#ghara

For those unfamiliar, here's some photos of what the ghara looks like. Photographs by Shivang Mehta

oho, this is going to be a long one! :) Senki is the biggest religion in the Rāmian Empire. It originated in the Sen valley in the Rāmiq Highlands about 4000 years ago and is based around the divinely-given Annals of Prophecy and a loose collection of gods that varies depending who you ask. It has been deliberately spread around in the past millenium as the empire has grown to try and form a cohesive group identity among the various conquered peoples, so its very prominent and also comes in a lot of variants, since it has syncretized with the local beliefs in so many different places. The Senki denominations that feature in Aros Against Fate are: Norvic Senki, which holds the mythology and in some cases the gods themselves to be allegorical and has a prevalent theme of order versus chaos (based on the original two Norve gods, Alteyr (order) and Manir (chaos), who in broader Senki are watered down to language and weather but are still the most important figures in Norvic Senki), and in which Saints are historical figures but not extant divinities. Gharan Senki, which has the figure of the Artisan of the World (the creator) above any other gods (they don’t consider the Artisan a god- the Artisan is on another level entirely), who are sometimes considered independent beings but sometimes considered aspects of the Artisan, and in which there aren’t really Saints. Dak Senki, which holds the gods and myths to be literal and in which Saints are Resurrected (sometimes the gods bring people back to life) who have fulfilled their divine purpose and ascended, and within Dak Senki: Lowlands Senki, popular in the Rāmiq Lowlands. Saints are popular. Medeis Senki, which reveres magic above all else as a divine gift from the gods. Mages are seen as inherently superior/closer to the divine due to having developed magic naturally, and the study of magic is a holy pursuit. Senask Senki, which is heavily syncretized with pre-Rāmian Se-Naskan beliefs; small gods are everywhere and a common practice is to have little wooden icons as household gods.

Telēso: believes that the dead become part of a greater collective consciousness, and honour and seek guidance from that ancestral collective.

Vatki: There was a being known as the Creator who became the world and everything in it, so Creator and Creation are one and the same, and everything is equally sacred, as the Creator gave herself to bring everything into existence.

Jumalusk: originating in Berysek, this religion worships the Three-Faced God. The Three-Faced God is one god with three aspects: the Maker (a woman), the Scholar (a man), and the Kether (parent, belonging to the Beri third gender of kolman), who each have dominion over different parts of life; roughly speaking the three domains break down into physical, mental, and emotional, and they also represent the trinity of established Beri genders. They believe there are no other true gods.

Sarkjyn religion: There is a closed pantheon of gods, each with domain over their own element. The six elements- one for each cycle of the year- are fire, light, air, water, ice, and earth.

I Know Dino #Podcast Episode 290: #Overoraptor: bird on the top, #raptor on the bottom, plus a huge #Edmontosaurus bonebed, sexual dimorphism, and a lot more

Episode 290 is all about Khaan, an oviraptorid known for a possible mating pair that were buried together.

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INDIAN GHARIAL Gavialis gangeticus ©Laura Quick

Once widespread in India and Central Asia, now critically endangered, they still exist in fragmented sections in Northern India and Nepal. Males grow to 16-21 feet long and can weigh up to 550 pounds. Their long snout with nostrils, ear openings,and eyes are positioned high on their skull which allows them to lay  at the water line with all the important bits above water.

Some Fun Facts

Live for 50-60 years in the wild

Snout might not look powerful but it is filled with 110 razor-sharp interlocking teeth

Fishing specialists - catch fish sideways, flicking them with their jaws turning them so they can swallow the fish headfirst.

use their tails in a side-to-side motion to propel themselves through the water.

Spend most of their time in water, their leg strength on land is not great, they move forward on land using all four limbs, similar to turtles

Lack a Jacobson’s organ, which is present in mos reptiles

Male adults have a weirdish looking knob called a “ghara” (Hindi for round earthen pot) on the end of their snout. The ghara, vibrates which amplifies a humming/buzzing sound which can be heard up to a mile away, and is used to attract females.

Crocodilians are ‘gastroliths’ - they swallow stones which embed in their stomach folds and aid in digestion, they may also play a part in gharial buoyancy.

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