Kesileyalihe

Kesileyalihe Standard Deysachni pronunciation: [kɜˈsile̠ˌjɑlihe] is the Sasatanl'c god/goddess of death, time, cycles, corpses, decomposition, funerary rights, vultures, midwives.

Iconography

Depictions

Kesileyalihe has three major depictions: the first is as a skeleton clad in a blue robe on the front of a barge rowed by other skeletons, often coursing over a wave a fog. The second is as The Great Vulture, a giant vulture with four wings and claw arms, often acompanied by minions. This depiction is often, but not always, negative, showing death as the devourer. The third, and most common depiction, is as a hybrid of the two.

Symbols

The most common symbol of Kesileyalihe is that of vultures circling overhead, sometimes forming a sort of halo around one marked for death.

Variation in worship

Associated Legends

Dwthsai Second Creation Narrative

In the surviving fragments of the Dwthsai Second Creation Narrative, Kesileyalihe is depicted as the oldest of the young gods, tasked with spotting land, and while no gender is stated, the deity is implied in the text to be male, rare for Kesileyalihe. In the tale, the old gods repeatedly interupt their argument to ask him if he has spotted land, responding each time that he had not. The last instance of this is by the new Dgoh Msiefhl, who decides that there must be no land, and creates Adeysa himself. Shortly following this a boat full of humans arrives, and the gods question Kesileyalihe on why he had not seen them, to which he replies that he had seen them and simply did not say so, because the elders asked only about land, not boats. For this, his eye is plucked out. A second boat of humans then arrives, and he claims to have not seen this boat, but the humans recognize him for having waved to them, and for his lie his second eye is plucked out. A third boat of humans then arrives, and Kesileyalihe truthfully states that he really did not see this ship, but the gods do not believe him, and (since he had no more eyes to give) force him to preside over death, for there were too many humans now.