Weniko

Weniko is the umbrella term for the semi-organized religious traditions of Loanua. It simply means "our land's way" in old Loanuan and claims to be as old as the island itself, though modern Weniko is in many ways as recent an invention as many other religions.
Weniko is not a universal explanation of the world or a path to global salvation, but a way to organize and protect Loanuan island communities. It seeks only to convert island communities and many priests would find the idea of outsiders adopting Weniko without becoming Loanuan in some way to be offensive and invasive. Weniko is a kind of cultural measuring stick for how different two Loanuan communities are: every community has a mixture of cross-island, regional, and family stories and rituals as part of their local version of Weniko. The more two communities share in their rituals, the more they are deemed traditionally close. If two communities share traditions about a particular valley or lake, there is more weight behind their claims to using the resources there. Weniko marks both the line between Loanuan islander and outsider and the internal boundaries of Loanuan communities. One Loanuan community or individual claiming that another is not truly Weniko is a grave insult because it is a symbolic exclusion from the island.
At the heart of all Weniko is the Meako. They are the heart of the stories, the protectors of tradition, and critically important to a number of Wenikan ceremonies. As Meako are uniquely Loanuan, they are a legitimizer of that community and ritual. They are not, however, the priests themselves. Wenikan ceremony offers a meeting place for the three pillars of traditional Loanuan clan authority: the chieftains, the priests, and the Meako.
As a way of life, Weniko is loosely human-centric. More important than species is the role of mobility and season in Weniko. Sedentary Loanuans do and have always existed, but Weniko really does not have much accommodation for classical hierarchical settled feudal agriculture. The Western Meako-kingdoms of Akaloa and Huaka put effort into maintaining a balance between tradition and production, but the Eastern and Northern settled kingdoms have largely adopted Saraka instead. So species-wise, while the mythology revolves largely around humans and birds, Dryads, Pearl Pangolins, and hybrids (all of which have been sprinkled into Loanuan tribal society in small numbers by the colonial projects of the 1800s and 1900s) have little problem with the traditions involved. Prisms often struggle to do so, contributing to the extremely small number of prisms integrated into Wenikan communities.

History

Pre-Invasion

Weniko has its roots in long-standing religious traditions dating back to the Divine Era. Elements of cross-island ritual, such as the annual Games of Marana, date back to the first Meako of -900 DE. Formalized Weniko first began organizing pre-invasion, during the 570's ME. A small burst in cross-island inter-clan conflict during a particularly bad winter led to a series of priestly meetings during the Games of Marana. From these meetings sprang the Blue Priesthood (named after the blue sashes or scarves worn in solidarity): a movement to organize and unite the traditions of the many tribes of Loanua. The most radical of the Blues dyed their robes blue and took the movement even further. These Far Blues argued that all spiritual traditions appealed to the same ultimate divine truth and should be combined into one True Universal Faith. This universalism was a call for island unity and sought to destroy many of the internal regional divisions of the island. Those who opposed them were known as the Grey priesthood, who kept their old grey robes and refused to join together with other clans. As trading picked up in the 700s and 800s ME, the blues adopted elements of outside religion and were generally more welcoming of outsiders. The clans led by blues became richer and better-equipped and soon the blue priesthood became dominant across the island. The treaty system and ritualized legitimizing of resource access by sharing of tradition both were crystallized and codified by the blue priesthood during this period.

Early Invasion and The Blue Era

The invasion of 900 shattered the hopes of true island unity and drove away many of the more moderate blue priests. Foreign influence went from signifying wealth, open-mindedness, and unity to representing a willingness to betray the other clans to foreign invaders. The Blue priests who remained doubled down on their vision of unity and peace and repurposed their accommodating philosophy into one of resistance. Blue clans would trade and divide their invaders just as the invaders tried to divide them; when working as mercenaries, blue clans would refuse to fight one another for foreign powers. Grey clans preferred isolation and refused to trade or interact with dangerous foreign agents. Both philosophies saw themselves as the true path to resistance. But the endless onslaught of foreigners tested both paths, as neither served as particularly effective philosophies or structures for coordinating anti-foreign counter invasions. So while both slowed foreign advances, they did little to recovery any lost territory. So Loanuan clans, despite their relentless resistance, saw the world close in around them. The coasts were no longer safe, as pirates, raiders, and slavers all lurked offshore. The grey priesthood attempted several times to form some kind of group, but never managed to effectively rally. The blue priesthood grew from the greys' failures but were then faced with their own horrible threat: unable to properly enforce sedentary urban lifestyles in the countryside of the imperialized lands, the imperial powers began importing their own citizens in the late 1100s. While these settlements struggle at first, by the 1300s they had begun to form an impenetrable line across the coast (in particular the Southeast). And these colonists came with missionaries. Zihari missionaries of both the Ember League (proto-Saraka ) and Holy League arrived and saw great profit potential in the local Meako birds. The Holy League Zihari group in the Southeast were particularly dangerous to Blue clans as their individualism, nihilism, and rejection of community proved corrosive to the strong community traditions of Weniko. These missionaries would enrich communities but undermine resistance efforts, often attracting unhappy youth away from the clans and towards the developing sedentary colonies. The blue clans countered the only way they were prepared to: by embracing the Ember League instead. The Ember League's more community-focused theology allowed Blue clans to keep their old ways of life. By publicly choosing a side, these communities often became instruments of the Ember League (and associated imperial outposts).

Late Invasion and the Rise of Red Weniko

In the late 1300s, several Blue priests responded to the devolving situation by rejecting their former philosophies of acceptance and flinging out the Zihari missionaries. Predictably, this led to them being targeted and attacked and they were driven Westward. The West, which had been losing valuable coastal territory to raiders, was already tense and in conflict over resource access. These former blue priests, bitter and terrified of seeing their clans die out, appealed to the Western clans' sense of justice and vengeance. The Western clans began a series of vengeance campaigns justified religiously as "new blue": unity but only for and with Loanuans and adoption of foreign weapons only to defend the island. New Blue and Grey competed over the West, with Grey Priests rejecting the concept of pan-Loanuan identity altogether and chiding New Blue as a form of foreign influence.
In 1450, New Blue finally got a major asset in their struggle for power with the arrival of Miza "Saltskin". Saltskin was a Pangolin pirate of some infamy. She had fled the main lands of Garadel to Loanua after personally offending (via kidnapping) the Hierophant of the Zihari Holy League and sinking a ship full of important trading princes in the ensuing failed negotiations. Seeking a place to settle down with her new magical loot, Miza had arrived to prey on the local pirates and raiders as a privateer and was not unfriendly to the local Loanuans of the West. Miza wanted total independence and a corner of the world to herself, and eyed the failing outpost on the Southwestern island of Kamalea to found her own personal pirate lair. In 1459, she and the New Blue priests met at Lonotha to hash out an agreement: she would bring the raiders to heel and destroy the imperial outpost at Kamalea and would receive a monopoly on trade with the New Blue priesthood. Miza would retain the land of the Kamalea outpost for her and her crew, and the two groups would be military allies. From 1459 to 1464, this campaign saw the brutal destruction of pirate and imperialist alike, culminating in a failed imperial land campaign in the Southwest. When the colonies not only agreed to cease all activity in the Southwest but also agreed to pay tribute, the New Blues won their grand victory. The Greys basically were entirely absorbed, and the island was divided between old and new Blue priests. As the Eastern syncretic priests and the Western war priests began to butt heads, the New Blues rebranded as the Red priests "Red for the blood we take, and the fire we give in return".

Red and Blue have since been the dividing line of Weniko. These two religious groups are not conventional doctrines or hierarchies, but are political factions with associated theological backing.

The two have not always been cooperative and have even outright slaughtered each other in the past (the invasion period of 1740 to 1830 saw a number of wars where red and blue priests led their clans to war using their religious faction to mobilize military cooperation). But the looming threat of outside attack has always brought them together in the end and they now reside in an uneasy peace.

Mythology & Lore

Creation

In the beginning there was the sea and the sky, two endless bodies of water separated by a wall of air. One day the sky reached down to touch the sea out of curiosity, and where they met a spark formed. The spark's name was Raku, and it was the first star. It floated along the winds, making more stars and finally igniting the sun. The sun rose into the sky, which welcome it- and from their combination formed Marana. Marana was the first bird, who could take a thousand shapes. She took the form of a mallard and dove into the sea to acquire mud. From this mud she made an island, on which she made life. The sea, curious, sent up a Turtle named Marn to hold the mud on its back so it would not sink. From this cooperation was made the world- crafted by Marana, held by Marna. After a great deal of creation, the world was populated and made great. The sentient species were made to learn of and care for this world, with Marana's children (the Moa and giant eagle birds) as their guardians. Marana decided that her work was done and she set to explore all of existence. She sailed beyond dusk and dawn and eventually discovered the world of eternal rest, which she made her home. This is the underworld, and Marana's bird descendants guide all who die to rest eternally with her.
The primary pantheon is such:

• Marana, first bird and first person, goddess of creation, death, the sky, and fertility
• Raku, the North Star, god of travel, sailing, mystery, and magic
• Marn, the turtle that holds the world, God of Earth, vegetation, and perseverance
• Umaka, the under-dweller, god of caves, protection, secrets, and mountains
• Okiki the ghostly bird-fish, god of ghosts, fish, change, and fate
• The Lovers Arakara, or individually known as Ara and Kara, ascended mortals and goddesses of love, the hunt, and Meako
• Tira the Dragon Goddess of Redemption and flame (Blue clans only, from Saraka )

The Lovers

Loanua was the first island made and was the original home of Marana. Sacred Loanua lived for many years in peace and harmony, but life is often forgetful and greedy. The Moa fought the eagles and the humans fought the other humans and the birds and humans fought in a great war. One group of humans, the Rualoa, held the North, while their enemies, the Dialoa, held the South. Two girls, Ara of Rualoa and Kara of Dialoa, wandered from their tribes to make peace with the birds and listen to their grievances. Marana guided Ara and Kara to the respective queen of the eagles and queen of the moa, and the girls made peace with them. Ara bonded with the eagle queen Eotana and Kara bonded with the Moa queen Moatana, and both brought peace between birds and humans. But the humans still fought, and they brought the birds with them.
The four armies raced for Sarasiba, the highest mountain in Loanua, for whoever held the mountain could rule the skies. Ara, Eotana, Kara, and Moatana all arrived at the same time days ahead of their armies, and for 2 days they fought. But as they grew tired, they agreed upon a peace and shared a sacred meal together. A brave rabbit named Cocotona selected itself to be a sacrifice and in the sacred slaying of Cocotona and sharing of her flesh they realized that they shared a bond. They could not fight honorably, and they realized that their people's wars were foolish. They held the mountain together and refused to let any army take it. The four armies were frustrated but delayed fighting as all hoped to conserve their forces. For a week the girls and the bird queens sat on the mountain, and became the first Meako. Only one berry tree was left on the mountain, but each of its berries was enough to feed the girls and birds for a day. While they waited and talked, they fell in love. After the week was over, Marana came down and made the girls more than human. Divine and magical, they descended the cliffs and disbanded the armies peacefully. Those who bowed before them and listened became the first Meako and Loanua was consecrated forever as the sacred island of Marana.

Worship

Much of the religious participation of Weniko isn't prayer, but community ritual and custom. A major staple of Weniko ritual are regular festivals and celebrations, though many of these are quite small and casual (ranging from "the clan eats together" to "island-wide festival"). These celebrate everything from the lakes to the forests to the local wildlife and are often tied to annual ritual sites. Whenever a resource is shared with another clan, the ritual will be conducted with that clan as a way to reaffirm kinship ties, trade goods, and allow intermixing of their membership for marriage or adoption. 
The largest festivals are those honoring the Gods- particularly the Meako Festival (essentially a bird pageant) for Arakara in spring and the Running of the Birdmen for Marana (and island-wide race and obstacle course with surrounding sporting events) in fall.

Priesthood

Priests are selected from their communities but are often de-facto hereditary positions passed from parent to child. They act as clan leaders, oral historians, and arbitrators of internal disagreements. If the clan chieftain or Meako dies without a clear replacement, the priest selects the new leader or sends out Meako candidates to other clans for training.
Priests often wear ornaments of Moa or Eagle feathers and bone, to honor the spirits of those Meako who protected the clan. They wear robes of red or blue depending on their inclinations. Saraka-syncretic priests often wear blue robes with red fringes to fulfill the standards of both religious traditions.

Sects

Red Priests are almost exclusively human and reject foreign influence aggressively. They often have additional ritual roles for purifying and redeeming those taken captive by the enemy and deciding what is acceptable use of foreign warfare.
Blue Priests are typically human but can vary. They often adopt rituals and religious aspects of Saraka that they incorporate into their local beliefs and ritual. They often have additional ritual roles in managing commercial activity with non-Loanuan groups.

Type

Religious, Other

Alternative Names

Loanuan paganism, Meako-faith

Demonym

Wenikan

Permeated Organizations

• Keamara League
• Kingdom of Huaka
• Sarana Tribe

Location

Loanua