Intolaban Religions

The **Intolaban Religions** is composed of the religions of Intolan, Markevean, Hadaktian, and Cranaikt, which all adhere to the belief that a supernatural being called Intol is the supreme deity and patron to all of reality and has no defined gender. They also believe that there exists an afterlife which is inhabited by supernatural beings and that the universe is inherently less pure than the afterlife. They also all believe that all of realms and levels of reality were once timeless and without feature and that when Intol perceived himself the whole of creation was formed. Most also believe in blood sacrifices.

## Intolan

A religion in the Intolaban Religion Group that primarily believes that Intol is the supreme deity over a chaotic realm of divine beings and ghosts and over reality less so. It is popular in Vilita and Arakt. Its followers believe that Intol only interacts with mankind whenever he sees it needs to follow a path that he so wishes mankind to take when the divine beings he oversees do not do so themselves. They believe that Intol permitted the physical universe to be made in the beginning of time, and had the ability to stop the process from happening on its own at will should he have chosen to do so. They believe that Intol directly created the afterlife for unknown reasons. They believe that Intol decides to be very hands off over the physical universe and lets the divine beings he oversees do their will on the universe so long as they follow his laws. They have strict beliefs that mankind is not to mix anything by their own will, resulting in them, for example, having cooking methods that prevent them from doing so. They also believe that mankind is to be nomadic and they migrate to different locations where it suits them most at that time. They believe that Intol is separate from the material plane, rather the dominion of the material world is for humankind. Humankind is the domain of ghosts, who are domain of the divine gaurdians, then divine forces, then divine drives, then divine architects, then divine lawmakers, then the divine court, then Intol itself.

## Hadaktian

A religion in the Intolaban Religion Group that primarily believes that Intol is the supreme ruler over a highly organized and hierarchical realm of divine beings and ghosts that live on different levels of reality, with mankind living on one of the lowest tiers of reality. They believe that Intol is known as the giver of value thus has physical form in money.

### Divinity of Money

Money is to be revered, collected, and worshipped. They believe that Intol permitted creation and had the ability to stop the creation of the universe, but now is unable to undo it and so and has decided to rule over creation. They believe that mankind has received wisdom from Intol in the past through him speaking through the atmosphere for many people to hear at once.

### Afterlife

The religion also has a complex afterlife where once a person dies their soul becomes a ghost on a higher layer of reality called the Sprite Realm which then can move to other layers of reality that are wild to man’s imagination. They believe that there is a strict hierarchy of mankind that must be followed, and that only exemplary people may rise to the next higher tier, otherwise they inherit the tier of their lowest tier parent. They believe that this tier system is present in all the species, with different level counts, and that all species exist in a tier system, where there is a highest tier species. They believe that a man is only worth the wealth that they inherit in life, which god will judge them on in the afterlife to permit them into his city-state of the higher layers of reality, maybe even becoming a creator of their own universe. They thus dedicate their entire lives to attaining wealth and luxuries of the finest things as a personal hoard which is put in a tomb. Some people make elaborate traps in their tombs to protect their hoards throughout their death. To them, money is the ultimate power that gives meaning to the universe and without it there would be no point to life. Thus a person who holds their wealth in any precious materials or objects even in death is a powerful being deserving of praise. Though they hold their wealth in death, it is still a competition of people that will go great lengths to get these hoards for their own. Some people have even taken the bodies of their armies and underlings with them to death as part of the hoard.

### Blood Sacrifices

It is believed that there is only a constant amount of life energy in the world and that blood sacrifices are needed to make more life. Human sacrifices are often performed before a ceremony of birth. Animals are seen as worth less than human life and so many more are needed to equal a human life. The death of a lesser god is worth many human lives. They see that when the world population grows, a god has died, and when many humans die, a god is born.

## Cranaikt

A religion in the Intolaban Religion Group that primarily believes that Intol is the supreme ruler over a chaotic realm of divine beings and ghosts which themselves reign over the physical universe. It is common in Eraku and Badlands Shana. Its followers believe that Intol permitted the universe to be created by the divines he rules over so that he could be amused by their ignorance and chaotic nature. Intol in their beliefs is a chaos deity that randomly threw the divine realm together such that he allowed it to be inconsistent with itself, making the divine realm to be unable to be understood by mortals. They believe that the only way they can become ghosts and live on into the divine realm is to appease Intol through the spilling of blood and destroying things, where those who spill more blood and destroy more become greater beings in the afterlife. They believe that those who create and bring more life into the world are going to become one with the dirt again and end there with no afterlife. As such they believe that mothers are inferior to fathers and that their only redemption is to kill more than a father can.

## Bandishan

A religion of the Intolaban Religion Group that is not very common but is found in Shanos as a small but recognized religion. They believe that Intol is the giver of The Word found in Aktarashian Religion Group religions and that getting knowledge brings you closer to Intol. They believe Intol is the only deity. The more knowledge you get in this life the more that Intol grants you in the next life. They believe in reincarnation in other universes that Intol has created, being limited in number. There are different ranks of these afterlives and are used to either punish the ignorant or reward the good follower. They believe that dedication to getting knowledge is the greatest good, greater than helping others. Followers put their goal of getting knowledge over helping others and often make isolated communities that have the sole purpose of hoarding knowledge to protect it from the ignorant peoples who would rather destroy it than learn from it. They have had influence over the Imperial Aktash religions throughout history with some kings and emperors being followers, often leading to persecution of the Aktarashian Religion Group religions for their belief in spirits other than Intol. Its followers believe that money holds knowledge and so too is to be collected and hoarded for personal use. It is similar to Hadaktian in that some people preserve the books and money that they collected during their life with them in their burial. Its followers accept payment in books and education along with money. It was formed during the Maktankta Empire as a belief of the upper strata of society, starting as a cult of learned men that later grew to some popularity with the curiosity of followers of Maktash, but never went to a great growth due to its exclusiveness of only highly learned men, excluding women and less wealthy.

## Markevean

A religion in the Intolaban Religion Group common among West Berbanos that believes that the god Intol is the sole deity, creator of the universe, and is found in the hearts of men. It is beleived that the soul goes on through the power of Intol and that people are given the same life-force as their parents, only with a slight variation. It is important to place the family above oneself for it is believed to have been commanded by Intol to do so. They believe in family coherence, extending this to tribal relations as well through good standing with other families of the same tribe. They believe that nothing is to be wasted and that everything serves a purpose. They rarely buy items and rely on reusing the same materials over and over through the years. They believe in obindence to Intol who controls over your destiny, with Intol being the unseen being that is the only thing that knows the future. People that claim to know the future are believed to be blasphemous against the power of Intol. Their followers believed that they have no free will and that they have a predestined life for them, controlled by Intol. Intol is believed to oversee a mighty loom made of the threads of all life forces, turning it into the fabric of the cosmos.