Tiankamtoism

Tiankamtoism is a two-branched polytheistic faith that originates in northern Ohoroh, specifically the Tshenlai Peninsula and Herenami Isle. It is the state religion of many nations and has a schism that splits the faith into the Tshenlai Punctilious and the Herenami Ecletic.
==Beliefs==
Tiankamtoism is the belief in the pantheon of greater and lesser gods. From the greatest, the God of the Sun to the lesser God of carp. Almost any concept or object has a deity associated with them, although reverence of the minor gods is very rare without specific circumstances. It is believed that when a soul leaves the body at death it is judged by each and every god. If they are found wanting by too many of the divinities they are thrown into the deserts of the hells, to wander for one hundred years before returning to Oryndiil as a lower being. If found pure by many of the divinities the soul is granted an eternity of paradise amongst the gods, but may return to the mortal plane whenever they please.
No matter the result, the faith is a strict conformer to the idea of reincarnation be it willing or unwilling and therefore life on the upper continent held lesser value to the first adherants to the faith allowing for acts of great cruelty to ravage the lands. This was brought into check by the first form of theocracy under the Tiankamto faith, the reign of the Tenogadi.
==Theocracy, the Schism and the Tenogadi==
In the early days of the faith great massacres occured as a result of the now accepted and indoctrinated belief in reincarnation. Without realizing the consiquence of ending life, and the value of it the number killed in the name of 'the faith' grew and grew. On the Herenami Isle the old faiths had been scattered by the shockingly swift rise of Tiankamtoism, spreading so far as to become the faith of many on the mainland. Before the faith became associated with murder and bloodshed, which was strictly against the tennants of the Goddess of Life, a wise man from one of the prominant clans began to preach the words of the Gods.
This preachers did not damn other faiths, nor did he condone violence. He traveled from clan to clan forcing the feudal lords to accepts the principles of the Greater Gods or renounce their faith so no more would die in the name of their 'holy purge'. So successful was this preacher that he earned the loyalty of many of the lords, fearful for their souls in the next life and seeking forgiveness.
The Preacher called together the Feudal lords to humble themselves before the Gods, the central lords donated a portion of their realm, and the further lords donated wealth and supplies. From this the preacher created the Divine Seat of the Tenogadi. A sanctuary of the faith where the preacher would rule over all matters of religion, he took the title Tenogadi,' 'the Father of the Faith'.
The Tenogadi's role diminished immediately after the preacher died. His successor, brother to the local neighbouring Feudal Lord was chosen for his great learning, but detested the Tenogadi's claim over authority of the Faithful. He abolished any rights to order the Feudal lords and instead initiated a genuine fatherly role for the Tenogadi.
Despite the removal of control from the Tenogadi, many Feudal lords continued to pay tribute to him as if he were their liege. This continued until the death of the second most influencial Tenogadi, resulting in the total breakdown of faith on the Island of a Thousand Winds. His successor, another brother of a Feudal Lord held no respect for the other lords of the realm, or truly for the faith he was now the leader of. The total lack of confidence in the Tenogadi caused a schism within the faith.
As the Warring States Era erupted on the Island of a Thousand Winds the Tenogadi's role became an increasingly less religious one, and far more political. Granting religious pardons, blessings and even separations between Feudal lords and their consorts. The continually dimished and bullied role of the Tenogadi led the faithful of the Tshen Empire, controllers of the Tshenlai Peninsula to disregard the rule of any 'faith of the faith'. This established the Punctilious Tiankamto Movement which remains to the present day the form of Tiankamtoism that is observed on the Peninsula. The original faith with the Tenogadi as it's leader was later deemed Eclectic Tiankamtoism.
The Tenogadi remained an independent and entirely theocratic title until the rise of the Kotorteiate of the Herenami which conquered the Divine Seat whilst sweeping across the island. When the Tenogadi perished he was forced to name the Kotortei his successor combining the title of the Tenogadi with the Kotortei in the early 700s AC. Over the next two centuries the Tenogadiate would claim the entire Tshenlai Peninsula, long free from the Tshen Empire, in which Eclectic Tiankamtoism were forced upon the Tshenlai.
At it's very peak the Tenogadiate was obliterated by the Casorian Empire which was at it's height and sweeping across the continents of Oryndiil. At it's height of glory the faithful were crushed under the heathen invaders. Over two milenia would see literally thousands of men attempt to call themselves Tenogadi and rebel against the Casorians. It was only in the early 26th century when the Casorian Empire was finally in total decline that the Herenami were free once more to act. The Tiankamto faithful rose up as one, Tshenlai and Herenami combined to expell the Casorians.
By 2550 AC, the Tshenlai had defied the Herenami and broke from them entirely. Now a bastion of free nations adhering to the Punctilious teachings the Herenami looked inwardly for religious solace. There had not been a true Tenogadi for two milenium and the ruling Kotortei could not trace his ancestry back to the divine line and was denied the title by the still autonomous feudal lords.
In 2886 AC, the final Kotortei of the united Herenami Kotorteiate perished leaving his crown to his daugter's husband. Upon ascending the throne the new monarch revealed his bloodline, the Clan Maki could trace themselves back as a cadet branch of the original Tenogadiate dynasty. Almost ignoring how he had gained the crown he called himself the Great Reviver of the Eclectic Tiankamto faith. Tenogadi Jimmu and his descendants rule over the Herenami Rex, the 'successor' state of the original Tenogadiate.
Category:Religion