Church of Azunai

The Church of Azunai was a major religion in Aranna that evolved from the Nevite faith. At times it held a major influence on politics across the continent and many times was either indirectly or directly responsible for some wars.
Members of the Church believed that the ancient hero, Azunai the Defender, ascended to godhood for his deeds in life, most notable of which was his defiance of Zaramoth the Unmaker, terror of the First Age. Although Azunai was killed in the field of battle, his spirit ascended to Godhood and his faithful believe that he now acts as a guide for the dead, helping them finish their journey by returning them to the River of Souls.
== Notable members ==
* Azunai
* Xeria
* Lady Montbarron
* Ulora
* Priestess Kelti
* Mage Trianna Lelaine
* High Priest Molochi
* Saint Hiram
* Jeyne Kassynder
* The Radiant Youth
* Sister Eleanor
== Doctrine of Faith ==
The Azunite faith appears to be an amalgamation of a number of real world religions, largely taking influence from Catholicism, Buddhism and Hinduism.
The Azunite Faith believed in worldly rewards for hard labor. This was considered much easier to understand for lower classes than the abstract and often unrewarding worship of the distant stellar emperors in the Empire of Stars. The faithful believed in the sharing of what they had for the greater benefit of everyone. Priests would gladly share food, drink and lodging freely to travelers at their shrines of passion and in exchange, said travellers would sit and listen to their sermons on the deeds of Azunai.
The Azunite faith did not explicitly discriminate between any of the warring races on Aranna. Records indicate that followers would simply have to profess their belief in the strength of the defender and pass formally beneath His sacred shield, at which point they would be accepted as a member of the Azunite clan and church.
Following a members death, Azunai would appear to them in the afterlife and help guide their soul to the River of Souls in order to for them to take part in the cyclical nature of life and death. However, there was a rare belief that those "marked by fire" would be able to cheat death by having their body pass under the shield where they would be healed of all wounds and resurrected.
Following its survival during the Second Great Cataclysm, the Azunite Church would rise in power and become more forceful in its spreading of the faith and doctrine, dropping the freedom of beliefs now replaced by zealous crusaders bent on spreading Azunai's faith to all corners and stamping out heretics wherever found.
The Catholic influence on the Azunite faith appears within the Church design and structure. Azunite structures often follow a western european catholic architecture, as often seen in Dungeon Siege 1 and 3. The hierarchy includes nuns and has a Synod at the top. The Buddhism influence largely concerns it's belief in reincarnation. A soul passing through the River of Souls will eventually have its lifeforce reincarnated into the world as a new being, though the connection between lives is considered physically irrelevant. The hindu influence largely stems from many of the older trappings and defenses within older Azunite structures, particularly multi armed beings armed with curved blades.
== History ==
=== First Age ===
The Church of Azunai actually started as an evolution of the Nevite faith. Prior to Azunai's birth and rise as the leader of his tribe, the Nevites, they believed in a core societal structure surrounding four core tenants: Sight, Blindness, Life and Death. Despite having a historically deep belief in spirituality and the importance that the River of Souls played in their lives, there is no evidence that the Nevites believed in a higher power or god.
The Nevite Faith would fade into obscurity with the Battle of the Plain of Tears as the majority of the Nevite tribe was destroyed, the few survivors being scattered throughout the world and the interbreeding with other races resulting in the loss of societal identity.
The earliest records of the Azunite faith is in 600's of the First Age as the Nevite Shrines of Passion. Following the downfall of the Nevite faith, these would be largely transformed into the Azunite Shrines of Passion. Two such notable shrines are the Azunite chapels in Stonebridge and Elddim.
Following the Battle of the Plain of Tears in 844 FA, the center of the Azunite faith would eventually relocate to Bisselburg in eastern Ehb.
=== Second Age ===
In 1080 SA, Molochi, the leader of an Azunite Synod on the edge of the Aranoi desert, found a dying Lamasu in a cave. After rescuing it and magically binding it into a golden statue, he begun misinterpreting its words and made everyone at the synod turn their back on the Azunite faith. Hiram was dispatched by the Azunite church in Bisselburg to bring them back into the fold, however he was tortured and eventually killed. The Azunite Church would canonize Hiram as a saint for his actions.
The Azunite Church would then turn to the 10th Legion for support and five 10th Legion cohorts lead by Grand Mage Olvis would force the heretics to surrender. However Olvis in his fury overstepped his boundaries and cursed the heretics to have their souls permanently bound to their corpses, making then repeatedly rise as undead in the desert and unable to pass onto the River of Souls. The leaders of the heretics, including Molochi, would be confined behind stone walls under the chapel, bound by the same curse. The Azunite Church would then reinstate new church members at the chapel to watch over and guard the area.
Meanwhile, the Azunite faith gradually began to die out in eastern Aranna. Although knowledge of it would be passed around by locals, it was generally considered an antiquated and ancient religion.
=== Third Age ===
Following the Second Great Cataclysm, the Azunite Church and Ehb were largely protected by the destruction being ravaged across Aranna due to the distance they had from the epicenter. During this period, the Azunite Church grew in power and started to exert more influence over the general population as well as becoming more politically involved. Jeyne Kassynder was born in 1245 TA and despite her origins being unknown to the church, she was raised by the Azunite faithful. Jeyne's heritage as an Archon made her powerful and charasmatic within the church.
When King Henrick was accidentally killed by ranking members of the 10th Legion who were actually trying to get him to step down in favour of his son in 1264 TA, Jeyne's heritage as the illegitimate daughter of King Henrick was revealed and she used this connection to raise a mob of angry people to call the 10th Legion traitors and have them cast out, hunting them down to extinction. This resulted in a civil war between the 10th Legion and the Azunite Church under Jeyne.
Hugh Montbarron, grandmaster of the 10th Legion, would attempt to defeat Jeyne at the mournweald, a place sacred to Jeyne and her Archon sisters. However Jeyne used the power of the dead creator god there to destroy the 10th Legion army, turning the once lush forest into a place of permanent death and decay.
Jeyne would become the leader of the Azunite church in 1266 as the 10th Legion was defeated, and the military of Ehb was reformed under the Royalists loyal to Prince Nedderic and Jeyne's Azunite crusaders.
Jeyne had the head of the Azunite church relocated to her new fortress, Azunai's Spire in western Ehb. The Royalists were forced to abandon Castle Ehb and relocated to Glitterdelve as the Azunites civil war would ravage across the country, with the Azunite Church slowly gaining ground over the Royalists. During this time, Stonebridge declared independence and became a city-state republic. Ashamed of what they had done to the 10th Legion during the purges, the city largely abandoned the Azunite faith, although they were considered neutral in the civil war.
The civil war would end in 1294 TA when survivors of the 10th Legion won the Battle of Glitterdelve alongside the Royalists, sieged Azunai's Spire and captured Jeyne Kassynder. The Azunite crusaders would be defeated by Stonebridges Automaton army in the Battle of Aegis Bay, now allied with the 10th Legion. The future of the Azunite Church after this is ambiguous, as Jeyne's fate, as well as her influence over the people and the church, is determined by the player.
==== If Jeyne is allowed to live and is pardoned ====
Jeyne would use her influence in the Azunite Church to repair the lands that were destroyed by her crusaders and the civil war. Although there were naysayers, none dared to speak against her while she was so powerful.
==== If Jeyne is arrested and held in contempt ====
Jeyne would lose her leadership of the Azunite Church and a modicum of peace would follow, however tensions would remain as many of the Azunite church believed that by all rights they should have won.
The 10th legion survivors would eventually journey back to the Azunite abbey on the edge of the Aranoi desert, following rumors of a 10th legionnaire there. After finally dealing with the undead High Priest Molochi, they discovered the source of his heresy, a lamasu soul bound in a marble statue where its powers of foresight were being treated as a godlike status. Sister Eleanor was revealed as being the descended of a notable 10th Legionnaire and her fate is ambiguous, also being left up to the player. However the Lamasu is able to use it's powers of foresight to see into the future what will happen to Sister Eleanor depending on what they choose.
==== If Sister Eleanor is convinced to return to the 10th legion ====
Sister Eleanor takes her rightful place in the resurgent 10th Legion. Among her descendents are many prominent legionnaires and even a Grand Master. She gives birth to a son, but will die before the child is three years old, saving one of her brothers in the Legion.
==== If Sister Eleanor is persuaded to stay at the Abbey ====
Sister Eleanor is eventually promoted to become one of the hierarchs of the Azunite Synod. With her influence and diplomatic approach, she will ensure in the end that the Azunite Church will turn from being an opponent of the 10th legion into a powerful ally. In return, her status as a descendent of the Du Marne family is never revealed.
== Trivia ==
* The separation between the Nevite faith and the Azunite faith is a subject of debate among the community. Dungeon Siege 2 never mentions the Nevites and only refers to the entirety of Azunai's and the Azunites history as being "Azunite", however this is likely because the tribe name Nevite became superfluous when Azunai reorganized his people into a war against Zaramoth which also invited people of all backgrounds to join his army. The name Nevite would be introduced in Dungeon Siege 3: Treasures of the Sun, as the original tribe that Azunai came from. Historical documents typically conflate the Nevite and Azunite faith into a single belief system until its multiple retcons in DS3: TOTS. 
* The concept "marked by fire" is lore-based representation of the players in Dungeon Siege 1's multiplayer. When a player is killed, they can locate a nearby statue of Azunai (Called a Ressurection Shrine in-game) and use it to resurrect themselves. Curiously, this feature was dropped in Dungeon Siege 2's multiplayer.
* The Radiant Youth's connection to the Azunite faith is ambiguous. Some people believe that he is a godlike reincarnation of Azunai himself, but this appears to be contradicted by the fact that his first known appearance is long before Azunai was born.
Category:Organizations
Category:Lore