#piguerao

[mythopia1]

The Gods of Inca Mythology

The majority of the world’s religions speak of a single God who created the universe, but in Inca mythology, many deities were involved in the creation of the cosmos. They each had a role in forming different elements of the sky, earth and underworld.

The most important god to the ancient Inca was Viracocha. He was the first of the creator deities, responsible for designing the heavens. From his own form, he established the sun, moon, planets and stars. When he commanded the sun to move over the sky, time itself was created, allowing for the rise of civilization. He was represented as wearing the sun for a crown, with thunderbolts in his hands, and tears descending from his eyes as rain.

The second most important deity of the Inca pantheon was Inti. He was the sun god, and it is uncertain whether he was a brother of Viracocha, or his son. He brought light and warmth to the lands, and became known as the ‘Giver of Life’. He later sent his children to earth to start the Inca civilisation. Inti and his sister, Mama Killa (Moon goddess) were generally considered benevolent deities.

Coniraya was a male Moon God, associated with the creation of life. Legend says that as he wandered over the earth, plants and animals appeared. He held dominion over agriculture, and helped the farmers irrigate their fields. He once fashioned his sperm into the fruit of the Lumca Tree, which was eaten by Cavillaca, a beautiful virgin goddesses. Cavillaca became pregnant and ran away in shame. Coniraya went in search of her and his child, but sadly, when he found them, they had both turned into stone.

Kon was the first born of Inti and Mama Killa, who resided over the rains. He was strong and lithe, which allowed him to move quickly over the the plains of Peru. Kon was lonely, so he created the first race of humans. He set them down in a pleasant, fertile land, and gave them grain which they could harvest, and fruits which ripened quickly. His creations wanted for nothing.

During the rule of these early gods, Kon’s human creations became lazy and wicked, so Kon punished them with drought. He would only dispense his life giving waters if they worked hard enough to earn his favour. Kon’s tyrannical regime soon came to an end with the appearance of his brother Pachacamac (Inti’s son).

Pachacamac was known as the "Creator of the World", and immediately challenged his brother Kon. After a tremendous struggle, Pachacamac managed to drive Kon from the land. His became the new god of Peru, and redesigned it as a paradise. He wasn’t so fond of the Kon’s mortal creations, however, and turned into monkeys. In their place, he created a new race of humans (the ancestors of the Inca). In return, these people made Pachacamac their supreme deity.

After the dethronement of Kon, a new god was needed hold dominion over the rain. This role was gifted to llapu, who used the power of the storm to fertilise the lands. The Incas believed the Milky Way as a heavenly river, where Illapu's sister stored a great water jug. When Illapu struck the jug with a bolt of lightning, it would create the sound of thunder, and release a heavenly rain. He appeared as a man in shining clothes, carrying a club and stones.

Catequil was another storm god, linked specifically to lightning. Legend say’s he created thunder-bolts by striking the clouds with his sacred spear and a mighty club. He was venerated as a weather deity, who could divine the future. Catequil was linked to a myth about the twins Apocatequil and Piguerao. Many Incan people believe Apocatequil was none other than the lightening god in human form.

The story goes that the twin brothers, Apocatequil and Piguero, were conceived by a woman who had sex with a sky god. Her name was Cautaguan, and she bore her sons within two eggs. Close to their birth, the goddess was killed by her brothers (the Guachimines). Once her sons hatched, they revived their mother, and took vengeance on their uncles by hurling lightening bolts at them.

Apocatequil become the prominent leader of the Inca, and served as the chief priest for the lunar deity, Coniraya. To keep Apocatequil happy, the Inca built statues of his noble self and placed them upon the mountaintops.

Below these mountains lived Urcaguary, a chthonic deity, who resided over underground treasures (metals and jewels). He guarded them from greedy interlopers who tried to steal them, and had a formidable appearance. He was often depicted as a large snake with the antlers of a deer, and a tail coiled with gold chains.

For those who wished to secure a safer way to wealth, there was always Ekkeko. He was the god of abundance, called upon by his followers for luck and prosperity. The ancient Inca made dolls that represented him and surrounded them with miniature version of their desires (pets, treasure, food, etc). This was believed to help manifest whatever it was their hearts desired.

Another God revered for his prosperity was Urcuchillay. This bestial god was worshipped by Inca herders, who watched over the herds of Peru. He was prayed to for their well-being. Urcuchillay would often bring good fortune to his followers, ensuring their protection in the wilderness. It was said he possessed a bright, multicoloured coat, a symbol of life and wonder.

Yet life and prosperity couldn’t last forever, as all paths eventually lead to the grave. This final feature of the Inca life was ruled over by Supay, the god of death. He lived in Ukhu Pacha (the underworld), with an army of demons. Miners would also pray to him for a safe decent into the underworld, when they went digging for precious treasure. Ukhu Pacha was not such a terrible place, for it was linked to the womb of mother earth (Pachamama). The subterranean waters of ‘Ukhu Pacha’ were believed to have rejuvenating qualities, which linked the health and prosperity of the Inca people.

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ARTWORK

Oshiro Kochi

Keisy Lopez

Nati Fuentes

Javier Sama

Gonzalo Kenny

Daniel Eskridge

Gilles Ketting

[vulturnus]

dragon,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,frutte,,,,,,

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 30

30.) And finally: Write a letter to your character, from yourself.

Rao,

I'm -so- proud of you for how far you've come, how much you've grown up. You're making more of the right decisions now, and I'm glad you're doing better. You still need to work on being so strong-willed, though, sweetie. It's a -good- thing that you're stubborn...to a point. You need to learn when it's good to be stubborn and when it's not, though, you'll stay out of a -lot- of trouble that way.

It's okay to not be strong all the time. I know you're still learning that, so I'll just say it again to help. It's -okay-.

And Rao, please, -please- stay -out- of the big tree in the back yard. You keep scaring me half to death climbing that thing and not watching what you're doing. I don't want you hurt! PLEASE be more careful, I KNOW you know how to be.

...and stop hacking into the Kaberonian government council network to send Papaw and Nana e-mails. You have the computer set up so you can send them e-mails the -normal- way without making the grown-ups that run the database get all huffy. PLEASE do that instead! I know hacking in and finding the new breaches in the system whenever they fix the -old- ones is fun, but PLEASE don't do it any longer unless someone asks you to -find- the new breaches. You make a lot of grown-ups panic when they find out someone got into the system again. I know you're not doing anything wrong in there, you're just hacking into the secure e-mail, but still, it makes the grown-ups worried. You just work on finishing the VR "following" software you and Katy are making so that everyone else can see what happens when you deep-dive, and leave the government system hacking alone for a while, hmm? If nothing else, tell Papaw, maybe he can fix things so you can do it with -permission-, so you can find the breaches and fix them for everyone...but -ask- first, okay?

Katy,

Baby girl, you've come so far. I'm so glad that you've started talking a little bit again. I know it's hard, I know your mind doesn't want to -let- you talk, but I'm glad you are able to  sometimes. You don't have to try so hard to talk, when you can, it's okay, and when you can't, that's okay too. You can still sign, it's -perfectly- alright to just use sign when you need to.

I know you get frustrated easily, and that's okay. What you need to do is try to figure out how to make yourself get calm again faster than you do. Don't keep running away when you get frustrated, okay? Tell someone that you -are- frustrated, and maybe they can help you. And if not, telling someone can help you calm down again and give you something -else- to do until you want to try again. You need to tell -yourself- the things you tell everyone else: don't let things make you cry when you do too much. Let it go for a while and have fun with something -else-, then come back to it -later-.

Please stop poking things down into holes in the backyard. You're as bad as your brother with that tree, Katy. I -really- don't want you to get stung by a scorpion, okay? I don't want you to get sick, and you're not fast enough to get out of the way before you -would-! So pleeeease think about it and not do it, sweetie.

...and I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Rao. Stop hacking into the governmental networks! I know it's fun, I know you're not -hurting- anything, but you make the grown-ups panic and get all bent out of shape, it's not good, sweetie. Go with Rao and ask Papaw about it, he might be able to help so you can do it -without- getting in trouble, but ask first. -Ask-! If he says no, that's okay. You can always try again way later, and explain that you find the breaches in the system. I know you can -fix- them, but you still need to ask first, alright?

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 29

29.) How does your character smell? Do they wear perfume or cologne?

Rao:

Rao has the clean 'little kid' smell and the 'clean' ozone-ish smell of working with electronics,  but more often than not that is overlaid by the smell of garden-dirt, machine oil, and sometimes the warm-metal smell of his armour-thrusters when they're burning.

He doesn't wear any kind of cologne or anything. He's too -little-. XD

Katy:

Katy also has that 'little kid' smell and the ozone-ish smell of electronics, but she smells more like warm puppies and lavender instead of dirt and machine oil. The thruster-smell is there sometimes, yes, but hers isn't quite as strong as Rao's, probably because she's a bit smaller than her twin brother, and her thrusters don't burn -quite- as strongly.

No perfume for -her-, either, unless someone lets her get 'spritzed' a bit for some very special occasion. XD

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 28

28.) If your character’s life was a genre, what would it be?

....I wanna say children's action-adventure for them, too. :/ Set more along the lines of something like Bridge to Teribithia mixed with sci-fi, but still, same type deal. They grew up until age 50 (mentally about 5) with their big brother only, then he disappeared and they were on their own for two years before he came back just long enough to hurt Katy and let at least -her- know he wasn't...'right'...any more, then they warp-glitched themselves to EARTH, got shot at, shot down, and went through hell and high water in learning to trust people, got kidnapped, watched their brother die, found a family...*huff* It goes on and on.

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 27

We Are by Ana Johnsson Lining up for the grand illusion No answers for no questions asked Lining up for the execution Without knowing why You keep watching from your picket fence You keep talking but it makes no sense You say we're not responsible But we are, we are You wash your hands and come out clean Fail to recognise the enemies within You say we're not responsible But we are, we are, we are, we are

This is basically how the Twins felt around the time that their big brother  Set disappeared. They thought it was their fault, and when he returned and unintentionally hurt Katy, they -knew- it was their fault. ...and then later, when they got kidnapped and Set died to save them...yeah...that didn't really -help- things any. It resulted in some lashing out on Rao's part and some withdrawing on Katy's, and it really took a -long- time for them to be convinced that they hadn't done anything wrong, and that it was -okay- to not be strong enough to protect each other.

In The Arms of the Angel by Sarah McLachlan Spend all your time waiting for that second chance For the break that will make it ok There's always some reason to feel not good enough And it's hard at the end of the day...

So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn There's vultures and thieves at your back The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies That you make up for all that you lack... In the arms of an Angel far away from here From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie In the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here

Rao and Katy kind of feel like their Daddy 'rescued' them from themselves. Rao got so tired of trying to be strong enough for both himself and his sister when they were -both- too terrified to take care of -either- of themselves...and Katy was just so broken down that she couldn't do -anything-. Things were wearing them both down to the point of shattering...then Ty stepped in after Mal and Tex had gotten the Twins to believe in people again. And Ty took things to an entirely different level. He gave them the protection and security they -needed- so desperately, becoming the strength they didn't have and told them things -would- be okay. He's still doing that for them -now-, and so this is...kind of them both then -and- now, because, while they're far more open and trusting and actually -happy- now, in times of great doubt, Daddy is still who they go to.

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 26

26.) Second day of favorites! Favorite comfort food, favorite vice, favorite outfit, favorite hot drink, favorite time of year, and favorite holiday.

Rao:

Comfort food: Pasta. He doesn't care what kind. XD;

Vice: ...again, bad habits. Rao tends to chew on the knuckle of his index finger when he's thinking, and he's bitten himself pretty hard a couple of times.

Outfit: Cargo shorts and slightly-too-big short-sleeved hoodies. He likes his clothes loose and his arms and legs free, unless it's cold, then he likes the same thing, just -longer-, to put it in his words.

Hot drink:  Cinnamon tea.

Time of Year: Summer, because there's NO SCHOOL.

Holiday: He really doesn't have a favourite. If it means everyone's home and there's no work or school to have to go to, he's happy. XD

Katy:

Comfort food: Gingerbread. Cookies, bars, cake-type, does not MATTER, just let her have gingerbread and a cup of milk.

Vice: She still tends to suck her thumb on occasion when she's sleeping, usually as the end result of when she's had a bad/frustrating day.

Outfit: She tends to wear the more -fitted-, girly version of what Rao wears (cargo capris and short-sleeved hoodie shirt). She likes this kind of outfit because there are no large amounts of buttons or zips she has to work with, because she still has a bit of trouble with such things. If it's something she can pull on or pull up without having to worry about it and -still- feel like she's wearing something pretty, she's happy.

Hot drink: She -really- likes it when Daddy lets her have a sip of his coffee. She loves the taste, weirdly enough, but she knows she's not allowed to have it, so she settles for little begged tastes. XD

Time of year: SUMMER. Same reasons as Rao. *snirk*

Holiday: Easter. She likes dying eggs, it's as simple as that.

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 25

Rao:

Rao has short, wide hands, and his fingers are just a biiit stubby, though the ends are tapered. The webbing -between- his fingers is more pronounced than it is in most people's hands, making it very obvious that he -has- webbing. Because he is still rather clumsy, usually at -least- two or three fingers have a bandaid on them somewhere pretty much all the time, and he has a myriad of tiny little pale scars from cuts and scrapes and the like up and down his fingers and hands. On his right hand, between his ring and pinkie fingers, he has a tiny, pale pink splotch of a birthmark that goes from the webbing to the middle of his pinkie finger.

Katy:

Katy has delicate little-girl hands with tapering fingers. Her hands will one day be slender, the way things are looking, but for now they still carry the the chubbiness of babyhood. Like Rao, the webbing between her fingers is rather more pronounced than for most, but unlike Rao's, -her- finger-webbing has already turned to the adult colouration, becoming more translucent and 'shimmery', instead of keeping the same colour as the rest of her skin. Her fingers also tend to sport bandaids most of the time, though the tell-tale scars don't show up -quite- as much on her hands as they do on Rao's, possibly because she's a bit more careful about not banging up the -same spot- again before one place has a chance to -heal-, thus her scars tend to be a bit smaller. She has the -exact- same splotch-shape as Rao, and in the same place, only hers is on her left hand, between her ring and pinkie fingers.

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 24

24.) What might your character’s ideal romantic partner be?

This, like with Phae, is short. They are 8. They don't even understand the -concept- of such a thing, and I wouldn't attempt to presume what they might like as they get -older-. Not for this. :/

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 23

23.) Is your character superstitious?

Both of them still have the "childhood superstition" like Phae, but, once again, neither really see much sense in 'normal' superstitions.

Katy, however, is supersitious about thunderstorms. She's -afraid- of thunderstorms, yes, but the superstition comes into play when it's a -dry- storm. The kind that thunders and lightnings but has no -rain-. She truly believes that that kind of storm brings "very bad hurt" in her words...and in a way, she's right, thanks to some things in the past.

Rao semi-feels the same way, but not to the same degree that Katy does.

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 22

22.) If your character could time travel, where would they go?

The unanimous decision for both of them is the only time they'd like to go back in time for -themselves- is back to the day Set died and figure out a way to -stop- that.

As for all time itself, they'd like to go back and fix whatever makes the grown-ups' eyes look so sad on some days...they just don't really know what most of those sad looks are -for-.

Katy would kiiind of like to go all the way back to see the very -first- dinosaurs on Earth, and Rao would want to go back and look at the dinosaurs from the era of Disney's Dinosaur movie. That movie really got him interested in the late Cretaceous period.

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 21

21.) What would your character’s  cutie mark be?

Again, going by age for the both of them...BLANK FLAAAANKS! But...

Rao:

Rao's would be a shield with a "red cross"-styled cross of data-flow (think the Matrix data, y'know, the green numbers going down against a black background?) on the front, and with wings on the back of it. Because he is a hacker whose specialty is extraction of data and 'healing' of messed up data, and his specialization in -programming- code is to debug. He has a shield because he is Katy's protector in real life.

Katy:

Katy's would be a shield with a  -smaller- shield of data-flow inside it,  with a halo above the whole thing, because -she- is a hacker whose specialty is -finding- data and -shielding- messed-up data so that it -can- be fixed, and her specialty in -programming- code is creating it. She is -Rao's- protector while they're in the data stream, thus the mini-shield. She and Rao are a near-perfect hacking team for a reason.

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 20

20.) Does your character have any irrational fears?

Katy:

First and foremost, Katy is terrified of thunderstorms and everything they bring with them. She associates thunder and lighting with some very bad things, and she can't get -over- the association. Thunderstorms invariably send her scrambling and crying for the nearest grown-up she can GET to so they will hide her from it.

She is afraid of hospital needles (shots), and the people that bring them. (At least the ones that -aren't- her Unca Dhat.)

She's also afraid of Oogie Boogie and the boogeyman.

Rao:

He's also afraid of thunderstorms, but not to the extent that Katy is. It's enough to make him scramble, but he usually isn't crying, just needs someone to hide him.

He's afraid of smiling doctors that are not Unca Dhatri. Don't ask why, they just make him -very- uneasy.

Like Katy and Phae, Rao is also afraid of Oogie Boogie and the boogeyman.

Both of them are afraid of being taken away from each other. They're horrified at the thoughts of being separated against their will.

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 19

19.) What’s your character’s preferred means of travel?

For the both of them, it's flying, as long as someone isn't carrying them around. Since they CAN fly, it's not really such a big deal, as long as they stay close, which also isn't much of an issue. Neither Rao nor Katy want to wander very far from the grown-ups in their family.

On Earth, where flying around isn't really a viable option...it's just whatever is needed. They don't really have some particular preferred method, whatever works, they're fine with.

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 18

18.) Is your character a good cook? What’s their favorite recipe, whether they’re good or not? (Microwave mac-and-cheese applies.)

Rao:

NOPE. He's not. Outside of doing things like making cookies, he has no -interest- in cooking right now, -either-. He can work the microwave, and can cook oatmeal and make tea, that's it. If asked to help with cooking, he'll do what he's told and enjoy doing it because he's helping, but he really, reeeeally has no interest in the actual -cooking-.

His favourite recipe that he can make is celery and peanut butter "ants on a log".

Katy:

Katy isn't a good cook, but then again, she doesn't know -how- to be. Her interest in cooking is...sporadic. Sometimes she's really interested in what's going on and wants to learn -how-, other times she doesn't really care that much about it. She's always willing to help, though, and will sign questions about why something is done one way and not another. She's been filing all of that information away in the back of her head, so one day she may actually be a pretty good cook, if she can remember all of it. She likes helping make cookies, of course, and she, like the other kids, knows how to use the microwave and can make things like oatmeal and the like, but she is too little to be -allowed- to cook on her own when her interest is high. So it's unknown as of yet.

Her favourite recipe that she can make is actually oatmeal with dried blueberries and peach-bits stirred into it.

[wistsandmagic]

CDM: Twins: Day 17

17.) What’s your character’s desk/workspace look like? Are they neat or messy?

Rao: His part of the round, kindergarten work-table he and Katy use for a homework desk is MESSY when he's using it. Stuff is everywhere, not even in 'scattered order'. Just a flat. out. MESS. If he has more than one thing to work on, it takes him just as much time or MORE time to -find- it as he spends -working- on it. He's better than he used to be, though. He's grown up a little.

Katy:

Katy is a 'pile-worker'. Everything she has to do gets put in one pile, and then as she gets it done, it gets moved to another pile. So her part of the workspace is usually filled with haphazard stacks of stuff -- and yes, this is including writing utensils and the like. She 'piles' them. She can find what she needs, but it's not really the -neatest- method in the book.