The Word

All has been translated from the tribe's language

The origination of "The Word" lie in the deserts of Atamara. It was brought back by an explorer, a man with the lust of great challanges and great risk, and ultimately a faithless wanderer who heard the voice of creation. Trapped in a valley near the highest crag in Eagles Glen. He was lost, near death. As he lie there awaiting the loss of the last of his stregnth, dangeling down the side of the mountain's Crag swaying where the wind blew him slowly freezing and praying to any god that was listening. Through Frosted lashes and near delerium, he heard the whisper of "THE WORD" and saw a vision of peace and prosperity. He listened and recieved enlightenment. With renewed stregnth and resolve recovered himself and walked away from the mountain. He left not only a strong brave man physically but spiritually as well. He walked into the dawning of the rest of his life changed, enwizened and with a look sorrow and determination etched into the new lines upon his face. Previously a pagan, he knew that to give others the same hope and renewed purpose, he needed to spread "THE WORD." He wrote of what he heard and wandered preaching, finding no compassion in his wanderings until finally he lit upon a small tribe around Axzaloc that was lost and aimless due to the death of many due to a long drought, With his voice of hope and purpose they listened, and heard "THE WORD". Through "THE WORD" they prospered in the middle of the desert. The caravans came in time and spread "THE WORD" through the desert and beyond.... It is common practice among the dedicated to name children after the aspects of the God. All people are welcome, you need not to be named or be of the desert to appreciate "THE WORD" or worship any of the God's many aspects.

Relations

We prefer to maintain good relations with other faiths. Usually, they are misguided, following only one aspect of the God. They are mere variants, one of the God's spiritual aspect worshiped under a different name. As followers of the true all encompassing GOD we do not recognize Evil aspects. There can be no truly evil religions, for God is not evil. There may be misguided individuals whom wrongly worship the natural process of erosion and decay as a destructive Aspect instead of seeing it as a natural process. The other aspects of God may believe that their aspect is the only aspect and seek to persecute us. But we shall stand for in the end even if they do not recognize their Aspect we do and it is hard to fault the followers, as God is not easily understood by all. For a faith to be considered evil by us, they must actively and forcefully seek to deny their place a part of God's holy "WORD" and strike down the teachings of the Kargnchha and Kargnch, the highest priests of "THE WORD". This is blasphemy and will not be tolerated. We do accept and understand that not all are able to accept the full blinding belief that encompasses "THE WORD" and acknowledge that our God has many spiritual aspects that are sometime worshiped by others under their native names.

• Magnum Serpaenism: Misguided. They put a label on good and evil, which is wrong. Don't recognize the 3 high gods and 5 great gods. Seem to have merged some gods together. Recognize war between Scha and Wentarkl (Calmar and Magnus).
• Darkanism: Variant. They put a label on good and evil. Only recognize Esaneon as Jordfan, and Esaneon's children, but they don't understand their relationship. Recognize the immortality of souls, but wrongly say they travel the world.
• Pantheism: CLOSE Variant. Recognize good and evil are necesssary. Don't understand balance. Wrong names. Recognize 8 gods, but none else. Their 8th god is most likely Anstorkoc.
• Athonlaurism: Miguided. In need of enlightenment. They seem to not have understood "THE WORD".
• Naicatoisim: Misguided. Believe in good alone. They seem to have forgotten the other side of balance.

Appearance

There is not much one can use to show they are a follower. There is no outward signs for the religious. It is through deeds that followers are known. In battle, you can wear a religious sigil upon your shield or a pendant upon a chain. Some of the more devout wear a war-skirt comprised of a large piece of folded leather, though nothing else. For that reason, wearing a war-skirt is unpopular with other more civilized tribes. Some colors are also symbolically used.... Purple is the main colour used in ritual vestments and garbs, yellow is the royal colour and used during the most holy or sacred of occasions, and red is the colour of strife, not only physical but spiritual as well. Showing a purpose of steadfast resolve and will. The Lay priests are usually seen wearing White robes for regular duties excepting for their appropriate colored robes when they are preforming their religious services. The highest priests tend to wear robes displaying all three colors in various combinations.

Gods

There are thousands of Aspects of the God, but they are arranged in a heirarchy. At the top are the Higher Guiding Spirits or Habha. They are Xanio, Kaora, and Fuarchostn. They are the Spirit of End, The Spirit of Beginning, and the Entity of Time respectively. The next order are the Greater Spirits or Habztaninaasktesaiyn. They are Scha, Wentarkl, Torsaan, Anstorkoc, and Esaneon. They are the Spirits of Good/Happiness, the Spirits of Evil/Sadness, Entity of Balance, Entity of the Forgotten, and the Entity of the Elements respectively. Karibash is the most prominent of the lesser Spirits as he is the Personification of War. It is common for a follower to prefer a Guiding Spirit to God. As it is an easier path to understand. There are different priests who maintain shrines to one Spirit, but they still acknowledge the others. They have a 'favourite' Aspect, but recgonize its place within the heirarchy. Many of the most devout view deification of one Aspect over others is heretic as All aspects are part of the greater God and no part of God is more holy than another.

In short:

• Kaora (KAY-o-ra) Goddess of Beginning. She beguns everything. Her prefered physical form is a lizard.
• Xanio (ZAH-ni-o) God of End. He ends everything. His prefered physical form is an eagle
• Fuarchostn (fwar-SHOS-ten) Entity of Time. It controls and bends time. Its prefered physical form is the moon.
• Scha (SHAW) Goddess of Happiness. She rules a domain of happiness. She has no physical form, merely a white fog. Is at constant war with Wentarkl.
• Wentarkl (when-TAR-kil) God of Sadness. He rules a domain of sadness. He has no physical form prefering a black fog. He wars with Scha for eternity.
• Torsaan (tor-SAHN) Entity of Balance. Strives to keep balance. Contains Scha and Wentarkl in their eternal war. Takes the form of a floating glass sphere which shows the balance of an individual.
• Anstorkoc (an-STOR-kos) Entity of the Forgotten. Rules all that is forgotten, keeping it in existence. Takes the form of sand.
• Esaneon (es-A-neon) Entity of the Elements. Is all physical elements. Takes no form out of choice.
• Karibash (kar-i-BASH) God of War. He is the god of war, and is asked for help whenever one enters battle. Take the form of a tall man dressed in whatever the person seeing him feels a warrior would have.

Scha, Torsaan and Wentarkl

There is difficulty describing these three gods. When they enter the afterlife Scha is the Goddess who rules those who serve, those who sacrafice, the people who suffer in any way. Wentarkl rules those who lived in happiness, but not necessarily gluttony and sin, though he does rule those people as well. In the afterlife, debts are repaid. Those who lived in servitude and strife enter the Kingdom of Scha and live in happiness until their debts are repaid. Those who lived in happiness enter the Kingdom of Wentarkl where they live in pain and suffering until their debts are repaid. Those who lived in balance can await the second coming in Torsaan's kingdom, or travel.

Philosophy

These are the beliefs of the hab-b, also called the followers (devotees of the word).

Life and Death

One is responsible for one's life. You have one chance at life, then you repay any debts. You should not mourn death, for that was their choice. Vengeance is pointless, all debts are repaid after death. The afterlife is a great plain of short grass. It is a flat plain of immeasurable size sitting in a sea of forgotten. The plain is ruled by Fuarchostn. The forgotten is ruled by Anstorkoc. In the top corner lies Xanio's kingdom of end, where the dead arrive. it is a small field enclosed by great walls of stone. In the centre lies a small building where Xanio rules. It is a hall which leads to a door engraved with the kargnchha's predicted death. The room within is where Xanio's throne lies. To the North east lies Kaora's kingdom, where souls await their life, and the dead await the second coming. South of Xanio's kingdom is Scha's kingdom, an unimaginable paradise where one can enjoy anything, even murder. Near the centre of the plains lies Wentarkl's kingdom. the area around is dry, resembling drought. The kingdom is on top of a mountain of black stone surrounded by black pillars of marble. A single staircase winds up the mountain where unimaginable torture and suffering lies. To the far south is Torsaan's kingdom, a small realm with walls where the Kargnchha is waiting to train.

When all souls have had their one chance at life, then the gods will create the Second Coming and all will start new. All Kargnch and Kargnchha will become gods.

War and Peace

They are vital to life. If one's realm happens to throw things out of balance, there is little one can do, for balance will be restored. The only thing you can hope is you are not hit in the backlash. Unless you were an instigating factor, then you have it coming. When one is forced to follow an imbalance, they may keep loyalty with their realm, or seek sanctuary wherever a temple lies. There, they may stay until their troubles are solved. If it happens that you are banned from your realm for this, then you obviously were not meant to be there. Friends are sacred, and should never be betrayed. A realm counts as a friend, but if they betray you, then you should have no more dealings with them.

Honour

There is no honour. Honour is for those individuals who believe that they should strive to suffer so they will be blessed in the afterlife. They are bound for suffering for their gluttony. Of course, this does not mean you can betray. This will land you in suffering as well. It means that you sould not feel restrained by fanicful notions of how one should act. Act as you wish, you will have your debts repaid. All actions are part of a cycle. Do not for what others will think of you, but what you will think of yourself.

Ceremonies

Ceremonies usually involve burning incense and saying prayers. These are done within the confines of purple curtains. In the older days, ceremonies involving cannabilism and sacrafice were common, but they have disappeared from most of the religion, surviving on the few who cling to the old traditions.

• There is no ceremony for births. The child is blessed by the priest.
• There is a ceremony for coming of age. At this time, you are now considered to be in control of your actions, and your fate. Prayers are said, incense burned, and you must choose your true name. It must forever be kept secret until death. You are only allowed to share it with one priest, the one who will reside over your funeral. It is the parents choice for when the child has come of age, but it is usually around 14 years old. The ceremony is also held for new inductees to the faith.
• There is no such thing as a wedding. A couple may be blessed by a priest, but monogamy is in the hands of the person. Should the husband have 1 wife, but the wife have 15 husbands, then that is her wish.
• Death is not held to be evil, but very necessary. There is a viewing at the wish of the family. At the funeral, the body is presented wrapped in purple cloth. Prayers are said, incense burned, and the deceased's true name is called out for the first time by the priest. Afterwards, the dead should be refered to by their true name. If the true name is never known, then they are blessed to have a good travel for their soul will now be stuck until the body decomposes. The burial rites consist of prayers and a blessing of herbs. The body then has the cloth removed and is left in the desert, mountains, or dumped into the sea, for it is nothing but a shell and should be treated as such.
• If one feels they need to appease a god, there is a ceremony. It consists of prayers, incense, fasting, and offerings over a period of 3 moons. Human sacrafices were common but are not anymore. Typical offerings are food or valubles. It may be done in groups or alone but must always be done in the confines of purple curtains.
• After battle or a duel, there is a very rarely used ceremony, one of the few to involve sacrafice and cannabilism. It is used to forsake a person you've killed to 1000 deaths. It is a ceremony of pure hate and anger, known only by a few. It was largely dropped from use after The Word began to spread.

The Kargnchha and Kargnch

They are the highest priests, their names Translate to Holy Leader/Warlord and Leader/Warlord respectively. They names harken back to the Ideal of the Tribal Shaman leader whom both defended the tribe and was its spiritual center. They lead the order, and determine where we spread. The two positions are seperate. Unless related to the Kargnchha, a Kargnch can never be the Kargnchha, but the Kargnchha can be Kargnch. They must each choose one successor and have a successor at all times. If the Kargnchha is ever incapacitated, then the Kargnch takes control. If he is incapacitated permenantly, the successor rises up to the position. They are considered Speaker of the "WORD" of god, and should be treated as such. Their subjects bow to their word. Upon death, they rise to the afterlife to live with God, and are never reincarnated in the Second Coming.

Numerology

Numbers are used to tell the future in the religion.

• 1: The modifier. A sign of change.
• 2: The mother. A sign of beginning.
• 3: The complete. A sign of ending.
• 4: The child. A sign of growth.
• 5: The multiplier. A sign of drastic change.
• 6: The complete child. A sign of a great event.
• 7: The jumper. A sign of an extreme change.
• 8: The grandchild. A sign of fruition.
• 9: The complete grandchild. A sign of balance.
• 240: The perfect. A sign of the Second Coming.

History

History is largely determined, though it does not mean you are bound to do one thing. It means that the same outcome will happen, regardless, therefore you can do as you wish but not to throw things out of balance.

The Great Prophecy

Before the universe was created naught existed besides the three original gods, Xanio God of End, Kaora Goddess of Beginning, and Fuarchostn the Entity of Time. All three Gods banished the nothingness and created the universe. The nothingness was forgotten and formed Anstorkoc the Entity of Forgotten. To populate the universe Xanio and Kaora made Esaneon, Entity of the Elements, to create all inside. To govern these new things, Kaora and Xanio made Scha, Goddess of Good, and Wentarkl, God of Evil. The universe was then evenly divided until they came upon one planet. Scha and Wentarkl both thought they were superior and fought over the planet. Their war almost destroyed the universe until Xanio and Kaora created Torsaan, Entity of Balance to encase them in their war and rule that one world. Exhausted Xanio and Kaora prophesized that “In the time when the knives of the wind rule, the Kargnchha, symbolically named with a mother not of the time, shall unite the world. Long after the Kargnchha is gone, the era of abuse against Esaneon is over, and the heavens are within reach but never found, the ‘Others’ shall destroy their past. The Kargnchha shall return and lead the armies of the Gods against them after fusing with the one the Kargnchha was named for. The throne shall be reclaimed by the Kargnchha’s descendant and lead the peoples of the empire to prosperity.” They then fell into a deep sleep, only to wake and fight with the Kargnchha.

OOC

It has begun.