Dev Diary 71: Nhialic and Swanco religions
Salvete!
Today we’ll be: talking about the Nhialic and Swanco religions, announcing another Discord AAR-challenge and show some amazing models made by MattTheLegoman.
But first, a much requested feature, here’s a map showing every mission tree in the mod.
Now onto the challenge - and its reward. Some of you might remember the AAR contest that we had to celebrate 10,000 subscribers - the winner then suggested ideas for a mission tree, which resulted in the “Pirate Illyria” campaign that you can now play. Well, we are reviving this idea for the next month or so while we wait for the next update! Make an AAR about your Invictus campaign. Our favourite AAR will be chosen, and the winner of it will get to choose a region or country that will receive a mission tree. There will be more info, prizes, and challenges on the Discord in the ‘challenges-aars’ forum which you can here:
https://discord.gg/eaPhRbSq73
As for the amazing models by MattTheLegoman for the Insular (British) Celts. Here’s some screenshots, all of these were added in the hotfix which released yesterday.
With that being said, time to hand you over to Izn and his religious reworks.
Hello i’m Izn, and I’d like to pull your attention to, beyond the bounds of Egypt and Nubia, the Nilotic people and their Nhialic religion!
The Nhialic religion is very distinct from its surrounding faiths. The Nilo-Saharan pantheon includes a strikingly Abrahamic-God like supreme being in Kowth Nhial. With him are lower spirits called Cowlics, or Sky spirits, and below them are the Earthly spirits. They currently have 8 new deities that I will briefly go over.
War
Macardit, a powerful spirit of lightning. He would be seen as an evil figure later in the Nhialic mythos for some Nilotic peoples. It is said that those who he smites with his lightning were deservedly killed.
Tutgar, the great Kowth Nhial in his powerful Ox form. The supreme being can more easily interact with mortals in this mighty form.
Economy
The Cowlic Deng, the strongest of all the Cowlics, this sky god can help build civilizations from the ground up.
And his son Garang, the god of the Sun, his powerful nature is similar to that of his father.
Culture
Kowth Nhial himself, the supreme being, the Kowth spirit of the faith. This god of gods is sometimes compared to Abrahamic God in his supremeness over the Nilotic peoples.
Nyikang, the legendary founder of the Nilotic peoples. Though a mere mortal, his legendary spirit is sure to attract followers in his reverence.
Fertility
The great goddess Buk reigns as both a Sky and Earth spirit. She is the mother of the strongest Cowlic, Deng, thus it’s only natural for her to have a reverent place among the people.
And the mysterious goddess, the Colwic of Abany. This goddess’ name is lost to time, but her legacy continues in the goddess Hathor of the Egyptians, for the Colwic Abany the Proto-Hathor.
Nhialic comes with spread teetering down from the lower Nile, and holy sites sitting at the upper end of it.
NOW, another religion at the edge of the map, this one I’m super excited about. Replacing the worst religion in the game, in the depths of the Tarim Basin, the Indo-European isolate faith, enter Swanco!
Yep, that’s right, Ritualistic is no more! It was split up into a few other religions, including this Tarim Basin religion. The Tocharians and their religion was quite interesting to piece together. Along with the Hittites, they were one of the earliest branch offs from the Indo-Europeans. This means their faith and language is most comparable to the ancient Anatolians, oh how the world works in strange ways. The deities for Swanco are quite interesting in my opinion, so let’s talk about them!
War
Witerhu, the god of war. While there’s no direct naming of the god of war, this is a reconstructed name based upon the Hittite god Terhu and the Tocharian word witare, which means ‘to fight.’
Yakwi, the twin horse gods. In many Indo-European faiths, there is the presence of the twin horse gods, as such, the name ‘Yakwi’ literally means ‘two horses.’
Economy
The second most important deity of the Tocharians, the goddess Menya. Menya was, in fact, important to the point that she may have held equal importance as the head of the pantheon, who we will get to later.
Now, Swese, the goddess of weather. A rather fun reconstruction, Swese comes from the Tocharian word for rain. Her presence in the pantheon here can be credited to the Hitties and their rain god with very similar roots.
Culture
The goddess Kem, another Tocharian goddess of high importance. Kem follows the Indo-European trope of an Earth-Mama goddess.
The god Iprer, which comes from the Tocharian word for Sky. Since there is an Earth-Mama, there is reason to believe there was a Sky-Daddy too. Iprer probably existed as a lesser deity for the Tocharians who seem to prefer their goddesses.
Fertility
Kaum, the goddess of the Sun… although not the goddess of the Sun. It’s hard to know how Kaum fits into the pantheon. Her name may be of foreign origin, however, she seems to be a Tocharian goddess nonetheless; perhaps important too, given her similar theme to the head of the pantheon.
And finally, the greatest of the Tocharian deities, the goddess of the Sun, Swancho! She is the most widespread and best attested deity of the Tocharians. Her name comes from the original Tocharian word for the Sun, and it’s clear she held great importance for the Tocharians.
And of course, there’re holy sites spread throughout the Tarim Basin.
You might be wondering what replaces the rest of the Ritualistic religion. The religious rework in that region, however, will have to be saved for another time!