Blinding Twilight Pantheon

The Blinding Twilight Pantheon is a Tabaxi pantheon made up of the patron deities of the Blinding Twilight Clan, a clan of Tabaxi that lives in the Mistcliff Mountains of Chult.

Members
The Blinding Twilight pantheon consists primarily of the gods native to the continent of Maztica, ancestral homeland of the Tabaxi people. However, a hundred years of living in the foreign environment of Chult has changed the clan's view of their gods, and thus their beliefs are slightly different than that of other Mazticans. They also worship the patron god of Tabaxi, the Cat Lord.

The members of the Blinding Twilight pantheon include:
 * Kukul: The father of the gods, the god of stars and knowledge, and the husband of Maztica.
 * Maztica: The goddess of earth, life, home, and travel; mother of the gods and wife to Kukul.
 * Qotal: The god of creation, freedom, art, and pluma magic; the former king of the gods after Kukul's disappearance but before Zaltec's rebellion.
 * Zaltec: The god of war, violence, honor, courage, and hishna magic; the current king of the gods and mortal enemy to Qotal.
 * Azul: The god of water, rain, and the moon; Tezca's twin brother.
 * Tezca: The god of fire, heat, and the sun; Azul's twin brother.
 * Plutoq: The god of stone, clay, craftsmen, and mountains.
 * Kiltzi: The goddess of love, fertility, and healing.
 * Watil: The goddess of plants, alchemy, agriculture, and medicine.
 * Nula: The goddess of animals, hunting, and justice.
 * Eha: The goddess of wind, sky, weather, childbirth, and death.
 * Cat Lord: The patron deity of all cats, including Tabaxi.

Creation
According to clan lore, the pantheon was founded by Kukul and Maztica, long before the existence of mortal races or other gods. However, this came to an end when they decided to give birth to their first child, Qotal. Qotal's birth was followed by Zaltec's, then Azul and Tezca's, and finally Plutoq's. Eventually, Maztica and Kukul decided that they wanted daughters as well as sons, which led to the birth of Kiltzi, followed by Watil, and then Nula.

Ancient legend states that the gods first created humans as toys, with several failed attempts at getting them right. Plutoq tried to make them out of clay (which fell apart when wet), wood (which quickly burnt to ash), and gold (which had neither heart nor breath, and didn't truly live). After failing one too many times, Plutoq went to his father Kukul for help. Kukul, knowing firsthand how to create life, knew that it must come from something that already lives. He cut off his fingers, which fell to the ground and became the first humans. (Plutoq, meanwhile, became known as a god of craftsmen, as his failed attempts at creating life made mountains and forests and much more.)

When the humans were created, the gods were enamored with them. Each god gave the humans different gifts for which they could play. Qotal gave them speech and a desire to learn; Zaltec gave them honor and courage; Azul gave them water to drink and Tezca gave them fire with which to cook and purify; Plutoq gave them the jewels and minerals of the earth to create; Kiltzi gave them love; Watil gave them the plants of the earth to eat and make medicine; and finally, Nula gave them the ability to hunt the animals of the earth. For a time, the gods and humans lived together in peace.

Divine Envy
At first, the humans worshiped Maztica more than any other, as mother to all life itself. But then Qotal, jealous of her great honors, plotted to replace her. He stole mayz (corn) from his sister Watil, and gifted it to the humans as if it were his own. The humans thrived with this, and began to revere Qotal greatly. Watil, however, bore a grudge against Qotal that would last for many years.

But Qotal's envy inspired another's. Zaltec, jealous of his brother, created hishna magic and gave it to the humans. Through this dark power, the humans began to wage savage wars against each other. Qotal was shocked and saddened by watching his subjects treat each other this way, but was unable to help. So he went to his mother Maztica, and asked that she help him create something to save her creations. Together, Maztica and Qotal created pluma magic, and used it to calm their people. The terrible wars ended, and it seemed as if their troubles were over.

Of course, this wasn't true. Zaltec was furious that his attempt at glory was stopped by his mother and brother, and proved this by striking down Maztica, rendering her frail and weak. This enraged the other gods, and war erupted within the pantheon. Kukul fell into great despair at Maztica's pain, and the two gave birth to one final child: Eha, who would serve as the barrier between the earth in which Maztica was struck down, and the sky in which her parents retreated so that Maztica could recover in peace.

The war was long and bloody, with the gods split right down the middle. Qotal's sisters joined him in avenging their mother's pain, while Zaltec's remaining brothers (except for Plutoq, who took care of the earth in Maztica's stead) fought alongside him. Eventually, the war ended in one final battle where Qotal defeated Zaltec and banished him from the pantheon. Azul and Tezca, fearing retribution, fled after Zaltec and joined him in exile.

After the War
After the war, life on the Maztican continent flourished. Qotal, seeing how the humans lived happily, felt envious once more. He desired a lover of his own, and saw the perfect one in his sister, Kiltzi, who blessed humans with the ability to love each other. He pursued her relentlessly, and eventually made love to her. When he was finished, Kiltzi fled to her sister Nula and told her what happened. Nula was enraged to find that Qotal had hurt her sisters once more (as she knew of Qotal's theft of mayz many years earlier), and decided to take matters into her own hands. She hunted down Qotal and shot him with a poisoned arrow. Qotal fell into a deep coma, and stayed that way for ten years.

For a time, Kiltzi ruled the Maztican continent as queen of the gods. This was a peaceful time for the humans under her rule, but it wouldn't last. Zaltec, seeing that his brother was no longer protecting his people, sent his priests to spread his own worship among the humans. Under his command, humans were sacrificed to Zaltec and his brothers, making them strong enough to return in force. They caused terrible wars and wanton suffering among the Maztican people, all to increase their power. Eventually, the sound of the humans screaming woke up Qotal, and when he saw his land suffering as it was, he felt great shame for his actions. More importantly, Nula's poison left him too weak to retaliate against Zaltec. He fled the land entirely, in search of redemption, leaving only a prophecy of his eventual return to his priests to spread.

After Qotal left, Kiltzi had to decide what to do about Zaltec's return. Fearing for the fate of the humans, she made a deal with Zaltec: He would cease the chaos and destruction he caused among the humans, and she would give up her throne to him. Zaltec was pleased with this offer, and happily accepted. While he and his brothers continued to accept human sacrifices, they calmed the suffering they incited among the humans. Thus, the pantheon became what it is today.

The Creation of the Tabaxi
Sometime after Zaltec's return, a strange creature began stalking the jungles of Maztica. A giant panther, with teeth as sharp as daggers and claws that could rip through steel, was attacking humans throughout the continent. Countless hunters attempted to kill it, but each one was brutally killed. Fearing the worst, the humans called upon the goddess Nula for help in defeating the creature. Nula, horrified at seeing her worshipers slaughtered, promised her priests that she would stop these mindless killings.

And so Nula began hunting the jaguar. At first, she suspected that this was the work of a rabid animal. But then she discovered the methodical nature of the killings. How the jaguar only seemed to kill hunters, the specific locations it fought in, and its seemingly supernatural strength. Eventually, after months of searching, Nula managed to lure the jaguar out by entering its hunting grounds and slaying a family of leopards that lived inside.

As soon as Nula struck down the last leopard, the jaguar appeared, its teeth and claws bared to attack the goddess. Nula fought off the creature with all her might, but found that it was an equal match to her strength. Claw against arrow, teeth against blade, no attack seemed to slow the jaguar down. Instead, it seemed to learn from watching her fight. Every move against it caused it to adjust its tactics, and she did in turn. The resulting battle lasted for twelve days.

On the final day of the battle, both Nula and the jaguar were exhausted from fighting. Unable to continue, Nula threw down her weapons and knelt before the jaguar, honoring it as an equal. She asked the jaguar why it was so powerful, and why it attacked her in the first place. The jaguar looked down at her, and suddenly changed shape into a human that radiated divine power.

The former-jaguar introduced themself to Nula as the Cat Lord, and claimed that they were here to protect the very leopards that Nula had slaughtered. According to the the Cat Lord, the humans of Maztica were hunting the cats of Maztica and threatening to make them extinct. Fearing for their lives, they called out to the Cat Lord for help, who began hunting those who threatened their people.

As the Cat Lord told their story, Nula understood why they acted as they did. She remembered how she attacked her brother Qotal for hurting her sister, and felt ashamed of herself for perpetrating a similar act. Nula apologized to the Cat Lord, and vowed to right the wrongs she caused. She went back to her priests and forbade them from hunting the cats of the jungle, saying that the killings would stop if they did the same. The priests agreed, and soon the wild cats of Maztica began to return to the jungles.

Meanwhile, the Cat Lord felt sorrow over the cats who had already lost their lives. He pointed at the leopards that Nula had killed, and he brought them back to life as the first Tabaxi. When he created them, he gave them human-like intelligence, as well as feline traits such as curiosity, cunning, agility, and more. He did this so that they may walk among humans as equals, rather than prey, and blessed them with his protection. Nula too, feeling guilty from her role in their pain, promised to treat them as if they were her own creations. And so, the Tabaxi began to walk Maztica under the watchful eyes of their new gods.

Qotal's Return
In the year 1351 DR, a strange curse struck the Nexalan Empire. For twenty days, a bright light appeared over the city of Nexal, motionless and constant, before vanishing after the final day. The same year, following a war against the Kultakan people, Nexal's temple to Zaltec (their chief god) burst into flames for no apparent reason, leaving nothing behind but ash. A year later, the sky above Nexal turned blood-red for an entire day. The next year, a volcano erupted for twelve days straight. And the year after that, a hunter came across a beautiful stag, larger than any other with a ring of bright feathers around its neck. All arrows shattered upon touching its hide, and it refused to move no matter what. It then told the hunter to report what he saw to the ruler of Nexal, Naltecona.

A year later, Naltecona had a dream where he saw a canoe approaching from the east, and felt as though he had to kneel. The omens continued, once a every year. A sandstorm raged in the desert, taking the form of a massive pyramid; the snow on Mount Zatal turned a blood red color for ten days; one of Naltecona's sons was stillborn, his skin a pale white; three of four lakes erupted in waves, save for Lake Qotal; finally, in 1361 DR, an unusual wyvern appeared to Naltecona, its mirror-like chest showing him an image of foreigners landing on the eastern shore.

Finally, an Amnian army known as the Golden Legion began to invade Nexal. After a great battle, Qotal himself appeared over the city, taking the form of a brightly feathered dragon. He caused Lake Qotal to freeze over, allowing refugees to flee the city. And when they reached the desert, it began to bloom all around them. This event is the first known appearance of Qotal since his exile began.

The Disappearance of Maztica
In the year 1384 DR, the god of knowledge Kukul foresaw terrible events that would occur in the next few years. He saw a time of great destruction; where magic would collapse, blue fire would rage across the land, and the realms of existence would be forever changed. Disturbed by what he saw, Kukul sent a vision to a group of tabaxi oracles in Maztica, one of very few groups devoted to Kukul's worship, and warned them of a terrible disaster that would befall their land. While the vision was vague (Kukul himself did not quite know the cause of this destruction), they understood that Maztica itself was in danger. The oracles spread the news of their vision far and wide, and when they were done they gathered their families and friends before sailing away from their ancestral homeland.

Eventually, the Tabaxi refugees found themselves in the continent of Faerûn, and from there they settled in the jungles of Chult. As a way of honoring the gods that saved them, the grateful Tabaxi named themselves the Blinding Twilight Clan, a reference to Kukul's role as god of the stars as well as knowledge.

The Talisman of Maztica
Unfortunately, life in Chult was difficult for the clan. A year after they settled in Faerûn, the events of the Spellplague occurred throughout Toril. Chaos and destruction was rampant as blue flames burned their way across several continents. Magic itself turned on the world, as spellcasters were either killed or driven insane by intense flux of magical power. In Chult, the Blinding Twilight Clan struggled to survive against the Spellplague's effects, a lack of food, and foreign sickness that threatened to kill them all.

It wasn't until 1395 DR, ten years after the Spellplague started, that things returned to a semblance of normalcy. Still, even without the issue of blue fire scorching the land, magic was still unreliable at best and non-existent at worst, and this did nothing to curb the clan's hunger, their inability to withstand unknown diseases, or the constant war with Chult's aggressive natives. Unable to do anything other than hope, the Blinding Twilight Clan developed a strong religious culture based around their gods, believing that they would deliver them from harm. Grand festivals and intricate rituals celebrated the gods, as the clan saw them as their only hope for survival.

For a time, this seemed to worked. The clan managed to hang on to life, but just barely. It wasn't until 1474 DR that a more permanent solution was found. The clan's oldest shaman, Ancient Dream, decided she would commune with the gods themselves. She began by fasting and praying for an entire month straight, refusing to show any sign of committing to anything other than her worship. Then, after receiving a vision of how to curry the gods' favor, she came together with her fellow shamans Nimble Paw and Vibrant Clover to save the clan.

One night, the three shamans climbed to a high peak on top of the Mistcliff Mountains. There, they performed an elaborate ritual calling upon each and every one of the gods. They made offerings and they sung divine praises at the top of their lungs. The rituals continued for a full twenty-four hours, until midnight the next day.

The ritual reached its peak with a sacrifice in the name of the gods. Ancient Dream offered herself to them, in return that the gods protect her clan. She sacrificed herself, with the other shamans as her witness, and died that very night. The gods, moved by her piety and devotion to her people, granted her dying wish. They took the amulet she wore and imbued it with divine power. They claimed that the amulet was a symbol of the pact between their clan and the gods, and that as long as they protected the amulet and continued to worship them, the gods would keep them safe.

Since then, the gods have honored this pact. The clan found that life was easier after Ancient Dream's sacrifice. Prey was less scarce, food grew better, sickness was less fatal, and their enemies fell faster. For the first time, it seemed as if the clan had a fighting chance in Chult. With the amulet, now known as the Talisman of Maztica, the Blinding Twilight Clan found itself stronger than ever.

Trivia

 * Several parts of the Blinding Twilight Clan's stories conflict with traditional Maztican retelling of the same myths. This is said to be the result of a hundred years of passing down the stories corrupting them over time.
 * Plutoq is never stated to have tried to create humans, simply that the gods failed at their first attempts to do so.
 * Qotal is never said to have stolen mayz from Watil. Rather, he's said to have created it himself.
 * Maztica and Kukul's final fates after Zaltec attacked the former is uncertain in traditional Maztican myths. Kukul is said to have vanished, and is claimed to be dead or missing. Maztica, meanwhile, was "struck down" and never heard from again.
 * It's never stated that Azul and Tezca went into exile alongside Zaltec after the latter's initial defeat.
 * Eha's birth, her being another child of Kukul and Maztica, and her reasoning for keeping domain over the sky is completely unique to the Blinding Twilight Clan's version of the myth.
 * Nula poisoning Qotal to avenge her sisters isn't present in the tradition version of the story. Rather, Qotal is said to have fallen asleep for ten years after making love to Kiltzi.
 * In the traditional retelling, the goddesses all fled to Zaltec's protection after Qotal fell asleep, and the continent suffered without the gods there to help them. By extension, there also is no mention of Kiltzi making any deals with Zaltec. Instead, he simply took power directly with no opposition.
 * The story involving Nula and the Cat Lord is only one of the many possible stories regarding how the Tabaxi were created. The clan themselves are unsure about it, as the Cat Lord is quite fickle and anything is possible.
 * It's unknown if Kukul was actually responsible for warning the Tabaxi oracles about the Spellplague, or if it was a god pretending to be Kukul. The latter is supported by the fact that Kukul is said to have vanished and not spoken since after his wife was attacked. The former is what the Blinding Twilight Clan believes it true, however.
 * Ancient Dream's death was the final time in clan history that a human (or tabaxi) sacrifice was ever performed. All future sacrifices involve animals or some sort of food.
 * The Blinding Twilight Clan has twelve monthly holidays, each dedicated to a different god. The corresponding months for every god are:
 * Hammer: Kukul
 * Alturiak: Maztica
 * Ches: Eha
 * Tarsakh: Azul
 * Mirtul: Nula
 * Kythorn: Qotal
 * Flamerule: Tezca
 * Eleasis: Watil
 * Eleint: Plutoq
 * Marpenoth: Kiltzi
 * Uktar: Zaltec
 * Nightal: The Cat Lord
 * The Blinding Twilight Clan believes that the Maztican pantheon oversees a personal Astral Dominion of their own. This dominion, known as The True World, is said to be a divine mirror of the Maztican continent, divided up between the eleven gods and changed by their influence. Little is known about it, but most Maztican worshipers arrive here upon death, guided by Eha. It's also shown that some gods, such as Zaltec, can claim souls that don't worship them for other reasons, such as eternal torment as in the case of Secret Tome.