Tngri

The Tngri are powerful spirits in the Ordu's belief system.

Lore

Who are the Tngri?

	“	"They are spirits who dwell in the spirit realm. They number ninety nine and often take interest in the affairs of men. The greatest among them are the Nine Great Tngri - the Lord-Spirits, in your language. It is said that seven of them were called upon by the shamans during the Great War. Drunk on blood that was flowing like water, the Tngri fought the armies of men and each other."	„
		~ Khan Thorgul  on Tngri

How the Tngri took flesh

“	A long time ago there lived a great shaman named Adad. Like many shamans, he sought power over the Tngri, but it's easier to catch drifting smoke than it is to catch a Tngri, for the Tngri are spirits and formless as spirits are. "One day, frustrated with his failures, Adad decided to venture into the spirit realm and steal the secrets from the Tngri. Yet, no mortal can enter this realm and escape unscathed for the Tngri don't forgive the trespassers and guard their secrets well. Aegis Of The Magi "So the clever shaman fashioned a mask out of pure crystal to make him look like a Tngri. Donning his mask, the shaman gathered his courage and uttered the words that unlocked the Shadow Gate, the doorway between the realm of the living and the unliving. The Tngri, who are numbered ninety and nine, mistook him for one of their own for when they looked upon him, for they saw nothing but the light playing off the mask's facets. So hidden, Adad journeyed deep into the spirit realm, to its heart, to the Well of Whispers. There he cast his heart's desire into the well, asking of it three questions. The well whispered its secrets to Adad, teaching Adad the secrets of binding a Tngri in flesh, and how to lay the wards - nine times nine - to keep it bound. Rejoicing, Adad hurried to return to the physical realm, in his excitement forgetting that one question remained unanswered.	„
	~ Ordu Keeper of Tales  on Tngri

“	"When Adad arrived home, he called upon all the shamans to lend their strengths to his, so that they might bind the Tngri to their will. "When the shamans come, they told Adad to make a Tngri into a dog, but Adad shook his head and said: "A Tngri isn't a dog to follow you around." Then the shamans told Adad to make a Tngri into a bull, but Adad shook his head once again and said: "A Tngri isn't a bull to plough your land." "What body would befit a Tngri then, o wise Adad?" asked the shamans. "A man's body, for a man rules supreme over all animals and Tngri will be insulted if we offer less. We must honor the Tngri and then the Tngri will honor us," said Adad and the shamans agreed.	„
	~ Ordu Keeper of Tales  on Tngri

“	"They fashioned seven bodies and invoked seven Tngri, offering the bodies to them. The Tngri accepted and filled the bodies with their essence, becoming flesh, taking their first steps, and learning the ways of the mortals. "At first the Tngri were delighted by the vessels the shamans had prepared for them, revelling in the pleasures of the flesh. But that delight turned to anger when they discovered that the shamans had bound them with wards - nine times nine - so that they could not escape their new bodies. They raged and thrashed in their prisons of flesh, twisting those vessels into monstrous forms." "Horrified, the shamans tried to stop them, but it was then that Adad remembered the third question he had asked of the Well of Whispers, the one that, in his excitement, he had not waited for the answer for. For though Adad knew the secrets of calling spirit and binding it to flesh, he knew not how to prevent the Tngri from exerting their influence over the flesh. "And this is how the Tngri came to wear flesh and live amongst men."	„
	~ Ordu Keeper of Tales  on Tngri

Parallels to Our World

In the pantheon of Mongolian shamanism, tngri (also tengri, tegrí) constitute the highest class of divinities and are attested in sources going back to the 13th century.

The term tngri is cognate with the Turkic theonym tengri "sky", Mongolian taŋɣaraɣ "oath" and tenger "sky".