Dy'lonism

Dy'lonism is a monotheistic religion born present in the Drakesland and followed among Mohadi. The cult has its own clerical structure and rites, as well as an extensive myth that narrates the origins of the beliefs and traditions.
==Background==
It is known that the Mohadi people originate from Dy'lon, the ancestral city belonging to all Mohadi. It was a grand city of wonder, but like all good things it had to be felled... destroyed. It was deposed by betrayal and armies many sizes larger than anything we are able to witness today. But, even through destruction, its Spirit lives on in the hearts of the Mohadi, albeit much different than what was intended... By the ashen rivers of Dy'lon did they weep, remembering the days of its holiness and granduer. A people, an exodus, o' Dy'lon! Its burning fires covered their path...both forward and backwards, both their doom and salvation! The exodus across the deserts spun the Mohadi into a hardfought frenzy for survival, where the children were all taught to "Remember Dy'lon, and all we hold sacred to keep us alive." Dy'lon was gone, reduced to ashes. Its Gods, the Gods of the Mohadi, lost to the emerging glass beneath its burning sand. The generation responsibility for leading the Mohadi to safety, to Eldham and Asturus and Bazafkan, remembered. Yes, they remembered, but they were absent in the forefront of their attention, for they had betrayed them and left the city to be destroyed. Pain and suffering, but struggle and perserverance, substituted their holiness and become a monolith to all Mohadi. It become virtuous and moral to be a survivor: to be temperate, a steward, and a struggler, a martial warrior capable of earning his own. The Mohadi must have never took more than their share, and must endure hardships morally and in unison.
The consequences of the virtues and necessities of survival pushed upon the youth of the Mohadi, especially under such pressure, led to misinterpretations and mistakes. 'Remember Dy'lon', yes, remember Dy'lon and his teachings. His? His. His teaching, his advice, his commandments. He is the spirit of Mohadi survival, who watches over them and guides their way in clairvoyance. Dy'lon was now the personified virtues that were taught by their parents and the traits that kept the Mohadi alive. Even now the current ethos of the Mohadi is downstream from these teachings, like retaining unity and honour, consuming less than one's share, and self-defense. To the young Mohadi, the mothers and fathers of grand cities like Alefpamohadi, Arak-Kapharat, and Verdesburg, Dy'lon was no longer a city, place, or a homeland; rather, the spirit of survival and the Mohadi people. A true God. He and his teachings were the way of handling their hardships, representing the stressed upon and needed Diligence, Temperance, and Discipline. It was the Patience and Perserverance, the need to be Harsh in order to compete within their shattered world.
The mythos only continued to grow. Dy'lon, their God, guided them in their every step, but only through the Senses Beyond. When it came to the corporeal, physical realm there was a torch-bearer, the Hefaz, who carried a flame that was sparked from the very beginning of the Mohadi exodus from Dy'lon.  Whenever the light of the Mohadi people began to fade and falter, they would relight it and carry the flame on. It quickly became a tradition and a source of morale for the Mohadi, and it survives on into modern Eldham. The fire of the torch was used to light the flame in the Masjedee of Alefpamohadi, and it has quickly assumed the nickname of "the Eternal Flame." As per tradition, the head of each Masjedee is called the Hefaz, and his underlings Hefazmen. With the Eternal Flame established, the Mohadi would soon arrive at a crossroads of rivers in what is now called Asturus and Bazafkan. The Hefaz, now canonized as Abdal Bajahyet, was witness to words straight from Dy'lon himself. He heard and he felt them, but in consequence his eyes were robbed of sight. All of this wisdom was granted in seconds, and the Hefaz fell to the ground, sending the torch bearing the Eternal Flame barreling towards the river. The Mohadi watched in fear as it sunk into the river, but instead of being snuffed out the area around where it had sunk was instead set ablaze. A young man who would become the first Hefazman, his name since lost to time, would sprint with all the swiftness his famined bones could conjure, and light another torch with the fire upon the river. This miracle, if it was one at all, was the sign to the Mohadi that it was time to stop fleeing, and fight once more.
== Abdalism & the Mohadi Canon==
Abdal Bajahyet, the Blind 'Olo-azim' and the Last Torch-bearer, would go on to write the Mohadi Canon, the Mohadi's magnum opus on both Civil and Religious law. It would detail the history of the Mohadi, their organization, their culture, and their religion in one concisive streak of ink. While the Mohadi do not have anything similar to Saints, the importance and contributions of Bajahyet led to the creation of the title of *Abdal*, meaning something in the sort of saint. It is reserved to this day to the most pious individuals.
Abdal Bajahyet would die soon after writing the religious testament of the Mohadi Canon, but his close colleague Jameel Ajaxi'tizadshah would continue to ellaborate on his writings. While he has so far refused to take part in religious matters, he has added onto the Mohadi Canon in other ways. He has introduced civil law and cultural trademarks to the Mohadi, as well as self-government.
==The Masjedee==
The settlement of Asturus and Bazafkan caused limited changes to the religion of Dy'lonism (aka the Spirit of Dy'lon). Masjedees were now constructed as concrete places of worship. They are headed by the Hefaz and staffed by the Hefazmen. There is no central authority in Dy'lonism, instead the Mohadi people autonomously worship their god of Dy'lon, which preaches living by virtue over any type of worship. However, while there may be more than one Masjedee in a single city or surrounding area, they must all submit to the jurisdiction of the Jasa Hefaz, though this position is not clearly defined, and the boundaries never quite clear.
== List of Dy'lonist Terminology ==
* Masjedee: A Mohadi Mosque.
* Abdal: A Mohadi tradition title for Saint.
* Hefaz: A torch-bearer of the Eternal Flame. The head of a Masjedee.
* Jasa Hefaz: The dominant Hefaz over a specific area.
* Olo-azim: To be one of the Olo-azm means to be a prophet or mystic of sorts.
* Abdal Bajahyet: The Last Torch-bearer and writer of the Mohadi Canon.
* The Eternal Flame: The flame carried from Dy'lon all the way to Alefpamohadi and the Mohadi settlements in Eldham.
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Category:Traveler's Era