Taaravahr
The Form of the World

kavkem mythologies, while not monolithic, share common elements that they refer to as Taaravahr (The [Common] Form of the World). Taaravahr includes information about the source of their world and about the gods that inhabit it and can be best imagined as a kind of loose 'old testament'.

The agreed upon deities of Taaravahr are Garukaron, Tkanetar, Maenona and Tamas̈elu. Many minor gods exist, but these are not typically attributed to Taaravahr but to the specific flavour of religion, even if some of them are shared between several.

Of these deities, Garukaron is considered an indifferent creator of the universe. Tkanetar is the original 'landlord' of the world that the kavkema live on, occasionally fashioned as a specific creator - depicted as a vengeful, territorial god of light, fire and all mammalian life. Maenona is a counterpart, so serene as to be distant and absent from the conflicted world, goddess of the night and of the winds. Finally, Tamas̈elu is the guardian of the kavkema, who carved the world out of Tkanetar's grip to preserve them from a certain destruction - the goddess of qanu (life worth living).

To the Tarnish kavkema of central Asheenagiji, Tamas̈elu's actual existence is a rumour. To the kavkema of the rest of Nekenalos, she is very real - either they have personally seen her on some occasion (sometimes even a savior from dire circumstances), or they know that the Karesejat (she [who] sees) of the Nayabaru hunts her with an obsessive vengeance.

It is the job of the ryrhakenema - the singers, the story-tellers - to keep Taaravahr alive and to tie the kavkema together with that common faith. It is they who are consulted in matters of faith and they who walk for miles simply to hear a new story. The communication is slow, but has proven reliable over generations. The ryrhakenema are the protectors of the shared sense of identity amongst the kavkema.

Nitish Ynas
The Tarnish

To the adherents of Tarnish, the deities are to be considered metaphysical forces of nature more than tangible deities. From the perspective of Tarnish, thus, typically the sunlight is Tkanetar, just as the shade is Maenona. These two deities shape the every day life of a Tarnish adherent - avoiding sunlight, ensuring that one sleeps in shade, knowing to be wary of creatures that have been exposed directly to the light for a longer period of time.

See also

If you want to explore kavkem mythology in greater detail, you can do so on this wiki page, but bear in mind it's entirely optional for roleplay. Feel free to delve into it out of personal interest.