Rhaynan mythology (Pacifica)
Rhaynan mythology is the composing of myths, legends, and popular folklore belonging to the culture of Ancient Rhayna and before the city states united, dealing with their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, the origin of this, and the meaning of their own cults and ritual practices. To this day, it's recognized as the local religion, although a small minority of the population shares it, in contrast to past centuries where believing in the religion and knowing about the mythology went hand by hand.
Rhaynan mythology appears explicitly in an extensive collection of stories and implicitly in figurative arts such as painted pottery and votive offerings. Rhaynan myths attempt to explain the origins of the world and detail the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, heroes, and other mythological creatures and apparitions. These stories are mainly known today thanks to Rhaynan literature and oral tradition.
The oldest known literary sources, the poem "The Aperogony and Kosmos", focus on the explanations to the genesis of the world. Some others like "Wine and Men" relate multiple short histories of wars between city states and their heroes, and "Multiples Tales of Lost Times" tries to explain what happened between the 4300 BC and 3200 BC, an age in Rhaynan history with no written recordings about the civilizations before and their cultures. This story told about the desertification of Rhayna to be due to a war between gods that devastated everything, "being so savage that it removed all the water from the land except Lake Kryó and the major rivers, this having been formed by the cries of past generations." Some other poems and tales talk about gods, heroes and creatures, and their role in Rhaynan history and development, and their job controlling every natural act in the world.
Throughout history there have been written multiple tales, and to this day they are still being written for artistic ends, showing the impact of the Rhaynan folklore and mythology into the rhaynan populace, even the people who don't believe in it as a cultural characteristic.
Archaeological finds provide an important source of detail about Rhaynan mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many objects. Rhaynan mythology has exerted a wide influence on the culture, art, and literature of Rhayna and remains a part of their cultural heritage and language. Rhaynan poets and artists have drawn inspiration from ancient times to the present day and have found contemporary meaning and relevance in classical mythological themes.