Uniters of the Old Gods

= Religion of the Uniters =

Religious Beliefs on the Gods
There are three older gods, that manifest as parts of the world. There are also newer gods that manifested after the world was made, and some are children of the elder gods. There are also powerful players who have reached the power of divinity but are not a manifestation of the natural world but rather concepts or actions. The three elder gods are in conflict with each other, and always have been.

The elder gods are called Tarrak, the grounds, Akom, the waters, and Selom, the skies. Selom is also known for having aspects known as Light and Dark, called Dior and Nidior respectively. The oldest of the newer gods is Bitios, god of the animals. After Bitios are Dandos, god of the plants, and Mekfior, god of mushrooms and disease. After Bitios, Dandos, and Mekfior, are the children of Akom and Salom, Akor and Akos, the rain and snow; the child of Tarrak and Dior, Tarrakin, the nether; and the child of Tarrak and Nidior, the unnamed and banished.

Holy Days and Calendar
The Uniters have a Calendar system based around the number 12. There are 4 days in a week, 3 weeks in a month, 4 months in a season, and 3 seasons in a year. Every 4th night is the new moon and marks the last night of the week. From the setting of the new moon to the rising of the full moon, all religious are to pray for peace between all people, nations, and the gods.

(OOC: This translates to a new day every 20 minutes, a new week every 80 minutes, a new month every 4 hours, and a new year every 2 days.

The most important Holy Day is Revelation Day, where the first Uniter, Anelevin, witnessed in his dreams a battle between the gods. The land, water, sky, and life fought against each other. He held this vision for a full day, once every 25 years, for 125 years, dying 6 years before it was expected he would have seen it a sixth time, at the age of 144. The day after he had this first vision, he instituted this feast and the Commonfolk as followers. After the second vision, he instituted the holy order of Monks. After the third, he established the Abbots to lead the Monks. After the fourth, he established the Grand Abbot to lead the Abbots. After Anelevin's last vision, he created the holy order of the Prophets.

Hierarchy of the Uniters
There are several different groups within the Uniters of the Old Gods, reflecting their roles within the religion.

All followers are born as Commonfolk, those who have not received any religious title. They provided the majority of the population and are not held to any vows except to hang a holy torch from above their doorframe once every 25 years on Revelation day.

The lowest religious title granted to any Commonfolk is that of Monk. A commonfolk who is deciding whether or not to become a Monk is called a Novice, and must be a Novice for 3 years by the standards of the Uniters and swear the following vows: To never consume any food or drink that has been crafted or brewed, To never raise a weapon against any sentient being, To never involve themselves romantically with any sentient being, To never wear armor made of diamonds or emeralds, and To only wear an iron chestplate if given the title of Abbot, or a golden helmet if given the title of Grand Abbot.

An Abbot is in charge of at least 5 monks. Together an Abbot and their monks make a monastery, or live inside the Temple of Unity. An Abbot manages who is and isn't in their monastery, and is given the power of sending Novices who fail their trial period a second chance by making them a Prophet.

A Prophet is a person who wishes to be a clergy member Uniters faith, but did not become a monk after their novitiate. Anelevin, as the Grand Abbot, took the first Novices who did not become monks, and gave them the Blessings of Sight. This allowed them to see the Gods in their dreams, when they were in complete darkness, after fasting only on berries for 48 days.

= The History of The Uniters =

Age of Elder Gods
Before the world was formed, three elder gods named themselves and became what they spoke. They are Tarrak, Akom, and Selom. Tarrak became the lands, Akon the waters, and Selom the unreachable skies. Selom, lacking true understanding of the profound effect of the spoken words that he named himself, suffered terribly as parts of himself split off to become Dior and Nidior: Light, and No-Light (Darkness). As Selom was split, he cried out that Tarrak would be swallowed one day by Akom. Tarrak then sought out to dry all waters to prevent the vision from coming true. Akom then bore children with Dior and Nidior, named Akos and Akor, the Snow and the Rain. To protect herself, Tarrak bore children with Dior and Nidior, the first named Tarrakin, god of the fiery wastes, and the other's name has been removed from all records of the Uniters, as even the name of the Unwritten One, the Banished one, disturbs the minds of those who hear it. It is during this time that the gods of Life were first seen. They are Mekfior, Bitios, and Dandos, gods of plagues and spores, animal life, and plant life respectively.

The Unwritten One despised the company of the gods of life, and struck them all with her rage. The other eleven gods rebelled against her and pushed her back far from their company. To replace her, they experimented with creation and gave it consciousness in many forms, from which all humanoid life is derived, from the humans, to the beastfolk, to the elves, to the dwarves, to the goblins, to the orcs, to the demons, to the celestials, to the elementals, to the spirits, to the golems, and to what are called monsters. All intelligent life is the result of the experimentation of the gods. A few of these reached significant strength and affected the others with their powers, sometimes destroying each other or eventually, banishing the Unwritten one to beyond creation and removing her influence forever.

Age of Minor Gods
Thus follows the age of Minor Gods, the time in which many of the Gods' names and aspects were forgotten or were put into local legends and attributed to local spirits. Many of the local spirits are just one culture's view of a God, and what they assume to be their relation to the other Elder Gods of the world and the Minor Gods. A few of the Minor Gods include the Gods of Magic, of Crafts, of Battle, of Harvests, of Eloquence, of Justice, and other things that are held to be divine.

In Rathnir
Graykey was transported to a time where the Ferrymen were rampant. Due to both their lack of desire to help unite the Old Gods and their desire to break apart groups willing to unite the Old Gods, they are twice outcast by the monk Graykey, current head of the Uniters of the Old Gods. Brother Graykey found support from the king of Mudroktupeia, Deadweight. Brother Graykey has proclaimed that the Kingdom of Mudroktupeia to be blessed, and the King to be twice blessed.

After the lands of Mudroktupeai were renamed to Spyre, and then tossed between foreign powers, Brother Graykey decided to sail to the very Eastern borders of Eldham and establish the religion there.

In Eldham
Brother Graykey reached the shores of Rohkia and traveled until the he saw the ends of the earth, and settled in the deserts there. He planted the berries he had found along the way and built a monastery dedicated to Bitios. After negotiations with a local settlement, he abandoned his monastery in return that the town members of Oceanum would follow his gods.

Graykey moved into the lands of the Ashtrokan Wadenreich Empire, where he lived in a small grove of large spruce trees and berries, He began construction of the Temple of Unity, promising that any religion that has at least one god that is similar to his own, may use the Temple for public ceremonies.