To begin, I reach back to one of the earliest of stories told by Probare II, in which he draws attention to "all 11 gods of this world". These gods are not named in the same speech, but it clearly alludes to more gods than the 8 we commonly list in our faith. Therefore I will refer to Semernos, Enequila, Perviga, Machina, Elevalos, Ostinatos as the Gods of Order, Kaos and Sinistos as the Gods of Chaos and these two together as the Main Gods. The current, dominant theory proposed by the linguist Perca Viola is that given the importance of the number 11 in the Order faith, this might have been a poetic phrase by the Probare in a now-lost manner of speech, meaning all of the gods. I disagree with this idea and propose that the importance of the number 11 arose from the initial belief that there are 11 gods, not the other way around. For the sake of this work, I will assume this hypothesis to be correct.
Besides the Main Gods, we have 3 entities originally labelled as gods by the Probare. Who might these forgotten gods be? Looking at other religions, we can find further god-like entities that may have been considered gods in the early years of the Order. In old Vequel, "deus", the word that we now translate as "god", might have had a broader meaning, specifically "higher one", which could allow powerful entities that are not gods by today's standard to be referred to with the same term. With that in mind, looking at the "deities" of other religions can offer some insight into the possible identity of these beings. The elves have long worshipped two idols they call gods in the form of Solcritoel and Volublectyth. When looking deeper into their beliefs, one can find that these two beings are actually the Sun and the Moon, which could align with the term "higher one" as the actual size and distance of these objects was only determined in the 5th century, hundreds of years after Probare II. Furthermore, looking at texts before and after these scientific advancements reveal that the gods were believed to control the Sun and the Moon directly, which aligns with them falsely being treated as gods. This notion disappeared rather quickly from religious texts after the discovery. That being said, the elven names were never used in any religious writings, nor any other besides Sun and Moon, therefore it is very unlikely that anyone spoke to these entities directly or indirectly, be that elf or human. If such an event has occurred, the names would be consistent. If my assumption of this is correct and two of the 3 missing gods are indeed the elven idols, their existence is very easy to prove as we can see them almost every day, but their divinity is not true. Another character from other religions is Uteus. While the name is commonly thought to be another name for Kaos, it is possible that this is not the truth. Whilst it is true, that the two names were used interchangeably as recently as the 10th century, originally, it might have meant different things. One speech by Probare IV includes a line that states that "the child of Uteus is forever imprisoned amidst the creations of Kaos". This line uses both names within the same sentence. This could be explained by the Probare not wanting to repeat the same word, but it can also suggest that at this point in time, the two were treated as separate beings. Later on, Kaos might have taken on some characteristics of Uteus as the two beings were conflated. It is also possible, that these two entities merged into one literally, which could also explain this, but given the clear lack of a separate Uteus from early sources, this is very unlikely.
Which of these was the original? Was Kaos or Uteus the actual name of the evil god? Being confusing is part of the evil of Chaos, so it is also possible that this conjecture is pointless as they are indeed just two names for the same being. However, one small plaque found during my research might shed some further light onto the problem. In a forebear ruin, an unknown deity is shown and named Quantos. This name bears a close resemblance to Kaos which could explain its origin and it is possible that this deity was falsely believed to be be the same as Uteus, while in reality, it is not. Regardless, Kaos does exist as those that have lost their souls and had it returned to them can attest to his existence, but this Uteus is a different question. On the eastern half of the Continent, the name is still used by Chaos worshippers and is even present in an important religious site bearing the same name. Here, this false god is presented as a warrior-poet, which is very close to depictions of Kaos in the Order. However, the presence of multiple arms distinguishes Kaos from Uteus. Looking at yet another belief, the Old Faith worships a god called Kutren, who is widely assumed to be Kaos. However, given that the name Kutren bears a close resemblance to both Kaos and Uteus, it is clear that conflating the two names is not only present in the Order. This can mean two things. Either the two names actually do refer to the same being or this Uteus is so similar to Kaos that the two are almost identical. Unfortunately, I do not have enough information to settle on an answer, but given the lack of information about a separate Uteus, it seems most likely that the character does not exist. At least not as a person. Which brings me to my next point.
If we look at the Souljar faith, we can find something rather unique. The worship of an object, rather than a god. They believe that Kaos created a jar for all the souls and anyone who dies need to return there. This view probably arose from stories amongst those who have been returned to life as a large, whirlpool-like location can be seen beyond the grave. However, could it be possible that the early believers of the Order did something similar? As established earlier in this writing, it is very likely that the Sun and Moon were believed to be gods despite being objects, so it is possible that another object was viewed the same way. Given the close association between the Souljar and Kaos I believe that Uteus might be the Souljar itself. However, rather than as an object, it was thought to be a creature or a manifestation of Kaos, rather than the god himself. This would explain the confusion of the two, why they are so closely related and why it was later abandoned by the Order. The gods are conscious beings and having objects amongst them would be sacrilegious.
In conclusion, I propose that the Order is very different now from what it was centuries ago at its creation upon the arrival of Probare. The holy number 11 is therefore a remnant of the original belief that there are 11 gods. The Main Gods and the three forgotten gods. These were the Sun, the Moon and the Souljar.
Mattheus Cynus
