Arez Religion

## Overview

Arez's Primary Religion is that of [placeholder]. Though citizens are able to follow any religion of their choosing, or none without discrimination.

Followers of [placeholder] believe that Trotu was made when the gods Vitara, Kolathos and Orestani united. The world was created and when doing so, it split into 3 dimensions. Vitara became Goddess of the Overworld, she blessed the overworld with life and kindness. Kolathos became God of the Nether, his anger and strength made the world dangerous and deadly. Orestani became Deity of the End, their heart of void and mystery reflected on the dimension.

## Origin Myth

#### How to dissect a snake from the inside out

The ultimate goal of existing within Trotu is to escape it. The very nature of reality is corrosive, it eats away at one's mind soul until they are utterly convinced that it is all there is. This, of course, couldn't be further from the truth, for Trotu is the name of a great serpent. In the beginning, when Trotu first hatched from the egg that it had lay, it saw its tail and was instantly filled with an insatiable hunger. It lunged at itself and upon finding its prey venom sprang forth from its fangs and Trotu was filled. And so forth Orestani was born: the serpent's ichor and the first consumed, bearer of the five pointed stars and mother of Vitara and Kolathos. Upon being born, Orestani perceived the world around themself and found that it was dark. They were not content with this and so they looked elsewhere until they eventually perceived themselves. Orestani saw that they had five points, which each also had five points, and those points did too, all the way down to the tiniest point possible. Orestani found it difficult to perceive all the points and so they cut off their fingers and turned them into the stars. Orestani marvelled at their beauty and wished to touch them, but found that they couldn't for they had cut off their fingers. This enraged Orestani and in their anger and desire they cut off their left hand which became Kolathos the corruptor. Kolathos fell through Trotu and he came to rest in a Nether. He wailed and a great pool of his fiery blood formed around him. Orestani saw what they had done and felt guilt. In an act of compassion they extended their right hand to tend Kolathos' wounds, but Kolathos had been born out of rage and bit off Orestani's right hand. This hand became Vitara, the life-bringer. Being born out of compassion, Vitara continued attempting to heal Kolathos who continued to attack her. Orestani wished for this conflict to end so they put their five-pointed body between them. Their dismembered limbs bled pitch black ichor until Kolathos and Vitara could no longer see each-other. And there they stood for the rest of Trotu's life.

#### The tale of the sun and moon

For many ages Orestani stood between Kolathos and Vitara. They meditated upon the nature of Trotu and their existence. Orestani came to the conclusion that perceiving Trotu had been the root of all their pain and so they resolved to close their eyes and abolish their perception entirely. Kolathos, who had grown even more bitter over the ages, saw this as an opportunity to hurt Orestani. While Orestani was in deep meditation, Kolathos crawled up their body and sat on one of their many points by their eye. Kolathos chuckled to himself, "Oh my five-pointed father, your hate of me has consumed you so much that you dare not even look upon me. Ha! I would like to see you ignore this!" and he spat in Orestani's left eye, lighting it ablaze, he then scrambled away laughing in triumph. Orestani was instantly broken from meditation and they wailed. Vitara heard this wail and came by Orestani's side. She spoke unto them in the softest of voices, "Oh my five-pointed mother, what is it that ails you?" Orestani turned to face her, and upon doing so turned their back to Kolathos which angered him even more. Vitara saw the flaming orb that Orestani bared and said "My mother, let me take this pain from you, I shall tend it and heal it and it shall shine light on my kingdom, and it shall be named Sun." Orestani, who's reason was clouded by pain, did as Vitara said. Henceforth, Orestani learned that it was foolish to try and escape Trotu by refusing to look upon it, and so they opened their right eye to see that Vitara did heal the sun. The light of the sun baked Orestani's eye and turned it to rock, and so it was named Moon, which lit the world in the dark hours so that five-pointed people could follow its light to escape Trotu.

## Specific deities and their Paths

### Orestani and the five turn broken path

1. The ultimate goal of any five-pointed person is to escape Trotu.

2. In order to escape Trotu, one must perfectly understand every aspect of Trotu.

3. In order to understand Trotu, one must perfectly perceive every aspect of Orestani.

4. In order to perceive Orestani, one must perfectly record every aspect of Vitara and Kolathos. 5. In order to record Vitara and Kolathos, one must escape Trotu.