Anstolh Pratass (Old Lore)

*"When lie becomes truth, when age becomes youth. When night becomes light, when weakness becomes might. When the sea is filled with fire, when the false bloodline breaks. When the true heir returns. Then the last breath shall become the first."* -Promise of Caldors return

## Introduction

The *Anstolh Pratass*, the *Two-faced Cult*, also known as the *cult of Praton*, *doctrine of light* or *cult of humanity*, is the religion of Pratonians and denotes both its most important philosophy and its great church.

## History

The cult originates from the visions of *Uk Umora*, a niece Caldors. She was married to *Ak Asgoth Gathali*, a wise and powerful researcher with a lack of political instinct. It was her task to make her husband docile and to bring the island of Scio Gathal under her control, and thus Caldor's. At first she was a clever and power-hungry woman of clear mind and great charisma. All that changed, however, when one of the Kenos was summoned the Great Archives and shrouded the whole island in darkness and madness. While Asgoth stopped the creature, Umora fled to her chambers, but not without looking into the Kenos eyes.

This drastically changed and defiled her mind. It took a long treatment before she was able to speak again and move without twitching and convulsing. After many years, even her nightmares subsided.

The scholars believed her insanity was finally cured, but in truth it still dwelled in the dark corners of her mind. When she killed and ate her father, the new force released her old disorders. From then on, her nightmares returned and she finally decided, as the new Cora, to put an end to atheism and create a cult that truly protected her and her people from corruption by the gods and immortals.

### **The Second Cult**

At last, Umora created the Second Cult and enforced it with iron force in each of the great islands until the last Ur knelt before it.

There were countless rebellions against the new religion. Although it created a fast and radical faith among the Asguri, the Pratonians remained hostile. Although Umora had each heretic publicly kill, in the shadows the resistance grew stronger. Over the 3 eons of their reign, when faith was successfully established everywhere, 8 generals rebelled against her. Each of them failed at last in direct duell with the Cora or the attack at *G´har Domun*.

After all, only those Pratonians were allowed to rule the islands after they had personally sworn allegiance to Umora. Thus, the *First Cult* finally succeeded in maintaining the new faith in humanity and the benevolence in its own race. The original ideas of the cult were very different from the *Anstolh Pratass*. The First Cult preached honesty, grace and strength of the will. In it the Asguri were almost equal to their masters.

After the end of Umora's reign, her son ended the cult with the same violence his mother had used to established it. In that, however, he was far more successful thanks to the support of most Pratonians.

### **The Ages of Apocrypha**

Over the next millennia, the cult remained only as a series of secret Asgurisoceities that still believed into the old doctrine aswell as a cryptic teaching in the halls of the Hementor.

### **The Reign of Light**

The *Anstolh Pratass* rose many eons later under Cor Ornak. Like his distant relative, he too was plagued by visions. He went to countless healers and Psyratri to put an end to them, but nothing helped him. With each passing day, his visions became worse until he sought forbidden knowledge to free himself from it. Those visions, however, took a horrible climax when he discovered an old tome in the forbidden library in the depts of *Scio Gathal*. It was one of the six consecrated books that Umora had used to pull her readers under the spell of her ideas.

## Philosophy

"*There are only three laws nature dictates. Three laws whose validity is recognized by every thinking being. The right of birth, the right of possession and the right of will" -Cora Umora*

### The Soul and its Avatars

An important part of the Anstolh Pratass is the belief in the holy soul of every human being. Only mankind is able to possess a soul, unlike all other species or races. Although every human is born with a soul, it is not of equal value to everyone. Pratonians are born with a much stronger and more valuable soul than their Asguri slaves, one of the reasons their divinity is based on.

The soul is the core of the human will and its power to the belief of *Anstolh Pratass*. Only the strongest souls are able to live on after death.

## Patronian Saints and Ancestors

One of the most important elements of the faith of the two-faced cult are the *Asar Cor* (which directly translates to Spirits of the Kings or kingly spirits). They represent former rulers, warriors and heroes, who were raised into this state either by power or special influence, and who became immortal in the belief of Anstolh Pratass due to their superior will. From the *Ani Emegiath*, the realm of the dead, they help their children and those who call their name.

The *Anstolh Pratass* teaches that every person can ascend into eternal life through willpower and benevolence, if it hardens its soul enough in life. In order to survive in the realm of death, where gods and eldritch powers still reside, they need worship. Every Cor and every Cora automatically rises to an *Asar Cor*, as do many great rulers and generals. Many Asguri continue to pray for dead family members to ensure their survival and gain their protection.

### **Praton and Matra**

Praton and Matra are the two main *Asar Cor*. They represent not only the first two human beings but also the beginning of every human life and humanity itself.

Praton is considered both the patron saint of all Pratonians aswell as a a father figure and a gracious judge.

Matra is the mother of all people, she protects women at birth and blesses all newborn children.

### **Caldor**

Caldor is the most powerful and important of all *Asar Cor*. He is the spirit of kings and the incarnation of the will of humanity. He represents strength, power, determination and the gift to rule. He is the master of mankind and every Cor is part of him.

### **Umora**

Umora, the Sacred, is the spirit of all priests and daughters. She blesses every believer and protects especially women and young princesses.

### **Gilgog**

Gilgog represents all those pure and noble aswell as the line of kings. He protects all those who are faithful and pure in heart and believes aswell as any child of the Cor.

### **Vaskhari**

The Vaskhari, the creators of the great *Vaskh Vanei* are also worshiped, but mostly by members of their respective family. They bless every descendant of their blood as well as anyone who follows their ideals and intentions.

### **Asar Drengi**

The Asar Drengi are ancestral spirits that are not based on dead heroes and rulers but on the gods and religious symbols of defeated enemies. Most of these spirits are based on the very similar beliefs of the Jatgers, but there are still countless other *Asar Drengi* based on actual or fictional gods of other human tribes. This allowed the *Anstolh Pratass* to fit much better into defeated cultures

## Known Asar Cor

* **Praton**
* **Matra**
* **Cor** **Caldor**
* **Hementor**
* **Eriadon**
* **Chapra**
* **Neitha**
* **Cora Umora**
* Cor Rakshor
* Cora Arniel
* Cor Gilgog
* Asagor
* Uk Egalie Gathali
* Ak Ogor Hementor Bor
* Lo Alisak Eriadon

## Quotes

*"The world we live in is made of nothing but malice. All the things you will ever touch are evil. The dirt under our feet. The food that we eat. The water that carries and the stone that buries us. Elements like the animals, the heights of the sky and the depths of the earth, they are nothing but transient dirt. We came out of this filth, but we are different. The human is eternal. The human can grow, it can develop. The human is what animals can never be. It is good, for it has the gift of the will. The will frees us from our animal nature. Your will is what you should strive for, not your joys or cravings" -Sermon of the Hasgrat Anor*