The Collective

The Collective, or, officially, Kaĵinkutus ro'Aδerain (Tai'ora: "Common Gods of Atheryin"), is the central and most widespread religion on Atheryin. The most prominent areas of its influence are the northern Dún, the Nokana Empire, the Fissure, and Celadon. The Collective is regarded as the central belief system of several splinter religions, which choose to disregard some beliefs, or accept others that the Collective has not accepted. However, the Collective only approves of some of these splinter religions, and others they believe must be converted...
The Collective has a long line of history, its origins dating back (in non-mythical history) to the mid-Kudes Era, when Del of Reora began to communicate with the Collective gods, writing the Tenenbra Manifest in secrecy only to be later executed for heresy by Skulven worshippers. However, shortly after Del's life (as well as his son Kul, who arguably formed the first Collective Church) the Lyrians fought the lengthy War of Reformation, eventually establishing the Tyrosi Church as an official religious organization within the empire. It is often assumed Lyria can be credited for the establishment of the original Collectivist church and its base values, as the Arano pantheon that resulted from Del's writings was (and still is) largely different from the classical Collectivist pantheon.
Collectivism is referred to as a fusion or conglomeration of several worldviews and religions that are accepted by the church's higher powers. The church's main goal is to "accurately prove and disprove the existence of gods in the world", and those that can be proved as tangible and real are added into the pantheon, as well as their stories and myths. This practice originated with the Lyrian Empire, who aimed to scientifically prove and disprove the existence of gods, as it was the only way they believed to be credible. However, the Collective is often accused of warping stories from their original formats to better fit their previously existing information, leading many who they attempt to integrate still relying on their own religion's scriptures.
==Characteristics==
===Basic Beliefs===
Collectivist belief holds a particular heirarchy for gods, based (mainly) on chronological creation/birth of a god, which in turn often corresponds to power. The highest god in the religion is Laira, the ultimate force of benevolence, and regarded as the uncreated creation god-plane, within which the entire universe is contained. Equal in power to Laira—though seldom worshipped due to his chaotic nature—is Kalopsis, God of Order and Prophecy. These two are the highest of the hierarchy, but often aren't worshipped as heavily as the Apex Gods, or Creation Gods. The Kutai are one of the few remaining Collective splinter churches that worship Laira as the highest deity, as well as Kalopsis in some regions. The Apex Gods consist of Ugana, the prime embodied deity of change, and attributed as the Creation Mother and bearer to all life; Kutsal, the God of Light and Sovereign of Arkai; and Kutaru, the God of Darkness and Overseer of Death. An extensive wealth of other gods, the main elemental and basic lower gods (referred to as the Primal Gods), and the Earth-gods being the main groups. These deities represent any range of basic to complex concepts, including everything from music to the sun being pulled across the sky.
The six elements, Fire (kaan), Water (des), Earth (mor), Air (runa), Light (thas), Dark (mun), are held in high regard and worshipped as both material and celestial concepts, that form the bridge between the greater universe and the veiled mortal reality. This is largely because of fables regarding the pre-Subversion death of Ugana, when the Primal Gods, Kutsal, and Kutaru murdered her for being a vicious slavemaster. Her soul and body crashed down onto the preformed Atheryin, ripping the largest known fissure in the Palisade and dispersing her soul upon the earth, creating the magic that soon served as the rich soil for the seeds of life.
In its most original and basic forms, the Collective was founded as an organized means to attaining transcendence through good will and cooperation with others. With the evolution of the church, and the complication of the clergy system, the Collective's focus has ebbed and flowed between its original goal, and full-on imperial theocracy, depending on who heads the Kutakas at any given point in time. Oftentimes the church is accused of being focused more on its own profits and gains than the service of its people, but at the local level, many churches tend to focus on cooperation with communities themselves, rather than the whole of the religion.
Collective tradition holds that Laira, and the greater forces of the universe, are immanent within all sentient races, as well as animals. This presence of holiness within each person and animal was conceived by Kaibur, to counter the cruelty of Kutaru's soul-devouring process contained within Meirgan. This part-holy soul presence was frowned upon by Kutsal and the Primal Gods, and Kaibur was slain at Shatterpeak. Presence of this soul is believed to be the Collective's spiritual connection to the greater universe, leaving a common belief often realized only among very learned theologians, that a presence of god exists within all living things, and all that lives is hallowed.
==History==
===Skulven Religions & Early Development (until c. Kudes 877)===
General human tradition hails the appearance of man on Hithfaerthel 4 years after the Worldtrees were planted during the Provenance of Laira. Man is said to arrive on the back of the giant god-bear, Finna, calling themselves the Fínnan, and creating the oldest known human settlement, Reora. Eventually, by vague means described cryptically by weak historical records (notably the Hōfnar Runestone), the Fínnan developed loose religious practices centered around three main entities: the Fīrikes (Harbingers), Fĭnna the God-Bear (an Earth-God), and Fjara, a giant extinct volcano. From whenever their religion started to nearly Kudes 877, when the Reora Exodus occured for unknown reasons, this loose religion (called Skulven) persisted and grew zealously within Reora and small communities at the base of Fjara.
The first appearance of the basic Collective beliefs began with the first prophet, Del, a native to Reora. Born to shepherd parents on the last peaceful passing of Eolas, Del's family believed he was blessed by Fjara, but he always felt as though he lived a lie, both in his daily lifestyle and religiously. In his early 20's, while tending to a herd of sheep in his family's fields, a violent storm began to brew above the land. Del and his sheep took refuge beneath a massive Seris tree, but while the rain poured down, the lumbering tree was struck by lightning, transferring into Del, and giving him a revelation. He described in his journals that, when the tree was struck, his mind was transported to a place between reality and the absence of nothing, a pocket dimension where he watched the universe turn from above. He was guided by Kutsal, and discovered the true nature of the universe and even that which lies beyond it.
When Del was returned to Atheryin, he tirelessly began to scrawl down religious information, including the creation of the universe and various gods, but did so only in secret for the next few years. Soon, Del began to raise a family, and had his first and only son, Kul. He eventually amassed a small following of apostles, teaching the new beliefs in secret in the forests outside of Reora.
When Del was 52, his wife Frea discovered his heretical writings, and told the chiefs of Reora, who quickly ordered the man's execution atop Fjara. The execution was carried out, but Del's writings disappeared soon after his death, later found to be in the care of his apostles.
Two years later, Kul describes Reora in his continuation of his father's writings as "plagued and forsaken" and "forgotten by the Fīrikes". He details the inhabitants hastily building ships made from "weakly strung sinews and bone", deserting the village entirely, and throwing torches onto their thatch rooves as they left to "cleanse the soul" of the land. With the city ablaze, Kul gathered his few followers under the writings of his father (which, in a separate story, he found while fishing on Cape Ühn), and sailed for new salvation along with the other still Skulven Fínnan, who were grateful for his leadership, but firmly rejected his religious teachings. Eventually, all the ships came across the rather close coasts of Rón, at the Fuith River delta within the Hebena Valley.
===Hebenic Period (c. Kudes 878-808)===
The Fínnan, after finding salvation in the Hebena Valley, moved through the region nomadically in an attempt to rebuild their civilization. Kul and his followers (termed Kúlfylja) remained distinctly separate and ostracized by the Skulven followers in the valley, whom made up the majority of the migrant Fínnan. He insisted to his followers that the promised land in fact lied past Bónach, in what would later become known as the Fissure.
Skulven would often even raid Kul's people's camps, making it increasingly obvious in his mind that this was not in fact the promised land for his people. Faith in Kul began to wane, as his peaceful tendencies were not understood by the traditionally violent Fínnan. Feeling as though his gods and people had abandoned him, Kul left the valley on an exploratory pilgrimage north, to find the true promised land. Instead, he faced a brutal, murderous winter, finally finding shelter in an abandoned tower—later known as the Äsawulþ—atop a mountain peak. Kul journaled the entire experience, where he supposedly received a revelation from Thasnara within the tower, regarding the 50 Doors, which also appears in Lyrian folklore:
:: "[...] I followed the steps up the tower, into its deepest catacombs, and stumbled upon a Wall, opened by the Word. Contained within were Chatter-Halls; my body sailed through and passed the 50 Doors, of which 49 are opened by their 49 Keys. These Keys, which were given by Ūna and stabbed by Kusa, are fed through the Voice, the Word and the Call. For their vehicle is the Sword, and their test is the Doors. 49 of 50 are opened, one is to remain closed, for upon its opening, knowledge has killed the spirit, and so shall the minds of Men wreck the earth in two. 24 Calls showered from the Heavens in Heart Echoes through my spirit, and with the Keys I opened the 49 Doors, but chose not to walk through one. Here I was offered the Choice: to live in safety and watch the world turn from Above. But I could not walk through that door, for in the 8th door I saw that my Blood and Toil was to be spent on my People, or all the world would forget God, and all would be lost to those Who Walk In Darkness. So I returned from the Wall, to the place from whence I came, and rallied those poor martyred souls, to rebuild what my Father had started."
Kul returned with a new passion for his faith, and upon his return asked an elderly seamstress named Alva to create a banner for him. The banner, brandishing the symbol of a white triangle with a black triangle inverted below it, would become the central symbol for the Collective. Under this banner, Kul united his torn followers, calling their united tribe in Hebena's northern hills Dóenach.
Dóenach and the Skulven (who, according to Kul, had a semi-organized tribal nation, but no name for it has been found) had a constant defensive relationship, with the Skulven often raiding and pillaging camps the Dóenach established, kidnapping, raping, and murdering survivors they found. Desperate to protect his people, but fearful that war would destroy them, Kul prayed incessantly to the gods, while he and his people hid in caves at the foot of the northeastern mountains.
By the early winter of Kudes 810, Kul was greeted by a solitary animal: the large, buckskin, sentient horse-god Forðhima (later anglicized as Forthima). Forðhima promised Kul a herd of riding-ready horses by the next morning, asking for nothing in return. Kul was extremely gracious, and prepared his warriors for a final assault on the Skulven. While he was not one to endorse war, Kul is famously quoted saying to his warriors:
: "I am not a warrior. I am not a murderer, and I am not a warchief. But I am willing to die for my people, and my gods, and will fight to save their lives, no matter how painful, no matter how brutal."
The next day, on a foggy winter morning, Kul and the warriors from Dóenach charged into the Skulven villages, carefully ordering his men to leave those who did not attack them alone. Having never seen horses before, the Skulven fearfully ran back into their homes, many not making an attempt to oppose the warriors. Strolling relatively peacefully through the villages, Kul and his warriors raided supplies from the high chiefs in each region, killing those who ordered the executions of his followers. Stories of the raids vary, but it is said that the highest chief of the Skulven, Torbar II, dueled Kul for the freedom of his people. Kul won the duel, and subsequently killed Torbar, causing a war for succession between his sons and daughters (in early Fínnan culture, women could inherit) of unknown number, later leading to the Dissolution of the Fínnan. With their bags full of food, water canteens, and furs, Kul and his people readied themselves in the upper hills of Dóenach for the next two years, until they finally left the Hebena Valley in early spring Kudes 808, heading north for the promised land.
===The Great Migrations (c. Kudes 808-?)===
Before leaving from the Hebena Valley, one of Kul's primary apostles (known in his journals as Torid the Lion) left in the dead of night, with several hundred followers at his side. Torid and his supporters believed that Kutsal was not the true god of light and life, and that the true, sovereign god, was Kabür, Kul's early Collective equivalent to the Skulven sun deity Karabüre. Torid and his people, the Thjun, went on to discover the central Himara Peninsula, and form the first of the Himaran kingdoms, what would later become Thunna. This story became known among Himaran folklore as the Flätbr̥.
Kul and his people headed north through the lower Byne Mountains in search of their promised land. The prophet and his followers had several false positives along the way, until they arrived into the vast expanse of the Fissure, which everyone in Kul's company believed was the true promised land. However, finding that the southern regions of the Fissure were too rocky and barren to support any civilization, they headed further north, where the group eventually found the Pillars of Dāin, atop a large hill. The surrounding landscape was much more fertile than the rocky south, however, there was still not enough arable land for farming. Kul and his people agreed to building their great city at the foot of the hill, but sent several scouts northwards further to find a more arable landscape. Eventually, they found several distributaries of the Kunlas River throughout a region of low hills and plains, later named Feonadh, for the kingdom soon to follow. Farmers from the southern in-progress city made their way to these fertile river basins, and began to farm numerous crops, for export back to the main city, at the time named Fānŏn.
===Death Of The Sun-King (c. Kudes 807)===
The timing of events is blurred here. Please see this period's page for more information.
It was only after the establishment of the small communities in Feonadh and the village below the Pillars when Kul began to grow intrigued with the powers of the strange monoliths, and became the first to approach the structure directly. This had been avoided consistently by townsfolk and other peoples, because of legends surrounding the site, including anything from large, bull-like guardians, to the site simply inducing a mind-killing insanity upon approach. Kul famously braved the Pillars, fighting off what he referred to as "tainted blood" and  "phantoms, [...] from times without measure" while he slowly ascended the hill. Upon reaching the massive structure's entrance, he marveled at the beauty inside:
: "With my arrival, and first step into the half-outdoor chamber, the light from outside was dim and greyed, and the floors and walls illuminated blue-green shades as I approached. The grounds were carved and filled with the glow-stone [Aureus], regaling epics long-since passed. I approached the center of the large room, halfway between the entrance and the stairs to the great pillars' pedestal, on the middle convergence of the large central swirl on the floor. Here on the ground was a single, disc-shaped ornament in the floor. When looked into, it showed a landscape of lanterns and colors like stars, so vastly overwhelming that one is inclined to look away, but continue staring... On approach of the pillars, which were high as mountains and wide as the greatest rivers. In them the carved story continued, and their light pulsed gently as I neared. I walked to the middle-most pillar, whispers echoing around my body as I drew nearer. I reached out to the monolith, where a central, eye-level carving sat, and touched the alien letters. As I did, a voice cried out to me from behind—Sha-Ko Num—like thunder it struck my ears and I recoiled in shock. And it showed me the sky cracking, and the sun breaking free. And it showed me the Sun-King, whom I shall never meet."
It is debated why Kul was given what appears to be a premonition of both the death of the Sun-King, and the Fall of Eolas. Most Collective purists believe the Pillars had the power to stop the ordeal, and the Sun-King had something to do with the process; others believe that Kul simply received the premonition to protect his own people, who were already attempting to spread further north.
Regardless, Kul returned from the hill to a village in tatters. Apparently unknown to Kul, he had disappeared for weeks on the hill (what would later be referred to as Trance Theory), and a legion of tall, olive-skinned people (note that texts make no distinction of whether they were man or elf) who had taken temporary residence in the town after the destruction of their western kingdoms by "phantomic shapes, moving like snakes in sand" that came from the ocean. Their leader, the self-proclaimed Sun-King, regaled the villagers with the tale of the fall of their home kingdoms. Kul was frightened by the visitors—he had seen them in his premonition and was fearful, for he knew they were not the real peoples of the kingdoms, who were foretold to arrive 10 days later, with "stones of life" in a mahogany lockbox. Most notably, though, Kul knew he was never meant to meet the real Sun-King. 
Kul's remedy was to bring the Sun-King to the Pillars. Upon arriving in the structure, the King shrunk away in fear of the place. The Aureus within ceased its natural glow, and darkness enveloped the structure, while the Sun-King became lost in its emptiness. Before the King, Kul stood with his birchwood staff, at the center of the swirled floor carvings. Holding up the staff, it was revealed by Kul that this "Sun-King" was in fact an Urus Demon, whose followers in the village were lesser legion demons who had formed a soul-conglomeration under his single power force. Kul cited that the demon's body cracked open and revealed a horrible beast, and Kul battled with the beast until, finally, he summoned the power of god, and struck down the demon, disintegrating its form into nothingness. According to Collective myth, the birchwood staff was imbued with fragments of the demon's soul, and has also retained sheer holy power within its grain. This was the first known account of a demon being completely killed, rather than deconstructed or banished.
Kul returned to his village after the ordeal, and awaited the real appearance of the Sun-King's people. Sure enough, they arrived, and with them was no Sun-King. The people regaled, with the aid of Fónnish translators they brought with them, about the place they called their home, and the Sun-King, who died bravely to save his people. According to the survivors, the Sun-King told them to take three relics with them when they abandoned the sacked city—Kul describes these items as "stony things; they breathe like animals, but are cut of beautiful stone, and hold immense power within". The three items, now known as the Svuljen Stones, were gifted readily to Kul's people, as their priest exclaimed: "Our culture and people are doomed, and dying; we live on through you." The story of the former Shalikos and Myora kingdoms, as well as Sun-King himself, were recorded by Kul's people, and is now well-known as The Death of the Sun-King.
What was particularly significant about the event was the immense amount of church artifacts the time produced. The Svuljen Stones and the Seer's Staff are some of the most important artifacts in Collective history, and have been coveted for ages since. The Sun-King's importance, more specifically, is debated. The Collective primarily upholds that the figure was some kind of messenger or avatar of Kutsal or Celarus. Others, specifically Theosophists, believe that the Sun-King was one of several wandering spirits at the time, much like King Harrod/King Bran IV. Many believe that the Sun-King's death and contact with Kul's people was a pivotal turning point in history, as it seems to coincide with several regional and global events. Either way, he remains a confusing part of Collective myth, and an even more intriguing figure from a historical point of view.
The period also established Kul and all the coming Collective prophets and saints as powerful figures wielding the "sword of god", as well as confirming the in-born ability of their kings and prophets to predict future events. Notably, as well, the Pillars of Dain became an important landmark of spiritual power.
===The Fall of Eolas (c. Late Kudes 807)===
The story of the Sun-King and his people became particularly intriguing to Kul, as the Pillars related it to the upcoming Fall of Eolas, one of the most pivotal events in Kyros' history. The Sun-King's people—now called "Fjoruga" by the Fónnan—clearly believed their ruler's death was tied to the coming disaster, but their broken use of Fónnish prevented much elaboration on the subject. Worried, Kul consulted the Pillars continually over a period of several months, disappearing for weeks at a time fairly often. Over time, Kul became more and more detached and prophetic, and attempted multiple times to warn his people about the Fall. He stated, however, that the Fall would never destroy their home at all, and would instead destroy lands much further north. But each time Kul consulted the Pillars, it showed him deeper and deeper into the future, and revealed the massive domino effect of the entire ordeal.
Specifically, Kul states in his journals and to his people:
"When the sun cracks the sky, and the Nort is destroyed, two kings will call our people north, and will be met by a bloodthirsty people; I cannot tell you this is not the way, for the gods will tell you it is so, but know this: that your actions will create both suffering, and prosperity, for us all. An axis has been shattered, and it was out of our power to stop it. We can do nothing now but listen, and wait, and try to survive what comes."
The prophecy of the coming Fall created mass panic within Fónnin, and within the general Feonadh region. The Fjoruga, who were already several thousand strong, began to have internal quarrels among their people. The exact nature of their arguments is unknown, but the group eventually garnered a decent amount of Fónnan followers, and split into two groups. The groups, known as Pankaraan Khon-Djum and Pankaraan Hekame, eventually fled the Fissure for other lands (taking with theim their Fónnan followers), heading east and south, respectively. Kul attempted to quell the panic of people within his city, and succeeded for the most part in uniting people under his banner to pray for safety.
When the Fall happened, the ripple of its impact could be felt for thousands of miles. Kul and his followers have described the ground shaking, and a bright light in the north, coupled with incoming clouds of ash that sweeped the continent. That winter (and a subsequent period of several years afterward) was especially cold, and devastated the Feonadh region, especially in the north. Several years of agricultural failure and widespread death across all of Atheryin was relieved by rumors of "Wolf-Men" from the furthest east, who ventured across the torn landscape and scaled the Adder Colossus, using strange magic to destroy the ash clouds. This was a pivotal moment for the Collective church, as it built the Lyrian legend to a god-like degree (as it did in many other cultures), allowing the Lyrians to later standardize, organize, and add to the beliefs of the Fónnan, and form the true Collective church, as it is known to date. After the return of sunlight and milder winters, the Feonadh agriculture boomed, and populations over the coming years skyrocketed, so much so that large groups in the north of the region began to expand northwards into Celadon by following the Kunlas River, and settled the areas that the Fall had flattened.
===Death of Kul (c. Late Kudes 775)===
Kul had a premonition of his own death, and dealt with the news accordingly. He finished the final volumes of the Chronicle of Kul, what became one of the central books in the Tenebra Manifest, and passed the writings on to his three apprentices and chief apostles: Áki the Oakheart, and Cead & Ruair Háthduin. Cead and Ruair, two sons from humble backgrounds as farmers outside of Fónnin, allowed Áki to hold onto Kul's scriptures, as they had a destiny of their own to fulfill.
On the day of Kul's death, he led a group of his followers into the halls of Daín, and gave them a final sermon on life and the future to come, which would later become known as The Deliberatio. The entire event was recorded by Áki, and after the sermon, Kul had all but his chief apostles leave the holy place, and he passed away while meditating at the center swirl of the temple. He was later entombed within Daín, behind the pillars in a small room known as the Reliquary.
==Practices==
===Marriage===
The Collective's marriage ceremonies are typically very joyous occasions hosted by the church itself. Their structure consists of a beginning ceremony, in which all attendees are required to bestow a gift to the couple to be wed, and are greeted by the bride-to-be and groom-to-be, as well as their parents or other family. After everyone has arrived, the ceremony begins in the main hall of the chapel or cathedral, where all the attendees sit in pews or on balconies. The groom and the bride are both escorted into the hall together by clergymen, all thee way up to the large stone altar at the front of the worship hall. The two stand on opposite sides of the altar, upon which sits a large (usually kiyi) document describing their legal bind to the church and the gods. Once both have signed, the leader of the chapel or cathedral (either a priest or an Apostle, depending on location) will read their rites of marriage to them, and then allows the two to kiss in symbolism of their bind to each other. After the ceremony, a large feast is held inside the church, and in some places, a fair deal of drugs are supplied for everybody's enjoyment.
===Funerals===
Worshipers in the Collective are very particular about their burial rituals. Unlike marriage, Collective funerals are very non-traditional in style, and are strange to outside cultures.
The ritual starts with the body being bound, usually mummified. Typically a person is buried with rings, jewelry, marbles, money, and other tokens their loved ones believe will help them find their way to spiritual transcendence, and ward off Kutaru. The bodies are then put in a coffin of a certain wood and metal makeup, depending on their astrological sign. Once it contains a body, the coffin is set inside a dug-out area in a family burial mound, which is then sealed with a stone slab engraved with the deceased person's name and funeral rites, as well as their lifespan and, curiously, the names of their pets. This is done to allow the animals to guide their masters to transcendence, and keep them on the correct path. Their pets' souls are bound to them forever, even when the reincarnation cycle is finished.
The more curious bits of Collective funerals, are the issues of where the body is being buried. the family burial ground must be within a 10 mile radius of the deceased person's home, so that they will be comforted in their spirit life. Also, unless the deceased has died in war, the body must be bound and mummified within one day of the death, or else the spirit will be lost and become a lingering ghost. Significant tokens that the deceased receive through their lifespan (i.e. swords, rings, amulets, etc.) must also be buried with the body unless they have left said heirlooms to their family.
==History==
The earliest beginnings of the Collective date back to the Lyrian Tyrosi Church, as it was the first church to start the idea of selecting certain deities based on how much technical evidence there was. However, the Lyrians at this time set the basis for the Collective itself, as tangible evidence of gods were tested scientifically, and all conclusions they reached as plausible were accepted into the pantheon. However, after the destruction of the Lyrian Empire, previous Tyrosi worshipers in the northern Dún lost the organization of the church, and they took it upon themselves to create a new, more universally acceptable church, based on the old Lyrian information as well as new deities and myths, such as those of the Arano and southern Dún. The new church, established in Nún, began to grow from a simple community belief system to a widespread religious sovereignty.
==Pantheon==
Note: This list will change as more lore is added
Kutsal - God of Light, Sovereign of Arkai
Kutaru - God of Darkness and Death, King of the Maw
Kalopsis - God of Order and Prophecy, the Gameskeeper, second Origin Spirit
Ugana - God of Life, the Creation Mother
Laira - The Universe, Everything, the first Origin Spirit
Andain - God of Protection, Guardian of Cadin
Lythus - Assigned to keep Time Orderly by Kutsal