Zaldren

Zaldren is a religion in Terra Avium. A believer in Zaldren is called a Zaldrist. It is an old religion, and is rarely ever worshipped in modern Terra Avium. It is a branch of Arkhaism, but it focuses less on worshipping Gods and focuses more on survival. This is because Zaldren is created during the Great Desolation by the Gods in order to help Avians survive the destruction. Zaldren was often paired with Arkhaism, with Arkhaism being the main source of faith and Zaldren being a helpful code.

## IDEOLOGIES

Zaldren on its own is more similar to codes and strict rules that must be followed. It is a list of advices from Gods, spirits, expert Avians, and the Avian ancestors. It ensures survival for bird kind during the Desolation.

Zaldren requires the believer only to do short prayers for the Arkhaist Gods, as there is no time for long rituals, as the Avians must always be quick on their wings whenever danger approaches. Zaldren was well-known for The Avanor Lore, a list of tablets and series of books detailing how to survive the apocalypse that was going on in Terra Avium. It is rumored to be written by the God of Writing and Patron of Knowledge, Avanor Kirdinn. The lore also demands to trust in the most experienced one to guide the family (or the group).

Zaldrist ideology varies from terrains to terrains, places to places, and families to families. Zaldren is split into five main variants which pairs with the five terrains. These variant religions are: Karciff (Air), Jarkaish (Desert), Hiovan (Forest), Reaklanel (Mountain), Irethia (Ocean). Each of these variants gives survival tips appropriate to their terrain. Avanor established the idea of Zaldren and gave overall detailed knowledge on how to survive regardless of terrains, while the representative Gods of each domain detailed the Zeldren variants to better suit their terrain.

## HISTORY

Zaldren was said to be made by Avanor Kirdinn, the God of Writing and Patron of Knowledge. He established the religion as being a part of Arkhaism, but its beliefs are more directed towards survival and to avoid destruction by the Elementals and Traitors. His work was later recognised by the other Gods, and they lent a helping hand. Each domain wrote up a list of codes, named the Tablets of Avanor. The tablets detailed information on survival and helping those around you, and contained tips and advices from the Gods for casting wards and grouping together with domainers to help. The Gods also established their own unique tablets, each special to their repsective domain. It became the 5 main variants of Zaldren, with 5 lists of tablets on how to live on the specific terrain.

Zaldren was extremely important during the war as Avians required it to survive and get reliable information, especially for the Arkhaists. Avians learned which fruits to pick, which items to bring, which people to gather, and which place to migrate too. Furthermore, they learned of Elementals behaviour, and Giants which rampaged the lands. So the domainers trained themselves to stop these creatures from attacking their communities. Although Avian society were in shambles after the war, without the codes and instructions, they wouldn't be able to group together and survive through the devastation that was the Great Desolation.

After the war, during The Ruins of Aftermath, Zaldren was shifted and changed to fit into something that fitted more to the current situation at the time: Avians going to war for territories now that the Elementals and Traitors were locked away, and refugee numbers were always fluctuating. But when the Era of Stillness rolled in, and the modern day countries were established, Zaldren slowly became irrelevant and faded away as Avians no longer live in the time of war.

In modern day, Zaldrists are very rare and hard to find. The only officially known Zaldrists are the Estrys Sakiinlen villages in Erimosk. Even then, they believe in Jarkaish. Knowledge and information of Zaldren and its variants are being stored in great libraries across Terra Avium, and some scholars like to study in that field.

## VARIANTS

As previously stated, Zaldren is split into 5 main variants, written by the Gods of their repsective domains. An Avian can choose to follow one or many of the variants, as they're inteded for survival and not religious beliefs. This includes:

- Karciff: The Air variant of Zaldren. They mainly teach birds where to migrate to during the trying times, which wind current to look out, navigation, and how to seek help from the Air Gods and Air Elemental. Karciff also encourages the usage of Air Eilds to make flying ships so that birds may be safer in the watch of the Air Elemental.

- Jarkaish: The Desert variant of Zaldren. They teach birds how to seek shelter in the harshest of environment (that even extends beyond the desert) and how to make the best use of it. They warn to watch out for dangerous animals, and how to fend them off. Jarkaish is the only known surviving variant that is still believed in modern day Terra Avium, notably by the Estrys Sakiinlen.

- Hiovan: The Forest variant of Zaldren. Back in the war times, Hiovan was the most widely believed as many birds are native to forests and prairies. It teaches Avians how to seek for the right fruit, for the right shelter in the trees, and use the rivers and plants to guide them. They also teach medicine and healing for those who were injured during the Desolation, and Forest Domainers are trained very hard for this.

- Reaklanel: The Mountain variant of Zaldren. It teaches birds how to find each other, and best to group with each other. It teaches how to build tough and movable defense and homes that wouldn't shake during an earthquake or tumble in a windstorm. Mountain domainers were taught to be brave and help protect those who cannot protect themselves. The Avians were also taught self-defense for both themselves and their homes.

- Irethia: The Ocean variant of Zaldren. It was important and was often paired with Karciff as Irethia also teaches navigation but for ocean and seas. It teaches birds how to sail and navigate through the oceans, and be versatile and adaptive as much as possible. It teaches birds to be quick and easy to move from defense to offense, and vice versa.