On Mar 17, 2015, The Curator wrote:
Ottoman Flinstock Pistol circa 1860. The perfect weapon for a vampire/werewolf hunter, the Dhampire or Vampirovitch.

Tengriism is an ancient religion from Central Asia that incorporates elements of shamanism, animism, totemism and ancestor worship. In ancient times, Tengriism was the main belief of Turkic peoples, being the Huns, Xiongu and Bulgars, Hungarians, Siberians and Mongols, those of ancient Altaic origins. It is thought to be one of the oldest religions in the world.
The religion focuses around the sky deity Tengri (Tangra, Tangri, Tanri) and can be considered monotheistic. Tengriists centre their beliefs around reverence for the sky. Khukh and Tengri translated literally mean “blue” and “sky” in Mongolian. Mongolians still pray to Munkh Khukh Tengri (“Eternal Blue Sky”). In modern Turkey, Tengriism is known as the Gök Tanrı (Sky God) religion.
The ancient belief of Tengri comes from the Bronze Age and beyond, there is no solid date to confirm its beginnings. It is one of the only religions to represent a purely philosophical vision rather than religious dogmas, having never caused any wars or sought to convert the world. Tengriism enriches the soul with both endless freedom of human spirit and seamless harmony with the rest of the world and natural environment.
In Europe, Tengriism was the religion of the Huns and of the early Bulgars who brought it to the region. Tengriism is still actively practiced in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Sakha, Buryatia, Tuva, Mongolia and Turkey, alongside Tibetan Buddhism and Burkhanism...
Erlik is the chief god of the Underworld. He is described as an old man with an athletic built. His eyes and eyebrows are jet black and his parted beard reaches his knees. His moustache is like tusks that curl behind his ears. His horns are like tree roots and his hair curled. Erlik is connected with the worst disasters, epidemics and illnesses of people and cattle. He caused these illnesses to compel man to sacrifice to him. Men feared Erlik, especially when ill and were afraid to use his name, calling him Kara-Name (Something Black) instead. The sons of Erlik helped him rule the Underworld, where there were lakes, rivers and seas. Erlik also had between 2 and 9 daughters, they were described as idle, sexually promiscuous and had a desire to lure Kams (shamans) to their beds, as they descended to the Underworld for ceremonies. Though Erlik is the supreme God of the Underworld, he rarely causes evil. He did not regulate the death of mortals and did not take away their Kut. He only accepted their material bodies after death, their kuts returned to the Sky, after the body was cremated. Malicious spirits, Kermeses, dwelled in the Underworld, and sometimes surfaced at sunset to cause harm...
... There was a system of election of Khagan and during the election, the Beks felt and spoke, that Tengri Himself points to the candidate. A legitimate Khan was looked at as ‘Tengri-like, begotten by Tengri, a wise Türkic Khagan’. Election of Khagan was done with full responsibility. The Khagan (Khan) should be brave, clever, honorable, vigorous, fair, be in all features a real Bozkurt (wolf), be respected by the people and by the nobles. With help of these qualities Khagan unified all subordinated Türkic peoples and clans into a united nation–army, and stood to lead them. Only very energetic Khans knew how to keep under control this force, dangerous for the enemies. Khagan (Khan) had to take care of the people and Motherland. The care consisted not only of feeding and clothing his people; his main task was to raise the greatness of the Türks and the national glory.