Qenga visitants (pronounced KEN-gah) are a type of household spirit worshiped by many inhabitants of the towns and cities of Akatzar. Some are protective entities who watch over beds, hearths, and entrances, while others are evil, seeking to subvert their more beneficial kin in order to steal from those who live in a dwelling, with a particular focus on the theft of food and dreams.
Followers
Qenga visitants, sometimes referred to simply as qenga (singular and plural being the same word), are venerated almost exclusively by the settled peoples of Akatzar, especially those who live along the eastern rivers of the region. Few amongst the nomadic hobgoblin tribes of the Zkher Steppe recognize the qenga, let alone worship them, though to the south a few tribes of the Uulam do.
Beliefs and practices
Qenga can be both beneficial and malicious. The good amongst them guard those who live within a building, watching over their beds, fires, and doors. They drive away what evil they can, and warn of that they cannot, usually by etching ominous collections of lines into the stonework. A good qenga is a significant boon to a family, able to provide them with a sense of peace and security. In turn they are given offerings in the form of bowls of grain and beer, said to make them even more jovial in their ways. It is also common to create woven quilts for the qenga to house them and keep them warm during the cold nights of Akatzar. In all ways they are considered a major part of the family who shares in the bounty of good times and is comforted in times of hardship. Should a family need to depart a dwelling it is always a source of sorrow to leave the qenga behind.
Evil qenga, meanwhile, are almost complete inversions of their kin. They too seek the food given to the protective qenga, but can acquire it only by theft. In this they are quite skilled, able to sneak through cracks in stonework, unguarded entrances, and through fire chutes, after which they gorge themselves on everything they can find. Should they enter during the night, or remain hidden until such time, they also feed on the dreams of the home's inhabitants, for they cannot dream themselves. At times they also abscond with other items, most often those that could be used to cast them out or prevent their return. Besides the watchful benevolence of a good qenga, evil qenga can be held at a distance through other means as well. They are easily confused by irregular shapes, and so the stones used in walls are frequently chiseled into odd forms. Doorways are similarly rarely rectangular for the same reason.
While intrinsically connected to certain buildings, qenga cannot stay permanently within them, and must for at least a short time every day cross the threshold back outside. Evil qenga, or at least those successfully kept at bay, live nearly permanently around the exterior.
The visitants are created through the act of building a dwelling. As each stone is laid, the Akatzari believe one or more qenga take shape as well, reflecting not only the shape and purpose of the structure but also the moods, thoughts, and side activities of those involved. As a result they posses many rituals intended to affect the atmosphere of the work party, as more conviviality and joyousness leads to good qenga while ill harbored towards the intended inhabitants invariably leads to evil spirits instead. For a similar reason it is not atypical in larger cities for the owner of a dwelling is kept secret from the builders, or even for an intermediary trained in addressing the harms wrought by an evil qenga to live within for a short while before it is turned over to its next occupants, so as to attract their ire and, if necessary, deconstruct the building if such spirits cannot be addressed. Only complete destruction of a structure can cast out a qenga - there is no other way to be rid of them, as they will continue to persist even if it is abandoned.
Qenga are most common in homes but can also be associated with storehouses, cookhouses, and buildings of other purposes. Though most structures have either one or no qenga, it is not completely unknown for one building to have multiple.