Matthew Sawyer's Pantheon of Alien Gods

The eluded pantheon of alien gods in my Pazuzu Trilogy represent a mythology collected in my college sketchbooks. The chimera and undead anatomies the drawings portray comprise a grimoire called the Mortui Philosophies. Awarwan appears in the second book of the trilogy – Pazuzu – Emergence. He is a powerful god, but his role is more emissary-like, a sorta’ Mouth of Sauron. This alien god hunts the demon, Pazuzu, so that monsters from the home-worlds and realities of the living-dead gods may be created and live in a new dimension.

Dothel also appears in the sequel Gaunt Rainbow. This minor alien god hunts Rainbow because her curse threatens the existence of the alien, divine squatters. He is the epitome in chaos and only eats and grows. Besides those two alien gods, there are more. All are selfish, evil and living in death. They live and travel through space in the intestinal web of a blind and dumb alien god called Ithadow. These aliens go where the Creator has abandoned creation and bring their Hell with them.

When-yee (wen-yee)

When-yee is an incomplete alien god, he lacks skin and most muscles. His oozing body moves like some horrid, bird-like marionette, with elongated talons in place of hands and feet. This alien god is wed to Tecotle.

Tecotle (tee-cot-el)

Tecotle is married to When-yee, another alien god. These two are nursery rhyme aberrations … “Jack Sprat could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean.” Together, they represent the infertility of the alien gods. They birth only dying monsters into the world. Their one other goal is to find the secret to life beyond the Web of Ithadow.

Awarwan (a-war-wan)

Awarwan is the figurehead alien god in the Mortui Philosophies. As such, he is introduced in the Pazuzu Trilogy. Awarwan appears halfway through the story, once Pazuzu possesses a mortal body and his pagan magic draws attention. Of course, the alien gods seek the demon because Pazuzu is an awake native of the Shur desert. They believe he may possess the secret of life in this wasted world.

In the Pazuzu Trilogy, Awarwan manifests as a “boney” spider with myriad legs. His calling card is bloody rain. People who know about the alien god call the rain the Robe of Awarwan.

Dothel (doth-el)

Dothel manifests as the moving bones of millions of dead. This alien god is made from the graveyards of worlds. He moves his parts like marbles in a jar, crushing the bones  into dust. His body becomes mazes and is carved with tunnels, and he grows into towers and solid walls. Arrogant and heedless of the danger, he hunts Pamela in Gaunt Rainbow. Her curse endangers all the alien gods of the Shur desert.

Rudra (rood -ra)

Rudra performs the role of Mercury and is a messenger. This tusked and skeletal alien god ate another called Mitenculi, “the Living Darkness.” That god still lives in the belly of Rudra and spills through his ribs and teeth. The blood-red shawl this alien god carries is a gift from Awarwan, who makes Rudra his herald.

Ithadow (ith-a-dow)

Ithadow is a senseless alien god that casts an ethereal intestinal tract across the universe. Because Ithadow is a god, the intestines are detached and infinite. The alien god weaves them into a web, growing them and flinging them into wastes where no other god goes. There, he “eats” the souls of the dead – eat is an operative word.

Souls are collected in the intestines of Ithadow, his Web, and are eternally preserved. All are punished in this Hell, feeding the god with their suffering. Other alien gods also live in the Web of Ithadow and have learned to sap energy from the Web for themselves. This energy keeps the alien gods awake and alive. This same energy awoke Pazuzu.

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