Ruins of the Temple of Vevano.
The following is an account on Vulpine Paganism as documented from various ancient accounts from Vesaria, now present-day Todd McCloud.
According to Vulpine Paganism, before time began, a group of foxes lived in a small village consumed by darkness. Darkness, which was sometimes referred to as the unknown and the sickness, caused the entire village to live in fear and misery. However, the foxes decided to wage war with the darkness, and, after a bitter battle that included many deaths, the foxes claimed victory over the darkness. Their leader, Verveno, met with the survivors to determine how vulpine kind should live. All were assigned realms, dominions, or specific objects to control or watch over. However, it was soon realized that after the defeat of darkness, they couldn’t produce children unless they became mortal. Therefore, they decided to allow some of their children to become mortal and start a race of vulpines, while the rest protected and helped the vulpine race. Motivated by love, they took care of their offspring with care, making sure the darkness stayed as far away from them as possible.
Vulpine Paganism died off at the end of the fifth century, but has recently experienced a small revival in the arts.
The Spirits
Lasa looking to Verveno as the darnkness retreats
Seviala watching the stars fall from the sky to become mortal.
Kirethro's minion harvesting a soul.
Mekra doing what he does best.
Ika viewing not a bird, but a butterfly.
- Verveno - spirit of the sun and the afterlife. He was the most powerful of all the spirits, and kept everything in line and in balance. He was the lead fox in defeating the darkness, and was known for his very gentle and loving attitude. His wisdom wasunmatched.
- Lasa - spirit of the region, wife of Verveno. She was known for her life-giving status as a mother for the common vulpine. Legend had it that she gave birth to five girls and five boys, and they, along with Jesa and Ivalsa’s children (except for Livaia), started the first common vulpines.
- Ivalsa - spirit of vixens in expecting, wife of Foreso. She assisted vixens through the trials of childbirth.
- Foreso - spirit of the seasons. His job was to make sure that each season arrived on time, telling which season spirit to arrive at what time.
- Vileska - spirit of spring. Her dress was fashioned of every conceivable shade of green. Whenever she walked through a certain grove of vegetation, the plants and trees would reflect her colors. This was because Reko was madly in love with her and would do anything to make himself be noticed. This season was also considered to be the start of the new year. Because of that, the ceremony and season name welcoming in Vileska was named Vionoshko, or first breed.
- Ileska - spirit of summer. Her presence was known when “the Ela flocked to Lake Verveno.” Ironically, this happened about the same time each year, in accordance to Ef Lireshk de Livwakshes, the book of years. Her season and ceremony was named Ilvestra.
- Ferso - spirit of autumn. He welcomed in the third season and was thought to love colors since he left his marks on the trees and vegetation of his cousin. Also, he was thought to try to impress Livaia by turning leaves to the colors of fire. This season was called Fevesnoshko, meaning second breed.
- Revekikiro - spirit of the winter. He lived alone in the village during the darkness and was used to being alone. Because of this, he felt vulpine kind would be more content if they were cold, because that would force themselves to stay near each other for warmth, and furthermore, he wanted to give them something different – snow. His season was called Rekikiro.
- Vivaskia - spirit of intercourse, sister of Seviala. She was in charge of making sure that when a married couple decided to have a child, their two souls would unite as one for a split second, creating a yivur, which was thought to be residue from the friction and energy from the two souls converging and diverging very fast. It was this spirit’s duty to make sure the fetus developed.
- Seviala - spirit of childbirth, sister of Vivaskia. Her duty was to make sure the child was born and that its soul was ready and able for life.
- Livaia - spirit of all love. She was the only daughter of Verveno to become a deity. Livaia was thought to be seen dancing in flames, and was a very beautiful and young vixen who watched over couples and marriage. Her father gave her the status of deity because of her striking beauty and her deep affection for those around her. Due to her appearance, there is no artistic likeness of her during the age of paganism, for it was believed no parchment could hold her beauty. Instead, she could be found "Dancing in the fire, always keeping a far enough distance."
- Vulpo - spirit of males, husband of Vixiena. He made sure male foxes were able to face challenges in their lives.
- Vixiena - spirit of females, wife of Vulpo. She made sure female foxes were able to face challenges in their lives.
- Vro - spirit of masks. Masks were very important in pagan Vesaria, in life and in death. During ceremonies, they’d wear masks not only for protection by Vro, but so that their ancestors would recognize them.
- Thosho - spirit of moon #1, brother of Verveno. He was known for his ability to be sly and sneaky, which is why moon #1 is barely visible throughout most of the year. This moon was later determined to be Sirus, the dog star.
- Resko - spirit of moon #2, brother of Verveno. He was thought to be very demanding, much like Thosho, and would be very careful in sending messages to Verveno (whom foxes typically asked favors of). The black sheep of the three brothers, he required common vulpines to love each other and remain peaceful or face terrible consequences.
- Irklesko - spirit of the wind. In a twist of events, this fox was given domain over the wind as a result of losing his voice after being attacked by darkness. As a result, his sons talk for him.
- Jiko - spirit of thunder, lighting, and strong storms of nature, brother of Irklesko. He was known for his surprises, which explained why thunderstorms could sometimes appear suddenly.
- La - spirit of the calm clouds, wife of Irklesko. She was thought to be a very optimistic person who wanted to give the common vulpines something to be comforted by. So, she created calm clouds to give shade and provide some entertainment.
- Reko - spirit of trees, son of Irklesko. He was known to have great compassion for common vulpines, and allowed their ancestors to rustle branches to try to communicate with the living.
- Gro spirit of the grass, son of Irklesko. Grass was an important symbol of blessing for pagan Vesaria because of the way it covered the entire land and never seemed to die. It was thought that grass, like plants and trees, held a special tie with ancestors.
- Mikro - spirit of the plants, son of Irklesko. Plants included all things “not moving, nor guided by the hands of Gro and Reko.” In other words, all vegetation except for trees and grass.
- Kirethro - spirit of death. He guided souls from their bodies by lifting them from their flesh. The departed soul would assume the appearance of however it looked in the prime of its life, chosen by the soul. For instance, if the soul like the way it looked at age 17, its new appearance would become that for eternity. Next, this deity would bind an irremovable mask to the newly reformed soul’s face, causing it to be unable to talk. The mask could represent almost anything: shame, joy, love, mediocrity, etc. Then the soul would be free to roam Vesaria, living invisible to its offspring but able to guide them. With its mouth now covered, it would communicate instead by echo possession, water, wind, or other sounds. Kirethro himself lost his physical appearance to the darkness, rendering him invisible.
- Mekra - maker of masks. His crafts were unmatched within the spirit world.
- Leveyya - spirit of mask wielding. The only thing she was in charge of was giving the mask of the departed soul to Kirethro - benevolent helper spirit to Kirethro. Sometimes, she would have to bind the mask if Kirethro had to hold the soul down if it tried to escape its fate.
- Aavero - spirit of caves. Caves were thought to be portals to the spirit world and the physical world. They were revered as holy places, and were often occupied by a priest or priestess. It was believed that the echoes were their ancestors repeating back to the speaker what he forced them to say. This was called echo possession, and it was very important to have a clear mind when attempting this.
- Irala - spirit of the air, sister of Lasa and wife of Jiko. It was believed that these two foxes, her and Jiko, were still madly in love, so they were given very similar domains so that they would never have to part. But, she would always let Jiko make a grand entrance whenever he wanted to make thunder and lightning.
- Ervelo - spirit of water. He was very close friends with Jiko, who would assist him by giving Ervelo water from his rain. Ervelo would, in turn, give water back by evaporation. Evaporation wasn’t discovered by neighboring regions until the middle ages.
- Ika - spirit of the birds. Her voice was thought to be so beautiful and so unique that birds would try to mimic her tones, using the wonderful sounds to attract their mates.
- Vekvestro - spirit of the forest animals. In his home, before darkness was conquered, he cured his loneliness by befriending all the animals he met. When darkness was defeated, an estimated 2,777 animals were counted, with at least two genders per species.