Olhi

Olhi is a polytheistic religion that follows its two prominent onmelhi. Onmelhi is the word for god in the ancient language of Tlong-Makewani. These Onmelhi, Musuloskus and Afitizer, represent the core beliefs and foundation of the people who originated Olhi. The religion is derived from the aforementioned ancient people of the Basime archipelago. In modern history, such an archipelago is non-existent. This is due to, well, Olhi.

The Prophet Mzechi-Tlachi is known to be the last prophet. And as such, founded Olhi, new Olhi. The religion known to Rathnir is new Olhi, even though it isn't referred to as such. Mzechi alongside any trusted holy scribes of his work to recreate and uncover the remnants of Old Olhi, and do so by cataloging such things in the various holy texts that belong to the religion. These texts continue to be written and accordingly, Olhi changes as more of its history is either found or created.

Beliefs and Practices
Olhi's origins were derived from ancient texts, and as such writings and cataloging is a major practice of Olhi. Scribes are high ranking members of Olhi, and new information on the old religion is being uncovered and integrated regularly. Instead of following the examples of the old onmelhi, Olhi was founded upon the ideals of preventing the events of the past. The Olhic Holy Laws state that the faith is intended to specifically spread the knowledge of those past events in order to prevent them once again. And going with that, any follower of Olhi must make a pact of eternal peace, stating that in their journey of spreading the word, they shall not inflict means of pain on anyone, no matter the circumstance.

Olhi is quite naturalistic at its core, this aligned with yet another Olhic Holy Law. The second Holy Law states that when taking from the earth, one must give back an amount equal to what was taken. This can manifest into when a follower constructs a building and chops down a few trees to construct it, they must then replant the trees they chopped. This Law is quite prevalent in the faith's construction side of things. Most houses, shops, temples, or anything else will likely adopt the surrounding landscapes features or have its own. This may mean the building is constructed around a tree, or has a river or streams flowing through it. There are many forms of this law in use, but it usually results in these uniquely built buildings since it counts as giving back.

Olhi's third belief has to do with other religions. As with most things in Olhi, there is no opposition, and as such, Olhi sees no other religion as opposing. In the end, Olhi is simply a message, so, as stated in the Third Holy Law, there is no such thing as religious conversion. Missionaries of Olhi don't try to convert those of other religions, they simply spread the word of eternal peace. The only scenario where this doesn't apply is in members of the faith. It is forbidden to follow another religion if you are to be a member of Olhi. This is because of possible conflicting beliefs between faiths, such as beliefs that envoke discrimination or otherwise not peaceful behaviour.

Creation
The creation of the world, as accounted by the ancient Makewani people follows the Attika Mythos. The Attika Mythos itself has been lost to time, all that's known about it is that it detailed all of old Olhi's history alongside everything and everyone involved. What's been found states that the onmelhi, Musuloskus, is the creator of the world as we know it. He created it and its inhabitants for his own entertainment. The creation of much else in the world can be attributed to the onmelhi that resulted in the death of Musuloskus and Afitizer. Smaller onmelhi definitely, but still capable.

The Order of Jenong
Jenong is the name of the hierarchy present in greater Olhi and accounts for the religion's positions of power.

Tlebechi The Prophet; a title only held by Mzechi-Tlachi, the founder of the faith. He holds absolute jurisdiction over anything and everything within the faith, though he cannot intervene or affect the hierarchy below him. He is greatly uninvolved in the faith other than his holy texts and electing Jaltena's

Tolpei The Head Scribe; holds equal power to the Tlebechi and is in essence, his partner. The Tolpei alongside the Tlebechi have a major say in who's elected a Jaltena.

Jaltena The High Counsel; Jaltena are elected by the Tolpei and Tlebechi regionally and a total of 5 can serve at once.They convene to handle religious conflicts and negotiate with foreign powers. Each Jaltena also holds majority power over their regional sect of the religion. Formerly a Malophi.

Yahunama The Chief Constructor; in control of the construction of Olhi temples, ritual places, and integration. They oversee construction of holy places and work with the Jaltena to be able to build holy places in foreign locations.

Monplerene The Inquisitor; in control of vital affairs. Although inflicting pain upon others is strictly prohibited, the Monplerene exists to insure that the Olhi faith isn't wiped out completely. Simply, Monplerene's are ministers of defense, inquisitors if you will.

Malophi The Bishop; elected by the Jaltena and assigned to a region to oversee. The Malophi has the power to govern those in their region of designation. If any important issues or revelations occur in the Malophi's designation; they can report to their regional Jaltena. They also can elect Olaukahis in their region.

Olaukahi The Priest; resides in an assigned city or town, living and mostly controlling their town or city's temple or place of worship. Elected by their regional Malophi.

Zalice The Apprentice; Olaukahi in training, chosen by their regional Olaukahi and taught in the ways of Olhi.

Zusane The Elder; Zusane are elder Talelma who are considered veteran followers. Though they may have the same power as a normal Talelma, socially they are held higher because of their wisdom. They're respected by all ranks of the Jenong.

Talelma The Follower; Talelma are those who've newly become a follower of the faith, they have yet to establish themself. The title Talelma is almost never used, Talelma are commonly referred to as just followers.

The Onmelhi of Olhi
Onmelhi is a word for god derived from the dead language of Tlong-Makewani, spoken by the ancient Makewani people of Basime.

Musuloskus was the god of life and creation, but is now simply a husk who's legacy precedes him. (DEAD)

Afitizer was the god of rage and power, but akin to his greatest enemy, Musuloskus, is now dead. (DEAD)

Absalom is the god of riches, the desert, greed, and the sun. The first onmelhi to emerge after the clash and one of the most well known.

Tejehit is the god of music, flowers, and lust. Another more commonly known onmelhi, emerging from obscurity in the mythos to combat Absalom's endless hunger for greed.

Makewani is goddess of water and life. Reassigned as the new onmelhi of life, Makewani is most notably remembered for leading the New Makewani people to thrive in the post-clash world, hence the similar naming.

Asulehel is the god of peace, cowardice, and crops. A very peculiar onmelhi that's associated with cowardice in his actions. His legacy is easily overshadowed by his far more known daughter's.

Asul-Uneji is the goddess of bravery, conquest, and strength. Uneji's war path wrought through ancient nations and is an odd onmelhi in who she's worshipped by. In Olhi, never is Uneji worshipped, it's against the Holy Laws. She only appears when she's attributed to another's conquest. If someone has initiated a great war, or is winning one; they're considered a follower of Uneji. Either a follower, or a vessel.

Am is the goddess of disaster. She led what would've been considered a cult in her day, causing many a natural and artificial disaster. "Disaster takes many forms". After being caught and reprimanded for her actions, she settled down with Asulehel and birthed a child.

Meskibe is the god of earth, rain, and nature. Meskibe was always known in the mythos for his pacifism and secluded nature. He's fostered great nations; and akin to new Olhi, he follows the Eternal Peace.

Ifmailj is the god of fortune, illusion, and agility. Ifmailj was a wise onmelhi, but not in the general sense. He knew how to take advantage of people, and that brought him success. Monks that trained in his wake were renowned for charlatanry and incredible speed and agility.

History Summary
Musuloskus was the first onmelhi of the world. In the Attika Mythos, he was said to have created the world as we know it, alongside all that walks upon it. The Attika Mythos is the holy script of Olhi, lost to time it has yet to be restored.

"Musuloskus crafted the earth with passion, akin to a potter molding his grand work. The world was born of dirt and water, the core ingredients to life."

He created creatures of many forms, life to behold his works. To him, all that he created was entertainment in an endless void of his own creation. He toyed with these creatures as time passed, unsatisfied with their simplicity. As a result, he took the creatures he'd created and changed them. He shaped them into more prevalent beings. As such, he'd created sentient life in the form of the Makewani people. These beings thrived as Musuloskus observed. He was endlessly wise, and in accordance, he trapped his children. A sort of lock on their sentience; their freedom. The people were capable of many things up until they reached this barrier engraved in their minds. Musuloskus feared his creation becoming stronger than himself. But again, as time passed, these limited beings bored him. He allowed them miniscule amounts of intelligence to feed his hunger for entertainment. Unfortunately for Musuloskus, he was too enamored with his play things to see what he'd allowed to brew.

Afitizer was the second onmelhi of the world. The difference between him and Musuloskus was conception. While Musuloskus was the almighty and all powerful god of the world, Afitizer was a figment, a figment of revolution.

In their growing sentience, the Makewani people began to realize their limits more. Veiled in secrecy, many revolutionaries hid in the dark, spreading their conspiracies of Musuloskus; recruiting. A time came for at which the Makewani deemed their freedom enough to disobey Musuloskus. The revolt was unsurprisingly short lived. Revolutionary forces cowered before Musuloskus, and Musuloskus didn't see reason in fighting fair. An eventual surrender marked the fall of the revolution. As punishment for high treason, Musuloskus banished the offenders from his realm. In this instance, Musuloskus created another realm; the land. His loyal subjects lived at the floor of the sea while those that transgressed him rose to the surface. These banished people found refuge on the Basime archipelago, and progressed separated from Musuloskus. Many times they attempted to leave the islands, but as soon as their boats touched the sea; Musuloskus punished them heavily. The people of the surface took their rage and created Afitizer. Afitizer, born of rage, governed his subjects with an iron fist. As a result, the surface dwellers thrived. Afitizer improved everything, although his methods were questionable; they always succeeded. And as his people grew stronger, their faith in him did as well. You see, as a figment of the people's rage, Afitizer only grew in power in tandem to his people's successes. Time passed and the Basime people devised a revenge plot, to attack and siege the capital of the sea: Omsomloskus. And so the great Lapregas war began.

This war was devastating for both sides and spanned many decades. The destruction wrought from pure rage tore through each civilization. So much so that the war only concluded when, in a final clash, Afitizer and Musuloskus killed each other. The resulting catastrophe caused the Basime archipelago to sink into the ocean alongside all of its inhabitants. Those that resided on the sea floor perished as well without Musuloskus; puppets without their puppetmaster.