Tallari-Anaviri-Irallat
Tallari-Anaviri-Irallat, or simply Tallari, is an alien god of hidden truths, riddles, knowledge and glyphs. They are also known as Tallarax-Apsasu, the God-Queen of the Tiam-Anzu, the Great Inceptine and Nanatsusaya, the Shifting Mandala.
The Shifting Mandala may be an alien god even beyond Materia's dreaming layer, possibly even one of few beings able to traverse The Wane between Class IV (Interesoteric) planes. They may even have taught this method to some or all of the Dragon Knights.
Tallari is the progenitor and supreme commander of the Dragon Knights of Tallarax: among the most powerful of Material mortals, they carry out missions that are interplanar and multidimensional in scope. They are said to be headquartered in the bizarre dimensional anomaly known as Stargrave. The origin of their name is unknown; it may refer to their devotion to the God-Queen of the feathered dragons, or it may refer to their role as elite dragon-slayers during the devastating wars against Elir-Otrinax and its draconic armies.
Though they appear to war with the True Dragons, Tallarax-Apsasu is a divine host to the Wyrmkin Domain. They explain it thus:Tallari spoke of themselves in the plural we/they.
Their alignment is True Neutral.Appearance & Heraldry
See also: Tallari Image Gallery (External)Surviving First Age texts describe Tallari-Anaviri-Irallat as taking any form between fully humanoid and fully Tiam-Anzu, though most often they were seen as a colossally large combination of the two: a tiam-anzu with the head of an androgynous, Meranthic human. Sometimes they manifested as both, with the large feline avatar reclining and watching, while the humanoid form spoke (e.g. Profile picture).
Worship
Modern worship of Tallari is usually seen as antequated if not outright blasphemous in many societies; tales of their aid in winning The First Dragon Wars have diluted over time, seemingly to the Sphinx God's indifference. Indeed, there is no evidence the being ever desired worship.
Though they dislike names or titles, when agents of Tallari acted in an official capacity on Waking Materia, they were called the Myoun-et-Tainen, Alanthian for "Servants of Causality". They see themselves not only as collectors of secrets and information, but protectors of these secrets, devoted to preventing them from falling into the wrong hands. What the "right" and "wrong" hands are, however, varies by individual as Tallari is not a dogmatic god.
The vast majority of Myoun-et-Tainen are also willing participants in a planar information network lead by the Dragon Knights of Tallarax. Though refusal to participate is not punished within the "church", it's nonetheless considered bad manners.
Relations between the churches of Tallari and the God of Omens, Shauku, are generally strong due to Shennuvriex Shauku being a follower of the Great Inceptine in mortal life. That said there are some sects that believe the two are estranged, after Shauku stole the secret of Halation from Tallari's divine library.Domains
Tallari's primary Domain is Truth. Their secondary domains are Knowledge, Secrecy, Trickery, Glyph and Wyrmkin.Favoured Weapon
Tallari's favoured weapon is the urumi. Their Relic weapon is the Savvat Eztienn Ishkannah. In the hands of her elitemost warriors, the urumi was said to be an impenetrable blur of bladework.History
The Sphinx God is most well known on Waking Materia for their opposition to Elir-Otrinax, who had decided the plane would make an enjoyable buffet-slash-playground. (Known as the First Dragon Wars, the ensuing series of conflicts spanned several years in the Early First Age, roughly between I.M. 1210-1260.) Though Tallari is not a good-aligned god and has many concerns outside the well-being of Waking peoples, it did not suit them that "God-Killer Otrinax" have its way with the plane, and the resulting conflict left the god of annihilation imprisoned deep beneath Materia's surface, caged by forces that are to arcane glyphs what tesseracts are to cubes.
Known to some First Age nations as the "God-Queen" or "God-Envoy" of the Tiam-Anzu, Tallari would sometimes act as a liaison, of sorts, between the feathered dragons and mankind, and would even give some Waking peoples gifts of knowledge when it suited them. Though not deeply invested in Material society, it seems apparent they were subtly involved in assisting the Insurgent Gods endure their war of attrition with the Colonial Gods through conveniently-placed political revelations and shifts in loyalty.On New Rozsa
Tales would reach New Rozsa of a "God-Ambassador of the Tiam-Anzu", whose labyrinthine intellect single-handedly turned the tables against Elir-Otrinax, ending The Dragon Wars. Many Rozsans were filled with wonderment at the idea of a different sort of god, even if they were still loyal to the ruling Lichlords of the Temporal Vanguard. This god-anzu, Tallari, spiked in fame as the famed philosopher and poet Shennuvriex Shauku became a member of their cult, Hyperion Tallarax. Shauku would eventually leave New Rozsa to become a follower, and possibly a Dragon Knight.Antemeranthic History
Some scholars suggest Tallari was the primary deity of a mysterious, indigenous species known as the Watchers: the Dragon Knights and Servants of Causality were thought to be the only Meranthic humanoids to have any relationship with the strange creatures, and the Watchers' presence was considered an omen of great import in the Tallaric religion. If this is the case, the Great Inceptine may well be the oldest continually-worshipped god on Waking Materia.The Knight-Sages of Tallarax
Full article: The Dragon Knights of TallaraxAlso known as the Dragon Knights or Knight-Sages of Stargrave, they are a fabled group that nonetheless still exist, albeit smaller and more specialized than their First Age counterparts. Much of the information around them was destroyed by The Deluge, which suits them just fine (in fact, they have been moderately successful in collecting or destroying the rest).
Aside from monitoring Elir-Otrinax's hibernation, the Knight-Sages may be tasked with missions of multiplanar importance by their God-Queen. They are monster hunters of the highest order, possibly recruited from their Aiosian equivalents, the Dreadnoughts of V'Shaat, the Pale Vigil of Overshepherd Rom or others. Despite the fact that previous worship of Tallari is not a prerequisite, the Knight-Sages are by all accounts genuinely loyal to their God-Queen, happily giving up their lives to protect their secrets.
Folklore
Folklore of Tallari was myriad on First Age Materia. While only a small fraction of this has survived, it nonetheless constitutes a considerable volume of wondrous material, heavily discussed in many religious and scholarly circles.Shauku and the Gift of Halation
It is whispered in hidden-away places that the forever-branching halls of Liminos—home of the Goddess of Fate, Shauku—is actually her prison, and furthermore that her beloved former goddess, Tallari, is the gaoler. Her crimes vary from region to region, Tallarite school to Tallarite church.
The Juran Order of the Sphinx believes Shennuvriex Shauku—in her elder years an archmage of immense power—sought revenge against the gods. She snuck into her divine matron's sanctum and stole knowledge of a forbidden ritual that gave all Material mortals hereon-born a humble but world-changing ability: to recognize gods in their presence, no matter their appearance of means of hiding. The archmage completed the ritual, resulting in our ability to see this bizarre aura, known as Halation. This would drastically reduce the ability of the gods to take advantage of mortals against their will, noble cause or no.
This, however, does not exclude the Duskscape Regents—even elder beings like Tallari—and thus the ritual was also an act of religious treason. Tallari sent Shauku to Liminos, perhaps to force her to look on the fabric of fate, realize its intricate fragility in the hands of an archmage bent on revenge.
Profile art credit: Toshiaki Kato
Banner art credit: Johfra Bosschart (Left), Gustave Moreau (Right)Tallari-Anaviri-Irralat
Godhood
Unique (Sphinx), Extradimensional Alignment
TN Domains
Truth, Knowledge, Secrecy, Trickery, Glyph, Wyrmkin Favoured Weapon
Urumi Relic Weapon
Savvat-Eztienn-Ishkanna
Falkor'atru, the first Dragon Knight of Tallarax.
The impenetrable alabaster towers of Stargrave.
Origin point of Materia's radial navigation system.
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