Alternate Lunar Empire

[John Biles]

The War on Ernalda

The War on Ernalda has been carried out to various degrees of seriousness by the Mounts of the Moonson.  The fertilizing power of water and the existence of other Earth goddesses has allowed the Empire to mount this war without wrecking themselves.  The degree to which all Earth goddesses get condemned as Ernalda fronts varies over time.  Catticus has both amplified the War on Ernalda proper, while being pretty lax about anyone who looks 95% like Ernalda but gives fealty to the Empire.  Catticus blames Ernalda for the failure of Dragon Pass and points south to bend knee properly to the Empire, though his growing diffidence and depression means he has largely left the war to others while he composes songs about how Ernalda did him wrong.

The War on Ernalda has gone on for so long that it has become an excuse for just about everything.  Every Satrap invokes it to justify what they wanted to do anyway.  It's most consistently followed in the South, where there are rumors of a plan to shut down Enalda's power entirely, though no one is sure how that could even work.  The biggest rumor is that somehow Genert will be revived and take Ernalda's place.  Others think she will be forced to marry Yelmalio and thus be forced to submit if not destroyed.  Some Trolls talk about feeding her to Zorak Zoran.  But no one else, including most Trolls, wants that.

At its most basic, it involves breaking up organized worship of Ernalda.  This has tended to lead to cults which are basically Ernalda under another name  or to other Earth goddesses (who are arguably just masks of Ernalda or vice versa) taking her place, though the Empire has erratically tried to replace her with the Imperial pantheon.

The Bureau of Righteous Thought has the Ernalda-Hunter Division, whose job it is to roust out Ernaldan heretics.  The wise don't call them in as they tend to favor 'burn everything' as a solution.

In recent years, the Empire has promoted Hon-Eeel worship as an alternative to Ernalda Worship.  This grows more popular in the southern satrapies.  Jar-Eel has eagerly promoted this and it's especially common in Tarsh.

Efforts to impose this in Dragon Pass and the Holy Country have led to a lot of violence, though most Sartarite clans have elevated Mahome or one of Ernalda's other handmaidens in response.  The Clearwine Temple officially serves Orendana the Queen, who is totally not Ernalda at all because she is blonde.  Mahome is the most common choice to turn to, though.

Because Ernalda is not the dominant goddess of Prax, the War on Ernalda has little impact there outside of Pavis.  Save for the Genert Project.

An issue for another post.