The curve of Khasekhemwy’s thin lips turned grim and sombre.
“Yes,” he answered flatly. He considered leaving it at that, but Danny’s young face was bright with eager curiosity, so he elaborated with a hint of weariness. “An abundance of words have been used to describe the original fairies, perhaps rightly – selfish, ignorant, self-superior. It is true that if we ever knew what it was like to be a mortal, ordinary fairy, we have long since forgotten.” He studied Danny’s face, clearly choosing his words carefully. “Imagine for a moment that you have the power to create a world and all the people in it,” he continued after a moment. “You randomly select a small group of the population and give them extraordinary power. You make them immortal, and you dedicate cults to them so that, growing up, their understanding of a normal relationship is one whereby they are worshipped. Alter their perceptions, just a little, so that empathising with the rest of the population is that little bit harder, and set their cults against each other so that they become rival figures. Does that sound like a good idea to you?” He smiled a little sadly. “Even the deities who mean no real harm towards other people may and will hurt them incidentally, often by fighting with other deities. Divine battles are more destructive than any monster. Whenever a person has ambitions and is not careful about them, other people may get stepped on; the more power that person holds, the more heavily they step. That is why the council exists. Theoretically, it can reign in any deity who has given themselves a little too much leash.”
Of course, what worked in theory did not always work in practice. Khase had to suppress a shudder whenever he thought of the antics Lorraine, Rhaegar and Mallos got up to unpunished. He considered going into the history of the council’s establishment, and the great war of monotheism, but decided that that was a lesson for another day.
Danny’s request plucked a little of the colour out of Khase’s cheeks. Allianah scared him. Then again, most of the other originals scared him.
“Allianah is one of the main patrons of healers; an interest for you and your brother, perhaps.” He placed his now-empty mug back down on the coffee table. “Polytheistic cults – that is, cults which worship multiple deities – are numerous and varied. Different deities can hold different roles across the different cults… so one cult may worship Allianah as the patron of healers; another may worship Tsi for the same role. Some deities have become strongly established in certain roles which are rarely contested across the different religions, however, such as my role with scribes and administrators. Allianah and Tsi are the two most prominent healing deities, only occasionally replaced myself, Aura or Rhaegar. My role is usually more limited to a patron of medical practitioners and students, rather than of healing; Aura has become associated with almost all forms of magic over the aeons; and Rhaegar, like Allianah, is a warrior. Hospitals were invented on and for the battlefield, and the warrior has traditionally been a healer too.
“This is Allianah’s symbol.” He lifted his hand, palm-up, over the coffee table. A red, holographic image of a hand decorated with henna glowed into life just above his palm and hovered there, bathing their faces in a crimson light. Khase gave it an uncertain look. “Tread carefully wherever you see a deity symbol, Danny; it usually marks the property or something being protected by that deity. Followers, worshippers and general supporters of a deity may choose to wear that deity’s symbol too, but if you ever come across a mark like this which suddenly appears, or glows, or in any other way appears magical… think before you act.
“Allianah is, as you correctly stated, a warrior. She generally appears in polytheistic religions (in which she is popular) as a goddess of war and combat, victory, good fortune, healing, or as a protector of soldiers or of the weak. Her preferred weapon is the bow, or any other missile. She’s a Nubian – a person of Nubia, a desert-country on Earth which no longer exists. She’s well known for her preference of harsh environments and for making Alliance recruits endure them as part of their training.” A small frown creased Khasekhemwy’s brow as he gazed at the glowing hand in his palm. “She is also a staunch feminist, almost radically so, and you will have a harder time winning her respect for the sole crime of being male. She does respect men, but you have to do more to earn it than a woman would. She bears a longer and more furious grudge than any other deity, and is unforgiving of any mishap or mistake.
“The native tongue of Nubia is Meroitic, but to all intents and purposes you may consider Allianah’s language to be Arabic. The word for ‘lady’ in Arabic is sitt. Two of her preferred epithets in the ancient language are khepesh, meaning ‘strong arm’, and kheneti, simply meaning ‘the Nubian’. I would advise, however, that you steer clear of her, unless you choose to study her path of healing.” He closed his hand and the glowing symbol vanished. “Allianah has a long-standing sworn enmity with Lorraine and Mallos, so you would be ill-advised from mentioning either in her presence.”
He smiled wryly. “Do you want to learn about any of the others, or have you had enough for one day?”
khasekhemwy
patron deity of palestine
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