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<color #ff0000>**WARNING**</color>: This faith has not yet had a chance to become canonical.

{{ :kavkem:mythology:nekenalos-kavkem-mythologies-breathing-world.png?direct&200|Spread of Vahrs̈elos}}

**//Vahrs̈elos//** is a [[:kavkem]] [[kavkem:mythology]] best referred to as well as translated directly as //Breathing World// (from the kavkem words //vahr// and //s̈elos//). While it shares much in common with //[[:kavkem:mythology:Taaravahr]]//, adopting the stories it tells unaltered, it nonetheless rearranges the fundamental power structures in a way only rivalled by //[[:kavkem:mythology:Leksharia]]//.

It can be encountered in [[:planet:nekenalos:Tabraan]]. Before the end of the book //[[:A Thread Between The Stars]]//, Tabraan had no other faiths to compete with //Vahrs̈elos//. Its dominance on the continent has waned since then, but Tabraan should still be considered the territorial home of this particular mythology.

===== Cosmology =====

The adherents of //Vahrs̈elos// believe that all components of the world are filled with energies, unrelated to the powers of the gods. If anything, the deities are a result of these energies - manifestations of unusual purities that must have existed at the beginning of the universe. In //Vahrs̈elos//, one can only flourish in certain locations. More so, the adherents believe that some locations are so hostile toward their enemies (i.e. the [[:Nayabaru]]) that they can serve as sanctuaries. One would be wise to beware, though, as the weather is a component in Vahrs̈elos, ensuring the tides of fortune can shift at any time...

//Vahrs̈elos// energies are largely invisible and intangible (or only indirectly tangible, by the sudden arrival of their effects). One notable exception is the **Twilight Band** (//Vaanikir//, a portmanteau of //vaata// (twilight) and //danikir// (band)), the starkly visible force that separates day from night. In //Vahrs̈elos// lore, this indeed is a //band// spanning the entire planet. It's entirely conceivable that it might slip at some point, shrinking either of its sides, or perhaps even coming dislodged from the planet as a whole. This is not generally an active concern of //Vahrs̈elos// adherents, however, largely because it isn't worth worrying about - there simply is nothing either kavkema or any manifest deities could do about it.

===== Metaphysical entities =====

//Vahrs̈elos// [[:kavkem:ryrhakenem|ryrhakenema]] do not typically come up with stories involving manifest deities, but there are exceptions.

==== Sanarama ====

//Main article: [[:kavkem:mythology:Sanarama]]//

One of the most notable and most well-travelled is the deity //[[:kavkem:mythology:Sanarama]]//, goddess of toxins and cures, although //Vahrs̈elos// itself tells most stories with her as an abstraction - in part evolution, in part a force sharing distant parallels to a highly impersonal form of karma, or simply a primal balance. Alternatively, one could view her as part of a triad: growth (//Evenatra//), support/defence (//Maenona//) and repair (//Sanarama//). In either case, as with all things in the cosmology of //Vahrs̈elos//, these forces come and go.

==== Ateheril ====

//Main article: [[:kavkem:mythology:Ateheril]]//

Ateheril is a force of fate, manifesting as ocean currents and winds. Though the term 'force of fate' may suggest a certain inevitability, this is an energy to be analysed and tracked like any other for believers in //Vahrs̈elos//, and one can absolutely escape a 'fate' by simply waiting out the turn of the tides.

The imagery of a deity of fate has been exported into striking depictions of a //narrative// deity, adopted as //the// deity of illusion in //[[:kavkem:mythology:Ne͡imakanaas̈]]//, and as a deity hungry for good stories in other mythologies.

==== Garukaron ====

//Main article: [[:kavkem:mythology:Garukaron]]//

The //Taaravahr// deity Garukaron does not exist at all in //Vahrs̈elos//; to its believers, Garukaron is the structure space and a force of time, without so much as an avatar. This in itself is not notable - that a //Taaravahr// deity would be repurposed into a force happens on a small scale all the time, although Garukaron is unique in being //universally// considered a force within //Vahrs̈elos//.

In evocative tales, time is described as **Garukaron's breath**. Whether due to this metaphor, or simply out of the general urge of //Vahrs̈elos// to describe everything as the flow and ebb of energies, time is assumed to eventually turn and reverse its direction (like an inhale after an exhale). What this would mean for perceptible reality is a matter of individual interpretation, however.

==== Qasai as a force ====

To the believers in //Vahrs̈elos//, there is a miracle form of //[[:kavkem:society:qasai]]// (mercy killing or suicide), comparable to the gifts of the deity //[[:kavkem:mythology:Genanjuma]]// in the faiths of //[[:kavkem:mythology:Kiivenara]]// and //[[:kavkem:mythology:Akynkulla]]//, although considerably more disembodied: It is an energy that flows from kavkem to kavkem on death. There is at least one of these in the world at any given time (and likely quite a few more), imbuing the kavkem it has become attached to with the ability to kill themselves by an act of deep, desperate concentration alone.

Interestingly enough, a kavkem that understands themselves to have this ability will have a greater urge to end their lives even when not in danger - as this force will only pass on to the next kavkem upon death. There are no //documented// cases of anyone being //pressured// into ritual suicide for the purpose of passing on qasai, but it has no doubt happened once or twice.

Since historically, the kavkema of Tabraan have had it comparatively good, kavkema who believe they've been imbued with this //force of qasai// have often destroyed themselves in traditional ways, knowing that their brethren on other continents might be better served by the blessing.

===== Rituals and spirituality =====

Within //Vahrs̈elos//, the role of ryrhakenema is primarily to divine the flow of benevolent and malevolent energies, as to determine where to go for maximum safety, health and well-being. This of course absolutely is a full-time job, since, as already mentioned, these forces shift all the time.

Dreams are ascribed certain divining properties as well, potentially showing the dreamer the otherwise invisible forces directly, like adopting another sense, or a false colour image.

Of course, there isn't much that guarantees even experienced kavkema will always be right about their interpretations. That said, //Vahrs̈elos// kavkema tend to do remarkably well on Nekenalos, likely because they tend to hit on a healthy mix of their instincts with intellectual analysis of threats (even if they are prone to dressing such analysis up in mythological nonsense). They're fortunately also not prone to overconfidence, ascribing far too much complexity to the Forces as that a streak of good luck could be viewed as a reliable predictor of future successes.

===== Competing faiths =====

Prior to the end of //[[:A Thread Between The Stars]]//, none of note on the Tabraan mainland. Toward the equatorial islands, the mythology mingled with //[[Ne͡imakanaas̈]]//.