Eons ago, long before any of the current Rusalka could remember, their race arose on the face of Arethil. All of their lives began as a simple larvae which matured, cocooned for a minimum of seventy years, and emerged out as the mothlike species of Rusalka. They would quickly learn to harness very narrow types of magic as well as their abilities to shapeshift. Eventually the Rusalka would discover a race of flightless birdlike peoples calling themselves the Tayir. Through several generations the Tayir came to idolize the Rusalka until this grew into a full blown religion.

Now, the ancient species of Rusalka relies upon the agriculture and fishing of the Tayir to survive. It has been nearly a thousand years since the last Rusalka was born and in truth they no longer remember how to procreate. Due to this the Rusalka do not really identify into particular genders though the Tayir that worship them have assigned genders to certain members of the ruling caste. In the case of Sand Hawk the Tayir refer to the god as either gender.

Within the pantheon there are Nine Invocations of the Rusalka and only a handful of Rusalka exist outside of these invocations. Generally the Rusalka who are not considered to be gods are revered as saints instead. The main distinction between a Rusalka saint and a Rusalka invocation is direct worship and power. The Nine Invocations have an immense well of magic to draw upon whereas the saints are much more reserved in their actual power.

Each of the Nine Invocations has been assigned a "bird form" that is worshipped by the people of Qin. These invocations include:

• Invocation of Illumination, the Sun Eagle and Night Owl
• Invocation of the Firmament, the Sand Hawk
• Invocation of the Deep, the Gulf’s Gull
• Invocation of Futility, Death’s Raven
• Invocation of Vegetation, the Mossy Sparrow
• Invocation of Wayfaring, the Turbulent Falcon
• Invocation of Vitality, the Motherly Dove
• Invocation of Duality, the Two-Faced Crow
• Invocation of the Storm, the Thunderous Blue Jay

Many of the Rusalka do not recall their original names. Sand Hawk is no exception to this. It has become accepted for most of the Invocations to refer to themselves by their assigned names or by their invocation title.