Atlach

God of Deception, Spies, Thieves, Guards, Community, and Family

Atlach is a very old deity. He is the god of curses, spies, and trickery, but is not considered evil or malicious, and is also the god of community, family, and occasionally the Earth itself. Sometimes the Spider is thought of as the god of human nature: simultaneously capable of cruelty and caring, both deceitful and forever ever-honest, one who blesses while uttering a curse. He is said to hold an urn of all the good things in the world and at the same time have an identical looking urn of all the bad things; only the god himself knows which is which. When mortals seek to obtain things, they reach for one urn or the other, but no one knows until they have reached inside whether they have chosen the urn of all virtues or the urn of all evils. But each day brings a new chance to reach for the urns, and blessings and curses are given equally to mortals.

Atlach is the god of thieves and guardsmen both, among other things. As the god of thieves he conceals them from view; as the god of guardsmen he makes them alert to those who do not belong, whether in the house, in the community, or even in the lives of their friends and family. Notably, however, in both cases he is primarily a god of community; Atlach does not alert guards to embezzlers, who are part of the community, nor bless thieves who steal from those they call friends. Indeed, thieves especially who would seek the blessing of Atlach must be careful to never steal from family, or friends, or neighbours, or those they call a host. Stories abound among thieves of proper conduct to maintain one’s dignity in the eyes of the Earth-Spider; in one famous example, a thief found a jar in the kitchen pantry. Not knowing whether it was sugar or salt, he tasted it; finding that it was salt, he realised he had partaken of salt at his host’s table, and duly returned everything he had stolen to its place.

The web that Atlach weaves is made of threads that form the bonds between mortals; no spider will countenance his web being torn apart. He may appear similar to Pantokra, but here is the difference: Pantokra knows law and nation, but Atlach knows loyalty and friend. The guard who turns in his friend is an enemy of the Spider; and so, the Spider is an enemy of Civilization.