Ubtao-Worship

Many Marakurans venerated Ubtao. These people believed that Ubtao created the land and all the humans and animals that populate the hot, green jungles. Ubtao also raised the holy city of Mezro from the jungle with his own hands and resided there for a time-until he mysteriously vanished from the world.
Ubtao watched over Marakuru with surprising disinterest, letting men and women go about their lives without much interference.

Tenets of Faith

The Maze of Life

It was believed among Marakurans that Ubtao created the jungle as a sort of test for his people, a maze for them to pass through on their way to a heavenly afterlife. They also believed that each life can be represented as a maze. When a worshiper of Ubtao dies, they were called before their maker and told to draw the maze that represents their own life. If they were successful in doing this, they were invited into Ubtao’s home. If they failed, they came back to the world as a ghost or ghoul to wander the night.
As children, Marakurans learned the rudiments of their personal maze, and it is up to their teachers or elders to help them add to the maze as they grow older. All Marakurans who worshipped Ubtao practiced drawing their maze constantly, often doodling the pattern idly in the sand during conversations, and so on.

The Children of Ubtao

In Marakuru, dinosaurs were often referred to as the Children of Ubtao. The monstrous lizards, unlike humans, demanded nothing of the creator god once they were placed in the jungle, so some of the faithful considered them the favored creation of Ubtao. As such, they were seen as agents of Fate. If a hunter killed many dinosaurs, the clan understood their success to be merely a reflection of his place in Ubtao’s heart. If a woman or man is killed by an allosaurus or pteradon, it is because she or he did something to upset the natural order. In other words, the victims only got what they deserved.

Type

Religious, Other

Deities

• Ubtao