Lore:Khenarthi

A depiction of Khenarthi

Khenarthi,God of Winds,theGatherer of Waters,andthe Elder Spirit of the Heavens,is theKhajiitigoddess of weather and the sky,the most powerful of the Sky Spirits,and is the Khajiiti interpretation ofKynareth.When a Khajiit dies, it is Khenarthi who guides their soul either toAzurahfor judgment,or toLlesw'er,the Sands Behind the Stars.And it is her clarion call that will summon the "eternal united spirit of all Khajiit" to defend creation at the end of time.She is typically represented as a great hawk.

History

Sometime in theDawn Era,Khenarthi was born alongsideAlkosh,Magrus,Mara,andS'rendarr,as part of the First Litter ofAhnurrandFadomai.After the creation of theSecond Litter,Khenarthi convinced her mother Fadomai to have more children, as she was lonely in her domain high in the heavens. Despite Ahnurr not wanting more children, Fadomai tricked him and gave birth to the Third Litter, consisting ofNirni,Azurah,andLorkhaj.

After giving birth to Lorkhaj in the Great Darkness, Fadomai succumbed to the wounds Ahnurr inflicted on her for her disobedience. Before her death, Fadomai entrusted Azurah with several secrets that involved laying the groundwork for the transformation ofNirni's children into her secret defenders; theKhajiit.Azurah shared one of these secrets with Khenarthi, making her a psychopomp that would accompany the spirits of deceased Khajiit to the afterlife ofLlesw'er,the Sands Behind the Stars.From Llesw'er, these spirits await until theNext Pounce,for Khenarthi will call upon their combined might to fight for creation at the end of time.Namiira is the antithesis to Khenarthi, who drags the victims of the Bent Dance into theDark Behind the World,where they become part of her dark litter. Those of this litter occasionally slip through the cracks in Nirni to tempt true cats, so their souls can too be sent to the Dark to serve Namiira as dro-m'Athra.To combat Namiira's dark litter and save Khajiiti souls from corruption, from Azurah's tongue came the Dusk-Canticles, holy hymns used to exorcise dro-m'Athra.And so explains the fight for the souls of Khajiit.

The pre-ri'Dattabeliefs state that after the Many Paths of Time were created byAkha,Alkosh inherited the role, and is aided by Khenarthi who ensures that the tapestry of time is mended. It was her who put Alkosh back together, and now they both "safeguard the Many Paths from theDragons,the "wayward children of Akha" from his unions with theWinged Serpent of the East,theDune Queen of the West,and theMother Mammoth of the North.

Khenarthi's Roostis named after her as according to legend, Khenarthi rested upon a tree on the island during her first journey across the heavens. This tree would later become the Great Tree, found along the coast west ofMistral.Many of the island's Khajiit therefore worship Khenarthi.

Khajiiti clan mothers often drink from opal-studded cups bearing the likeness of Khenarthi.

Analogues

• Kynareth
• Kyne
• Tava

Notes

• Khenarthi is depicted in tapestries in the form resembling a real-worldGreek Spynx.In the context ofThe Elder Scrolls,Sphinxeshaveknownassociationswith the province ofElsweyr.

• 1.

  The Wandering Spiritsrecounts the tale of Akha, who fathered offspring with the Winged Serpent, Mother Mammoth, and Dune Queen. Upon Akha's vanishing in the South, Alkosh "was granted rule over the myriad kingdoms of Akha along the Many Paths", and would watch over Akha's children. However, they rebelled against Alkosh, only for Khenarthi to restore him afterward. Together, they now oversee them.The term "wayward children of Alkosh" was used by Clan Mother Tadali, a leader of a temple dedicated to Khenarthi, to describe dragons.Moreover, the dragonNahfahlaarreferred to Alkosh as his father.

Gallery

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  Khenarthi's Breath temple

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  Khenarthic bell

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  Khenarthi's Windbells