Tontheonic Civilization

The Tontheonic Civilization, also known as the Horse Lords to the scattered Icari'yon and the People of the Light (Bre'yai) to the El'yon, is one of the great civilizations of the Milky Way Galaxy during the Third Trilogy Era. They call themselves The Moriezen, the People of the Domain of the Thousand Worlds of Conquest. Colloquially, they are called the Tontheons for their frequent invocation of their sacred name of God. A wholly religious civilization, they are the direct descendants of one of the many colony ships sent out from Earth using the Infinity Gate technology during Icarus. 
The image at right is the symbol of the Moriezen, an inset horse's head with a stylized rocket leaving a planet's surface. In the upper left corner is a stylization of the name of TNÞN, the monotheistic deity of the Civilization.
== History ==
=== Scythia ===
During Icarus, the El'yon civilization used both Joshua of Urantia and the Watcher as couriers between their civilization and Earth. The El'yon chose to gift it's Infinity Gate technology to Earth in an effort to stabilize and unite the humans of Sol System after many centuries of strife. The government that then ruled Earth - a much tamer version of the Anthroperium - chose to engineer the technology of the Gate to create a closed loop system of travel in an effort to expand it's reach outside of Sol System. 
One of the many colony fleets formed through this effort was called the Scythia. It was composed exclusively of people from central Asia: Mongolian, Siberian, Northern Chinese, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Paki, Turkmen, Turkish, Kurdish, and Persian. During the rise of the Anthroperium after the upheaval of the Solar War, these peoples had formed a semi-autonomous insular nation called Scythia. 
Scythia was later conquered during the cultural purge of Anthroperius Hypervincijovus Rex and it's autonomy disintegrated; the Scythian peoples became famous for their use of cavalry charges against Anthroperian infantry and heavy artillery. Having been conquered, they were seen as a threat to neither the rule of Anthroperius nor the unifying religion of the Anthroperium and were thus allowed to live their lives under the condition of continued obedience to the regime. 
Throughout the reign of the Anthroperium, these people preserved their independent culture through oral tradition. The Scythian peoples were unified by the use of the horse as a beast of burden and companion, agricultural techniques, and a syncrenistic monotheistic nature spirituality. 
The Scythian people did not consider their conquest by the Anthroperium to be a defeat, but a rather necessary measure for the preservation of their civilization. In Heiropolis, Scythians were known to worship at the Altar of the Unknown God; this satisfied the Anthroperians while allowing the Scythians to believe they had not betrayed their beliefs. They continued to honor the one God in secret during the centuries of Anthroperian rule. 
=== Scythian Revival ===
During the reform period brought about by the arrival of the Dominion fleet, the involvement of the El'yon, and the incubation of the Second Dominion during Daedalus, the Scythian nation once more was able to express itself and it's culture without fear of reprisal from the regime. The people organized themselves and elected a popular woman as a spokesperson for Scythia: Khulan Garayev. Her name means "Black Wild Donkey", a reflection of her iron willed and courageous personality. Garayev was the primary force petitioning the reformed Earth government for the acquisition of a colony ship for the Scythian peoples. 
About the same time, a man named Gadojohnrho, or simply Gado the Beggar, began traveling throughout Scythia and teaching the people the principles of their long suppressed religion. He was compared by the Scythians to the figures of many ancient Earth religions, such as Moses, Mohammed, Jesus, and Buddha. Several miracles were attributed to him; in addition, he began the scriptural tradition, called the Muqaddasi Kitab, that would form the basis for the later Tontheonic religion. Many of the principles he taught can be traced back to Architecture or Faith. But many of the principles - such as nature spirituality and the use of the horse as a sacred symbol - are unique to the Scythian people. 
Garayev and Gado the Beggar became heroes and national icons of the Scythian people. When the first colony ships were leaving Earth in SY 960, Garayev had succeeded in obtaining dispensation for Scythia to organize it's own colony effort. 
=== Exodus ===
About SY 979, the Scythia left Earth. It was composed of three ships - Scythia I, Scythia II, Scythia III - and about fifteen thousand people. The Scythian space program believed that, despite the Infinity Gate technology, the fleet should carry a minimum capacity to ensure the success of the effort in the case of a catastrophic failure. Therefore, each ship carried the material and personnel to colonize seven worlds. 675 people were to land on each habitable planet, along with a plethora of colonization technology, supplies, and horses. The population was chosen to be sustainable either in space or on planet surface. 
Fifty one years after launch, the great sundering of Earth occurs, resulting in the complete severing of all of Earth's colony ships from the mother planet. This proved Garayev's foresight invaluable. The Scythia was able to continue it's journey with little interruption, albeit with only it's bare necessities. 
=== Colonization ===
The first world to be colonized was Tau Ceti, about twelve light years from Earth. The Scythia, like other colony ships, was armed with a combination of human and El'yon technology and accelerated up to about 40% of the speed of light, resulting in reaching Tau Ceti in about eight years. 
Over the next several centuries, twenty one worlds along a 500+ light year stretch from Tau Ceti to Orion were colonized in the Sculptur, Grus, Pheonix, Fornax, Eridanus, Horologium, Reticulum, Dorado, Caelum, Colomba, and Lepus constellations. The last star to be colonized was Alnitak, for it's proximity to the Horsehead Nebula. 
According to the original plan, each of the colonists of each world would be divided into four nations. Each of these four would specialize in agriculture, manufacturing, resource gathering, and technology. These nations would be united members of the future civilization. In a thousand standard years from the colonization of the last world, representatives from each nation would be sent to Fornax Prime. 
=== Age of Exploration ===
The Age of Exploration reigned throughout Sol during this time, with the Second Dominion expanding and consolidating civilization within Sol System and Urantia, the Icari'yon colonizing single worlds and floating through space, and the other colony ships expanding their own successes as well as recovering from it's brutal defeats. 
For a thousand years, each of the colonized worlds struggled to survive and prosper according to the original plan. 
When the time came for the meeting after the first thousand years, only nine worlds of the original twenty one worlds had succeeded. The efforts in the Lepus and Horologium constellations had entirely failed. The meeting took place around SY 2500. Twenty eight founding nations from each of the nine worlds were represented. 
=== Founding ===
These twenty eight nations became the founding members of the Tontheonic civilization, choosing to adopt the symbol that now serves as an ancient motif of the whole civilization. They entered into full communion with the El'yon civilization and increased the trade that was already present on the individual worlds, and began trading amongst themselves.
The founding members believed that they fulfilled a prophecy written by Gadojohnrho in the Muqaddasi Kitab: "The people of God shall be refined in the depths of the abyss, and brought to fire and light in the furnace, and there they shall be called the Horse Lords." 
An El'yon messenger later appeared to them and instructed them to go to the nearby base of a mountain, where they received a collective revelation of the revealed name of the monotheistic God, TNÞN. The name was heard by all and was given as a special covenant name between God and the people. They were given the name Moriezen, or Horse Lords. 
Each of the founding Horse Lords wrote a universal code of law for the civilization based on the revelation of the Muqaddasi Kitab and what they had received on the mountain. It was decided that, though the civilization may expand, the number of nations shall remain forever the same. The Horse Lords were also endowed with the authority of Sanvaaryn (Priesthood), which was passed from each of the original Horse Lords to each person who would accept the covenant and thus become members of the new civilization. 
Fornax Prime was renamed Orin, an ancient Earth word for "the place", and serves as the cultural and religious capitol of the civilization. The now united civilization experienced an age of wide prosperity and technological advancement. They developed an interstellar transportation system similar to the principles utilized for the now-ancient Interplanetary Transport Network of Consortium-era Sol System.
=== Great Expansion ===
During the Great Expansion, the united civilization pushed largely into the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.
=== Third Trilogy Era ===
==== Last War ====
The Tontheonic Civilization sides with the Infinite Empire during the Last War and fights against the Hiterians and the A'yon. They are deployed largely to fight planetside battles against Hiterian armies.
== Religion ==
The religion of the Tontheonic Civilization may be described as a syncrenized humanism, ancestral monotheism, and natural spirituality. It bears many similarities to the ancient Judaism of Old Earth. The mythopoeic story recorded in the two primary books of scripture, the Muqaddas Kitab and the Khuulin Buyriq, begins with the nation of Scythia on Earth under the leadership of the humble Gadojohnrho the Beggar and the fierce Khulan Garayev, the Black Donkey. These two lead the people of Scythia out of the oppression of Earth life and into their national destiny, culminating in the revelation on Muqaddas Kuh, the Holy Mountain of Orin. This revelation of the sacred name TNÞN and the renaming of the people as Moriezen is conditional upon the keeping of the covenant of the Sanvaaryn.
=== TNÞN ===
The sole figure of worship is TNÞN. The name is pronounced "Tontheon", and is of ancient Earth origin. Prayers are said to TNÞN while facing Orin; when on planet surface, prayers are faced towards the Muqaddas Kuh. This event is regarded as the complete fulfillment of all the scripture given in the Muqaddas Kitab; the revelation of the twenty eight original Horse Lords, the Khuulin Buyriq, does not supercede the previous book of scripture. These two books form the basis for all life within the Tontheonic Civilzation.
The name TNÞN is a holy covenant name that only the Moriezen may use. Conversion to the religion is accepted, but that also entails becoming a member of the Moriezen civilization.
=== Horses ===
Horses occupy a pivotal place in both books of scripture as a frequent symbol of the dedication and service that TNÞN expects of His people, to Him and to one another. Each Moriezen keeps at least one horse as a companion, but is not considered the horse's owner. To kill or to eat a horse is completely forbidden and one of the few sins worthy of the death penalty.
=== Spiritual War ===
Moriezen believe that they are participating in an ongoing spiritual war (al-jihad) against themselves and the malevolent forces of the universe. This teaching was one of the first given by Gado the Beggar. The colonization of other planets and the reproduction of life are holy and sacred duties that fight the entropy of the universe and the sinful tendencies of human civilization.
=== Nature Spirituality ===
Much of Old Earth Scythian influence remains in the traditions of Tontheonic religion. A deep expression of this is the relation to one's planet of birth, called one's Epona. The defense, caretaking, and bond to the Epona is of equal importance to the bond to one's family groups and horse. While visiting other planets is not unheard of, it is highly discouraged to permanently settle on a planet other than one's Epona. Few exceptions exist to this nearly universal rule.
The Epona occupies the place of both a spiritual mother - though not of a consort to TNÞN in the way of Old Earth pagan religion - and the wife of each Moriezen regardless of gender. This is comparable to the Father/Husband relationship perceived between each Moriezen and TNÞN.
A single exception to this rule exists: the Starborn. Starborn are those who were not born planetside, instead being either conceived or born in space. Starborn Moriezen occupy a special place and are seen as the caretakers of Tontheonic technology, allowing the remainder of the populace to live a simple, relatively unadvanced life close to their Epona.
=== Light and Light Bonds ===
The principle expression of TNÞN in tangible reality is Light, as both a physical and a metaphysical reality. Visible, physical light is thought to occupy the same kind of existence as invisible, spiritual light; both are a type of matter, though spiritual light cannot be comprehended by Moriezen science. The El'yon claim to have an intimate knowledge of the material but refuse to indulge the Moriezen.
Spiritual Light is said to connect the vital institutes of Tontheonic Civilization: man and woman, human and human, human and horse, human and Epona, the whole family unit, and TNÞN and the believer. With the activation each of these Light Bonds by the authority of the Sanvaaryn, the final bonding can take place which seals each of the bonds to the ones receiving them into the third and final covenant of the Sanvaaryn itself.
=== Importance of Family ===
The single most important basic unit in Tontheonic Civilization is the family, which are regarded to exist in eternal union one with another through the rituals of the Sanvaaryn. This stands in contrast to the individuality of many smaller interstellar civilizations and to the hedonistic indulgence of the Hiterians.
=== Muqaddasi Kitab and Khulin Buyriq ===
These two books of scripture are regarded as the authentic and binding revelation of TNÞN, the one true God. The Muqaddasi Kitab is primarily authored by Gadojonrho, but also contains excerpts from other spiritual traditions and a few comments by contemporaries of Gado, including Khulan Garayev. Until the revelation on Fornax Prime (Orin), only the Kitab was available for the spiritual life of the Tontheonic ancestors. It contains ethical precepts, mythopoeic stories, and tales of practical wisdom drawn from the experience of the early Scythians.
The Khulin Buyriq is the collective work of the twenty eight original Horse Lords and acts as the legal foundation for Tontheonic Civilization. It contains more legal exegesis and many of the well developed concepts familiar to the Moriezen - including the title Moriezen itself - that were not available to the ancestors. Both books are seen as a type of covenant; the covenant of the Khulin Buyriq is more strict and thus more blessed than that of the Muqaddasi Kitab. Both are considered binding on only Moriezen. However, the Muqadassi Kitab is considered to be representative of a universal ethic revealed to all civilizations. The covenant relationships of both books, and thus the blessings that attend them, are available to Moriezen only. It is impossible to enter into the covenant with TNÞN without becoming a Moriezen.
=== Orin the Covenant Planet ===
Orin, formerly Fornax Prime, is considered in it's entirety to be holy ground for all Moriezen. The vast majority of Moriezen will make a pilgrimage to this planet, and perhaps the mountain itself if they are able. Each prayer is said in the general direction of this planet, or on the planet itself, in the general direction of the mountain. While the lesser covenant of the Muqaddasi Kitab can be entered into while on one's Epona, the covenant of the Khulin Buyriq can be entered into on Orin alone.
=== Covenants ===
Three separate and distinct covenants are available to the Tontheonic believer.
The first covenant, that of the Muqaddasi Kitab, is also called the ancestral covenant. All Tontheonic citizens are born into this covenant as their birth right. They have the option to accept or reject it until they become confirmed in the covenant at the age of twenty Tontheonic years (using Orin's orbital cycles as the calendar; correlating to just less than 2/3 the time of the standard year). This covenant allows the believer to inherit all the ancestral blessings as well as all the temporal blessings of Tontheonic civilization. At the confirmation of this covenant, the believer is lightbound to their horse, to each and every of their fellow Tontheons, and to their Epona.
The second covenant of the Khulin Buyriq allows the believer to accept and be lightbound to a spouse and to their family, and to take the name Moriezen. This covenant also allows them to accept a permanent calling as either a Starborn or Earthborn citizen of the Tontheonic Civilization. The formation of this covenant requires the believer travelling to Orin and may happen at any time in life.
The third and final covenant allows the believer to become a member of the Sanvaaryn, holding the authority to enter other Tontheonic citizens into the covenant. This covenant lightbonds the believer to their whole family unit, to TNÞN, and have the final sealing lightbond done. To transgress this final covenant is to forfeit every blessing received.
=== Nonproselytization ===
The Moriezen do not actively seek out proselytes to their way of life. The Moriezen covenants are binding on only those who are born into the first covenant. Converts are rarely accepted, though are expected to be full participants on Moriezen society.
== Culture ==
=== Nation, Clan, Family. ===
Tontheonic Civilization is basically ordered into three basic stratifications. The family is the most basic unit, more important than the individual. Groups of families with ancestral relations form clans. These clans, in turn, form the heart and spirit of each of the twenty eight nations of the Civilization.
War between the nations, as well as feuds between clans and family, are strictly forbidden.
=== The Horse ===
The Horse is the most basic symbol of the Moriezen and represent their covenants and way of life. Starborn are known to travel with their horses in space on artificially gravitated spacecraft. 
The intentional killing of a horse, even for survival purposes, is strictly forbidden.
=== Law ===
In contrast to many other smaller civilizations, the rule of law is of paramount importance to Moriezen. It is the final authority in all matters. Breaches of the law are handled variously by forgiveness, restitution, peacemaking, or death depending on the severity of the crimes. The only crimes carrying the death penalty according to Tontheonic law is the intentional death of another human or of a horse.
=== Technology ===
Unique to the Moriezen, technology is considered a necessary evil and is almost exclusively the rule of the Starborn. Each of the worlds of the Tontheonic Civilization occupy technology levels comparable to Old Earth Classical to early Gunpowder Age. Spaceports are a rare sight on all planets.
=== Naming Conventions ===
Each Moriezen occupies three names: one personal, either Starborn or Earthborn, and one of the twenty eight National surnames.
== Government ==
The Tontheonic Civilization is a decentralized constitutional theocracy.
The central world is Orin, which also serves as the cultural and religious center. The Civilization is fairly hierarchical: each of the heads of the original twenty eight nations are collectively considered the leaders of the civilization. The heads themselves mostly attend to matters within their nations, while they appoint a representative to meet in the High Council of Orin, which collectively governs the civilization according to the writ of established law. This High Council has no legislative power, while the heads of nations retain legislative power within their own nations. The High Council is endowed with the highest office of Priesthood.
Each nation differs significantly from one another in how they are organized. It is not uncommon to find some worlds under the sole dominion of a single nation, while other worlds may have holdings from many different nations.
Under the High Council exists the Priesthood and the Courts. The writ of law as established originally on Orin, called the Khuuliin Buyriq (Writ of Law), is of equal stature to the Muqaddasi Kitab (Holy Book). Both are considered the highest authority within the Civilization. The Sanvaaryn (Priesthood) has the right to rule whether or not an action by an individual exists within the revelations of the Muqaddasi Kitab, while the Courts retain the right to interpret action in the light of Khuulin Buyriq. The Sanvaaryn offers fairly liberal interpretations. 
== Relationship to Other Civilizations ==
Throughout it's existence, the Tontheons have retained good relationships with the El'yon and the Second Dominion. During the Last War, they become incorporated into the Infinite Empire.Category:Third Trilogy
Category:Civilizations
Category:Religion