Duranian Anahita

A Babkhan mural depicting Anahita receiving the tribute of doomed supplicants as she stands at the summit of Mount Duranian, offering knowledge and power whilst the discarded husks of her former lovers fill the abyss at her feet.

Anahita is a legendary figure of Central Euran folklore and crypto-history, purportedly an immortal survivor of the Duranian civilisation.

Origins

According to ancient myths in the Eklesia region of Constancia and neighbouring lands currently under the dominion of Oportia and Zeed, she is described as a "living relic" of the those ancient peoples who inhabited the foothills of Mount Duranian before their eventual assimilation and disappearance by the 9th century AN. Unlike the benevolent Zurvanite divinity of the same name, this Anahita is characterised as a predatory, chthonic entity, a vampiress who occupies an ancient fastness, furnished with the spoils of ages, overlooking the time-worn trade routes of the innumerable caravans proceeding from the Gulf of Aqaba towards Nivardom and Mehrshahr.

Historical and mythical context

Historically, the "Anahita Mythos" gained traction among 18th-century Constancian explorers and administrators who reported a pervasive dread among local copper-miners and shepherds regarding the "Red-Haired Mistress of the Summit." She is often framed as a personification of the Mount Duranian itself: beautiful, aloof, and lethal. Oral traditions suggest she possesses an "eternal memory," having witnessed the passage of the Babkhan Empires, their fiery self-immolation, and the Bassarid intrusions, viewing each successive wave of humanity with a nihilistic detachment. The atrocities of the Harpy of the Rodopi, concurrent with the Third Euran War, became conflated in the popular memory of remote rural and nomadic communities, with the old folk tales of Anahita.

In local superstition, Anahita’s presence is heralded by a distinct lack of wildlife and a haunting stillness in the high-altitude valleys. She is said to descend from her jagged ledge only during specific lunar alignments to "slake her hungers," preying upon the youthful and the vigorous. While she primarily targets local villagers, legends frequently detail her fascination with "outsiders", warlords, scholars, or monks, whom she lures to her heights. These figures are purportedly subjected to a brief, intense period of intellectual and carnal "toying" before their lifeless remains are discarded into the ravines below, joining a millennium’s worth of "husks."

Anthropological view

Modern cultural analysis views Anahita as a manifestation of historical trauma and the anxiety of extinction. As the purported last of the Duranians, she represents a folk memory of a vanished culture that was a long time in dying; in this mythical conception turning instead into a parasitic shadow that feeds on the lineages that replaced her own. Her depiction in art and literature emphasises the contrast between her vibrant, youthful appearance, marked by flowing red hair and ornate ancient jewelry, and the cold, necrotic reality of her existence. She remains a potent symbol of the "Eternal Return," a reminder that while empires crumble, the hunger of the past remains ever-present in the high places of the world.

Placatory cult

The Duranian Anahita is a primordial, immortal entity of vampiric nature, originating from an extinct ancient civilisation associated with mountainous and arid regions of western Eura's cultural spheres. Described as a predatory being who sustains herself through the consumption of vital essence (both intellectual and carnal) from human victims, she embodies eternal hunger, nihilistic detachment, and the lingering trauma of vanished peoples. In orthodox or later patriarchal contexts, reverence for such a figure would be deemed heretical, akin to the suppressed worship of daevas or chthonic forces opposed to cosmic order.

Among fearful desert and mountain communities the furtive placatory cults dedicated to appeasing Duranian Anahita are attested in ethnographic folklore and traveller accounts from the mediaeval to early modern periods. These practices persist as vestigial survivals, conducted in secrecy to avert her perceived wrath, which manifests in droughts, unexplained illnesses, or sudden vanishings.

Clandestine activities

Such cults are characterised by extreme clandestinity, drawing parallels with historical secret observances of pre-Zurvanite or daeva-related rites, often performed nocturnally in caves or remote high places to evade orthodox scrutiny.

• Ritual Sites: Observances occur in concealed locations, such as natural caverns, abandoned ruins of ancient mountain sanctuaries, or secluded oases. These sites are chosen for their association with chthonic or predatory forces, echoing ancient placatory rites for dangerous deities.
• Offerings and Sacrifices: Placation involves libations of blood (animal, or in extreme folklore variants, human), red-dyed liquids symbolising vitality, or precious ornaments evoking her described youthful beauty and ancient jewellery. Food offerings, particularly rich or carnal items, are left at thresholds or high passes, intended to sate her "eternal hunger" and deter predation.
• Nocturnal and Solitary Rites: Ceremonies are held after dusk, often by elder women or isolated shepherds, involving whispered invocations or lamentations. Group gatherings are rare and masked as familial mourning or seasonal observances to avoid detection.
• Symbolic Gestures: Amulets of red stone or hair are worn covertly; tales warn of marking doorposts with blood to signal submission and avert her gaze.

These practices blend with local Eurani customs, such as reverence for mountain spirits or water guardians, whilst inverting orthodox Anāhitā's benevolent aspects (fertility, healing) into a shadowed, devouring form.

Attribution of disappearances

Folklore robustly attributes unexplained disappearances—particularly of community members or unprotected travellers—to the cult's failure or Duranian Anahita's insatiable demands.

• Within the Community: Sudden vanishings of young adults or children are interpreted as punitive seizures when offerings lapse, or as voluntary/involuntary "sacrifices" by cult adherents to renew placation. Such incidents reinforce communal fear, ensuring continued secrecy and observance.
• Of Travellers: Babkhan hospitality customs (emphasising protection of guests as sacred duty) contrast sharply with risks to outsiders lacking such bonds. Travellers bypassing customary shelters, by for instance refusing offered refuge or travelling alone at night, are deemed vulnerable. Disappearances are ascribed to the entity luring or claiming them, with cult members occasionally implicated as facilitators (guiding victims astray under pretence).

Ethnographers note parallels with historical daeva-worship accusations, where marginal groups were blamed for nocturnal abductions or ritual predation. Whilst empirical causation remains folkloric, these attributions sustain the cult's placatory imperative, framing Duranian Anahita as an inexorable force demanding tribute to preserve fragile communal survival in harsh environments.

The scholarly consensus views these cults as cultural adaptations to ecological and psychological anxieties, preserving archaic motifs of shadowed feminine power amidst dominant monotheistic frameworks.