Menaphite Pantheon

The Menaphite Pantheon is the name given to an octet of deities who rule the Kharidian Lands. It consists of Tumeken, god of light, his wife Elidinis, goddess of fertility, their children Icthlarin, god of death, and Amascut, goddess of rebirth, as well as four demi-gods: Apmeken, goddess of friendship and pleasure, Crondis, goddess of resourcefulness, Het, god of strength and mental health, and Scabaras, god of wisdom and isolation. The latter four only have tier 7 of godhood, however. They were created by Tumeken in a dream, wherein he travelled to multiple places and turned an animal who acted well in areas of misbehaviour into a demi-god. According to Aristarchus, a Menaphite historian, a camel god exists, who is worshipped in the desert as well, but they aren't part of the Pantheon.

Second Age
After Guthix had gone to sleep, having shaped the world, many other deities saw the opportunity to go to Gielinor. Saradomin arrived in search of Elder Artefacts while Zaros, the most powerful younger god second only to Guthix, as god of control, began establishing and expanding an empire from the kingdom of Forinthry, calling many wicked races from other realms to his aid. It is likely that Tumeken arrived to Gielinor at some point in this era as well, where he began ruling the Menaphite civilisations of the Kharidian Lands. He saw the beauty of the River Elid and drank from it, meeting Elidinis - his new wife. After this arrival, Icthlarin and Amascut were born or created in an unknown fashion.

Inevitably, the gods clashed. Zaros attempted to conquer more territory to the south, invading the Kharidian territory. The pantheon resisted and assembled an army of Menaphites and mercenaries, with even the lower gods themselves fighting. Thus, the Kharidian-Zarosian War commenced. Initially, the forces of Zaros were on the winning hand. Despite the best efforts of the pantheon and Queen Senliten (and possibly her son and heir to the throne, Prince Osmumten), they lost ground by the day. Icthlarin, realising they would be lost without aid, left Gielinor in search of allies from other dimensions. Soon, he discovered Freneskae and its inhabitants, an extremely powerful race known as the Mahjarrat.

He made an agreement with the Mahjarrat; some of them would come with him to defend his lands, at the promise of fully being able to exercise their powers and bathe in warfare. The combative Mahjarrat agreed to this and followed Icthlarin to Gielinor. They arrived in the midst of battle, as noted by the mercenary Gram Kobold, and began slaughtering the Zarosian troops. These were no match for the Mahjarrat's extremely power magic, nor could they inflict any major damage to them, for they would heal almost immediately. Their shapeshifting abilities earnt them the title of "The Faceless Ones", while they were usually known to the Menaphites as the "Stern Judges of Icthlarin". Some Mahjarrat went even further than that; the devious Sliske, for example, would not fight directly. Rather, he searched amongst enemy's troops, partially travelling through the Shadow Realm, and converted the strongest of him into his semi-undead wights. These served Sliske mindlessly, battling their own troops. Icthlarin, being the one responsible for escorting the souls of the fallen to the Underworld, disapproved of this, but allowed Sliske to have his way for the sake of winning the war.

At some point, Amascut, after witnessing the Mahjarrat's power, was corrupted - her mind is said to have been warped to the point where she became evil. Now the goddess of destruction, she abandoned her divine duties and began eating the souls of people, leaving them unable to die properly, for her brother could not transport their souls to the afterlife. Amascut, "the Devourer", became a dangerous entity in the lands, possibly feared more than the Zarosians.

With the aid of the Mahjarrat, the Zarosian forces were soon driven back until the Menaphite Pantheon completely vanquished them. At that point, Icthlarin ordered Sliske to release the souls of all his wights, but he refused. Icthlarin then took them by force and released their souls, which angered Sliske immensely. Afterwards, he offered his services to Zaros, who gladly accepted, and the rest of his kin soon followed, bored of the newly instated piece and Icthlarin's reign. While no longer having the Mahjarrat to their aid, there were no major invasions in the Kharidian Lands in the Second Age anymore, although Senliten does remark Zaros kept plotting from the east.

Third Age
When Zamorak declared war on Saradomin and the other gods, the Menaphite territory suffered as well. The Duel Arena near where the mehkmets lived, a training area for warriors of Het, was partially destroyed as a result. At one point, Zamorak launched a massive campaign conducted by demons into the Kharidian Lands. The Menaphite Pantheon, minus Amascut, and its armies did their best to stop the demonic forces, but they were ultimately unable to stop them. The Elder Demon Thammaron, who had assisted Zamorak in his rebellion against Zaros, was able to vanquish the once prosperous city of Uzer. While the city's clay golem troops were initially able to ward off the attacks, Thammaron opened a portal from his throne room in the Infernal Dimensions leading into the city's heart and the Battle of Uzer was decided with demonic victory. Nevertheless, the city's elite golems were able to fatally wound Thammaron, and he died slowly and painfully in his throne room some time later.

At the same time, the monstrous demon Balfrug Kreeyath led his troops to the southeast and attacked the great city Ullek. Details of the ensuing battle are scarce, but the city was levelled, and Balfrug earnt a high position in the Zamorakian armies, aiding K'ril Tsutsaroth in the Battle for the Godsword later.

The battle turned the once lush lands of the Menaphites into the desert it is today, leaving no trace of the rich forests it once had. Despite the fall of the great cities, many younger settlements, such as Sophanem and Menaphos, manages to survive the wars. In the western desert, a group of Zarosian loyalists, reduced to living as bandits, settled in a camp. Meanwhile, Amascut presumably continued devouring souls during this time, although there are no records of this. Her claiming of the soul of Catolax may well have occurred around this time.

When Guthix ended the war after nearly four millennia of battle, he created a set of edicts that forbade all gods from interfering with the world directly, banishing them. The Menaphite demi-gods, as well as Icthlarin and Amascut, were not affected by this, due to a relative lack of power, but Tumeken (and possibly his wife too) was. He went to sleep in a similar way to Guthix himself and has not been seen since.

Fourth and Fifth Ages
Very little is known about the Menaphite Pantheon's activity in the Fourth Age. The capital of the desert, now Menaphos, developed and soon the society flourished. Meanwhile, new settlements such as Pollnivneach and Nardah arose. In the north, the town of Al Kharid was founded. Around the beginning of the Fifth Age, Menaphos and Al Kharid clashed in a bloody war. It was settled with a shaky peace between the Emir of Al Kharid and the Pharaoh of Menaphos, but the two cities remain hostile towards each other.

Meanwhile, Amascut had set in motion a plan to conquer the desert, possibly because the path to do so had been opened with her parents' banishment. She began by incapacitating the lesser deities; for example, she stole three senses of Apmeken and turned them into three monstrous demons that slaughtered all but three of the desert's simian inhabitants, ridding it of monkeys. As a result, Apmeken went into hiding. Scabaras was banished from the desert due to a trick of Amascut's and became an epitome of evil to the Menaphites. Amascut manipulated the Scabarites by pretending to be their god and possessing their High Priest, using them for her own ends.

In 169, she kidnapped the dying Emir's son Ali Mirza and demanded the Kharid-ib, a legendary diamond known as the heart of the sun, as ransom. She obtained it in the end, although her plans with it remain unknown. She then attempted to devour the soul of Klenter, a former High Priest of Icthlarin, but was narrowly stopped in doing so by her brother. In a rage, she unleashed a non-contagious plague over Sophanem, causing the Pharaoh of Menaphos to put the city under quarantine, locking it from the outside world. An adventurer, who had also attempted to stop Amascut earlier, managed to release the Scabarite High Priest from Amascut's clutches and she attempted an assassination on them, but failed. A while later, they also restored Apmeken's senses and erected a new Monkey Colony in the desert. In the meantime, Scabaras had returned from his banishment, secretly having aided the adventurer by attempting to prevent Amascut from obtaining the Kharid-ib.

Sixth Age
When Guthix was killed by a Zarosian Mahjarrat at the end of the Fifth Age, his edicts were broken, allowing gods to return to Gielinor. The same was true for Tumeken and Elidinis, although their whereabouts and plans are currently unknown.

Tumeken


Tumeken is the leader of the Pantheon and the god of light, also named Lord of the Sun. He is the husband of Elidinis and father of Icthlarin and Amascut. He is said to have departed on a journey in a dream of his, wherein he created the four demi-gods of the Pantheon. The kharid-ib, translated aa 'heart of the sun', is rumoured to be somehow affiliated with the god. Tumeken is one of the more powerful desert gods, having been affected by the Edicts of Guthix. After the end of the God Wars, he went to sleep, unwillingly leaving his domain at the mercy of the Devourer. His symbol resembles a sun crown and he is either depicted as a human wearing it, or a hawk-headed one.

Elidinis
Elidinis is Tumeken's wife, goddess of fertility and the namesake of the River Elid. Tumeken met her when he drank from the Elid upon arrival to Gielinor and found her visage beautiful. She is mainly worshipped in Nardah, a desert town named after her friend Nardarine. Not much else is known about Elidinis, other than that she is the mother of Amascut and Icthlarin. It is said Scabaras was banished from the desert after having attempted to 'undermined Elidinis' - the meaning of this, however, remains unknown.

Icthlarin
Icthlarin is the jackal-headed god of the dead, son of Tumeken and Elidinis, brother to Amascut and responsible for escorting souls of the deceased to the Grim Underworld. He used to do this in cooperation with his sister, but they have become enemies since the warping of the latter's mind, which she blamed on Icthlarin. He is notable for having brought the Mahjarrat to Gielinor to win the Kharidian-Zarosian War. This was successful, but they soon left him for the ranks of Zaros. He is very hated by Sliske as a result of his stealing of the Mahjarrat's wights acquired during the war. Icthlarin's symbol is an and he is not powerful enough to be affected by the Edicts.

Amascut
Amascut, daughter of Tumeken and Elidinis and sister to Icthlarin, used to be the lioness-headed goddess of rebirth, whose duty was to grant the souls her brother would have escorted to the Grim Underworld a new life. However, she suffered a mental corruption in the Second Age after witnessing the power of the Mahjarrat and abandoned her duties completely, having become The Devourer. As goddess of destruction, Amascut began stealing souls from people to prevent her brother from escorting them, blaming her warping on him, before devouring them.

She has also dispatched of the four tier 7 demi-gods of the Kharidian Desert. She had the followers of Apmeken massacred using the latter's stolen senses, for example. How Amascut handled Crondis, Het and Scabaras is currently unknown, although Scabaras banishment may have got something to do with her since Amascut began manipulating the Scabarites into invading Sophanem. At the end of the Fifth Age, Amascut also obtained the legendary Kharid-ib and the soul of Klenter, but lost her control over both the Scabarites and Apmeken.

Apmeken
Apmeken is the monkey-headed goddess of friendship and social pleasures. She is the patron god of the desert monkeys and able to change her head at will; a monkey head represents skillfulness, the ape is wise and the baboon is generally comical. She was the second demi-god created by Tumeken - when he saw two tribes argue in bitterness, he also noticed a group of monkeys playfully interacting when one of them approached him and jumped onto his shoulder. He granted her power to rule the desert with him, for she was the "most sociable of creatures". In the Fourth Age, Apmeken's sight, hearing and speech were stolen by the Devourer. The latter forged them into three monstrous demons which she set upon the desert monkeys, slaughtering nearly all of them. As a result, Apmeken went into hiding, but returned centuries later when her senses were restored and the monkeys returned.

Crondis
Crondis is the crocodile-headed goddess of modesty and resourcefulness, mainly worshipped by farmers. She was the third god created by Tumeken, when he was impressed by her resourcefulness upon eating a single small prey, whereas he'd seen the inhabitants of Ullek feast beyond limits. Little else is known about Crondis.

Het
Het is the human god of physical and mental health. He was created by Tumeken on the first day of his dream near Al Kharid, when he saw his strength and health among the weak and dying desert dwellers there. Het is worshipped by the Pharaoh of Menaphos for his traits. Warriors generally align to him and the Duel Arena near Al Kharid used to be a training ground for them.

Scabaras
Scabaras is the beetle-headed god of wisdom and isolation. Different tales tell of his creation, but the most reliable source states that Tumeken waited for hours in the southern desert, where the only lifeform he ever saw was a lone, digging beetle isolating itself from the god. This beetle became Scabaras to be an example of what becomes of one when they lose themselves in solitude. Some time in the Fourth Age, Scabaras was banished by the Menaphites. It is said that he attempted to undermine Elidinis and that he had declared himself the sole god of the desert, although these are very vague references. He henceforth became viewed as the god of evil. He returned in the Fifth Age, however, and attempted to prevent Amascut from obtaining the Kharid-ib, but failed.

Trivia

 * The Menaphite Pantheon seem to be largely based on the gods of ancient . Tumeken is very similar to, for example, the greatest deity of the Egyptians, associated with light, while the depiction and function of Icthlarin match those of , his symbol being an Egyptian hieroglyph. Additionally, Amascut bears some resemblance to , also known as the Devourer. The canopic jars with organs, pharaohs, mummification and decorations in Sophanem, as well as the desert pyramids, are also references to ancient Egypt.