Máqúqa (Origo Mundi)
Máqúqa (/meɪkukwɑː/; Qausi: ᏠᏖᎹᎸᎮ, syresized: jul’limacuca, “eternal path [to God]”) is a Nelrimic monotheistic religion teaching that Zuhyjar is a messenger of God. The religion is broken into at least three major branches, and its followers are generally known as Mijarians (“disciples”). Máqúqa teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and has guided humanity through a number of prophets, the most central of which being Zuhyjar (c.1117-1200 OM), who is responsible for composing the faith’s primary scripture. Other important figures include the prophet Múb’luri (c. 1081-1113) of the Múbianity Movement, who Mijarians consider a forerunner to Zuhyjar, and the prophet Nelrim of the Ulm Religion. Mijirians believe that Máqúqa is the complete and universal version of the primordial faith that was revealed many times before through prophets, and that prior to the introduction of Máqúqa this faith was corrupted over time, abandoned, or incorrectly applied. Máqúqa also teaches of a final judgement with the righteous being rewarded in paradise. Important religious practices of Máqúqa include the Great Journey, a set of obligatory acts of worship and guidelines for living one’s life.
From a historical point of view, Máqúqa originated in the late 13th century OM in the Naxraqian Plateau, and by the 14th century the Tamiyd Júradate stretched from Garania in the west to Qera in the east. The expansion of the Mijarian world involved various júradates, trade, and conversion to Máqúqa by missionary activities. During the life of Zuhyjar, military efforts by the Mijarian community first led to the unification of the Naxraq Plateau and the Valley of the Comet. Subsequent wars with the Reckoner Empire under rulers such as Mioquoyah and Isondú led to the Reckoner Empire’s downfall, and its subsequent absorption into the Mijarian community. The early Mijarian polity would come into frequent conflict with the expansionist Syresian Republic, especially over the coveted holy city of Azoz that had been conquered by the Syresians. The unified Júradate, serving as a political entity of all Mijarians, would break apart soon after the death of the early Mijarian apostles, but nonetheless Máqúqa would continue to spread across north and central Letsia in the following centuries.
History
Pre-Máqúqan Naxraq
Prior to the introduction of Máqúqa the region of Naxraq was divided between a number of “tribes”, each with dozens of clans or sub-tribes between them. To the northwest laid the highly populated and urbanized Valley of the Comet, which had served as the center of conflict between the late Reckoner Empire, Ancient Edom, and numerous other cultures. To the northeast laid Asamdah, which had been united under the conqueror Ouxodimasauri in the mid 12th century, and the empire’s influence south of the Uthjuli River up to the start of the Naxraqian Plateau fluctuate after Ouxodimasauri’s death.
A number of settlements dotted Naxraq, the most prominent being Yitjrabt, Gidruma, and Hothleyop, where major populations were sedentary and agricultural, subsisting largely on manioc, maize, wild game, and honey. Gidruma in particular was revered for his status as a holy city with a sampling of all the regions deities being represented, with violence within its city limits being prohibited. Consequently the city became important as a center of trade and finance taking advantage of these religions prohibitions. Outside these regions, a large portion of the Naxraq population was nomadic or subsisted on trade. Communal life was essential in less urbanized regions, with tribal affiliation, whether based on kinship or alliances, was an important source of social cohesion. Nomadic groups constantly traveled in search of water and pasture for their flocks, and also depended on the raiding of caravans or oases; nomads did not view this as a crime.
The region was highly religiously diverse prior to the birth of Zuhyjar. pre-Máqúqa religious tradition focused on the worship of a number of gods and goddesses, who were viewed as protectors of individual tribes, towns, and natural phenomena. The center of the religion was the Jaanú, a section of the great lake housing tribal idols that was thought to have been created at the start of human history. Montheistic communities also existed in the region, including a number of Ulm-practicing tribes and Enulmian converts, as well as a small minority of Pre-Máqúqan Naxraqian monotheists. According to Máqúqan tradition, Zuhyjar himself was one such monotheist. The northern reaches of Najas primarily followed the the Ancient Apirunite religion, which was a popular form of polytheism practiced across Asamdah and southern Edom. Other prominent faiths included the Reckoner mythology, imported from the west.
Unlike various other polytheistic religions of ancient Letsia, the Naxraqian faith underwent a series of reformations in its history that transformed it into a centralized religion in many capacities, and took influence from surrounding cultures. Genealogy and lineage was considered highly important to Nazraqians, with histories tracing back to numerous prophets, great conquerors, and important leaders being well maintained, studied, or oftentimes created. In the centuries after the death of the prophet Nelrim in Azoz, it had already become a common tradition among numerous Aposicist sects of Ulmism that after his resurrection he had fathered a family, and with Naxraq’s primary contact to the Ulmian world being through Aposic traders from Umhlaba, the idea of a lineage from Nelrim was widely accepted south of the Valley of the Comet.
In addition to being the holiest shrine of the Nazraqian faith, the Jaanú was a place of yearly pilgrimage for natives of the region, usually regardless of faith. It is documented that Ulmians, monotheists, and polytheists alike would take part, with the yearly event turning Gidruma into a commercial center, spurred on by the city’s strict policies of limited violence and sacred months. These ideals were central to the city’s economy and also the Naxraqian faith, and was strictly upheld by the city’s elite. The prestigious Jahiyal tribe was placed in charge of maintaining this order and overseeing the Jaanú
Múb’luri Period
Prior to the lifetime of Zuhyjar, numerous other religious movements arose around the same region, the foremost important being the Múb’lurianity Movement. According to tradition in the year 1081 the individual Shiusṭá Muacijah Ru’und, who would later become the Múb’luri, was born on the southern border of Edom to an Apirun mother and an Ulmian-convert father. That year had marked the beginning of a temporary peace in the Azozian-Reckoner Wars that would last a decade, and instead saw the Reckoner focusing his efforts in the south. Shiusṭá’s family would flee this conflict zone, first traveling north into Asamdah, before traveling south toward Naxraq. After the death of his father at a young age, Shiusṭá was raised as a nomad with several of his relatives, and showed an unusual interest in religious studies and writing.
Shiusṭá would become a prominent mystic and scholar as an adult, becoming involved in a number of growing religious movements in the Valley of the Comet. The chaos of the Reckoner wars, the collapse of the Derigi Empire, and the impending 1000th year since the time of Nelrim contributed to a number of apocalyptic attitudes regarding the imminent end of the world. It was from this environment that Shiusṭá declared himself the Múb’luri (“Prophetic Tongue”), and a guide toward the imminent arrival of the foretold “King of the North” or Quras, a messianic figure said to bring about the end times.
Múb’luri’s preaching stirred up discontent in the southern Reckoner Empire, and many of his sayings were interpreted as potent prophecies. It is said that a young Múb’luri predicted the failure of Prackyob the Elder against the Reckoner, and other major events in the Derigi Empire. The prophetic nature of Múb’luri’s movement alarmed the Reckoner Empire, which viewed any form of prophecy as sacrilege to their statistic-influenced religion, and in 1099 an army was dispatched to the Valley of the Comet. This would mark the beginning of a general rebellion among the population in the region newly conquered from Edom, with Múb’luri’s followers being one small component.
In 1110 Múb’luri was captured along with many of his followers in the aftermath of the Battle of Ibodúnúa, and he was placed under house arrest. Despite this he continued to write prolifically, compiling a number of influential texts that would later become important to Mijarians. He would foretell that soon after his death a prophet would emerge, and his followers were urged to scour the region in search of a young boy who fulfilled his criteria. Múb’luri would be executed three years later in captivity by the orders of the military governor of the Valley of the Comet.
Early Life of Zuhyjar
In 1113 the Ulmist ruler of Nara’salab, Podeujoracar II, launched a northern invasion into the Naxraq Plateau and surrounding area, in a move that was tangentially in aid of the ailing Derigi Empire in the north. Known in Naxraqian chronicles as the “King of the Elephants”, Podeujoracar’s invasion force heavily disrupted the region and caused untold damage to local non-Ulmist tribes and Reckoner forces. In 1117 he is said to have reached up to the gates Gidruma, but he was later forced to withdraw due to an outbreak of disease and increased pressure from the Reckoner.
Around that same year, Zuhyjar was born to the influential Jahiyal tribe, his father being a merchant named Jamiapush who died soon after he was born. As a result, Zuhyjar spent much of his life raised by his uncle Neamitalah and nomadic traders across Naxraq. As a young boy he is said to have traveled to Susalyon, Edom, and across Umhlaba. According to Mijarian legend, when Zuhyjar was at the precipice of adulthood he was traveling with a caravan over the Bridge of Zur when the angel Ma’al appeared in the sky. While all others ran off, Zuhyjar stayed in the center of the bridge and was alerted by the angel to his mission as a prophet. Upon returning to Gidruma, Zuhyjar was initially apprehensive, but was encouraged by his family’s servant Uhuda, an Ulmist, that he had received a command from the True God.
For the next year Zuhyjar continued to live and work in Gidruma without incident, after which time he began to receive visions and messages from angel figures more frequently. Zuhyjar’s childhood friend Mioquoyah would become the first person to recognize him as a prophet, followed by his cousins Isondú, Mazra, and Juna, Uhuda, and his uncle Súyeghta. Thirteen months after his first vision, Zuhyjar was visited by a prominent follower of Múb’luri named Ḍíyámajiyih, who conducted a series of tests concluding that Zuhyjar was the prophet foretold by Múb’luri. Within a year a number of Múb’luri’s former followers had flocked to Gidruma, although at the same time Ḍíyámajiyih would spend the year arguing with many of his peers who had also claimed to find prophetic candidates, or had rejected Zuhyjar specifically.
These developments angered the ruling class of Gidruma, including Zuhyjar’s foster father Neamitalah and the rest of the Jahiyal tribe. In particular Neamitalah’s son Irja-Qasha, who had been Zuhyjar’s foster brother, was zealously against these new teachings, and is said to have killed the first Mijarian martyr, Eshama, in a fit of rage. A great feud emerged between the two branches of the family, with Irja-Qasha speaking out against Zuhyjar on every occasion. Irja-Qasha would also be responsible for torturing a Mijarian slave named Tahteyaja, who was later emancipated by Mioquoyah and served as a faithful companion of Zuhyjar.
The growth of the Mijarian movement eventually forced the ruling elite of Gidruma to place sanctions of Zuhyjar’s family. An armed mob attempted to arrest and execute Zuhyjar, but he miraculously escaped from his home undetected. Seeking to avoid bloodshed, Zuhyjar and his family fled to the southwest and found refuge at an abandoned fort first used by the Múb’lurians at the behest of Ḍíyámajiyih’s brother, Yatrabári the Blue. After an altercation in the city, in which Isondú was nearly killed after being mistaken for Zuhyjar, Tahteyaja pursued the assassin and slew him. Irja-Qasha would call for blood in response, organizing a party of 400 men to chase down Zuhyjar and bring him to justice.
Irja-Qasha personally led this group in pursuit of Zuhyjar, according to legend being led by an angel into the unfavorable Canyon of Souls. Zuhyjar would be joined by a group of men loyal to Ḍíyámajiyih led by the capable veteran of the Reckoner Wars, Icrima, and Ḍíyámajiyih’s uncle Sádiqur. Zuhyjar and eighteen companions (including Mioquoyah, Isondú, Juna, Súyeghta, Yatrabári, and Tahteyaja), as well as 31 soldiers from Gidruma and the 49 companions sent by Ḍíyámajiyih, managed to successfully ambush the approaching army. The battle would begin with Isondú serving as a champion for the prophet and successfully defeating a Gidruma warrior named Alalq the Giant in single combat. Despite the innumerable odds against them, the Mijurians managed to defeat their adversaries. Irja-Qasha is said to have attempted to flee the battle but was killed by a rock falling from the canyon edge above. In total nine Mijarians were killed, while 96 attackers were killed and another 63 captured.
After the battle several nobles in Gidruma sought to continue the fight, but they were prevented from doing so by Neamitalah, who instead reconciled with the Zuhyjar and welcomed him back into the family, before dying of old age later that year. Zuhyjar and his followers saw the victory as confirmation of their faith and Zuhyjar ascribed the victory to the assistance of an invisible host of angels. The victory strengthened the position of the Mijarians and dispelled earlier doubts among his followers. As a result opposition to the Mijarians in Gidruma became less vocal, and conversions increased. An uneasy peace began in the city, with Zuhyjar being granted a seat among the elite, but did not possess complete control over the city.
Mijarian-Reckoner Wars
From 1138 onward Zuhyjar became a prominent mediator and administrator in Gidruma, much to the dismay of non-Mijarian leaders. During this time several companions of Zuhyjar were tasked with spreading his message far and wide, and around this time letters were written by the prophet specifically to major leaders. This would include a letter to Ouxodimasauri, the final Derigi Emperors, the rulers of Syres, and the Reckoner Emperor. He would also help create a code of laws for the city that would later become influential in shaping the laws of Naxraq and among Mijarians as a whole.
Instead of accepting the invitation to convert to the Mijarian faith, the Reckoner Empire instead responded with hostility. Fearing a similar rebellion to what had happened years earlier, the empire dispatched an army into Naxraq to enact tribute and suppress Zuhyjar’s movement. Under the leadership of Tahteyaja and Sádiqur, the Mijarians began a guerrilla campaign across the Valley of the Comet, engaging the Reckoner forces at the successful Battle of Lilqam and the statement at the Second Battle of Ibodúnúa, where Sádiqur was killed in battle. During the invasion of Gidruma, Zuhyjar organized a successful defense of the city in the so-called Battle of the Wall, which managed to beat back Reckoner forces. It was after his event that he was selected as unanimous leader of the city, despite the protests of Gidruma’s last major pagan leader, Ya’ad-Masr.
Zuhyjar’s preachings and successes attracted more converts from across the Valley of the Comet, and the aid of dozens of tribes allied against the Reckoner Empire. The following year he would lead a successful march to the center of the valley that defeated a much larger Reckoner army at the Battle of Wadid. By 1140 the entirety of the valley from the mouth of the Meran River to the southern Reckoner border had pledged allegiance to Zuhyjar and had been effectively liberated.
Family Tree of Zuhyjar
