Hcctaal (Origo Mundi Map Game)
Hcctaal is the main religion of the Exhulan Empire and almost all of its citizens, although there is also a significant minority of followers in the Qeran Princedom. It is a polytheistic religion primarily based on the worship of the gods Ihhnt, Jddai, Jddithic, Ccoth, llyivyit and Mu’ran, as well as many other minor gods. It originated among the tribes of Haeelos before they came together to form Exhula, but it has changed much since then.
History
Origins
When Exhula originally formed, it was not the unified empire and monarchy it is today, but a loose coalition of several large tribes on the Exhulan home island of Haeelos, which has many cultural and religious differences between them. These tribes all initially worshiped several different gods, but although Exhula’s society was able to function this way for the first few years, many felt that it was not felt to be sustainable long term. However, all of them refused to give up their religions and violence seemed increasingly likely until a compromise was reached. They would combine the worship of their different gods into a unified pantheon and new religion, which would become the official Exhulan Religion. That religion was Hcctaal, with the primary gods being Jddai, Jddithic, Ccoth, and Mu’ran, the respective gods of the four major tribes making up Exhula, with many minor gods existing, some of which would acquire somewhat sizable followings within Hcctaal themselves, with one of them, Ihhnt, eventually becoming one of the major gods of the pantheon. This was how it was founded, but it would develop much afterward.
Development
Althougn initially most of the tribal heads, and thus the elected Syvotyr, didn’t believe in the religion and continued to worship their individual gods, they put up a public appearance of much piety and devotion and the most charismatic of their number where constantly preaching Hcctaal and the unification of the various gods into one pantheon, even if they themselves did not believe it. However as they raised their children in the religion many became sincerely devout and devoted to the religion, and it easily spread among the population since it was mandated as the state religion by their leaders and thus any who wanted to get any measure of power had to convert, and because of the fact that it was essentially in its early days just the combining of the worship of their already existing gods into one pantheon, which allowed those who already worshiped more than one to easily convert without being harassed like before and for others to essentially continue to worship their normal gods under different names. As the Syvotyr‘s conquered the rest of the island soon after the various conquered tribes had many of their gods also integrated into the religion, but instead of being primary gods they ended up becoming minor gods that had much smaller followings, mostly among the former members of those tribes and their descendants. However, as the religion was spread and in many cases used by the ruling nobles and various Syvotyr‘s to maintain control over the population, they soon found it hard to maintain any kind of devotion among the populace that did not mutate Into something different over time without some kind of religious authority present in their lives. Thus some of the more devout among their number created the Jdim, the priesthood of Hcctaal, and became its first members before training many citizens and landless poor as Jdim and sending them to various communities all over Haeelos to maintain a at least somewhat consistent religious narrative. This only occurred after about 200 years though, and thus the structure was fairly disorganized by 10 since it had only been 110 years since its establishment, but it was successful at mending the religious differences between various areas and making a more formalized structure to Hcctaal and its mythology. Although their have been various changes since then, such as the change of the Godess Ihhnt from a minor fertility god and patron of children in the pantheon originating among surrendered and not enslaved tribesmen in Clorrtil to a major goddess and integral part of the pantheon due to the first Emperor Lorgar claiming to be her half-mortal son, the religion always stayed mostly the same in all areas of the empire even when it changed due to the Jdim being dictated, although the Emperor latter gained much power over the dictating of the cannon, despite not being a vital part of the structure.
Spread
After gaining a more formal structure and cannon in -100 with the Jdim spreading and maintaining the Hcctaal cannon as dictated by the three Jdhor, 3 Jdim of Noble blood who decided what was and wasn’t canon in the Hcctaal religion and passed it on to the Jdim through various messengers, it was much easier to spread Hcttaal now that it had a dedicated priestly class. However, it still didn’t spread much beyond Haeelos since Exhula didn’t know the location of any of the other powers it traded with, and most looked down on Exhulans as primitive despite being at the same development level as them or sometimes above and just not having any territory beyond Haeelos. After the Exhulans began exploring and colonizing the area around them under the reign of the Syvotyr Jdáih I, they also began spreading Hcctaal to the people in the areas they settled and conquered. First they forced it on the Natives of Sythri and Haakraan in 22 after conquering the island by force, and then they began spreading it on the Ettyian coast, at the time known as the Etty’s coast, through both those who settled it and by spreading it to those who they conquered. This primarily meant the large Sarrthari tribe, with after becoming a vassal of Exhula was assimilated into Exhulan culture within a few generations, which, although they kept and spread some of their customs and beliefs to the Exhulan populace and to the Empire in general and still exist to this day as a distinct ethnic and cultural group, resulted in almost their entire population converting to Hcctaal and those who didn’t becoming outcasts who were frequently discriminated against and all eventually converted or died off. This practice of converting conquered populations to Hcctaal, by force if need be, was one that was continued by Exhula when it conquered Clorrtill and Zoelle, where almost the entire population was enslaved and those who weren’t being either second class citizens who were eventually forced to convert or killed off by Exhulan soldiers. The majority of their population which was enslaved and taken throughout the Empire was forcibly assimilated also despite being slaves, as their adults were in many cases forcibly converted by threats or actions of violence and their children, which were almost always separated from the parents precisely to destroy any wider culture that could former rebellion amongst the slaves, were raised in Hcctaal in addition to begin raised to believe they were destined to be slaves and their was nothing wrong with their place in society. The latter change of power in the Empire from the Elected Syvotyr’s to the hereditary monarchy under the Aurelians did little to change this tradition of forced conversion, it just changed who was holding power in both the secular and religious parts of the empire since Lorgar dissolved the Jdohr and instead created the Jthrithos as a religious office in the empire who is the leader of the Hcctaal religion all Jdim must answer to, which has on several occasions been held by the Emperor, although it may be bestowed upon anyone the current one chooses as their successor. As Exhula increased its colonization of and conquest of the area around it it also brought Hcctaal with it, and even converted a small but significant amount of Qerans to the religion, as well as smaller amounts of people from other regions. Recently preachers have even begun to be sent north to Xüonai, although these are rather limited in number due to strong discouragement of this by the Xüonai government.
Relations with the Emperors
Since the beginning of the Aurelian Dynasty, their has been a close relationship between the Aurelian Dynasty and the Hcctaal faith. The first Emperor, Lorgar, who took power at the end of the 12-year plague, was a devout and pious Hcctaal Preacher who believed himself to be the son of the goddess Ihhnt and was the reason that she became so important to the Hcctaal faith. He maintained a close relationship with the faith and was responsible for making it more centralized, dissolving the Jdohr and appointing a Jthrithos to replace them as the spiritual leaders of the Hcctaal faith, with himself being the first one, although it is not a hereditary title and each Jthrithos appoints their successor, and he appointed someone from outside his own family as the next one since he did not feel his son was devout enough for the title. However their close relationship has always been maintained and they are usually at least friendly, with the Emperors even having the authority to send Hcctaal preachers where they wish in the world.
Organization
Although in theory all followers of the Hcctaal faith are equal in the eyes of the gods, in practice this is not the case. Although this does usually apply in the case of the common followers of the gods, their is an entire hierarchy of authority among the priests of the Hcctaal faith, the Jdim. At the bottom of this authority are the common Jdim and Jdia (A female Jdim) preachers who, although they are the representatives of the Divine will of the gods like those higher in the hierarchy, have the job of relaying the will of the gods from those higher in the hierarchy and from the Holy books of the faith, not to determine what the gods will is for themselves. Above them in the hierarchy are the Jitthyaat, which are those Jdim who have risen higher in the gods esteem and have been promoted by their superiors. Their job is to determine what the gods wishes are based on what their superiors have told them and to distribute that information and any new orders to the various Jdim under them. Unlike the common Jdim they are allowed to change what they say based on what they know if they believe the gods will has changed or their superior has misinterpreted something, but before preaching anything new they must get permission from those above them who aren’t their direct superior to ensure it isn’t a misinterpretation. They are usually in charge of preaching to a large city or town which Has to many people for individual Jdim to handle, and above them are the Jaal. The Jaal are the direct subordinates of the Jdohr who are personally selected as the leaders of the faith in individual regions by the Jdohr. They interpret what the gods will is and pass it and the Jdohr’s orders on to the Jitthyaat, who pass it onto the Jdim. Although the Jitthyaat often rise on their own due to their popularity among the Jdim of a city just as much as they are appointed by the Jaal, the Jaal are always anointed by the Jdohr and nobody else. A region without many followers can have many Jdim and Jitthyaat but have no Jaal, because the Jdohr won’t have appointed one. This is true of both the various small churches in the east (such as in Olmac and in Silas, and in the nations northeast of us), and in the only very recently created Church of Xüonai. Finally above all of them is the Jdohr, the main religious leader of the Hcctaal faith. Each Jdohr personally appoints his successor, and he interprets the will of the gods based on the various holy books (Mainly the Book Of Lorgar), the events that have happened recently, and based on his apparent status as the gods messenger in the world. His role is pretty self explanatory, but he appoints the Jitthyaat and passes on orders and what the gods will is to them, leads the faith in Siccarius and Zoelle personally, and sends preachers to various locations, which the Emperor can also do. The Jdohr is usually a noble, although exceptions have occurred, and on a few occasions has also been the Emperor of Exhula at the same time. The office of Jdohr, although in theory based on devotion, spirituality, and connection to the gods, is in practice often appointed for political reasons. The Jdohr is firmly placed as subordinate to the Emperor, and leads the faith, not secular matters. However, they are often involved in politics and own a large palace in Siccarius that serves as their headquarters, as do various other buildings such as the Siccia Aall in other places. Their is nothing preventing a Jdohr from holding a political office or leadership position, but in practice the office of Jdohr, although making it easier to get those things, doesn’t have any authority or leadership in the government of Exhula, although they are far from separated, they do not rely on each other, specifically so one survives if the other falls.
Beliefs and Customs
Beliefs
The followers of Hcctaal believe that before the world was created, their was nothing. In this nothing, there was nothing, until eventually, two glds came into being. These beings, the Sky, or Soutyh, and the stars, or Rylistel, existed as simple facts of being, floating through the void of nothingness without purpose. Until, at one point that simultaneously had yet to happen, was occurring then, and had long since happened (due to this being before the existence of time), they found each other. In this primordial state of nothingness they latched onto each other as the only living things in existence, and fused together into one mighty being that finally had a true consciousness, the first truly living thing, the Ouutuusccr (Primordial One In Exhulan) Rathater. This being, which was really a fusion of the two, existed in eternal nothing for a ”time” that was both eternity and no time at all, and soon grew lonely weary of this existence and so, from its (it had no gender) own body, cut off part of its flesh to create its first child, Ryloth, the Yyrr of time.
Ryloth and the other Yyrr are not and were not gods, but states of being, much like his Father/Mother was, and Ryloth soon became a fundamental aspect of existence alongside his ”father”. Excited by this, Rathater soon tore out various other parts of his body to create numerous other Yyrr, such as Dythrus (The Sun), Rllyssa (The Moon), and numerous others, and scattered them throughout existence, which itself was one of the Yyrr, Ettyrh (Existance and Creation) who also has a twins sister, Ettys (Nonexistance and destruction) who represented what doesn’t exist and what could have existed that doesn’t, and what doesn’t exist anymore. Many of them had children of their own with each other, but none were beloved more by Rathater than Jddai, Jddithic, Ccoth, Mu’ran, Ihhnt, Illyivyit and Kharrnan. These seven were born from the the largest battle that ever occurred between the siblings, who were at constant war with each other, with Ettyrh wanting to preserve the existence of everything and create more and Ettys wanting to consume and destroy it all so it would become one with her in nonexistence, with that battle resulting in their blood, sweat, and flesh mixing together on the battlefield strewn with both to create the six from it, even after Ettys was banished to nonexistence. They were regarded with disgust by Ettyrh, but he couldn’t bear to destroy his children and so he entrusted them to Rathater instead. As they were raised by them he came to love them above all others and massively empowered and favored them above any of the Yyrr, despite not being Yyrr themselves, but gods. They were happy for a time and governed existence alongside their Grandfather as gods of all, and as a family.
However, Kharrnan eventually became resentful of his grandfather and the other five, as he felt like his grandfather loved them more than him and paid more attention to them than him. He tried numerous times to change this, but nothing ever changed and he felt more and more angry and hateful until he one day seemed out his mother, Ettys. She twisted and corrupted him to become an avatar of destruction and massively empowered him before sending him on a hate fulled rampage against the other gods and the Yyrr at the head of an army of Never-born, the shadows of those who could have existed but never did and of those who have been erased from existence, and therefore never existed but at the same time once did. His rampage successfully killed off many Yyrr including Rathater himself, who invested his power into the others at the last moment before his aniahlat and erasure from existence, even as a never-born. Kharnnan then turned his wrath on his siblings and fought them in the so-called “Battle for Dawn”. This resulted in the death of Jddithic and his corpse becoming the Earth, and when he was chased away by the others the death of Illyivyit when he burrowed into her still alive body to escape the other gods where they couldn’t follow, with that corpse latter becoming the volcanic mount Illyivyit which became his prison as much as his escape, with the fiery eruptions being his attempts to escape and the renewed fertility afterward, being Illyivyit, who is still technically alive to this day, trying to repair as much of the damage as possible.
After that they believe that the remaining gods became the overlords of the earth and sky and used much of Rathater’s remaining power to recreate the stars and the sky as a grand monument to his existence to commemorate him, well also creating a vast underworld to imprison Kharrnath, with mount Illyivyit, her still technically living corpse, being the only way out to the surface, through which he frequently tries to escape, causing the mountains many volcanic eruptions. It is said that after gazing upon the world and realizing what was lost, Ihhnt wept so fiercely and for so long that much of the world was flooded, creating the ocean and all other bodies of water, which became a holy and sacred place and the only place truly safe from Kharrnan’s rage, and the location of the afterlife for Mankind, with mankind being created from the remains of Ratheter‘s corpse so he could continue to live on in some fashion. After that the gods have, according to Hcctaal, continued to run reality and interact with humanity, The never-born, the Yyrr, and the various other creatures and beings that came after it, demanding worship and commemoration from mankind to give them the power to continue keeping Kharrnan from escaping and Ettys from destroying reality and blessing those chosen by them, such as the Jdim, Merchants, and those who fight in their name to spread their word.
Customs
The Hcctaal religion has many customs and practices its Followers participate in as part of their faith and overall culture. For example Hcctaal funerals involve burial at sea where a body is weighed down and dumped in the ocean to rest with the gods free from any responsibilities, stresses, or dangers. There are also many other important customs in the religion, like how weddings occur in the open air, preferably near the sea but not necessary, and the Bride and Groom both drink water from the same cup and then kiss and share the water between them in the process to seal the marriage. There are many other customs, but these are just some examples.
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