Summary
A larger-than-normal if still ankle-sized beetle, Scateth's titanite body sparkles beautifully in the sunlight, accompanying her translucent neon wings when she takes flight. Blessed goddess of the harvest, fields, and farming, she also doubles as the goddess of secrets, hidden conspiratorial knowledge, and investigations. When the
nebusah and their fellows began to farm, bugs of all kinds came to plague their fields. Scateth and her ilk followed after, feasting on their prey and devouring the dead plants left behind. So it came to be, a pharaoh of the time brokered a deal with Scateth, whose beetle-ways provided much the people of old
Atenkhet needed.
The accord struck was that every farmer would cultivate a specific crop--one useless to people, but a favored meal of beetles. In return for doing so, they would also go about eating pests, cleaning up rotting plants, and taking care of the bad stuff they still enjoyed eating. To even modern day, it is customary for farmers to section off corners of their fields, which quickly become beetle habitats. These sacred locations are often enshrined, serving a dual purpose of offering additional tribute. Those who do, generally, are not the farmers themselves but outsiders wishing to make deals.
Long ago two great farming families had a terrible dispute over water-accessible land. The matter eventually ensnared the pharaoh herself of the time, and so much attention went into trying to settle the dispute. Scateth herself soon intruded upon the courtly proceedings, demanding owed tribute the farmers had failed to make. Laying out the matter, the pharaoh begrudgingly bothered Scateth if she might offer any insight onto how to resolve the dispute. To the stunned shock of many present, not only did she know, she harshly corrected several erroneous details. Thus it came to be that the pharaoh destroyed one of the disputing families for their now-revealed crimes.
Ever more harrowing, however, was the extent to which Scateth knew such information. She made no secret of how: all beetles spoke to her, and so she heard what they heard. Hence the ever painfully true proverb, "never speak where a beetle can hear", for Scateth will know everything. For better or worse, many have called upon this, offering riches untold in exchange for the secrets Scateth might know. The goddess is ever cunning, and wishing to not disturb her tributes too much, rarely deigns to be involved. It is all the more likely if someone is doing something to bother her regular tribute, she may whisper something exceedingly damaging to that person's enemies.
When one is not bothering her with grandiose matters, she's far more willing to lend a word or two. Although generally considered a
neutral goddess, Scateth has no issues helping investigators pursuing crimes, wayward souls looking for directions, scholars trying to find a certain book, and otherwise. Thus smaller shrines to her can be found in libraries, archives, vaults, and other mundane locations. If something ends up lost in there, a beetle might know if one pays up enough for them to answer.
In more modern times, Scateth's 'worship' has taken on a slightly different context. Many people wanting to find romantic partners or would-be friends often pay tribute, asking the beetles if they know anyone that might work for them. For all the beetles know, understanding social dynamics of that manner is outside their pay, making it very awkward for them to talk about. This also causes problem with
Isara, who becomes agitated people are paying beetles for romantic advice instead of her. Scateth often finds this hilarious and deliberately plays matchmaker, especially with those Isara may be maneuvering.
Hence the idiom, "love on a beetle's wings".
Comments