Azra U'Maki

**Azra U'Maki**, sometimes known as Makism or Makianism to English speakers, is the traditional faith of the Urilians. Azra U'Maki literally translates as "Worshipping [the] Gods". It is practiced by approximately two-thirds of the Urilian diaspora, but very few of the Urilians remaining in the Nesarian Empire practice it; the overwhelming majority are either Christians or Muslims, which was largely the reason why they were allowed to remain.

Makians (the English demonym of Azra U'Maki) worship above all the being known as Makilasi, which translates as "God-Maker". Makilasi is believed to be the first divine being, the creator of all things, the unmoved mover. However, in addition to him, there is a vast and apparently infinite pantheon of minor deities who oversee specific concepts, places or objects. Unlike virtually every other religion in Inecuria, Makians make use of idols, believing the minor deities to physically inhabit certain objects and worshipping them accordingly.

Whilst these minor deities are certainly powerful, knowledgeable and wise, only Makilasi is truly omnipotent and omniscient, though there is some disagreement as to whether he is also omnipresent. Makians also believe that none of their deities, not even Makilasi, are wholly benevolent; rather they are pragmatic beings with their own interests and desires with whom deals and trades can be made, offering sacrifices or services in return for divine intervention.

Some scholars assert that some, or perhaps all, of the deities worshipped by the Makians in the form of idolatry are actually powerful beings from the Dreadlands, with the most powerful of them possibly being Dread Titans. Such scholars cite records of various instances when Makians were able to invoke supernatural or apparently magical powers through prayer and worship, when Urilians have no magical ability of their own - which, if true, would make their worship a form of Witchery. This assertion is wholeheartedly rejected by Makians, who claim to be able to distinguish true gods from false imitations.

## Order of Creation

To the Makians, the chronological order of creation holds significant importance. Makilasi first created the world, and then the minor gods to inhabit it, and then created mortals and the plants and animals they need to survive. This order is also the order of reverence; Makilasi himself is supreme, the world he created is sacred, the minor gods are to be honoured and respected, and mortals are free to exploit the nature below them - but they also have a responsibility to take care of it. However, each group also has hierarchies within it; some minor gods are older than others and are therefore honoured more, some animals are older and are due more respect (or outright not eaten at all), and - most importantly for this world - the mortal races also vary in age and the respect due to them.

Makians believe that Urilians were the firstborn mortal creations of Makilasi, and are his most favoured mortals. Urilians therefore occupy a special status above all other mortals; while only radical extremists would claim the Urilian race to be outright superior, most Makians believe that Urilians are ordained by Makilasi to be the custodians of the mortal races and the mortal world. Like with lesser creatures, Urilians therefore have the paternalistic duty to take care of other mortals, but also the right to exploit them for their own ends. The last mortals to be created by Makilasi in the creation story were the Orcs, which historically led to many Urilian merchants enthusiastically taking part in the trade of Orcish slaves before they adopted anti-slavery attitudes from the Elvetans. Urilians historically referred to Orcs as the "lastborn", which is now considered an offensive slur.

How far Makians have taken this philosophy has varied greatly across time periods and between Urilian subcultures and social classes. Some were outright supremacists who believed that exploiting and deceiving non-Urilians could never be immoral; some merely believed that Urilians were more suited for leadership roles than other races. Generally speaking, elite Urilians had a lower opinion of non-Urilians than the common folk - this was most infamously expressed in the Frozen Few, a club of Urilian elites which betrayed the Empire in the First World War in order to set themselves up as the ruling elite of the postwar Inecurian liberal republics - an act which backfired spectacularly when the furious Inecurians systematically deported the Urilian race from the continent after Emperor Adrion re-united the continent.

Despite sometimes complaining that the Imperial system forced Urilians to be subservient to Humans - who are regarded as the second-to-last mortal creations of Makilasi, created only before Orcs - Makians were generally highly supportive of the Nesarian Empire for enabling Urilians to acquire wealth through continent-wide trade and banking operations and allowing many Urilians to hold positions of power and influence. The majority of Urilians strongly believed in the Imperial project, and were instrumental in annexing Rulkhar into the Empire and entrenching Imperial rule in Onshi.

The actions of the Frozen Few led to many Inecurians adopting strongly anti-Urilian attitudes and granted the entire race a reputation of being selfish, deceitful and disloyal - but the evidence cannot be denied that throughout their history under the Empire, Urilians were consistently over-represented in the Imperial military and contributed significantly to Imperial public works and infrastructure projects.