The Aastha Abayadi
The Aastha Abayadi, despite being a very young religious tradition, has risen to become the predominant faith of The Zoltai Strain over the course of the last few decades.
More commonly referred to as “The Creed of Abayad”, it found its beginnings in the dreams of its first prophet, Maharana Morya the Great, the founder and current ruler of The Morya Sultanate, who has also declared it as his nation's one and only faith.
As the story goes: Abayad, The God of The Aastha Abayadi, came to Maharana in a dream on the night of The Starfall in 0 SF. Taking the form of a white peacock, he unveiled the truth of the world and the universe to Maharana and gave him a holy mission:
to conquer the world in his name and cleanse it from the chaotic rot of uncertainty, stagnation and decline which have come to plague it during the past decades and centuries. The Aastha Abayadi is as of 32 SF mostly practiced in The Morya Sultanate in southern Kashura, though it has also managed to attract some followers in surrounding regions. The largest temple of the religion, known as Khagar Jagaara or “The House of Awakening”, can be found in Garashahati, the capital of The Morya Sultanate.
The Faith generally puts a lot of focus on purity of body and mind, moral behavior and the eternal struggle between good and evil.
“It is time that mortalkind once again be reminded, who it is they ought to serve.” The Aastha Abayadi tells the story of how Abayad created the world out of shapeless darkness and how he brought light into the shadows of nonexistence. This world was however not the first one he created, as every star in the night sky used to be a different world, where light had already triumphed over darkness and souls existed in eternal bliss.
It would have been the fate of this world as well, yet it was not meant to be, for every light casts a shadow, even the light of God. The shadow in question was Ammaar, born from the shapeless darkness, he was the polar opposite to Abayad, a manifestation of evil and chaos, hellbent on letting this world sink into chaos, until it would eventually return to the shapeless darkness, along with every soul that called it home. The two are Locked in eternal battle, a cosmic conflict of good against evil, of light against darkness. While Abayad had stood victorious in every other world, it was this one that Ammaar has the strongest grasp on, as the sinful and faithless nature of its people has allowed his influence to fester.
It was therefore on the night of The Starfall, that Abayad decided to set foot onto Kashura himself, sending shards of pure light down with him, into the heartland of Thaamir. He visited the brightest and most worthy of mortalkind, Maharana Morya, in his dreams and revealed to him the truth of the world, the universe and beyond, and set him upon his mission: To cleanse this world from Ammaars dark influence, to conquer it in his name and to set it’s people onto the right path, so they too could fulfill their destiny, and join the chorus of eternal light.
Despite being endorsed by The Sultan himself though, this sect finds itself with a relatively small number of followers, as it often finds itself directly at odds with the thousand year long traditions of tolerance and interreligious exchange in southern Kashura. The Vashima, also generally referred to as “The school of realism”, is by far the largest sect of The Aastha Abayadi, mostly practiced in the densely populated regions of Bashai and Irappur. The followers of The Vashima, known as Vashi, consider Abayad the only true god of the world, but allow the worship of certain other entities so long as they are not treated as actual gods, but simply powerful beings, such as nature spirits and mystical creatures. They are often referred to as Namaskaya, or “Virtuous Ones”, and take the place of mighty servants to Abayad.
Certain parts of scripture must be altered of course, as not to oppose the words of The Aastha Abayadi. The Yazatavi for example are for the most part still venerated by many followers of this sect, though they are treated more as mighty nature spirits than anything else. The Muhashima, which roughly translates to “Disciples of The Many-faced”, is a small sect of mostly independent practitioners, mostly to be found in the less civilized and sparsely populated parts of The Morya Sultanate.
Combining ancient spiritual traditions with the teachings of The Aastha Abayadi, the followers of this sect, often referred to as Muhashi or “Mystics”, view Abayad not as a single being, but as an entity with infinite forms. They refer to him as “The Many-faced God”, and hold as one of their core beliefs that Abayad has appeared in many shapes over the millenia, taking the guises of the gods of different faiths. They claim that Abayad is not just the one God, but every God, or at least the ones which can generally be classified as morally good, and as such hold the belief that the practicing of other religions, if done correctly, can bring one closer to enlightenment.
While viewed by most as a harmless sect, their beliefs have been declared as heretical by followers of The Vakta. As such, most practicing Muhashi do so in secrecy, while openly aligning themselves with The Vashima. The Andashima, which roughly translates to “Disciples of Darkness”, are a sect that align themselves not with Abayad, but with Ammaar. It is their belief that Abayad is deceiving mortalkind, and simply wishes to rule over them with absolute authority as an unquestioned ruler and it is Ammaar, he who represents chaos, who is fighting for the freedom and self-determination of mortalkind.
It goes without saying that their beliefs are held as heretical by all other sects.
While most sects generally agree on this overarching point, there is a lot of debate even inside the sects themselves on what exactly constitutes an evil act. Most agree that murder is evil for example, but what about disobedience to one’s superiors or punishing one's children? (Did this famine happen because my daughter didn’t eat her veggies last week?)
On that last point most would say no, but the issue remains, putting a precise definition on morality likely will remain a point of contention for the foreseeable future.
As evil is a learned behavior, it falls to each and every one of us to not only practice good behavior ourselves, but to also instill it in others, to guide those which can be saved onto the right path, and to vanquish those which cannot without hesitation.
For most of us however, who’s life is not quite as black and white it is not so easy to say, and the different sects make many different assumptions:
Some say that the souls of us regular people must be cleansed, through long periods of suffering before being allowed to reenter the cycle of rebirth.
Others say that they are conscripted as soldiers in the eternal battle against darkness. For as they are already tainted by evil this is the only way they can still contribute, before eventually being entirely consumed by darkness.
Others again claim that every soul tainted by darkness, no matter how minor are doomed to be cast into the formless darkness,
and some even say that every soul is reborn, although those with tainted souls will be born into a life of pain and suffering.
There are many more theories, but these are the most prevalent ones.
Foster the light: “As a servant of the Light, it is not enough to simply let it shine within you. No, you must carry it into the world and rekindle it in both places and people upon the precipice. To bring back to light those which others could not reach, to rekindle the flame in places where hope was long since thought to be lost, to be an exemplar, a paragon of virtue, that shall be your duty.”
By My Name: “Carry my name from the highest peaks to the darkest caverns, and remind the people of the world of who it is they ought to serve. By word if you can and by sword if you must, you WILL bring them into the light.”
More commonly referred to as “The Creed of Abayad”, it found its beginnings in the dreams of its first prophet, Maharana Morya the Great, the founder and current ruler of The Morya Sultanate, who has also declared it as his nation's one and only faith.
As the story goes: Abayad, The God of The Aastha Abayadi, came to Maharana in a dream on the night of The Starfall in 0 SF. Taking the form of a white peacock, he unveiled the truth of the world and the universe to Maharana and gave him a holy mission:
to conquer the world in his name and cleanse it from the chaotic rot of uncertainty, stagnation and decline which have come to plague it during the past decades and centuries. The Aastha Abayadi is as of 32 SF mostly practiced in The Morya Sultanate in southern Kashura, though it has also managed to attract some followers in surrounding regions. The largest temple of the religion, known as Khagar Jagaara or “The House of Awakening”, can be found in Garashahati, the capital of The Morya Sultanate.
The Faith generally puts a lot of focus on purity of body and mind, moral behavior and the eternal struggle between good and evil.
Quick Summary:
“Hear then my words, and tremble! Cleanse this world of stagnation and rot, tear it from the grasp of darkness and return order to these faithless lands.”“It is time that mortalkind once again be reminded, who it is they ought to serve.” The Aastha Abayadi tells the story of how Abayad created the world out of shapeless darkness and how he brought light into the shadows of nonexistence. This world was however not the first one he created, as every star in the night sky used to be a different world, where light had already triumphed over darkness and souls existed in eternal bliss.
It would have been the fate of this world as well, yet it was not meant to be, for every light casts a shadow, even the light of God. The shadow in question was Ammaar, born from the shapeless darkness, he was the polar opposite to Abayad, a manifestation of evil and chaos, hellbent on letting this world sink into chaos, until it would eventually return to the shapeless darkness, along with every soul that called it home. The two are Locked in eternal battle, a cosmic conflict of good against evil, of light against darkness. While Abayad had stood victorious in every other world, it was this one that Ammaar has the strongest grasp on, as the sinful and faithless nature of its people has allowed his influence to fester.
It was therefore on the night of The Starfall, that Abayad decided to set foot onto Kashura himself, sending shards of pure light down with him, into the heartland of Thaamir. He visited the brightest and most worthy of mortalkind, Maharana Morya, in his dreams and revealed to him the truth of the world, the universe and beyond, and set him upon his mission: To cleanse this world from Ammaars dark influence, to conquer it in his name and to set it’s people onto the right path, so they too could fulfill their destiny, and join the chorus of eternal light.
Schools of Belief:
While one of, if not the most important aspect of The Aastha Abayadi is monotheism, a number of different sects have formed during its relatively short existence, which all try to address the topic in different ways: The Vakta, roughly translates to “Speakers of truth” . They are the Orthodoxy of The Aastha Abayadi, and as the name suggests, preach “The Creed of Abayad” in its pure, unaltered form. Practiced mostly in the heartlands of The Morya Sultanate and the version of the faith endorsed by Maharana Morya himself, it has little tolerance for other religious beliefs and practices, heavily penalizing apostasy, blasphemy and paganism.Despite being endorsed by The Sultan himself though, this sect finds itself with a relatively small number of followers, as it often finds itself directly at odds with the thousand year long traditions of tolerance and interreligious exchange in southern Kashura. The Vashima, also generally referred to as “The school of realism”, is by far the largest sect of The Aastha Abayadi, mostly practiced in the densely populated regions of Bashai and Irappur. The followers of The Vashima, known as Vashi, consider Abayad the only true god of the world, but allow the worship of certain other entities so long as they are not treated as actual gods, but simply powerful beings, such as nature spirits and mystical creatures. They are often referred to as Namaskaya, or “Virtuous Ones”, and take the place of mighty servants to Abayad.
Certain parts of scripture must be altered of course, as not to oppose the words of The Aastha Abayadi. The Yazatavi for example are for the most part still venerated by many followers of this sect, though they are treated more as mighty nature spirits than anything else. The Muhashima, which roughly translates to “Disciples of The Many-faced”, is a small sect of mostly independent practitioners, mostly to be found in the less civilized and sparsely populated parts of The Morya Sultanate.
Combining ancient spiritual traditions with the teachings of The Aastha Abayadi, the followers of this sect, often referred to as Muhashi or “Mystics”, view Abayad not as a single being, but as an entity with infinite forms. They refer to him as “The Many-faced God”, and hold as one of their core beliefs that Abayad has appeared in many shapes over the millenia, taking the guises of the gods of different faiths. They claim that Abayad is not just the one God, but every God, or at least the ones which can generally be classified as morally good, and as such hold the belief that the practicing of other religions, if done correctly, can bring one closer to enlightenment.
While viewed by most as a harmless sect, their beliefs have been declared as heretical by followers of The Vakta. As such, most practicing Muhashi do so in secrecy, while openly aligning themselves with The Vashima. The Andashima, which roughly translates to “Disciples of Darkness”, are a sect that align themselves not with Abayad, but with Ammaar. It is their belief that Abayad is deceiving mortalkind, and simply wishes to rule over them with absolute authority as an unquestioned ruler and it is Ammaar, he who represents chaos, who is fighting for the freedom and self-determination of mortalkind.
It goes without saying that their beliefs are held as heretical by all other sects.
Core Beliefs:
While the various sects of The Aastha Abayadi may hold different beliefs in some regards, all of them except for The Andashima generally agree on a couple of things:No Gods Besides Me:
Abayad is the one and only God of this World. While different believers may take different stances on what Exactly that means, the various sects exist for a reason after all, they generally hold this to be a self-evident truth with little room for debate.Evil begets Evil:
In the eternal battle of light and good against darkness and evil, it is our actions which directly have an influence on the state of the world that surrounds us. Through every evil act we take, we strengthen the forces of darkness and their hold on our world, furthering the physical and moral decay of life itself. We must therefore endeavor to display good morals and good behavior in all our actions, to stave off the forces of darkness and rekindle the lights of hope.While most sects generally agree on this overarching point, there is a lot of debate even inside the sects themselves on what exactly constitutes an evil act. Most agree that murder is evil for example, but what about disobedience to one’s superiors or punishing one's children? (Did this famine happen because my daughter didn’t eat her veggies last week?)
On that last point most would say no, but the issue remains, putting a precise definition on morality likely will remain a point of contention for the foreseeable future.
Inherent Good and Learned Evil:
The Aastha Abayadi teaches that all life, from the moment it is born, is inherently good. It is only through our environment, as the darkness of the world takes a hold of us and clouds our vision, that mortalkinds capacity for evil is brought forth.As evil is a learned behavior, it falls to each and every one of us to not only practice good behavior ourselves, but to also instill it in others, to guide those which can be saved onto the right path, and to vanquish those which cannot without hesitation.
Life, Death and Rebirth:
Our actions in life determine what will happen to us after we die. Those of us which led a life of good are reborn, so we might strengthen the light in the world in our next life as well, while the souls of those which led a life of evil and darkness are cast into the darkness, devoured by Ammaar and never to be seen again.For most of us however, who’s life is not quite as black and white it is not so easy to say, and the different sects make many different assumptions:
Tenets of Abayad:
No Gods Besides Me: “I am Abayad, your Lord, your God, the Creator, the Beginning, the Light itself. I am the one that shields mortalkind from the ever-encroaching forces of darkness. Know this: That to hold any other above or besides me is to defy me, is to defy the light, is to defy all that is good and just, and is to invite darkness into your heart.”Foster the light: “As a servant of the Light, it is not enough to simply let it shine within you. No, you must carry it into the world and rekindle it in both places and people upon the precipice. To bring back to light those which others could not reach, to rekindle the flame in places where hope was long since thought to be lost, to be an exemplar, a paragon of virtue, that shall be your duty.”
By My Name: “Carry my name from the highest peaks to the darkest caverns, and remind the people of the world of who it is they ought to serve. By word if you can and by sword if you must, you WILL bring them into the light.”
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