//**Taaravahr**// is the name of the kavkem 'baseline' [[kavkem:mythology]], very roughly analoguous to the shared scriptures of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions|Abrahamic religions]].

//Taaravahr// means "the form of the world", derived from the words //taara// (form) and //vahr// (world).

===== Cosmology =====

The //Taaravahr// cosmology concerns itself with the sky and the origin story of the [[:kavkem|kavkema]] and the [[:Nayabaru]]. Specifically, the status quo on Nekenalos is explained in an origin story roughly to the following effect:

While no particular motivation is ascribed to him, nor any particular morality, it is said that [[:kavkem:mythology:Garukaron]] created the universe, including the other gods. The universe at first was empty (from a mortal perspective), but came to have all of its constituent parts created by various deities. The attribution of authorship of different types of matter is not set in stone in Taaravahr.

That said, all land relevant to the kavkema and Nayabaru (i.e. their planet as a whole) is considered to have been created by [[:kavkem:mythology:Tkanetar]] and [[:kavkem:mythology:Tamas̈elu]] - however, befitting a malevolent deity, Tkanetar is depicted as a strong, territorial character who does not allow meddling in his own grand vision. When Tamas̈elu decided to create the kavkema on the world (or one of his worlds, rather), Tkanetar took offense to the unfinished project, and attempted to purge them from the world (usually in some kind of 'rain of fire'). Before the purge completed, Tamas̈elu split the world and took one half for herself.

This rescued half become [[planet:Nekenalos]] - whereas [[planet:Earth|the purged half remaining with Tkanetar]] is typically never mythologically spoken of again.

The new world had no light of its own, so Tamas̈elu gathered the //[[:kavkem:mythology:kiikam|kiikama]]// that roamed her world to make the sun ([[:Mekiva]]), arguing that while this turned them into the servants of said world, it meant they had a separate realm to call their own, where they could live as they pleased.

However, angered by having half of 'his' world taken from him, Tkanetar interfered, cursed the world and tore various kiikama from the new star, which fled back to the world and hid themselves there. Tamas̈elu meanwhile fought with Tkanetar until he was defeated. In many renditions, his defeat results in him becoming [[:Daskuvar]].

It is said that [[:kavkem:mythology:Maenona]] took pity upon the world due to the curse bestowed upon it and contributed to healing it in some form. Details can differ greatly between tales, though, usually dependent on her elemental affinities - a soothing wind, the cooling water, the soft snow. Sometimes she was the deity responsible for pushing Daskuvar to a great enough distance to grant night time and shade.

In summary:

  * Much of the evil in the world is considered Tkanetar's doing - either due to the curse or due to the //kiikama// that he create and/or freed.
  * [[:Mekiva]] is considered to be made of kiikama, but ultimately attributed to Tkanetar (the deity of light and fire).
  * [[:Daskuvar]] is often considered to be a fragment of Tkanetar that he left behind when fleeing, occasionally Tkanetar himself, or (rarely) stray kiikama that did not fall down to the world but made themselves another, less under Tamas̈elu's control.

It's worth noting that //Taaravahr// ascribes nothing in particular to the stars in the night sky. They are mythologically not considered distinct objects, but simply part of the texture of the night.

===== Spiritual entities =====

Deities in //Taaravahr// are neither omniscient nor omnipresent. They are not commonly considered omnipotent (with the exception of Garukaron), but are best compared with extremely powerful elementalists. They can be affected by curses, they can bind their powers to a promise, their own belief in the correctness of their actions affects the strength with which their power influences the world, and occasionally these traits are cited as a reason why Tamas̈elu is weakened (assuming the adherents think so - if they have never met her, they are more likely to assume her //too busy// rather than //weakened//).

The minimum of traits that separates deities from mortals is that deities possess [[:kavkem:mythology:qidravem|qidravema]] or **soul catchers**, which grant them the ability (and typically also the //compulsion//) of immortality.

Other common creatures within //Taaravahr//, less powerful than the gods, are kiikama and [[:kavkem:mythology:Yirh|Yirha]].

===== Prophecies =====

//Taaravahr// contains something of a common prophecy, wherein Tkanetar and Tamas̈elu have a child and the fate of the universe as a whole is decided by her personality. Given the overall pessimism of kavkema, it's generally assumed she would be raised and take after Tkanetar and everything would get worse.

Also common to //Taaravahr// is Tkanetar's general return to cause suffering to the kavkema, though local stories as to the nature of this return vary greatly.

===== Known Versions =====

In the //Astray// chapter of //[[:A Thread Between The Stars]]//, [[character:Haref]] recalls passages from a version of Taaravahr he was presumably raised on:

<blockquote>(Tkanetar cast a glance at Tamas̈elu's doing.\\
Displeased with our unfinished selves,\\
he summoned a rain of fire\\
to cleanse the world of our taint.

'Punish them not, for it is I who made them,'\\
Tamas̈elu pleaded, but he would not hear.

As the rain began to unravel the world\\
from the land of the dawn,\\
peeling away the life it contained as that\\
the rats may burst forth from its core,\\
Tamas̈elu cleaved the world into halves.

The undamaged half she distanced from the rain,\\
then spoke to Tkanetar: 'I will take my share\\
of this world of ours, and do well with it.'

But Tkanetar thought himself\\
the rightful owner of the world.\\
'You dare steal what is mine!\\
Neither sky nor earth you have taken will forget\\
what you seem so keen to ignore.\\
Your children will yet know their fate,\\
if not by my hand,\\
then by the hand of others.')<cite>A Thread Between The Stars: Astray</cite></blockquote>

<blockquote>(As that the frost would not claim the world,\\
Tamas̈elu gathered the spirits of the kiikama\\
and shackled them to one another,\\
then cast them into the sky.\\
'You will serve my people as Mekiva,'\\
she declared. 'And in return you will have\\
a home of your own.')<cite>A Thread Between The Stars: Astray</cite></blockquote>

<blockquote>(But the kiikama called for their lord,\\
and Tkanetar saw what she did.\\
His hands reached into Mekiva\\
and tore out the kiikama one by one.\\
Tamas̈elu rose to stop him,\\
fighting to ward him off.\\
The torn fragments fell from the sky\\
and crept into the earth\\
they had inhabited before,\\
concealing themselves.)<cite>A Thread Between The Stars: Astray</cite></blockquote>

===== Related =====

  * //Taaravahr// deities
    * [[:kavkem:mythology:Garukaron]]
    * [[:kavkem:mythology:Tamas̈elu]]
    * [[:kavkem:mythology:Tkanetar]]
    * [[:kavkem:mythology:Maenona]]
  * [[:kavkem:mythology:kiikam|kiikama]]
  * [[:kavkem:mythology:Yirh|Yirha]]