Sofalssian Orthodoxy

Sofalssian Orthodoxy is the religious system of several Yeharene city states, as well as formerly the island state of Chalpa in body of water known to Yeharenes as the Inner Sea and to the Syanese as the Parelsa. There is also a small population in the Tālmoänni state in southern Saiän, where they are known as Todaiäri ('Twelvers').
The religion originates from the Temple of Twelve Gods and Twelve Thousand Angels in city of Sofalss, presently known as the Sofalssian Divine State.
Sofalssian religion was founded by Zarak Uraz and signifigantly developed by Mannak, who are both recognized as Prophets in Sofalss. A number of Disinias such as Bohar Raamu and Thetur Öz have contributed to supplementing and dogmatizing the beliefs as core of theocratic regime and worldview.
Sofalssian religion shares the twelve deities, creation myth, many rituals and some folklore with traditional polytheism practiced by majority of Yeharene city states but introduces a story about the man's sin and fall of a god, cosmic conflict between gods and daemonic forces and more refined ideas about various entities, reincarnation and structure of reality.
 
Holy book of the Sofalssian Orthodoxy is known as Ar Yetša.
==Creation==
The Yeharene creation myth begins with a dark and cold World (Ciel), whose soul is in deep slumber. Creator (Kurushuen) ascends at the immensely great lone mountain of Súga-kazul, awakens the sleeping world spirit and creates a Mother Bird (Famfarta Didalia) from the stone, splitting the mountain into two peaks. Feathers of the great primordial bird form clouds and it lays golden and silver eggs which become Sun and Moon. The bird perishes and its bones become more mountains while its soul-blood flows to form the seas as water. Creator makes love to the awakened world spirit, who gives birth from the Creator's seed to first of the Younger Gods, plants, animals and finally mankind. Creator then shapes the cycle of rebirth with Heavens and Netherworld above and below the World respectively, which gives souls and life to the mortal creatures. His Creation almost complete, the Creator separates the siblings Sun and Moon from each other forever to guard the skies at day and night respectively. Moon greatly laments this and her tears form a sea of stars. His existence spent, Creator fades away without a word.
==Planar Structure of Creation==
==The Dharukh==
The Dharukh (Rukh's Fall) is a central event in Sofalssian religion. While originally noble and pure, mankind over time grew arrogant and sinful, turning away from gods and into destructive pleasures, murder and sloth, while the Gods - abandoned by their Creator and their powers weakened by corruption of the world - were driven into conflict between each other for faith of men and dominance in Heavens. At Dharukh, the god Rukh cast forbidden magic to seek knowledge from beyond the Creation to rescue it from chaos. Instead, his spell summoned the accummulated Evil (Uje) in souls of Mankind and tore in the World Spirit herself a hole to abyss, revealing the Har Magatha. Drawn in by weak human souls to feed on, Great Daemons thus emerged from darkness.  The other Gods were furious and cast Rukh from heavens as punishment. The wounded deity falling in flames into the sea caused a great flood that drowned many godless men. At Sheak's insistence the Twelve Gods together pledged to banish the Daemons and sent Angels to the chosen righteous man - Zarak Uraz of the Yeharene people - to make new alliance with Mankind.
==Elder Gods==
===Ar Ciela===
Mother Spirit, the World's Will and representation of life in all things that came from the Creation. She gave birth from Creator's final seeds to mankind and first four of the Younger Gods (Rukh, Xalapathor, Vorlag and Sasha). Ar Ciela communicates very rarely, in feminine voice and is probably unable to take up a tangible form anymore. Of all the Twelve Gods she she was hurt the most by the ripple in universe caused inadvertly by man's evil and Dharukh, which has given her once gentle personality a ferocious streak. Maintaining natural order of the World itself against Daemonic magic pouring from Har Magatha now takes up most of her strenght at all times. Her symbol is a tree.
===Sheak===
The Sun - a fierce, proud and vain deity of light, power, males and civilization. Sometimes known as the King of Gods. He gifted fire to the mankind in distant past and is more involved in their survival and progress than many other deities. Sheak is the principal patron of the Yeharene temple of Sofalls and holds a divine Syastan in the skies on a throne of flames. He hates Daemons and leads the war to destroy them. Married with Sasha, though sometimes mistreats her due to his self-adoration. Land east of the holy Súga-kazul and the Metafane mountain range is domain of the Sun and fire-based magic is subsequently stronger there and eastern Yeharene men should pray to him at midday. His symbol is a sun disk.
===Maen===
Moon goddess, Sorceress of the Night Sky that holds a court within the sea of stars. Deity of songs, magic, females and time. Though mostly bevevolent, Maen is considerably more cunning, mysterious and capricious than Sheak, prefers indirect methods to intervene in world affairs and is thought to have a sarcastic sense of humour. Married to Vorlag, longs to reunite with her brother Sheak; this may be a sisterly love or a forbidden incestous desire. Land west of the holy Súga-kazul and the Metafane mountain range is spiritual domain of the Moon, fire-based magic is subsequently stronger there and western Yeharene men should pray to her at midnight. Her symbol is a moon crescent.
==Younger Gods==
===Rukh===
The Masked God, burned by Sheak's flame, wounded by Sujizda's spear and cast from the heavens by Maen's sorcery due to a crime of casting forbidden magic that together with corruption of  human souls caused the disastrous flood in the North and opened a dark gateway in the planes. This event is known to Yeharenes as Dharukh (Rukh's fall). Rukh recovered from almost complete death due to mercifulness of Sasha who sent an Angel in shape of albatross to nurse him. He ascended to Heavens through a path of painful purgatory to seek forgiveness from his elders and subsequently took residence deep in the Netherworld as repentance for his crime. From there Rukh guides and judges souls that enter the realm of death.
===Xalapathor===
God of sea, waves and earthquakes. Patron of the fishermen and boatsmen, governs a kingdom far below the waves. Powerful magician but incabable of using fire, his realm is colder and darker the further one goes from Sheak's rays and Maen's pale light. Xalapathor harbors an unrequited love to Panthalena. He may appear as a dolphin to humans.
===Vorlag===
The Horned God, ox-faced deity of wisdom and healing. Patron of elders and also oversees the rite of burial. Often favoured by sages, scribes and those who seek to interpret omens. Has a very distant personality. Married to Maen.
===Sasha===
Deity of marriage, family, wind and skies. A loving female deity that's married to Sheak but can have ferocious temper, manifesting in thunder. Rain is generally interpreted as Sasha's tears.
===Gamargh===
God of mountains and stone, an one-eyed dwarf that can mold earth within certain limits. Lives deep in a realm under the mountains, thought to have a close relationship with the underworld further below his domain and overlook dark tunnels leading to the Amber Gate. Because of this burials often contain a gift to him. Son of Maen and Vorlag. Appears to men sometimes as a mountain goat with a missing eye. Patron of mining and engineering.
===Sujizda===
Virgin goddess of disciplined war and justice, wields a divine spear. Daughter of Sheak and Sasha. Patron of maidens, control of emotion and warriors, an uncompromising and unforgiving deity with a concience as sharp and clean as a shard of volcanic glass. She is Sheak's right hand in the fight against Daemonic threat but her hatred of the unpure is cold and silent compared to the Sun's fury.
===Zhelanoor===
God of the forests, animals, nature and plantlife. A deity with wild, curious personality and distinct shade of bloodlust. Zhelanoor is more involved in world of beasts than of men. Blood sacrifices to him may deter his beasts from assaulting men. Worshipped mostly by people in forests. Often appears in shape of a deer or wolf. Son of Sheak and Sasha. Married to Panthalena but well known for promiscuity.
===Panthalena===
Goddess of trade and travel who guides merchants those who're lost and exhausted on their ways. Also the messenger of gods that has a calm, determined personality. Commonly takes up a shape of eagle and enjoys flying between corners of the World and Heavens. Possibly the deity best informed of news and rumours due to her extensive travels. Daughter of Maen and Vorlag. Married to Zhelanoor but rarely actually lives with him.
===Hareztesya===
Daughter of Zhelanoor and Panthalena that fell in love with a mortal man, manifested herself as human and faced suffering to safeguard her beloved's village against will of her divine elders. Deity of bountiful harvest, beer, sensual love and fertility that is chiefly popular amongst farmers.
==Twelve Thousand Angels==
Angels (Fwaliri) are magically crafted servants of the gods in divine realms and occasionally deliver prophecies or warnings to the world of men, or interfere with events there directly. Though originally soulless, the Gods soon saw that even with their mightiest sorceries a magical thing without a Soul could not permanently maintain their form nor make judgments. Thus they combined their strenght to have Angels drink from the River of Souls before they pass the Amber Gate to the Nether.
Souls of Angels therefore once belonged to men, though no longer have most of their former taint. There are at all time exactly 12,000 Angels, one thousand per deity. If an Angel is destroyed another soul is chosen to join with an Angel in the realm of their respective deity.
The hosts of angels are commanded by twelve Archangels, represented by the twelve constellations that can be seen in the southern sky at clear nights:
* Leärez
* Dzijya
* Somag
* Zhaki
* Finnyl
* Eryshenia
* Loocherien
* Uihaez
* Gogura
* Hešyel
* Rapatra
==Nineteen Daemon Lords of Har Magatha==
According to the Sofalssians the First Prophet Zarak Uraz foresaw in omens that the Dharukh would cause a ripple in the world, opening secret pathways to realms beyond, depths even deeper and darker than the Underworld. His fears were confirmed when the Nineteen Great Daemons of Har Magatha were summoned. The path is open. It can no longer be closed.
Daemons (Zogithri), crawling and sneaking through shadows, willingly possess the souls of the weak-willed who contract with them for temporary benefit of black magic. Blood of all but few eventually becomes daemonic and their mind filled with evil, lust and murder, eating away at heart of the World. Sofalssian Temple, blessed with power of Twelve Gods and Twelve Thousand Angels, seeks to shape the chosen Yeharene people into spear raised against the threat. According to the Temple's dogma, Daemons cannot be forgiven or parleyd with. They must be destroyed. Bloodlines dirtied with blood of Daemons must be eradicated and their servants converted or subjected to slavery for nineteen hundred generations.
The Great Unpure Ones of Har Magatha:
*Yrr-Zheogad - the Chaos
*Ag-Narr - the Filth
*Maluk- the Plague
*Zefkyel - the Bloodied
*Yešmu - the Swarm
*Shaelzh - the Serpent
*Radygh - the Wrathful
*Czhehed - the Whore
*Kul-Mara - the Dreamer
*Vödzhoor - the Craven
*Iuvoog - the Schemer
*Tigul-Umma - the Spider
*Näyilea - the Rat
*Ygghaz - the Slothful
*Livurmud - the Vulture
*Zhaion - the Proud
*Gyulanarz - the Devourer
*Ys - the Unknown
Category:Yeharenes
Category:Religions