Asharu Religion

Asharu is one of the oldest religions in Rathnir. It is largely based around the worship of powerful Spirits, with the goal of reaching enlightenment through Ashuntash. Most of it's followers are located in the north of Haven and the south of Ummarnu. Thanks to its compatibility with other religions as well as its pacifist and humanistic nature, the followers of this religion have never been involved in any religious wars.

Cosmology and believes
The Asharu belief system is made up of three core philosophies known as "The Three Divine Truths". It does not matter what or how many gods a person worships; they can identify as "Asharu" as long as they believe in them.

Spiritualism
The Asharu believe that every physical concept in the material world is inseparably connected to a soul in the world of Spirits. Everything, from the mountains breaking the horizon, to the powerful axes with which justice is dealt, possesses a mind of its own. The more powerful the object, the stronger and more dominant is it's spirit.

Every town has it's own patron deity, also known as an Elder Spirit. The Elder Spirits are said to be exceptionally powerful because they gain might through the belief and sacrifices of their worshipers. Examples of these are the Chicken God of Hapatmitas, Calmore (The Slime) of Palovina, and the Eyed Silvercod of Taranusha.

Ashuntash is the only universal god worshiped by every Asharu. His name translates to "Holder of 1.000.000 Names" or alternatively "Wearer of 1.000.000 Faces". He is the embodied concept of both spiritual and physical light.

Asharutash is often depicted as a mix between a Hawk and a Peacock covered in 1.000.000 feathers. Each feather is vermilion red with a golden sun and one of his names printed below it. The feathers are said to be indestructible but can still be plugged out in which case they are instantly replaced. Ashuntash will hand out these feathers to certain individuals during meditation.

Legalism
In the Asharu faith, "Light" is synonymous with "Law", while criminals often hide in the dark to cover up their evil doings. The Asharu give this a more spiritual meaning. The undead are seen as illogical, as they can just appear out of nothing. Light can stop them from appearing or even cause them the demanifest. Light is seen as the ultimate judge; all foul and corrupt beings to defy it must be destroyed.

According to these laws, land cannot be "owned" or "conquered", as it ownes itself. One can only occupy and live off the land. Due to this, harsh changes in the landscape are strictly forbidden, while building with the terrain and sometimes even within it are seen as the optimum.

Other laws, specific to the local spirit, can be determined through the reading of Omen, as well as attempting to directly communicate with the spirits.

Stream of Destiny
Everything that exists is permanently trapped within a cycle of death and rebirth. When something physical dies, its soul fuses back with Ashuntash until it splits off and reincarnates into the world again. There is no escape, even the mightiest warrior will fall sick and wither away, even the most robust of swords will break under the heat of primordial magma, and even the most stable of empires will become tyrannical and be overthrown.

The Asharu also believe that, due to the corrupting influence of the void, the world will be completely overrun by undead and the planet will become uninhabitable at some point. In this event, also known as Gen-Gari, the sky will be filled with black clouds blocking out both the light of the sun and the moon and making it rain harming potions. The undead hordes will enter the world from its border and snuff out the lights of every city that has not fallen yet. In the end, Ashuntash will incarnate himself, destroying the planet in a brilliant beam of light while he evacuates the last surviving humans into a new cycle. According to the Asharu, Rathnir is the third incarnation of the universe. They claim that most people have lost their memory of the two previous worlds which only resurface as visions during dreams and meditation.

These philosophies have coined the Asharu way of life since its very beginning. The average Asharu lives a life in gratitude to Asharutash and in harmony with their environment. They build great, time-defying temples for their city patrons and put in much effort to uphold their traditions, even when times are harsh.

Popular spirits
Ankar: Spirit of the moon. In old Asharu scriptures like "The Atlas of Cycles", it is portrayed as an antagonistic force created out of obsidian by the void. However, at the end of the second cycle, it was turned by the light of Ashuntash and vowed to torture the undead when Ashuntash was on the other side of the planet.

It is often assiciated with the Crescent Concordant, being seen as a guardian in their fight against Soleannen heretics.

Urha: Elder Spirit of Taranusha and guardian of the "Eye of Ummarnu". He is often depicted as a whale-sized pufferfish with many eyes across his silvery skin. He is often called upon by navigators, especially those crossing the confusing labyrinth of rivers that scar the surface of Ummarnu.

The 3 Spirits of the Mesa: The 3 brother spirits named Zung, Ö, and Demnek, are seen as the guardians of the holy mesa territories. Demnek represents the lands east of the great barrier, Zung represents the mainland west of the barrier and Ö represents the lands of the Kaahiru peninsula, as well as some surrounding islands. The spirits are seen as shapeshifters, changing their form at will to trick each other, as well as unknowing travelers.

Pikcha: A mountain spirit in the region of Sparwood. He was once a smaller moon orbiting Ankar, who is said to have convinced Ankar to be converted by Ashuntash. For an unknown reason, he crashed into Rathnir and created the mountain named after himself.

The Great Mage: was a mage who saved the people of Sanctuary from a great host of invaders by harnessing the power of redstone he raised the city to the skies and annihilated the enemies. The magic consumed him and transformed the people of Sanctuary into the Redstoneborne - a fusion of elf and redstone. The mage is believed to have ascended to Godhood and each member of Sanctuary honors him by collecting magical knowledge for it is believed because they are made from his magic, that once they die they return to him, and bring the knowledge that they have collected over their lifetime.

Forms of prayer
Most praying is done via meditation. Here, one should fall into a trance, which is often assisted by drinking alcohol. After a connection to the spirit world is established, one can recognize Omen much more easily, as well as being able to communicate with the Spirits directly in some cases.

Shrines and Temples are often built around statues of Local or Elder Spirits.

Places of pilgrimage

 * Ruins of old Taranusha
 * The Grand Temple of Hapatmitas
 * The Great Barrier

Holidays

 * Vak-Ankar
 * First Full Moon in the new year.
 * Dedicated to the Moonspirit Ankar, for shining his dimmed light even at night, weakening the undead and making them cry and moan in pain.
 * People build small shrines out of Bone, where they thank Ankar all night long.
 * Vak-Tara
 * First Saturday of July
 * Dedicated to the founding of the first Asharu city-state, Taranusha and their migration to the south of Ummarnu
 * People say PRAISE WILUSA when they see each other. There is a big feast at the Eye of Uldarash, where the ruins of Taranusha are being honored.
 * Vak-Moloch
 * Solar Eclipse
 * People are to remove their armor, climb onto their houses and pray for the sun to come back
 * Cactus Festival
 * 1st of August
 * All people have to wear hollowed out cactuses on their head.
 * Fun sports like cactus-parkour and cactus-stacking are being played.
 * Tel-Ashon
 * 11th of October
 * Dedicated to the founding of Uldarash, the first Asharu nation
 * The current Bal is to walk down the main street of his capital, if the people like him, they will shower him with gold, if they don't they will throw coal at him.
 * Tel-Morod
 * 4th of November
 * Dedicated to the loss of the Great Golden War
 * People are to feast at the Great Barrier.
 * To lighten the mood, after the feast is over, the drunken guests will try to throw each other off the wall with sticks, the last one to survive up there is awarded one diamond.

Origins
The religion was a part of oral tradition in the Talawa Empire since its founding. After the migration to the south, Asharu became the official religion of Uldarash.

Titles and hierarchy
All current and past titles and hierarchy of Asharu

Bal
This title, which translates to "Leader" in Talawan, is usually awarded to the head of the largest Asharu nation. This decision can only be vetoed by the "Gylok", who can instead choose the second largest ruler should the largest be unfit to lead the religion.

The Bal is the figurehead of the Asharu faith, which grants him certain legal abilities. He can appoint a new Gylok, should the old one die or retire, he can call all believers to join an Asharu war on the defenders side and he can veto the decision of the Circle of Gylok to demote another Gylok.

His spiritual abilities allow him to decide any theological debate instantly.

The history of the title goes back to the end of the first cycle, Pax, where it is given to King Greg -II of Raj K'Mut by Ashuntash himself. It was then passed down to his son, Härt, who ruled during the Jagdas era until the title was given to Wilusa, who held it until he resigned at the end of the Great Golden War and left the universe on a quest to find true enlightenment. Currently, the title is not held by anyone, as the spiritual inclinations of the Uldarashi leader, WhiskeyKnight, are still debated by the Gylok.

Gylok
This title, which translates to "Explorer of Faith", is awarded to one person in every city or region. He can be appointed by the local, worldly ruler or the Bal himself.

In order to qualify to become a Gylok, one must have contributed in building a temple or the writing of a holy text.

They are often seen wearing a dead bush, which is named "Yigg", on their heads, as well as wearing white leather robes named "Yogg". Another important tradition of the Gylok is to change their names after their promotion, which they use when talking to other members of the Church.

Their legal abilities allow them to rule over all Kredu within their district directly and to demote a Gylok if more than 50% of the total Gyloks are in favor of it.

List of current Gylok:


 * Kazi-Myre (Mlgkiddoritofan) of Paloro
 * H8_Creeper
 * Ginknight (Bal-Elector)
 * Dairbeag
 * Viomelia

Kredu
This title, which translates to "Logic Smith", can be given out by Gyloks as well as the Bal, to every Asharu who is willing to protect the Names of Ashuntash with all their Earthly and Unearthly possessions.

For their service, they are being equiped with a set of Enchanted Iron Armor, as well as a Diamond Axe.

In their offhand, Kredu are supposed to wear a feather, in which one of the 1.000.000 Names of Ashuntash is engraved, when not in combat. It is supposed to represent the feathers shed by Ashuntash, which have been given out to many great warriors through the ages.

List of current Kredu:


 * Caradog of Gefail
 * Keechoo of Palovina
 * Loic of Asahiri

Mythological animals

 * Edge Beasts
 * Elephantine Slayers
 * Man-Tree

Main sects
After the abdiction of Bal Wilusa Warrior of Lukka, the Asharu Faith has splintered into 4 main sects.

The Western Asharu Temple, which functions as the continuation of the Original High Temple, has its headquarters in Palovina and is lead by Gylok Kazi-Myre (Mlgkiddoritofan). They are the most conservative of all the sects, which is likely due to their close geographic location to Ardat Mosul, whose degeneracy they deeply despise.

The Eastern Asharu Temple was founded by the missionary H8_Creeper, who, after learning about the Asharu faith, started converting the villages of Sparwood.

The Tabists are a religious group mainly made up of the Uldarashi warrior elite. After the Great Golden War, when the state religion of Uldarash was set to the, even then, disfunct "Pillars of the Sun", Ginknight managed to preserve many Asharu traditions in the folk religion he was born into. Even tho many believe that Tabism is not a sect of Asharu because they practise Polygamy, they are allowed to participate in the election of the new Bal, with Ginknight functioning as their unofficial Gylok.

The Ankarites/Northern Asharu Temple, are group, founded by the political refugee Viomelia, after she and some members of her court moved into the ruins of Taranusha. The name "Ankarites" stems from their strong worship of the Elder Spirit of the moon, Ankar.

Literature
The main book of the Asharu religion is the Alash-Numa, which is concerned with the soul, cosmic laws, pain, and self-torture.

The Alash-Pryma is the first in a series of novels, which depict the destructions of the universes that came before Rathnir. It is 100 pages long and plays in the world of "Pax", exploring the perspective of King Greg -II, the ruler of Raj K'Mut, a city built atop a giant Obsidian Turtle swimming through an ocean of lava.

Artifacts
The most important Asharu artifact is currently the "Tel-Takota", a hoe made of netherite. It is said to have been wielded by the great Bamboo Smith Huej, a character in the Alash-Pryma. It is currently in the possession of Kazi-Myre, the Gylok of Paloro.

Another important artifact from the world of Pax is the "Sphere of the Cheeseman", a sphere used by the character of "Cheeseman" to store Cheese within it. Having fermented in there for millenia, the smell in the hermetically sealed chamber is supposed to be so bad, that if it was ever opened, it would suffocate every lifeform in the world.