Zihari
The Zihari lodges are always the most cheerful, the most furious, the most raucous. Many newcomers to Garadel are surprised to find their symbol of two interlocking moons to be shared by such rowdy festivities and the solemn preachers on the street who scream of doomsday, decadence, and terror. But it is the same hectic energy that energizes both.
The Zihari preach that the world is in the dying days- and that many places are already gone forever. The eternal winter will come to all inevitably and it will consume both this world and the souls of the Lunar Pantheon. The great darkness is on schedule to arrive and win (and it may already have done so), so this reality needs to be escaped immediately. Live like there is no tomorrow, for such is cosmically likely. Just look at the state of the world- it was a joke, hardly meant to last against such peril, certainly meant to fail. But like a body, a world was never meant to live forever.
No community, no society, no one but you can save you. You are alone in a dying world and you must be ready to die alone. To ascend beyond the petty afterlives alone. Attachments bring us strength but they become our weakness when we become dependent on them. Zihari is not an easy solution and it cannot promise salvation, but it is a necessary step to escape. Zihari is a religion of honesty in its most cruel and certain and it will never lie to you like those other idolatrous faiths. So live and be merry, but do not let the pleasure weaken you; love hopelessly but be ready to leave it behind tomorrow. Be good, be the best you can be and pray that it is enough.
As part of the individual path to ascension, worshipers of means are expected to have their own copy of the holy texts (the Oshkion) for amending and improvement. Families pass down their Oshkions to pass down the additional wisdom from parent to child, and preachers or particularly pious Zihari are caricatured as having inky palms and heavy Oshkions from revision.
Structure
There are three religious hierarchies in parallel in Zihari: the Holy League in the North, the Temples in Pearl in the South, and the Confederated Lodges in the Southeast and far Antarctic South. All three hierarchies coordinate, but the Confederated Lodges do not have any rank above Elder Priest. Ranks are below
| Rank | Selected by | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Heirophant | Elected by the Guardian Priests | Management of the League |
| Guardian Priests | Selected by the hierophant, nominated by the elder priests | League Bureaucracy |
| Elder Priests | Elected by the regional priesthood | Regional leadership |
| Priests | Chosen by the community according to charisma and size of following | Community leadership |
History
Zihari Prehistory
Zihari has its origins in the centuries right after the Gods abandoned the planet. While elements of the theology had circulated even prior to that point, the true faith has its roots in a single Pearl Pangolin named Mirizi. Born in 95 ME to a mixed Pangolin-human antarctic tribe, Mirizi was an oral historian, storyteller, and scribe of some prowess. Mirizi was charming enough but disliked for his more pacifistic and friendly attitudes as well as their critiques of tradition and was voted by the tribe's leadership into Death by Exile. This form of punishment was essentially abandoning the member to the elements, often sending them off by boat while restrained. Mirizi was accidentally sent in the direction of Sorosko Island, from which none had yet returned. Mirizi did not die there, but survived through effort and luck. Their mysterious return and ridiculous new resilience led to some of the tribe's youth following Mirizi as he went from tribe to tribe seeking peace and friendship. He taught his disciples the values of writing, compassion, and self-reliance and collected Pangolin philosophy from across the Antarctic Southwest.
The followers of Mirizi became the core of Zihari after his death in 200 ME. This group continued his work after his death (mostly as preaching and documentation) and began preparing select membership for trials on Sorosko. These other miracle champions became excellent missionaries and Zihari rose as the dominant Antarctic religion.
While early Zihari was very much attuned to antarctic traditions and culture, it slowly bled North through trade and migration. A migratory wave into more temperate regions in the late 600s and early 700s into Southwestern Garadel finally brought Zihari into the temperate cultures in a major way. The apocalyptic aspects were emphasized and the traditional volumes were synthesized and translated. The religion of Zihari as we know it was born in the particularly popular Ulo compendium and translation of 700, which was copied and memorized for use across temperate Garadel. Ulo's united text- the Oshkion- was ultimately adopted even in the antarctic following its later mass production. The Ulo traditions remain strongest today in the Pearl Temples of the Southwest.
Evangelism and Competition
While the evangelism of the 700s set the stage for modern Zihari, it had yet to flourish in the traditionalist and elitist settled kingdoms of the Northeast, which considered it to be barbarous and low-class. While branches of Zihari began to flourish along the fringes, it took a second repackaging of the religion to truly strike into the magical heartlands of Garadel. In 1080, a Pangolin termite farmer named Konek of Kovia emerged as a charismatic Zihari preacher in the land of Zonostra. Zonostra was a fringe realm, to the far West of main-area Garadel, but it was urban, prosperous, and playing an increasingly large role in the magic item trade. Konek saw in Zihari the "faith of his ancestors" and became a radical firebrand in his community. Through luck, skill, and a sharp wit Konek emerged as a major religious figure and mystic who began touring the wealthy heartlands of the East. His bands of followers both railed against materialism but also pooled property together to operate as a business, and the combination of scorn and potential wealth attracted many disenfranchised citizens of Northeast Garadel. Always just friendly enough with the elites to avoid arrest, Konek and his band revolutionized Zihari. The holy Oshkion of Konek (as all Oshkions are individually modified by their holders) was translated into several Garadek trade languages and had large tracts revised to make them more violent and appealing.
From 1080 to the 1400s, Zihari faith exploded across Garadel. The old religious order had already been crumbling from scandals of priestly corruption and failures to unify or coordinate religious traditions. The Hadina faith had been creeping in from the North since its inception in the late 800s, and the arrival of Pratasam in the late 1300s proved a death knell for local religious cults or traditions. Zihari innovated ahead of the rest, forming a priestly trade company to fund missionary efforts and lure in princes looking for a new faith. Trade, religion, and war all intermingled horribly in the ensuing centuries, as this became an expected quality of organized religions in Garadel. While things have cooled on that front, it remains largely true to this day.
While there have been many crises of leadership and conversion among the Zihari, its fluid doctrine and pragmatic leadership has allowed it to consistently rebound. The greatest hit has been the great schism of 1680. In Northwestern Garadel, Zihari had been growing and adapting since the 800s largely by syncretically mixing with local traditions. This was considered normal, particularly as the Northwest was unsettled and mostly nomadic. But as the nomadic peoples settled into trade cities and networks apart from the Dragon-forge trade in the Northeast, the Zihari there settled into something quite unlike its eastern counterparts. Integration with local religion and mystery cult had imbued Western Zihari with a concept of "cyclical destruction" and rebirth rather than doomsday and escape. The Northwest and Northeast Zihari groups grew apart so radically that they were essentially unrecognizable: where the west focused on community, the east focused on individual; where the west focused on cycles, the east focused on lines of direction; where the west focused on discipline of body, the east focused on discipline of mind. This was not an issue for as long as the West remain financially irrelevant, but the 1600s changed that. In 1580, a Selkie explorer named Shanaku created trade agreements and outposts in the West and published a travel guide in Samvara detailing the wonders there. Speculation that even greater magic and treasures lay there untouched motivated an explosion of trade and investment. Pilgrimmages to the Labyrinth of Wisdom in Ezekra, export of Fire-termite oil, export of Loanua birds, and other luxury items from the West soared in demand. The Zihari Holy League suddenly looked reaffirm their trade and doctrinal ties.
While the Holy League tried its best to ignore differences in theology, the friction and distance had simply grown too large. Attempts to return Western Zihari to the fold failed again and again, and attempts to perform a soft coup in 1680 failed so spectacularly that the West simply walked away. Attempts to militarily return them only led to the rise of a new heretical prophet in the West, who capitalized on the conflict to drive the two even further apart. From this divide came Saraka, which remains to this day.
The schism with Saraka motivated a hectic enforcement of doctrine internally among Zihari communities. While they remained wildly disparate in belief, the Northeastern Oshkion of Konek became standardized across Garadel. Many antarctic communities remained out of the loop, but their connection to the original prophet Mirizi made them somewhat immune to charges of heresy (and their lack of riches or trade made it pointless to do so anyways).Mythology & Lore
Creation and Ignorance
In the beginning there was Izikiro, the sublime true god of the world. In the ashes of the last world, Izikiro held the last remaining mortal Ereba in his palm. Ereba alone had been pure in the last dying days of the world before and only she was saved. Izikiro gave her the ashes of the world and the fire and water to make another one. He taught her the art of creation and set her free to make her own second world now that the original world had fallen to decadence and evil. Before retiring to heaven, he let her know that he would take in any pure souls to his perfect plane of heaven but that if evil took over the world it would inevitably terribly end. Ereba acknowledged this but knew that it was worth the risk and began her work.
Ereba carefully crafted the earth and the sea and the sky. She left little holes in the sky in the sun, moons, and stars to let the divine light of Izikiro pour down and enrich the world with goodness. She is the mother of every race and every magical art. She taught the mortals knowledge, language, and morality. But she grew ever so tired.
She summoned her most loyal and powerful children, The Host of Spirits, to govern the world while she rested. It was time for her to ascend to Izikiro's side, she explained, but they must continue doing her good work until it was time for them to rise as well. They eagerly accepted her power and her duties, but when she left the fear of responsibility set in... and the pride of those who saw themselves most worthy of it.
As the centuries went by, a beautiful and wonderful world was made. But the most active and powerful spirits grew proud. It began as merely twisting the truth or emphasizing their views first, but eventually they discovered something: if they built their palace on the moon and claimed to be Izikiro, they could say whatever they wanted to be true and it would be believed. Their lies, the first lies, shattered the planet and unleashed a wave of sin. For dishonesty allowed for anyone to do any evil act without consequence and the world fell into chaos. The old empires and kingdoms burned and the garden paradises sunk into the sea.
A group of spirits gathered together to try and stop this chaos, but their numbers were few. Realizing their truth could not be distinguished from their enemies' lies, they decided to come down together and pool their strength in the righteous prophet Mirizi. These spirits names are:
- Nokoro, the hawk that guards the sun
- Kazra, the dragon of strength and smithing
- Makita, the bear of war and will
- Zigasa, the star-fly of travel and protection
- Dimaka, the spirit of testing and tempering
The Ascent of Mirizi
Mirizi was one of the Kirolik tribe, a group descended from the lost kings of the once-verdant Southern pole. While the others of the Kirolik tribe worshiped idols of the ten gods who lived on the moon, Mirizi kept to the ancient ways. He worshiped Izikiro and would not give into temptation like the others, as he would not beat those who disobeyed him or hurt others for greed. The great spirits came to him and bolstered his spirits and taught him wisdom and he had little need for the false treasures of profane idols. The ten lunar devils looked upon him with fear and schemed. Each phase of the moon, the devil of that time would descend and try to bribe the Kirolik. Whenever Mirizi refused, they would take the form of a monster that Mirizi and his tribe would elude through some clever trick.
But the tribe grew uncertain as the bribes grew larger and the monsters grew more terrible. Mirizi held firm and did his best to teach the others, but one day it grew too great. The full lunar pantheon descended and demanded Mirizi be sacrificed to them or they would be horribly tormented. The Kirolik tribe did so by tying Mirizi up in his sleep and setting him adrift in a raft to die. But Dimaka, spirit of struggle, blew a wind to guide the boat to Sorosko Island. The island was her home and guarded by her pets. Mirizi used this struggle to uncover immense wisdom and as he survived for day afrer day the lunar devils entered a rage. After one week they descended upon the island to slaughter him. Dimaka smiled as Mirizi simply plucked the magic from the air and threw it into the sea. His enlightenment had barred all magic from the area, and the Lunar pantheon were nothing but smoky figures of mortals cold and afraid. Never having been weak before they panicked and fled, but Mirizi sang a song of righteousness with such force that the wind blew them away. The lunar devils were blown by a tempest of song for seven weeks and were so afraid of that song that they hid back up on the moons. That is why they cannot hurt you and will never take physical form to do so. Only Haru, who had slept through the events entirely after inventing alcohol, remains physical.
Mirizi returned from the island a hero and taught his disciples well. After a century of this he grew tired and decided to ascend. He walked upon a bridge of pale moonlight and the lunar devils cowed in fear as he calmy passed through their home and into the gates of heaven. Those who pray under the light of heaven can sometimes find inspiration from him, pushing them towards prophetic insight.Cosmological Views
The Lying Materium
The world was never the truest form of existence, but a timid reflection of heaven. In many ways, it is a lie itself, which is why lies so terribly resonate with it. The senses can never truly guide you home. You must think your own way to heaven.
The many false gods, immortals, and powerful spirits who claim to have divine truth are the liars and unwitting harbingers of the end. They struggle against the eternal winter they constantly make larger in a hopeless and pointless war. Some are less evil than others; some might even be useful; but none should ever be trusted or worshiped.Tenets of Faith
- No Masters, No Slaves: No corporal punishment, no holding of slaves, no keeping of servants. To strike a person or animal not on the battlefield or in self defense is to commit the sin of violent pride.
- To Lie is to Injure the Spirit: Lying is the first and most terrible sin. To say a hard truth is always better than even a kind lie, and lies should be punished. To censor or punish a truthful or heartfelt statement is to create a lie of silence.
- You Are Always Alone: Self reliance is a virtue and important to every person's spiritual development. This means both intellectually and physically- literacy and survival skills are vitally important.
- All Life is Transcendent: Respect the sanctity of all animal and sentient life. Exile, do not execute.
- Find Your Own Ascendant Truth: Part of piety is thoughtful worship. Thoughtful worship should be done by writing and amending your own Oshkion if you have the means to have a personal copy. Religious writing should be expected of every single person no matter how poor- even if it is just poetry in the snow.
- Lift Yourself, Lift Others: Work as a community to improve the individual. The community may be temporary and fragile but it is a resource you must protect and add to while you can.
- Live Like There's No Tomorrow: Doomsday is a perpetual possibility. Ask for forgiveness from Izikiro immediately and always, and never leave any pious activity to tomorrow.
- Penitence is Purity: Everyone makes mistakes, but the humble seek forgiveness. Since pride is the source of evil, the pious and the good must make a public show of seeking penitence.
Priesthood
Priests dress in humble brown robes marked by stitched-in moons. There is something of a "humble glamor" around the more wealthy priests, who wear as good of materials as plainly as possible and make sure to wear shiny two-moon amulets.
Priests are expected to be charismatic and pragmatic. They are chosen voluntarily by the community based on their ability to stir emotion and action. Ideally priests also test the intellect of their communities and introduce new ideas, but the burden of intellectual exploration lies on the worshipers rather than the priest.
The business acumen of priests is often valued over the academic intellectualism (particularly the further North you go), as they act as a kind of mediator between guilds, trade associations, and communities. Priests also act as representatives of community shares in any projects, and are expected to negotiate for the community. This might seem strange to outsiders, but Zihari see communities as resources and socially constructed business associations anyways. Both communities and businesses are temporary vehicles for mid-term evangelization and self-improvement, which should be utilized with awareness of their temporary and materialistic nature.
Sects
There are three groups of coordinating Zihari temple groups that act as regional trade associations and safeguards of dogma. Those who drift away from "acceptable" theology and trade relationships are put in like by these groups and their enforcers.
These three groups are not enemies, though they do have different theological standards. They claim to be entirely united in organization and theology.
- The Holy League of Zihari: Managing the Northeast, the Holy League is the most aggressive in its pursuit of heresy, the most business-focused, the most devoted to public penance, and the most apocalyptic in its theology.
- The Temples in Pearl: Managing the Southwest, the Temples in Pearl glorify Ulo as a prophet on the level of Mirizi. They are the most dedicated to archiving and preserving the past, and towards public displays of asceticism
- The Confederated Lodges of Zihari: Managing the far South, this is the least centralized of the three. It is also the least apocalyptic in a traditional sense, and the most communal.
"Hold Close the Spark"
Founding Date
131 ME
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Demonym
Zihari
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