Teonanacatl

Teonanacatl is an enigmatic Immortal, and the patron of fungus, decay, and the cycle of life and death. As is evidenced by its name, beliefs regarding this Immortal are most frequently believed to have started in Tatlhuecan by the Huec people.

Teonanacatl has a particularly large variety of beliefs surrounding it. Nearly all agree, however, that the immortal being is strange and alien to mankind; it should not be thought of as human-like or even beast-like, but rather as a separate sort of force or sentience altogether.

As patron of fungus and decay, Teonanacatl is also often symbolically associated with the cycle of life and death, just as fungus often sprouts from dead organisms in a new form of life, and said fungus can even provide health and sustenance to other creatures. It is said to have particular power or presence in swamps, bogs, and marshes.

Teonanacatl has a particularly strong influence in Tatlhuecan, where the Huec people often attribute it qualities and beliefs similar to those others see in the Gaea. Two primary schools of thought differ on whether Teonanacatl simply influences the god-kings of the jungle civilization, or whether the god-kings are a human avatar of the immortal being itself in order to make itself more understandable to mankind. Both groups of believers appear to get along well enough despite the difference, however, as neither question the divine authority of their leader.

Being considered a patron of fungus, many associate Teonanacatl with the resen. Some go so far as to say that the resen spores are a way of enacting the Teonanacatl's will to cover the world in fungal life, while others say that the resen is simply one of the many fungal life-forms in the world and therefore is naturally under the domain of Teonancatl, though not necessarily representative of the being or its desires. Yet others believe that, as the patron of fungus, Teonanacatl has the ability to protect creatures from its influence and infestation, and so come to the fungus-deity to beg protection or healing from resen infestation. There are even those who believe Teonancatal is in direct conflit with the resen for dominance over fungal life, and many Huecs have sworn their lives to combating the resen in the name of the fungus-deity.

Some believe that while Undm cares for the souls of the dead, Teonanacatl claims their physical bodies and uses them to create new life. Many beliefs state that the two beings are in conflict because of this, as many claim Undm seeks to reunite soul and body at some future event. Even those who believe the two Immortals have come to some sort of agreement on the matter still seem to indicate that Undm does not think particularly well of Teonanacatl.

There are some who associate Teonanacatl with the "undead", claiming this is Teonanacatl's way of making life from death. This is a less common belief, as most associate "undead" with nether as a completely separate force.