The Lunacatalogia

This piece is intriguing and frustrating in equal measure, given Mianmo’s unreliability as an insight into the world she inhabited. If we could trust her Lunacatalogia, it would have major impacts on the archaeological record, given her seeming reliance on the narrative presented in the Lives of Sedenya document (famously translated by G. Stafford) over the more recently unearthed Lunar Way Annals. This is most notable in Mianmo's treatment of the Seven Mothers, particularly relying on its seemingly fantastical details of the Goddess's Descent and the First Battle of Chaos. It can also be seen in her high-mythic presentation of the Crimson Bat, rather than its more naturalistic origins in other sources.

However, she claims in notes elsewhere that this was all vouchsafed to her by her friend Mesyllandre Otoros, and literary analysis has suggested that there are some startling heterodoxies contained within. All we can say for sure is that Mianmo here claims to represent the views of one specific Etyries-worshipper, which means that the arguments about the esoteric religious beliefs of the Lunar Empire will likely continue with the regularity of the Moon’s own phases.

Research into the whereabouts of the text of her once-referenced Lunacatalogia 2: Addi and Send Valu remains ongoing.

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THE SEVEN MOTHERS
The Sev-Ems

DEEZOLA
The Keeper of Vows, the Avenger of Wrongs, the Unshakable One.
Deezola was the Queen of Althil, along the Arcos. Her heart ached to relieve the suffering of her people, and her shoulders ached under the Carmanian yoke. She gathered the Seven Mothers together, and her house in Torang was the birthplace of the Goddess. She tried to teach the Goddess the ways of rule, but instead received instruction, and was thereby enlightened. She smiles upon the nobles, the poets and the healers, and on women of all stations.
She is the Crescent Go Moon; she is Lesilla; she is the power of the Earth which submits to the Liberator.

IRRIPPI ONTOR
The Buseri, the Brown Man, the Starwatcher.
Irrippi was a student of the stars from the city of Yuthuppa. He proved that the sky was incomplete, but for this his works were burned and the cataphracts sought his head. He devised the ritual of Rebirth and prepared the implements. The Goddess treated him fondly as Her advisor and called him Her Walking Library. He is first among the astrologers, the scholars and the administrators.
He is the Full Moon; he is Zaytenera; he is the wisdom of the Sky Dome which yields to Her Mystery.

YANAFAL TARNILS
Ram and Warrior, Victor Over Death, Her Scimitar.
Yanafal was a lord of Yuthuppa, the patron of Irrippi Ontor. When ordered to surrender the Buseri, he instead chose exile by his friend’s side. It was Yanafal who seized Danfive Xaron in battle and recruited him thereby. He descended into Hell to save the Goddess, and he defeated Death Himself in battle to claim his mantle. He is the master of the Goddess’s warriors, leading them to fight in the name of Liberation.
He is the Empty Half Moon; he is Natha; he is the valor of Death ennobled by Her touch.

DANFIVE XARON
Bridge for the Seeker, Gatekeeper, Night Watchman.
Danfive Xaron was an outlaw of the hills, a man who knew that violence was always an option. When defeated by Yanafal Tarnils, he agreed to be the Bridge and the Key. By his sacrifice, Teelo Norri descended and Teelo Estara arose. His return was not foreseen, but Her light guided him home at last. He keeps watch over the penitent, the last-chancer, and the slave.
He is the Crescent Come Moon; he is Ulurda-called-Orogeria; he is the wild Storm bound in chains until it finds redemption at Her feet.

JAKALEEL THE WITCH
The Spindle Hag, Keeper of Secrets, Mistress of Black Magic.
Jakaleel came down from the Jord Mountains to advise Deezola. She had spirits in her shadow and spirits in her teeth. She divined the identity of the slumbering goddess and knew the shape of the Lunes. She even knew the secret of the Blue Moon, and this she shared with the Goddess. She is the teacher of the wicked, the mad, and the spirit-touched.
She is the Dying Moon; she is Gerra; she is mistress of the Darkness and the hosts of spirits that bow before Her light.

TEELO NORRI
Young Life, the Virgin, the Cupbearer.
Teelo was a child of war and privation. She painted her cheeks to survive on the streets of Torang. She did not then know that within her breast slept the Goddess! When Teelo Estara awoke, the child was shucked and cast aside, but was one day found and brought back home. She speaks on behalf of children, of refugees, of the poor and of the forgotten, and even the Goddess listens to her.
She is the Full Half Moon; she is Verithurusa; she is Hope.

SHE WHO WAITS
The Mystery, the Revelation, the Seen Unseen.
There are things which can only be known by those who understand what they do not know. There are mysteries that must remain so. Only the Illuminated know her nature. I am She Who Waits, they say; you are She Who Waits. Together we gave birth to Her.
She is the Black Moon; she is Rashorana; she is whatever she is and she is not whatever she is not.

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THE RED GODDESS AND HER COMPANIONS
Her Entourage

THE RED GODDESS
Teelo Estara, Teelo Imara, Sedenya.
Before Time came into being, She was betrayed, robbed, shattered, undone. She was remembered by many names and many faces, and by these signs the Seven Mothers saved Her. She has been victorious over Death, Time, and the Old Gods, and by walking as She walked, so may we. Even Chaos bows at Her feet, and so shall the world. The victory shall be ours.
She is the Red Moon and the Black Moon, the Blue Moon and the White Moon to come; She was a goddess, then a mortal, then a goddess again; this is a lesson for those with eyes to see and ears to hear.

THE CRIMSON BAT
Steed of the Goddess, Blaskarth, Mahaquata.
Down in the Underworld, the Liberator was overcome by the true Death. Through the sacrifice of the Ram and Warrior, She found the strength to overcome it in turn, and taught it new names to answer to, and thus a new shape to take. This Teelo Imara rode in Her glory to overcome the Carmanians. We call her the Hummingbird and pray that She will veil our eyes to protect us. Beneath Her veil, she has taken the shape of Mahaquata, the Bat, Death-on-the-Wing, That Which Devours.
She is Oblivion; she is Mahaquata; she is the Goddess’s most terrible defense of the Faithful.

ETYRIES
The Messenger, Goodears, Issaries’ Daughter.
Etyries was born to the riverboat and the caravan, where she learned straight and crooked ways. When she met the Goddess, her third eye opened and saw the necessary lies of the world. She served the Goddess as herald, messenger, guide and occasional psychopomp, all while balancing Deezola’s ledgers. Her lessons of investments, futures, and consultation fees baffle the uninitiated. She is beloved by merchants, travelers, confidence women, and non-humans who follow the Way.
She is the promissory note; she is the torch at the crossroads; she provides what wealth can in service of what wealth cannot.

THE RED EMPEROR
First Among the Egi, Moonson, The Absentia.
At Castle Blue, Teelo Imara asked Doskalos Sword-in-the-Eye if Life was sweeter than Death. For his answer, She bequeathed upon him the powers and forms She no longer required in the world, and then charged him with safeguarding Her faithful. He lives, he dies, he lives again. Once he always came back the same; now his bodies are different, and his personality changes each time he comes back around. But he is still Prince and Emperor, the Shah of Carmania and Yelm’s Footstool.
He is the anchor of the Moon; he is the spear and the rod and the scepter; he is one and yet also many.

GREAT SISTER
Deneskerva, Moondaughter, Imperial Shepherdess.
At Castle Blue, Deneskerva was there, too, greatest among the ritualists. No one mortal could dance like she could then, and perhaps only Hon-Eel has been her equal. She remained in the world to guide and protect the Absentia and the Faithful, and to illuminate the eyes of those who will see. Like her brother, she lives and dies and lives again, but she always returns the same. She commands the Dancing Army and teaches them the great secrets; some whisper that she is the Dancing Army, and that they take turns speaking her words.
She is the half which remains in shadow; she is the movement of water and the moment of sudden laughter; she is many and yet also one.

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THE FOUR INSPIRATIONS OF MOONSON AND THE ONE WHO WAS NOT
The Insps

GLAMOUR
The City of Dreams, the Sleepless City, the Big Kashtoki.
After the Goddess danced the Red Moon into the sky, the Red Emperor danced upon the rim of the crater that remained. In this dance, he summoned the dream of the city which would lie between the Goddess and the world, seeing her walls and towers as she would become, and then he courted her and gained her blessings. Now she is the seat and dream of empire, the city where fantasies and nightmares come true. Her domes and minarets are seductive and perilous. Of all cities in the world, surely she is the greatest!
She is the First Inspiration of Moonson; she is the dream of the city which walks the streets of the city itself; she is the yearning all feel when they hear her name.

HWARIN DALTHIPPA
The Conquering Daughter, the Spear and Spindle, the Roadmaker.
Hwarin was a daughter of the Red Emperor, but she refused to remain in her father’s house. She went out among the hill peoples to teach them the ways of the Goddess and to make amends to the Earth. Barbarians, rivers and heathen gods all tried to destroy her, and her husband and son both drowned because of this. Enraged, she laid down the Daughter’s Roads and bound her enemies to its service. She is now remembered as the goddess of the Provinces, of strategists, of craftspeople and of road wardens.
She is not listed among the Inspirations; her body lies in a dank and lightless well; even so, she stands vigil.

YARA ARANIS
Goddess of the Reaching Moon, Horse-Eater, Keeper of Inside and Out.
When the Sun Nomads rampaged across our lands, following damned Sheng Seleris, the Red Emperor concocted a plan. He intentionally died so that he could court the Bad Woman, who is named Gorgorma. Their daughter is the demoness who devours horses and their riders, the goddess who draws and redraws the boundaries of the empire, the granddaughter who makes Her light steady and even. Her temples are the anchors of moonlight. Her mouth is glutted with the bodies of her victims.
She is the Second Inspiration of Moonson; she is the darkness that safeguards the light; she is the terror that drives back invasions.

HON-EEL
Maize Mother, the Artess, Mistress of the Gladiatrices.
After Sheng Seleris was condemned to a special hell, the empire was in ruins. Hon-Eel came forth then to bring life back to what had been spoiled, dancing the Dance of Three Reconstructions. She gave birth to maize and taught everyone how to grow it using the blood rites, because she wished for no one to ever starve again. She was the mother of a barbarian dynasty and a pair of gods, and her descendants followed her into faith. The miracles she performed are too numerous to count.
She is the Third Inspiration of Moonson; she is the Imperial Grain Goddess; she is the power of the Earth which brings forth both Life and Death.

JAR-EEL
The Razoress, the Balancer and Turner, the Goddess Returning.
The result of generations of deliberate magical breeding, Jar-Eel was born already knowing herself. The Goddess flowed into her like wine into a cup, up to the very brim of her selves. She holds Death in one hand, and no army can stay her when she dances with her scimitars, her elite Bloodspillers following in her wake. She holds Life in the other, and is renowned as a poet, harpist and theologian all across the Empire. Who is like unto her?
She is the Fourth Inspiration of Moonson; she is the Liberator come around again; she is our Superhero!