Meren-Keihas,
Strong Wake-Maker
Aurorean god of the sea, storms, hospitality, and killer whales, patron of knights in Aurora
One of the three gods unique to Aurora, Meren-Keihas is said to rule over the seas, as Nainen rules over the sky, and Lumiviittaa rules over the land. The three Aurorean deities are generally held to be siblings, with Nainen as the eldest and Meren-Keihas as the youngest.
Meren-Keihas is generally depicted as a wild, but generally easy-going young man in a black and white cloak, carrying a harpoon — indeed his very name is the Ancient Aurorean word for something like “Spear of the Sea.”
Often depicted either accompanied by or in the form of a killer whale, killer whales are thus considered sacred to the god and viewed as good omens and talismanic creatures. Beached whales are those treated with utmost respect and even given funerary rites.
In Aurorean mythology and iconography, the people of Hrimfax are often associated with sharks — possibly stemming from the fact that fermented shark meat is considered a delicacy in Hrimfax and generally a source of revulsion elsewhere. That killer whales are one of the few creatures to hunt sharks, this is generally tied into Meren-Keihas’ role as a protector god of Aurora.
There are accounts of fleets of Hrimfaxi Viking ships being wrecked by sudden squalls before making landfall in Aurora, inevitably attributed to the timely divine intervention of Meren-Keihas on behalf of Aurora.
Aurorean folklore and songs depicted Meren-Keihas as not easily angered, but terrible in his wrath when finally pushed to the point of retribution.
He is also closely associated with knights and chivalry among the Auroreans, and many Aurorean knights swear oaths in his name. This is due to the many myths and depict him as travelling the northern seas in errantry to help the innocent, punish the wicked, and battle with demons and monsters.
Similarly, Meren-Keihas is depicted as a major figure in the songs and poems about the Aurorean demigod hero Sauvaherra, offering Sauvaherra frequent assistance in his quest to rescue the river goddess Tulva from the wicked Witch of the North Winds.
Meren-Keihas’ most significant role in this cycle of poems is stirring up the seas to inundate and sink the wicked kingdom of Epäonninen, while also sending a pod of killer whales to spirit the innocents of the kingdom to safety and allow them to settle in Aurora.
When the survivors of Epäonninen came to be viewed with suspicion by the people of Aurora due to their origins in a kingdom long associated with evil and wickedness, Meren-Keihas himself rose from the waves in a great wave amidst dark storm clouds to the chide the Auroreans for their lack of charity and hospitality to the newcomers, solidifying his role as a patron god of hospitality in Aurorean folklore.
Much as Nainen as often viewed as the Tanithite sky goddess Malketa under a different name, Meren-Keihas is widely held to be the same deity as Aivas, worshipped in a uniquely Aurorean fashion. Notably, both Meren-Keihas and Aivas are closely associated with a spear or harpoon as a weapon of choice.
And, much like Aivas, Meren-Keihas is said to have fathered numerous lesser deities in his travels.
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