Historia et Historiarum: Aaru

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*Suggested to be read with own discretion (no spoilers but maybe more fun to read them in the actual novel)

*The plan is to create more of these kinds of info texts

*This will be updated in a non-timely manner

*Maps and concept art can be found on my Instagram @AlexanderCa0

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Aaru, the world, the heaven, and people:

Aaru is the homeworld and name of the heaven of the Aaru people and its races. The heaven of Aaru is the home of the Aaruran, charcoal-skinned beings. They are by far the most numerous of them all, consisting of at least three-quarters of all the civilized beings in the Aaru heaven.

The second most numerous are the Seroth, a dog-faced and slightly skinnier version of the Aaruran. They have moved out of their original homeworld and now reside in a far-off world, known as Naqada. There the Seroth are molded by their patron god, Seth, into great warriors, protecting the Aaru heaven from demons and other would-be invaders.

The third race in the Aaru heaven is the Falcorians. These are falcon-faced and the same way tall as the Seroth, a warrior-like race. They have a light coat of feathers around them and have the ability to see better than anyone else in the universe. Their patron god is Horus, the sworn enemy of Seth. The Seroth and Falcorians used to go to war on many occasions until Osiris returned and forgave Seth, for it was for the good of the entire Aaru heaven.

The Kissari are cat-faced beings with Aaruran bodies. They all trace their lineage to their god Bastet. The Kissari number only a few ten thousand and live mainly in the world of Memphis. Many of them are sorcerers and are blessed with longer-than-average life. Many live up to five hundred years even.

The fifth race, the amun, are considered evil and not allowed to walk on the streets unless it's a full moon, and the god of the silver moon world, Khonshu, is watching their every move. They look just like the aarurans but bear a third eye on their forehead. They are forbidden to open it and if Khonsu sees one amun having opened his or her eye, they shall be immediately executed, along with all their family. The amun was created by Amun Rah and fought against the ennead. Therefore, the amun are persecuted.

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Amun Rah and the dynasty of the golden fields:

For thousands of years, the world of Aaru was plagued by chaos and demons. Even after the demons vanished, the land remained barren, unable to sustain life. In response, a group of powerful divine beings fused their souls to create the first god of Aaru, Amun Rah. He was gifted with the power to bring lands and people to life and formed three races: the Aaruran, the Seroth, and the Falcorians. The Aaruran plowed the fields, and the Seroth and Falcorians protected them from the lurking demons. Amun Rah also chose some Aarurans and blessed them with a third eye, granting them the power of foresight. These Aarurans became the governors of the new wheat kingdoms and were known as the Amun.

During the "age of the golden fields," Amun Rah had many partners with whom he could have had many children, as he was the god of life. However, an Amun Rah loyalist warned that a line of powerful gods could be born and his children could overthrow him. Fearing this prophecy, Amun Rah stopped all life in the wombs of his partners and blamed the women for the miscarriages, causing them to blame themselves.

This continued for hundreds of years until an unknown farm woman and servant at the palace slept with him. Amun Rah deemed the woman too weak to carry life, so he did not try to infuse life inside her. Twelve months later, the woman gave birth to four children: Geb, an Aaruran, Tefnut, a Seroth, Maat, a Falcorian, and Bastet, the very first Kissaran.

Tefnut, Maat, and Geb were not blessed with divinity, and as a result, they went unnoticed by Amun Rah. As the four children grew, they had their children, Geb gave birth to Osiris, Maat gave birth to Isis, and Tefnut gave birth to Seth. The three children grew powerful enough to overthrow their grandfather Amun Rah. In the climactic War of the Burning Fields, during which most of the golden fields of Aaru burned down, they defeated and destroyed Amun Rah.

Since Amun Rah was the god of life, he was practically immortal. Bashut, who had herself risen to godhood, suggested dividing his soul into two parts. One part became Rah, a golden Falcorian with the divine power to create and control entire suns. The other part became Amun, a god of deceitfulness, who was imprisoned at the center of Aaru.

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Dynasty of the green fields:

After Osiris and Isis married, they began the monumental task of rebuilding Aaru. Together, they worked to replant the fields and created a new, prosperous Aaru where hunger was no longer a concern.

Meanwhile, Seth embarked on a conquest to colonize the surrounding worlds and defeat any who opposed him, including many demons and a Nehaku invasion. But upon his return, he found that the people of Aaru had turned against him and favored Osiris instead. Fueled by anger and betrayal, Seth killed his cousin and forced the people to worship him as their only god. Isis, heartbroken, left Aaru in search of a way to revive her beloved husband.

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Dynasty of the bloodied fields:

Seth ruled the Aaru heaven with an iron fist. The aarurans were forced to work the fields non stop and the seroth were elevated as the dominant race in the Aaru heaven. Seth himself didn't care much about ruling, but instead loved war and conquest.

He set out and warred, with many races, from eximas to the phoenicians.

During this time, Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, rose in rebellion against Seth. He led the falcorians in a bloody civil war against the Seroth that lasted for centuries. This war was known as the war of misery.

Meanwhile, Rah, the good aspect of Amun Rah, sailed on his sun ship through the universe, creating his own epos and helping people along the way. After many years, he returned to Aaru to find it torn apart by the war between Seth and Horus.

Rah intervened and defeated both of them, before traveling to Naqada to confront Seth. There, he discovered that demons had infiltrated Seth's court, and he defeated them before speaking with Seth to convince him to end the war.

However, Horus demanded justice for his father's death, and Rah proposed that Seth journey with him to the rupture to the underworld. The two of them successfully entered and returned with Osiris, and Horus was finally able to let go of his hatred toward Seth.

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Dynasty of the sunny fields:

After Rah's victory, he was offered the crown of the Aaru pantheon, but he chose to sail the Aaru heaven and help his people. Some wanted Osiris to take the crown, but the Seroth, who felt betrayed by Osiris in the conquest of Aaru, refused to bow before him. Osiris willingly stepped back and went to Duat, where he judged those sentenced to live there. Horus was also considered for the position, but he believed himself not capable of being as benevolent as Rah and refused. As a result, no one was crowned as the head of the pantheon, and the people worshipped all the gods based on their own beliefs.

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Other gods of Aaru:

Among the other notable gods is Anubis, the god of the world of Duat, who works alongside Osiris. When Osiris returned to life, he declared himself unfit to lead the people of Aaru and instead went to the world of Duat, which is shrouded in thick clouds and endless darkness. It serves as an underworld for those whom the gods wish to punish. There they are forced to march endlessly, turn to sand when they cannot continue anymore, and are reborn to continue the movement.

Anubis guards this world and has battled many beings from various worlds as many of the ones who are sent to Duat are children of pandora. He is a mild-mannered and polite god who guides sinners to see the wrong in their ways. Both Osiris and Anubis are credited with the ability to purify a being's taint and rid them of the winds of pandora.

Khonsu, an aaruran, lives on the silver moon world next to Aaru, where nothing grows on the silver sands. Khonsu joined the side of the ennead in fighting against Amun Rah and became a god. His sister had been a partner of Amun Rah, but after having a miscarriage, she committed suicide, believing herself to be at fault. Khonsu harbors a deep hatred towards Amun and anyone who worships Amun Rah, so he took it upon himself to guard and make sure the Amun beings knew their place in the new world.

Bashut created the temple of Kissari in the world of Memphis, where the Kissari strive to create the greatest library in the universe. Bashut possesses the power of knowledge and the ability to guard the average farmer against pestilence. She has created many cures for diseases and plagues and is well-liked. Bashut has had many partners, and every Kissari can trace their lineage to her in some way or another.

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Fleeing aarurans and the Behtu heaven:

During the rule of Seth, many of the aaruran were forced to become slaves to the seroth. Because of this, a large group of aarurans fled Aaru to avoid getting caught up in the conflict. They set out on vast black stone pyramids in search of a new home but encountered many worlds and beings that either rejected them or were overrun by demons.

After years of travel, a lion-like being named Olorun, the god of the Behtu, appeared to them. The Behtu world had been devastated by a horde of demons and a Bersek raiding army, leaving many tribes in famine and ruin. Olorun promised to protect the Aarurans if they would cultivate the land and feed his people. The desperate Aarurans agreed and journeyed to Behtu.

Upon arriving, the Aarurans saw that the Behtu people, who were also lion-like beings, were struggling to survive. Using their divine powers and agricultural knowledge, the Aarurans began working the land and eventually brought prosperity to Behtu. They taught the Behtu people how to build great cities and gravity ships, leading to the formation of the Behtu heaven.

Other beings in the area, such as the lizard-like Celeon with their god Ori, the butterfly-winged Zelans with their god Esu, and the warlike Hejinas with their god Aganju, joined the Behtu pantheon. Despite being outsiders, the Aarurans became the most populous beings in the new heaven, and their leader, Apedemak, rose to the new pantheon.

The Behtu pantheon has lived in harmony and peace ever since, with Seth himself having lost a battle to Olorun and his brother, the god of war Takhar, during his attempt to create the Aaru heaven.