Glaan-San

**Glaan-San** is one of the 2 primary Abar religions, alongside Jrega. The core tenets of the religion are worship of the Aba and the belief that the Glaan possess an inherent spiritual connection to the Aba. The Glaan serve as the clergy of the Glaan-San religion and are ordained by the **Glaan-San Church**, which was founded in Oozin in 513:38. An adherent of the Glaan-San religion is known as a **praneeĵun**. Glaan-San is often contrasted with Glaan-Argar (meaning "Orthodox Glaan") which describes those Glaan who inhabit the Glaankan Mountains and continue the traditional practices of their ancient ancestors.

## Beliefs and Practices

Glaan-San is a monotheistic religion centred around the Aba. Adherents of the religion believe that the Glaan possess an inherent spiritual connection to the Aba, and often seek their advice before making ethical decisions. Another core belief is that the Glaan prophesied that the Badkalden would one day rule the world, and that the Badkalden herself experienced a divine connection to the Aba.

## Political Structure

The head of the Glaan-San Church was the Glaanen.

### International politics

The Glaan-San Church appointed Ambassadors to each sovereign state that endorsed the Church. These Ambassadors would often travel between the Barabalon in Gorn and the court they were assigned to, and acted as the primary liaison between those two institutions.

The Gaalish, from the Saniit phrase *glaan-lish* (meaning "Imperial Glaan") were Glaan who served as personal ministers to the various aristocrats of Afbarkeean. They acted as spiritual and ethical advisors and were typically appointed by the aristocrats themselves, though in many cases there was immense political pressure to choose a particular Glaan. The Gaalish worked closely with the Church Ambassador to the region, and sometimes these positions were occupied by the same person.

Aristocrats would frequently go to their Gaalish to talk about their problems, and this would occasionally involve emotional episodes which were not socially acceptable in public because aristocrats had to project a sense of stability, especially in the Lantoo. Armira III is credited as being the first Glaanen to exploit this practice to collect valuable political intelligence that was used to try to further secure the Church's power.

## History

### Background

During the Age of Union, the Glaan began to leave the sacred mountains of Glaankan to live amongst the people of Afbarkeean and offer spiritual guidance. In exchange for their blessings of good fortune, the people gave land to the Glaan. On this land, crops were farmed for the Glaan and the needy, large sanctuaries were built for the public to see refuge, homes were built for the Glaan, and beautiful gardens were created and maintained to observe the extent of the Aba's beauty and reflect on spiritual matters. These places were known as *tokutm-vana* (meaning "beautiful estate"), and were the direct precursor to the toktavana.

Some Glaan decided to remain in the mountains and observe the ancient traditions of their people, and this lead to a schism between the two groups, commonly referred to as the Glaan Schism. This division was exacerbated by the mysterious disappearance of Len-Glaan-Yorka-Daahat on the night of 512:19, who walked from the Glaan capital of Faalad without an explanation. With the previous Len-Glaan gone, Sandoo-Barra was appointed to the position in 512:21. She was a strong believer in isolationism, the theory that said the Glaan were too sacred to be exposed to the evils of common society.

### Founding of the Religion

When the Glaan who had left the mountains discovered that their new leader did not support their mission, an assembly was organised in Oozin in 513:38 to create a new religious organisation, the Glaan-San Church. Ferif-Jolinon was elected by the assembly to the newly created title of Glaanen, and her residence was chosen to be in the Grand Hall of God in Gorn, which eventually became known as the Barabalon.

Contrary to a common misconception, the Glaan-San religion was never officially endorsed by the San-Kamakan government, though it was endorsed by many individual states and served as the de facto religion of the Empire.