Ancient Vulpani version is still by far the most popular, it's also been translated into contemporary Vulpani and Common.

Many vulpines who go through extensive religious training have committed the entire book to memory, and often quote it in their everyday lives, especially when praying to The Lady.

The Blessings of New Tails

As mentioned in the race's introduction, the number of tails vulpines have represent their prestige, skill, age and rank.  A vulpine may gain a tail for bringing honor to family and tribe, or lose one for breaking vulpine law or dishonoring oneself.

Vulpines are born with anywhere from zero to two tails.  The number of tails a vulpine has does not necessarily directly correlate to their age; ergo, it's not completely unexpected for a 30-year-old vulpine to have several more tails than one who's lived for hundreds of years.  In a situation such as this, the higher-tailed vulpine respects the older one for their greater experience, while the older one respects the younger for being blessed so with the number of tails.

The Lady is the judge of who's blessed with tails or cursed with the loss of one.  In the case of someone being blessed with a new one, The Lady waits until the next time that person falls asleep, and then puts them into a deep sleep from which they won't wake up until the tail has finished growing.

The new tail grows quite rapidly, and always to the full length of any existing tails.  Extensive study has shown that within an hour of its initial formation, a vulpine's tail completes its growth.  Vulpines blessed in this way have shown a tendency to grin, as if they're aware of the wonderful sensation of new tail growth.

New tails are usually considerably more sensitive to touch than the other tails for the first three days after being formed, which their significant others soon pick up on very quickly.  The increased sensitivity slowly drops after that, and within a week of the new tail being formed, it "feels" like a fully-integrated part of the vulpine's body, even if they continue to delight in just having it for a little while longer.

When The Lady deems it necessary and justified for a vulpine to lose a tail because he's dishonored himself, it usually happens almost immediately, done as a striking display of The Lady's displeasure towards Her child.  There is absolutely nothing more humiliating than for a vulpine to lose a tail in front of the one he's insulted with his reprehensible behavior.

It is possible for a vulpine to turn one's life around after being stripped of a tail, and for The Lady to recognize that by granting him that tail back, or one to replace it.  Indeed, some people have had remarkable turnarounds after losing a tail, going from the low point of their life to high praise and esteem.  Some have even eventually become tribal elders.  It is never too late for the penitent heart to find forgiveness and mercy.

The Kah'yoto Oath

Vulpines take honor very seriously and do not break their promises, as a rule.  But for the most serious of promises, such as vowing to follow someone on a noble quest or a mission of vengeance, sometimes to prove their sincerity vulpines will take the greatest oath of all-- the oath of kah'yoto.

A person swearing the oath of kah'yoto does so by making a promise and sealing it with the words "E opar kah'yoto," literally "I swear kah'yoto".  The kah'ri (the person giving the pledge) prostates himself before the kah'tima (the person receiving the pledge), and is forbidden from rising until the kah'tima touches both of the kah'ri's shoulders and accepts the vow, or helps him to his feet to decline it.

Once the kah'yoto oath has been accepted, the kah'ri is bound by The Lady to fulfill the pledge he's made or die trying.  The kah'ri may not unilaterally break the pledge, though the kah'tima may release him from it at any time.  And certain extenuating circumstances can also end the kah'yoto pledge honorably.  For example, if the kah'ri pledges to take venegance for a loved one's death, and the killer is assassinated before the kah'ri can get to him, the kah'yoto may honorably end.

Taking a kah'yoto pledge is not something done lightly by vulpines, and breaking kah'yoto dishonorably is one of the most grevious crimes a vulpine can commit.  The Lady has historically struck down vulpines who have deliberately, egregiously broken it, and has been known to do so even in contemporary times.

Kalva Tarre: "The Night of Succession"

When the Tribal Elder of a vulpine village or tribe makes her final passage from this world, there is a traditional mourning period of three days during whicn no alcohol is permitted to be sold or consumed, and vulpines are expected to spend as much free time as possible in the temples, praying to The Lady that the tribal council will select a wise and just leader as the new Tribal Elder.

When the mourning period has passed, the tribal council meets to determine who among them will become the new Tribal Elder (and also, less importantly, who will fill the tribal council seat that will be vacated when the new Elder completes the succession).  If the tribal council is deadlocked, which doesn't often happen, they put the vote to the entire tribe.

When the new Tribal Elder is announced, the evening is declared Kalva Tarre:  "The Night of Succession".  The tribe celebrates with feasting, parties and public displays of affection.

Boz'na Service

Once a month, penitent vulpines sit cross-legged in front of their personal altar to remember their friends and family who've preceded them into their final death. The vulpine lights a thick black candle, the boz'na (remembrance) candle, and places it on their altar. The candle has the symbol of their particular tribe engraved on the front of it.

The vulpine proceeds to read the names of their dearly departed loved ones from the boz'na'tar (remembrance scroll). Each name is followed by a full minute of silence in which the vulpine remembers that person in particular. The vulpine performs this service fully-clothed, and it's considered a grave insult to the dead to interrupt the service except in cases of extreme emergency.

When a new name is added to the boz'na'tar, the vulpine has another boz'na service on the very day they learn of their loved one's death.

Lilabon Supplication

Every now and then, there comes a time in the life of a vulpine, male or female, in which they want to make a direct appeal to The Lady for guidance or help in their life regarding big decisions or moments. This could be something like having trouble becoming pregnant, choosing whom to marry or whom to enslave, or if they should take a big job offer that will require a move out of town.

A triestani vulpine facing a moment like that might decide to seek out a vision from The Lady for reassurance, instruction, or even direct intervention. This person would then come to the vulpine temple and enter lilabon supplication, becoming a lilaboni. For three or four days, they would subsist on only bread and water, and spend the rest of their time in deep meditation and prayer. The Lady looks down on the lilaboni with love and answers directly with a vision, sometimes even substantiating Herself on earth to make Herself visible to all in the temple.

After The Lady reveals Herself to the lilaboni, the supplication is over, and the person is free to eat and drink again. A feast, called the Lilabon Giln'hof (Lilabon Feast), often follows in the temple, and involves the lilabon supplicant, their closest friends and family, and the priests.