The Dasi

The Dasi

The three lines of shapeshifters are either direct or indirect descendants of the Dasi, an ancient Egyptian cult. The Dasi worshipped the dual powers of Ahnmik and Anhamirak. Ahnmik is the god of control, power, manipulation, cold, sleep, silence, and peace. His gifts to the world included bondage and mastery. He is still worshipped by the falcons. Anhamirak is the goddess of fire, love, life, beauty, passion, chaos, and destruction. Her gifts to the world included free will. She is worshipped by the serpiente. The head of the Dasi was Maeve, and it was her task to maintain balance between the two sides. The high priestess of Anhamirak was Kiesha, opposite her was Cjarsa the high priestess of Ahnmik. The lesser priests and priestesses of the Dasi were known as the Rsh, they spoke to the people were the thirteen Dasi leaders spoke to the gods. The Rsh were the law and government of the people. Maeve and her group were their spiritual and emotional leaders.

One day a creature named Leben approached Maeve and asked her to worship him. She knew that doing so would destroy the balance but she was afraid to refuse as Leben was very powerful. So she seduced him and he gave her the second form of a white viper. Kiesha and her followers became various kinds of snakes while falcon forms were given to Cjarsa and the other worshippers of Ahnmik. Eventually Anhamirak's followers drove the falcons out and the balance was destroyed. Eventually a rift between Maeve and the other serpents developed, and she was driven out for practicing black magic. The reasons for this are discussed more closely in Wolfcry.

Kiesha rose to power of the new serpiente people and Maeve was taken in by the Rsh. Kiesha's son, Diente, became the first of the royal Cobriana line and the serpent title for king comes from his name. Maeve also had children who survive as the Obsidian Guild. The four original falcons are all still alive though their situation is slightly changed in Falcondance. They inhabit an island that shares its name with their god and which they rarely leave.