Vokunism

Introduction

“In the time before times, before there was the world as we know it, there was both darkness and light. These were called the Void, and the Aether. From these essences, twin gods were formed, Dinok Vokun, the god of death, shadow, and balance, and the Goddess Kun Laas, whose domains were of life, light, and nature. Everything has its opposite, because with light, comes shadow, with life, comes death, as all things are in balance. These twins then used the essence around them to create the universe, and all life in it. Dinok Vokun created the tieflings as his chosen people, while Kun Laas created the Aasimar as her chosen tribe. These two races lived in harmony, until the nature of humans corrupted them into turning on each other. They warred for centuries against each other, but as they were created in balance of each other, they could not defeat the other side. So each side signed a peace treaty and retreated to hidden realms and faded out of history. Thus drained of most of their power, the tieflings were but a fraction of what they used to be, they prayed to their god to guide them to their home. Dinok sent a vision of their land they should settle to their tribe leader, Dovah Vulonkiin. A sign was given to them, an inferno pillar in a perfect circle, around which was built the twilight sanctum.”

(The book is then cut off by a large char mark, where the rest of the text supposedly was)

Sadly the rest of the text was lost when the great library in the capital city of Ebonmere was torched when the humans sieged the capital. The city has since been reclaimed, but this text was the only one to survive the fire, but there are many transcripts of customs of the religion. These transcripts are housed in the main temple’s library.

Vokunism Explained

Vokunism is worship of the tiefling patron god, Dinok Vokun, whose domains are of death, shadow, and balance. He is most commonly depicted as a dragon, or as a tiefling with a dragon companion. He is the god of death, yet he only ferries souls to whatever afterlife they have been chosen for by their gods. He acknowledges that other gods exist, respects their domains, and how they created their world. This concept is confusing, and is best explained that all the separate timelines of the worlds after the gods created them, merged as one timeline, which is the world we now know.

Vokunism Hierarchy

In Vokunism, there is a hierarchy of priests and acolytes, in this section we will go over the different names, responsibilities, and privileges in each rank.

Tinvaak - Top of the hierarchy, high priest of the religion. When a new Tinvaak is chosen from the Kruziik when the old Tinvaak dies, the new one adopts the name Vulonkiin as their surname. The Tinvaak’s responsibilities are collecting the sacrifice and performing the sacrifice rituals, as well as leading ceremonies and festivals.

Kruziik - Second rank of the hierarchy, these are the elite priests in the religion and are tasked with recording anything that is needed, and with keeping the archives in order.

Tovitaan - Third rank of the hierarchy, these are assistants to Kruziik, and are tasked with helping the Kruziik with research and keeping everything organized.

Rovaan - Fourth and last rank of the hierarchy, these are the new acolytes to the religion, and are tasked with doing anything the higher ranks need, which would include delivering messages and doing menial tasks.

Rituals, Ceremonies, and Festivals

Now we have the rituals, ceremonies and festivals, which are times of celebration and commitment.

Initiation - this is the ceremony for initiating new members into the fold, all of the acolytes are gathered in the Sanctum for this event. The initiate walks up to the Tinvaak, says the vow, and the Priest says the rites and prays.

Vow: “I promise to uphold all traditions and tenets of the fold, and commit my life in service to Dinok Vokun, Eternal Lord of the Void, and ferryer of souls. I will treat all members with respect, and obey the will of my elders. I vow to do all these things till the time when Dinok calls me home.”

Rites:

Tinvaak-“I initiate thee, :Player name:, :Roleplay name:, into the fold of Vokunism, may all who gather here testify to this fact. Praise be to the Void!”

Everyone-“Praise be to the Void!”

Monthly Sacrifice - This is the monthly ritual where all are gathered in the Altar Chamber and the Tinvaak offers up the sacrifice. The Tinvaak then recites a prayer.

Prayer:

Tinvaak-”Lord Dinok Vokun, Eternal Lord of the Void, Ferryer of Souls, Shade Walker, Usherer of Night, and Shadow of Death, we offer up this offering to you, so that you may know that we continue in following the path you have set us on. Praise be to the Void!”

Everyone-”Praise be to the Void!”