Wow, a 3-part ask! Good thoughts! I’ll do my best to answer.
Ok, so, the way I see it: Kaleesh worship their ancestors. ALL of their ancestors, not just the lucky few who become gods. Family shrines are where it’s at. Typically your family gets a shrine or mausoleum (maybe a few, if it’s a big clan) within your city/town/village’s burial grounds. Usually only a clan/family will worship at shrines within said clan/family, but it’s not unheard of for someone beloved to garner a bit of outside attention and prayer. If someone in your clan and/or family is powerful or “worthy” enough, you might be granted space for a shrine at Shrupak (or at other temple complexes, for that matter).
This is where things slide into godhood. Technically any deceased Kaleesh has a shot at it (and, as we know, you don’t necessarily have to be dead to be considered for godhood, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that is an exception, not the rule). As for the metric for determining whether someone is worthy of ascending to godhood, that’s where things could get tricky. Not just anyone can say “hey, my uncle died and he was pretty cool, so he’s a god now”; a Malga probably needs to make an official declaration after some sort of appraisal is conducted...or heck, maybe nothing is ever decreed and people just start building statues of you and bring them offerings (*squints at Qymaen*). However it’s decided, it tends to work out quite well for the family/clan who is attached to that god-ancestor; all glory and honor to the family of [insert god here]! Makes you wonder what happened to the Jai Clan when all was said and done, eh?
But yeah: ancestor worship is usually restricted to the ancestors of a family/clan lineage (e.g., Xalek’s family worshipping his great-great-grandfather and his wives), but those who become gods have the potential to be worshipped by anyone who has heard of them (e.g., the annual pilgrimage to Shrupak involves honoring the gods entombed/enshrined there). I agree that there almost certainly isn’t a defined pantheon of gods. Your average Kaleesh won’t always even name a specific ancestor or god when they speak of them, just referring to them as “my ancestors” or “my gods”. “Ancestors’ blessings”. “Thank the gods”. It’s practically interchangeable until you start talking about specific ancestors or gods, whereupon you get things like Xalek’s family honoring his great-great-grandfather (ancestor), or warriors praying to a legendary Khan of old to grant them strength before battle (god).
Haha, SOOO, yeah, I don’t know. xD It makes sense to me within the context of Sahuldeem, but I’m sure there are other writers out there who have come up with better Kaleesh religion headcanons than this!
