Alephism

**Alephism** is the dominant religion of New Eusera.

Followers of Alephism are called Alephites, and worship the Divine Aspects.

## Beliefs

Alephism and the Divine Aspects are widely known even among non-practitioners, to the point that even those who don't identify as Alephites may swear by them or pray to them in moments of need. Generally speaking, worship of the Divine Aspects is diverse; while prominent priests exist, no central authority has sole control over the canon of beliefs.

### Divine Aspects

Followers of Alephism worship the Divine Aspects; the various facets of the primordial entity Aleph. They often worship and percieve the Divine Aspects as a whole rather than individually. For the less informed, this practice is often difficult to grasp, causing them to believe that each aspect is its own individual god. Depending on their need, worshipers pray to specific Aspects; a warrior seeking strength prays to the Bearer, while a farmer offers praise to the Giver. The commonly worshiped Aspects are:

#### The Bearer

* ***Alignment:*** *Lawful Good*
* ***Provinces:*** *Honor, Justice, Protection*

The Bearer is the aspect of duty, justice, protection, and honor. Alephites pray to or envoke him when seeking justice. Additionally, one might pray to the Bearer asking him to defend someone in battle, the strength to seek justice, and the wisdom to recognize it.

#### The Giver

* ***Alignment:** Neutral Good*
* ***Provinces:*** *Life, Nature, Peace*

The Giver is the aspect of life, peace and the benign side of nature. Alephites pray to or envoke her when seeking charity. Additionally, one might pray to the Giver asking her for fertility and good weather. Offerings are sometimes made to the Giver when a woman becomes pregnant, to praise the Giver for giving the gift of life.

#### The Merrymaker

* ***Alignment:*** *Chaotic Good*
* ***Provinces:*** *Community, Revelry, Trickery*

The Merrymaker is the aspect of community, revelry, and the benign side of trickery. Alephites pray to or envoke him when seeking solace. Additionally one might pray to the Merrymaker when seeking happiness.

#### The Reaper

* ***Alignment:*** *True Neutral*
* ***Provinces:*** *Death, Fate, Twilight*

The Reaper is the aspect of death, fate, and twilight. Alephites pray to or envoke them to guide souls in death and prevent the curse of undeath from falling on them. Additionally, one might pray to the Reaper to spare one who is ill and/or dying.

#### The Seeker

* ***Alignment:*** *Lawful Neutral*
* ***Provinces:*** *Knowledge, Law, Order*

The Seeker is the aspect of knowledge, law, and order. Alephites pray to or envoke them when seeking knowledge. Additionally, one might pray to the Seeker when rooting out misinformation. The Seeker is also often invoked when swearing to tell the truth in a court of law.

#### The Shaper

* ***Alignment:** Neutral Good*
* ***Provinces:*** *Light, Crafting, Creation*

The Shaper is the aspect of light, crafting, and creation. Alephites pray to or envoke her when seeking to build, invent, or create something. Additionally, one might pray to the Shaper when seeking strength during laborous endeavors.

#### The Traveler

* ***Alignment:** Chaotic Good*
* ***Provinces:*** *Luck, Travel, Trade*

The Traveler is the aspect of luck, travel, and trade. Alephites pray to or envoke him when seeking safe travels. Additionally, one might pray to the Traveler when seeking good fortune.

### Core Beliefs

* The Aspects are always present. For example, whenever a forge is fired, the Shaper stands beside it.
* The Aspects shape the world and their hand is in all things. No proof is needed, for the proof is in the world.
* Each Aspects must be honored at their proper place and time.
* The Aspects give strength and guidance to those who listen, and instinct and intuition are their voices. When one is heard most clearly, that one should be followed.

Formally, Alephites follow two central tenets:

* **The Doctrine of Universal Sovereignty**: "As is the world, so are the Aspects. As are the Aspects, so is the world." This states that the Divine Aspects compose reality, rather than "merely" having the power to control it. As an example, the Giver doesn't just influence crops—she *is* the crops in the field, and offering her devotion isn't to get her attention but rather her favor.
* **The Doctrine of the Divine Host**: "The Divine Aspects is one name, and speaks with one voice. The Aspects are the letters of that name, and the sounds of that voice." This states that the Aspects should be treated as one rather than merely a collection of deities. As such, most Alephites worship the Divine Aspects as a whole rather than just an individual close to them, such as a blacksmith and the Shaper.

### Afterlife

Alephites believe that after you have died, your soul is seperated from your physical body by the Reaper, who then guides it to the Spirit World. There, the spirits remain until the Ascension comes; a day in which the Divine Aspects finally become completely whole again as Aleph. On that day, the souls of those who lived morally decent lives will join Aleph and transcend into a benevolent place beyond the universe; a paradise of which nothing is known.

## Lore

It is written that in the beginning, there was but a single, perfect pearl, in which Aleph, the One, resided. Aleph was the sum of all things: good and evil, light and dark, physical and ethereal—all reflected across the crystalline facets of its form. And, within its eternal dream-state, Aleph considered itself—all of its myriad facets. Seeking a state of total purity and perfection, Aleph cast all evil from itself. All dissonance was gone... for a time. These discordant parts formed into the being Aeshma, the Prime Evil. Though separate beings, Aleph and Aeshma were bound within the pearl. There they warred against each other in an unending clash of light and shadow for ages uncounted, neither gaining the upper hand. At last, their energies spent after countless millennia of battle, they delivered their final blows. Aleph shattered, its pieces becoming the Divine Aspects, and Aeshma was eviserated; from its form, like maggots, rose the Dread Lords. And the energies unleashed by their impossible fury ignited an explosion of light and matter so vast and terrible that it birthed the very universe itself.

As the facets of Aleph, the Divine Aspects look over the universe, slowly reforming until one day they are whole, and Aleph, once more.