In ancient times, the Lugonomeks followed a polytheistic religion, with each tribe associating themselves with a particular god or goddess. Before this pantheon, there was another group of gods. These old gods often referred to as "The Old Ones". They include Dioos, god of clouds and winds, Mater Da (Mother Earth), a fertility goddess, Perkū, god of thunder and lightning, Hosōs, goddess of dawn, Nap, god of the seas, Valnos, god of the stars and of the dead, Sul, god of the sun and of wisdom, Mena, goddess of the moon and tides, Pashun, god of the forest, and many others.

Mythology

Nankil and the Flood

In those times, Nap, was angry that the creatures in his domain, the fishes and creatures of the deep, did not rule the world. He convinced Mena and Dioos to help him with this. Alone among the gods, Sul and Perkū objected. One man on the Earth, Nankil, started to notice strange signs. Great rainclouds were gathering, and the moon was suddenly full after being a crescent and seemed much bigger. He prayed to Sul for answers, and Sul told him of the other gods' plans. Sul told him to build a boat and take his family and another family to the western mountains, which would be uncovered by the coming flood, and wait it out. Nankil told his friend Nafsitum, a fisherman, what he had learned. They began converting one of Nafsitum's boats so that it could be taken on long journeys. When the storm began, they loaded their families in the boats and sailed west. After many months, the storm ended and they reached the western mountains, which were now nothing but islands. They landed on one such island and built a new house there. That night, they went to the shore and began to catch fish. When Nap saw this, he was angered told Dioos and Mena that they must start the flood again. When Sul and Perkū heard this, they were outraged. "Do you not realize that we live off of the blood of man?" they said. "We cannot live off of fish, and the creatures of the deep. Even if we could, they would not serve us and give us sacrifices! We need humanity!" Sul threw his great shining chariot into the sea, causing it to boil like soup in a pot. Perkew began tossing down white-hot lightning bolts to make the seas boil away faster. By doing this, he awakened Koormis, a many-headed serpent (or, according to some versions, a nest of serpents) that dwelt in the deep. Koormis came to the surface and attacked Perkū. Perkū slayed the monster, cutting off each head with a hurl of a lightning bolt. Finally, the seas retreated to their original positions. As the seas retreated, the fishes and the creatures of the deep who dwelt over the plains returned to the deep, but those in the mountain valleys were trapped. As the seas retreated, they died, and their flesh and bone made the lands in the mountains fertile. As a reward for obeying him, Sul allowed Nankil to rewrite the history of the times before the flood to his liking.

Lugon defeats the bears

About three hundred years after the flood, there was a kingdom in the southern mountains called Hurktomeks. The king of Hurktomeks, known only as "The Hurkto", was frustrated by the constant fighting with the invaders from the north. He wished to make a weapon that would end these invasions once and for all. Together with a band of demons summoned from the lowest pits of the underworld, he succeeded in this goal. He had constructed a weapon that was merciless, self-replicating, and unstoppable. His invention later became known as "the bear". His creation proved successful at driving back the invaders, but at a price. The bears multiplied quickly, and soon were able to overtake their creators. Soon, the entire region was ruled by these monstrosities. The Hurkto prayed to the gods for help, but they were too busy having a massive orgy. Desperate, The Hurkto sent a messenger to his wife's brother, a warrior from the northeast named Lugon, with a plea for help. Lugon agreed to help, and he and his seventeen children fought the bears. They found that the bears were being led one of the heads of Koormis, who had migrated to land and learned the secrets of the world, and had grown bitter against mankind. As a thank-you for driving out the bear menace, The Hurkto handed Hurktomeks over to Lugon and his children. Within a few years of this, Lugon had conquered the rest of the region.

Lugon defeats the gods

The gods, finally done with their orgy and impressed with Lugon's prowess in battle, rewarded him with eternal youth and superhuman strength. When Perkū killed Lugon's wife for not having sex with him, Lugon waged war on the gods. He and his children managed were victorious and trapped eighteen of the old gods in the depths of the underworld and took their positions, Lugon taking the position of the god of death so he could save his wife. Lugon then divided his now vast kingdom evenly among his children. Eventually, nearly all of the people in the region were descendants of Lugon. Each of the tribes of Lugonomeks are believed to be descended from one of his children, and the god believed to be the ancestor of a particular tribe became that tribe's patron god.

Ūigham

The Old Ones had fallen. Lugon and his children controlled the universe, and the familiar world controlled by their descendants, the Lugonomeks. There was a nobleman in Ashrameks named Ewigham. He was very crafty, good-looking, and charming man, and was well-liked by many people. He was even able to attract the attention of Slema, goddess of sleep, one of the few Old Ones that Lugon allowed to stay in their position when he and his children took over. One night, she visited Ūigham in his dreams, and told him of her love for him. She asked him if he would come and live with her in the underworld. Ewigham was at first reluctant, but soon figured out a way to take advantage of the situation. He agreed to go with Slema. Upon arriving in the underworld, Ūigham promptly separated from Slema, and began to associate with the Keirmeks, demons who knew the secrets of the universe and who helped to create the bear. Slema grew depressed, desperate to be with Ewigham. She approached him and demanded that they have sex. Ewigham said that he would have sex with her, if she granted him one request. He asked that she put Lugon and all his children into a deep sleep for exactly one year. She agreed, and they had sex. Immediately afterwards, Ūigham departed. Using knowledge he had learned from the Keirmeks, he found the trunk of the world tree and climbed to the crotch of the tree, where the gods lived. He found them all asleep, and began to steal their various treasures. He also ate the food of the gods, which gave him immense strength and the ability to recover from any wound. He then raped Lugon's eight daughters in their sleep. Then, curious to know what it was like to have sex as a woman, he used Dena's staff to become a woman and raped Lugon's nine sons. He then descended down the trunk of the world tree, still as a woman. He used his natural charm and the gods' treasures to seduce til arktosubre Akhav. (S)he gave him all the various treasures of the gods that would aid him in combat, and convinced him to go out and conquer. Akhav, under Ūigham's spell, built an enormous empire that spanned over more than half the world in a few months. Meanwhile, Ūigham returned to stay with Slema. She was surprised to see Ūigham as a woman, but was glad to see her all the same. After a year had passed, the gods woke up, and were bewildered to find that their treasures were gone and the daughters of Lugon had all given birth without their knowing. They looked down on the Earth and saw that Akhav had nearly expanded his empire to the edge of the world. They tried to go down and stop him, but found that he was armed with their own weapons. Desperate, they called down to the underworld to ask their father for help. Lugon, who had just woken up himself, burst out of the underworld, his head reaching the home of his children and his feet planted on the bed of the sea. He easily spotted Akhav and took back all of his children's weapons. After this, Akhav awoke from the spell Ūigham had put on him, and told Lugon what had happened. Lugon went back down into the underworld and found Ūigham with Slema. He took the remaining treasures from Ūigham. He then grabbed Ūigham and stuffed him into his mouth face-first, and began chewing on his flesh. However, since Ūigham had eaten the food of the gods, every piece of flesh that tore away would instantly regenerate. Thus his fate was to be eternally chewed by Lugon. The modern Lugonomekan word for chewing gum, "wigam", is derived from Ūigham's name.

Decline

By the time of the fall of Stadpræst (see below), nearly all of the Lugonomeks no longer followed the old religion, instead turning to either monotheism or the teachings of various philosophers. By the time of the founding of Lugonomeks, it had no recorded followers, but is still widely studied as fiction.