Alkosh, The First Cat

#Alkosh, The First Cat# by Dolanaaro Corvus

This raw, unaltered transcript is between myself and the Khajiit Moon-bishop Najul. [Introductions and pleasantries removed in the interest of this single interview not filling 5 volumes]

MY DIALOGUE BOLDED. Moon bishop's dialogue not.

Thank you for agreeing to answer my questions Moon-Bishop Najul, even if we only have a brief time left to do so….. Speaking of time, I understand that in certain parts of Elsweyr, Khajiit worship a Time deity known as Alkosh. What can you tell me of this being? Why is he not worshipped throughout the province?

He is worshipped as Alkosh First-Cat by some in the North. To others, he is seen through the Riddle’Thar. The Riddle’Thar does not make Khajiit forget Alkosh, just see him more clearly.

So Riddle’Thar is NOT Alkosh?

The Riddle’Thar is not a being. Khajiit see Riddle’Thar all around us. Thus, we explain what is around us through Riddle’Thar. Alkosh was always Alkosh. He used to be more, too, but now he’s just mostly Alkosh.

Wait, he used to be more? What do you mean by that?

Perhaps your tiny ears require this one to speak louder. Najul means that when the ja-Kah’jay was young, Alkosh took many names. Called himself many things. Later, he decided he only wanted to be Alkosh.

Are you referring to the Auri-El, Akatosh, Alduin paradox? Are you suggesting Alkosh is also to be added to the mix?

No. Najul doesn’t speak of paradoxes. In the past, Khajiit danced to praise Alkosh. Then the slaves of Cyrodil decided to copy us and do their own dance. Never outdone, Khajiit decided to dance even harder, aimed more directly at Alkosh; as to not allow confusion of which god we were dancing for.

I’ll take that as a yes…. You say Alkosh is the god of time, then? Honestly, I don’t see how he can exist separately from the other three (purported) gods of time. There is no aspect of time left unclaimed. Auri-El is seen as the beginning of time. Akatosh is seen as the present, on-going time. And Alduin is seen as the end of time. Where does Alkosh fit in?

Alkosh himself helped fell the armies of Other-Dragon and Metaled Man. This is known to all with fur beneath their loincloth. As to his “aspect of time”, this one finds the topic pointless. Hairless ones don’t see time as Khajiit do. You have no appreciation for its subtleties. Who is it that counts the days when the days are uncountable? Who is it that sees the great clocks in the sky? It is only the Khajiit.

What subtleties might we miss? How might time even have subtleties?

To you Time is a straight line. You cannot help this, as your eyes see things most clearly when they stand still. It is a sadness. Khajiit are fortunate to see better when things are in motion. The motion of the tides. The motion of the moons. The motions of time. We can see that time is NOT a line; it is a circle. The Sun repeats each day. The Moons repeat each Month. The seasons repeat each year. The stories repeat each Era. To see Time as a Khajiit is to see in Phases. We structure our life around these phases, and in turn these phases structure our life. Time is cyclical, dancing as all things do to the tune of the ja-Kha’jay. Alkosh is the god of these phases, of these cycles. The Riddle’Thar helps Khajiit understand and interpret them.