Gospels of Gbosu

These six gospels offer various retellings of the tale of how Awa first rose to power.

Purpose

Religious/historical

Historical Details

Background

A collection of anonymous works, all penned within the first century of Awa's reign, the gospels of Gbosu form the basis for the teachings of The Imperial Cult, and together make up its primary religious text.

History

As religious fervor grew in the wake of Awa's rebirth as living embodiment of the empyrean, few among xir early followers thought to write anything down for future generations. The movement was so all-consuming that many did not think it could ever be forgotten. However, as the original eyewitnesses began to grow old and die, and as it became a more pressing task for the imperial cult to spread Awa's message beyond the walls of Baraji-Awanna, there was an increasing demand for a written account of the god-emperor's life and teachings.

Legacy

The six gospels all share their own, slightly different take on the events which culminated in the elevation of Awa to godhood and the birth of the Awanna Empire. From Awa's ancestry, birth, and childhood in Soli, to xir tutelage at the hands of the Daraja priests of Neskhenay, to xir instruction under the Rakṣaka monks of the Uul Mountains, the gospels follow Awa's rise to power, before chronicling in great detail the demigod's return to xir ancestral homeland, and the rallying together of the disparate peoples living scattered across the wastes of Maba and Soli.
Each gospel has its own unique understanding of Awa and xir divine role. The Gospel of Sekou never explicitly calls Awa a god, nor does it make any grandiose claims about Awa's parentage or birth. The authors of Sekou even seem to downplay the supposed miracles performed by Awa upon xir return to Soli to win the favour of the squabbling warlords. Oumou reinterprets Sekou, stressing Awa's teachings as much as xir acts and making subtle changes to the narrative in order to stress xir divine nature. Awa's birth is said to have been heralded by a comet, and to have occurred on the night of the summer solstice beneath a radiant full moon. Similarly, the authors of Idrissa repeatedly praise Awa as the fulfillment of an ancient Maban prophecy. The miracle stories in Idrissa seem written to cement Awa's status as a living embodiment of the powers of the empyrean, whereas those in Sekou seem to suggest that many were either not performed at all, or were performed with the aid of a crystal staff brought back from Awa's travels in the south.
The authors of Gadama, while following Sekou's plot more faithfully than those of Oumou or Idrissa, expands on the original source, correcting Sekou's grammar and syntax, and eliminating some passages entirely. Most notably, Gadama does away with any mention of Awa's Rakṣakan staff, apparently under the impression that references to the relic made Awa come across as more of a mystic shaman than truly divine, or that people may draw parallels to the irresponsible use of magic by the old world priests of the Khana Empire.
The Gospel of Luyanda is the only gospel to proclaim Awa a god in xir own right, and in contrast to Sekou, where Awa initially hides xir identity as a messiah, in Luyanda xe openly proclaims it. The most overtly theological, Luyanda, focuses heavily on the theme of Awa as a healer, who traveled the wastes and preached in about need to unify humanity in the face of the ruin left by the collapse of the old world. In this gospel, Awa appears as a stoic supernatural being, unmoved even by the news of xir mother's death at the hands of the warlord Badru.
Luyanda is the most heavily quoted of all of the gospels, and mostly works to frame Awa as a living incarnation of the power of the empyrean. In the final verses of the Gospel of Luyanda, Awa preaches in the city of Baraji before founding the Awanna Empire by raising the imperial palace from the depths of nearby Lake Alijɛnɛ.
The Gospel of Luyanda ends with the following passage:

And Awa came and spoke unto them, saying this, "All power is given unto me from out the divine beyond. Go ye therefore, and teach this to all nations, observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And, lo, I am with you always, in the darkest of nights, through the coldest of winters, unto the end of all things, I am with you. Amen."

Type

Text, Religious

Medium

Papyrus

Myth

The Rise of Awa