Ohhhh, you've opened up a wonderful kettle of worms with this question, Sherbie!

The questions of Nagamíssa and Amasúrah, or indeed any of the various interpretations of the devah depending on who you may ask, and where they may come from on the World of Dárdünah, mostly rise from the tumultuous times of the Wars of Twilight when essentially everything was seen as an "us vs. them" mentality of Visedi Sarpah vs. the rest of the world. However you are correct to make the connection between that mind-set, and similar mind-sets that rose long before that, during what is known as the "Thousand Years of Darkness".

We don't want to totally disambiguate the relationship between Nagamíssa and Amasúrah, simply because it is that very debate which could be used to fuel all sorts of "religious fire" plot-lines that you guys may want to use in your campaigns, but read these few unedited entries of the religious orders/cults that formed around that devah that will eventually find their way into the World Guide, and hopefully they will inspire you to play around with those types of plots further!

The Nagmahn Order
Formed sometime near the end of the Thousand Years of Darkness, the Nagmahn Order has grown to prominence only within the nations of Pükharaj, Andhi, Magár, and the Principalities of Visedhárah. In these areas, primarily because of the high number of Sarpah within the populations, temples of this order, dedicated to the devah Nagamíssa, holy patroness of all Sarpah, have mightily flourished. It is for them that Nagamíssa toiled in the days when all others had forsaken them and the great exodus was made to the north. She gave birth to one of their greatest heroes, Padh-shu-sén, who delivered them from the terrors of Satha-Vürtach (a giant fire-spewing monstrous version of a vürtach), and whose courageous spirit even now is harbored within the hearts of all the Sarpah jenu because of his mighty sacrifice. To the Sarpah, she is divine wisdom, purveyor of magic, blessed healing, and favorable fortune. She is the mother and the nurturer of them all and the holy caretaker of the sky, the earth, and indeed nature itself, prominent above all other devah, and favored in the eyes of the Great Mother and Father. Those of the Nagmahn order see Krilárah as her lesser sister, just as they regard the other devah as secondary to Nagamíssa’s authority, and recognize Kramah only as a wicked god of cruelty, rage, war, death, and destruction (essentially taking the place of Amasúrah in their eyes). Temples honoring Nagamíssa are almost always made of polished green stone and often have domed roofs made of clear crystal, which allows the light of the sacred suns to enter into the hearts of their shrines.

The Kalasyáhi
Literally, the “black ink” cult, devotees of Amasúrah who were originally formed, it is said, as a splinter group of twisted religious zealots who sought to end the defamation of Nagamíssa’s name more than seven or eight hundred cycles ago by becoming the very aspect of the wicked devah with which she was associated by the foreign “devils” (Amasúrah, Mother of Demons). At that time they were composed primarily of sarpah who assassinated and preyed upon travelers and foreigners visiting the Principalities of Visedhárah in the early centuries after the end of the Twilight Wars, determined to lash out at members of the southern countries who disrespected the worship of their beloved Nagamíssa. The Nagmahn Order today disavows any relation with them since the Kalasyáhi cult has, over many centuries, altered its ideologies to embrace Amasúrah fully as the “dark aspect” of Nagamíssa (something a true Nagmahn would supposedly NEVER do). They have a twisted moral code that, if defied by those they meet, causes them to stalk their victim (sometimes for days or even weeks) until a drug-induced vision or omen portends the perfect moment of the victim’s death. To the Kalasyáhi devotees only these deaths will bring the ultimate wisdom necessary for their victims to learn the errors of their ways, speeding these unfortunates along to their next, more enlightened, incarnation. The victim’s valuables, no longer necessary of course, are taken and the body buried. In current times, the cult is still somewhat active, though sporadic, and according to the few who have survived their assassinations, its membership is no longer limited to only sarpah. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of deaths have been attributed to them over the many centuries of their operation; the murders of entire caravans have been blamed upon their group activities. Some say it is possible to contact them for the purpose of donating to their cause, thus securing the death of a specific individual, though their ways are so secretive that this cannot be verified. Since Amasúrah is also considered the goddess of darkness, the members of the Kalasyáhi dress in black when performing their killings, use sanded obsidian blades or dark silk garrotes, and if not naturally black of body, will paint themselves up in black ink (thus their name) to hide their features at night, which is their favorite time of activity. The flower whose petals they crush to create the vision-inducing drug they use when determining the time, place, and method of their murders is...the black lotus.

Festivals dealing with Nagamíssa or her son:

The Padh-shu-sén Festival of the North – This festival, celebrated primarily in the northern Sarpah nations, but also in Magár, is in honor of the ancient demigod warrior-hero Padh-shu-sén, son of Nagamíssa and the mortal Sarpah ruler who, according to the holy inscriptions of the Jade Cylinders, led the Sarpah people north into the blessed lands of Visedhárah at the end of the Thousand Years of Darkness. By the time of this great northern migration, the Devah had already been consigned to the Edge of Heaven for warring with one another on the face of Dárdünah, and the Sarpah people, now without the direct leadership of their beloved Nagamíssa, began to be persecuted by the other jenu of the world.

The Jade Cylinders say that Nagamíssa saw the suffering of her children from the Edge of Heaven and wept tears that became terrible monsters as they fell to Dárdünah, causing harm and mayhem for all. To mollify her, the Great Mother and Father allowed her to go back to the world in flesh to help them through these terrible times, and to find a new land for them to inhabit, with the one condition that she could give her people nothing but her wisdom. Though she did help her people by becoming councilor to their ruler Sháhm-hu-sen, thus leading them to the lands of Visedhárah, she also disobeyed the Great Mother and Father by giving the ruler a son from her own body, who was named Padh-shu-sén (“son of hu-sen”). As punishment, Nagamíssa was made to watch, over the many decades that followed, as one of the terrible monsters of her own former tears, the terrible Satha-Vürtach, mother of all vürtachs, a flying horror whose voice was deadly thunder and whose veins ran with fire, continued to ravage the new lands of her people, devoured the ruler Sháhm, and threatened to bring chaos to their lands.

She finally begged the Great Mother and Father to be merciful, and let her help her semi-divine son defeat this terrible foe, to which they finally relented when her tears threatened to fall again, allowing her only to visit Padh’s dreams in vision, and to lend her aid through her magic, warning her, yet again, that she could give him nothing to help him that he did not already possess. To this end, she appeared as a mystic dream to Padh, and bade him walk through the war trophies of his father, which contained his ancient and blessed crystal lance and amber sword, and bade her son to don these things and bring an end to the terrible monster Satha, who shattered their cities and slew their people.

Padh wondered how it was he would ascend to the skies to face the creature, and so Nagamíssa took one other trophy from his father’s collection, the withered, winged arms of a long dead Paksin enemy king, and placed them upon his back. When Padh awoke, he discovered that the wings had become things of beauty, springing from his very body as if natural to him. And so armed with his father’s own treasures, he flew into the cloud-dark skies to engage in an epic and terrible battle that lasted for many days. In the hours after dawn, when sight of them was washed away by the light of the suns, the sounds of their engagements rang across the sky, and at night amidst the glow of the moons, the clouds were often lit by the clashing of weapons against chitinous armor and Satha’s fiery vomit.

Finally, however, Padh-shu-sén overcame the horrendous strength of Satha-Vürtach and with terrible blows drove her into the deadly upper airs where she writhed, and shrieked, and burst her life out upon the ground below, showering the hero with her flaming innards. So did pass Satha-Vürtach, and the people did look up and cheer that their torment had come to an end. But alas, so wounded was Padh-shu-sén by this mighty battle that he did descend from the sky in great pain, and fell to the ground crying out in agony, his once beautiful wings now black and charred, his scaled body horribly broken by the conflict. As he lay dying, his people gathered around him and wrung their hands, for these wounds were beyond the means of any known sir’hibas.

Beyond the veils of Heaven, Nagamíssa stared in horror as her son’s life ebbed away. But the wise Mahitáytah said “Your son has sacrificed himself for his people and also made amends for your own transgression. In this he will be honored.” And so the Great Mother and Father brought Padh-shu-sén to the Edge of Heaven, healed him of all his wounds, made him the holy consort of Nagamíssa, and took a piece of his spirit, with which they invested all the hearts of the Sarpah people with his strength and his heroic courage, so that the duháma of Padh-shu-sén would forever remain in service to his people for all eternity.

To celebrate this occasion, most Sarpah from that day forward have held holiday festivities in his name, thanking him for his sacrifice with feasting, dancing in the streets, displays of combat prowess and bravery, and three days of revelry that usually culminates in fireworks and a grand parade that features costumed performers reenacting the illustrious battle, replete with colorful silk “fire”, a “winged” hero, and a sinuous dancing cloth-and-paper “vürtach” controlled by many skillful jánah beneath.


Feast of Nagamíssa – Held beginning on the first day of Sadázis, in the second month of Shurád, the Harvest Season, this week-long feast honors Nagamíssa as the patron devah of Visedhárah and the beloved, wise, and mystical mother of Sarpah in general. Though Sarpah the world over give praise to her during these days, lighting incense before statues depicting her seated, pregnant form, reading blessed philosophical poems written by ancient Nagmahn priests, and visiting soothsayers to receive prophetic visions and readings for the remainder of the year, it is in Visedhárah itself that the feasts and glorious revelry honoring her are renown.

For the Visedi, Nagamíssa is a symbol of fortune and magic, and she is said to sometimes prevail over the skies in beauteous cloud formations through which the future can be read by those with the arcane eye for such things. In the beginning days of her great feast, thousands will often gather on the best of days to fly elaborate kites and silk balloons depicting her sinuous form as wise enchantress, her pregnant form as mother, and various other figures and heroes pertaining to her legends. Attached to these flying works of art are a multitude of colorful streamers bearing prayers and wishes inked in beautiful brushed calligraphy to delight the goddess, and to invoke her benevolence and blessings.

High on shrine-dotted hills overlooking the lush jungles of the Principalities, High Nagmahn priests will sit among the fragrant swaying crimson grasses with those of the faithful who gather to hear the visions they receive from viewing the cloud-shapes swirling high above. And upon almost any of the nights during this eight-day festival, extended families, whole neighborhoods, and even entire villages and small towns will often gather together for a large and elaborate feast of thanksgiving for the very life with which Nagamíssa has blessed them, for her bravery and wisdom, for the selfless acts she performed, even those that incurred the anger of the Great Mother and Father, all done for the sake of the sarpah people. Pregnant sarpah mothers are dressed and decorated resplendently, given places of high honor at all gatherings and tables during this holiday, and are treated as if they are the very incarnations of Nagamíssa, with jánah of all ages approaching them, bringing them gifts, and begging for their enduring blessings.

Have fun!!!

Scottie