Hadina

They say religion is the worship of the invisible. They say its composed of visions of Paradise, visions of soul. Hadina laughs at these words. For the soul is nothing but a reflection of the past, a memory that must be fed with remembrance. The dead are tethered to our world, for this material plane is the heart of all that exists. Afterlives, Gods, and cosmologies are capricious and flexible, if not illusory outright. What does matter, then? Deeds, objects, labor, the flesh and energy of our world. For labor is the sacred infusion of self and material, and the objects we create are our paths to immortality. We are born obligated to continue the work of our ancestors, renewing their spirits and linking our own to theirs in a great chain of existence. This great work will lead to the Hadi- The Final Revelation- the sacred state of existence that all life instinctually strives for: a future where work, virtue, and pleasure are all one, where the very ideas of sin or laziness or pain no longer exist.

Structure

Rank	Selected By	Role	Number
Royal Priests	Recruited from hero cult	International Coordination	6
Hero/State Cultist	Recruited from community priests	Manages state functions and local holy sites	36 major cults, 10 to 200 members each
Community Priest	Apprenticeship	Community holidays and government	Many
Family Priest	Apprenticeship	Burials and family shrines for big clans	Many

Major families demonstrate their piety and power by having their own family priests that look after their ancestors and manage graveyards. Less influential families either break up these duties and traditions among the family elders or turn to a larger family's priest in a sort of religious patronage. Family priests meet with community priests during major holidays and are expected to work together generally to keep the community moral and safe. 
Particularly respected or well-funded priests can work their way up into major state cults devoted to major local heroes or state functions. From there, priests are selected to act as state representatives to the Hadina Church-Guild.

Culture

Species-Cultural Preference: Sedentary

Hadina teachings encourage species-based cooperation and mixture and frame species as a distraction from the more important cultural distinctions. Contribution by helping grow or harvest food for your neighbors is encouraged, leading to cross-species interaction and bonding. Nomads are seen as more animalistic (and therefore less of a person) and are often stigmatized. Certain nomadic tribes are semi-Hadinan and seen as exceptions, but they need to perform more than others to be seen as valid. Solars are not recognized fully as people, nor are Squiddles or Non-Humanoid Cats. 

Morality Panic: Class and Ability

Some say Hadina is the weapon of the poor, some say it is the shackles of the rich. Really, it can be either- possibly even both- based on the circumstances. Periodically, Hadinan communities will enter morality scares where one group or another will be publicly scolded for their laziness or decadence. These "parasites and layabouts" will often be targeted for their wealth in the resulting witchhunt, both by class outsiders and other more pious members of their group. These morality panics are often a weapon of class: they can be a way to take back land from the landlords or to turn a privately owned workshop into a communally owned one, they can be a way to confiscate leisure time and surplus from workers and farmers, or they can be a way target a particularly uppity artisan or merchant group. 
Whoever these morality scares target, disabled or neurotypical people can often become collateral damage. During times of normalcy and calm, these groups are not necessarily discriminated against in Hadinan societies: everyone has a purpose in the great plan, after all, and everyone can contribute in their way. But in a society where personhood is seen as earned through work and etiquette, breaks to the status quo that cause people to look for nonconforming people can really do damage. 

Object Veneration

Manufactured objects are important in Hadina- they are physical embodiments of how people shape the world and anchor themselves to it. Magical items are seen as the most solid evidence of this, as they transfigure labor into supernatural power. It is not heritage or destiny that makes magical items, but skill and dedication. And by investing one's very soul into a magical item, the spirit becomes immortal and is passed down among descendants and community members.
Magic items, art, and script are all considered holy mediums. Relics are important to communities, and there is no graver insult than the theft of one by an outsider. Even families have minor relics- oftentimes ancient texts that apprentice family priests must learn to copy exactly as a way to preserve the lineage and, through repetition, memorialize the past. Wealthy Hadinan cities will focus on art and beauty as a manifestation of the divine, and artists often serve as a kind of mystic medium. Warrior lineages often have their own relics- swords, armor, medallions, old trophies.

History

Hadinan Context

Hadina's components (ancestor veneration, objects as vessels for spiritual power, work as ritual, community binding rituals) are older than history. Hadina would have you think that it is truly timeless but simply articulated in 880- but make no mistake, it is a very serious break from tradition born from the context of its time. First, a map of the local regions where it began. 

Hadina began in the region of Tizesho to the Northwest of Ezekel, during a time when outside trade and conquest by Ezekelan interlopers increasingly pressured local groups to settle into permanent, hierarchical, sedentary states. Tizesho had always served as a border-zone between the forested sedentary peoples of Ezekel and Ipekel and the horse-riding nomads of Kiozel, and to mediate these opposing extremes its people developed a doctrine of "continuous revelation". Essentially, religion in Tizesho was seen as perpetually in flux and encouraged constant adoption of new gods, cults, and philosophies to legitimize itself. Ezekelan religion, meanwhile, was aggressively top-down: Ezekel's model for rulership was one of divine monarchs with a mandate to conquer. Ezekelan monarchs were said to have direct spiritual control over the labor of their subjects and would be granted their subject's souls after death to rule in the afterlife. This system influenced Tizesho's religion as it pushed in, but it ultimately proved rather unappealing for most people. Even in Ezekel, the old system was failing as many of the monarchies struggled to establish themselves as sufficiently magical and ancient. Nonetheless, Ezekelan conquerors struggled in vain to force their religious rituals and structures on those they conquered and traded with in Tizesho. Both religions were in crisis. 
A separate religious tradition, known as Geomancy or 'Zelvarza', had developed in Ipekel, but it was a religious tradition built around a large bureaucracy most other states couldn't really operate at the time. Essentially, it valued and revered the "Sacred Bonds" between people and objects, places, and other people. It saw these Bonds as the heart and soul of all magic- they were effort, love, and negotiation, the very ingredients of a soul. Geomancer priests were also bureaucrats, as government was seen as the magical "Great Knot" of sacred community connections. Ezekelan kingdoms had introduced aspects of Geomancy in their religion, but it was mostly a tool of the upper administration and hadn't really filtered down to average communities. Geomancy, Ezekelan monarchist religion, and Tizeshan religion would all eventually become part of Hadina.

Makes a Religion To Cope

The founder of Hadina began as a humble priest by the name of Elenon in the community of Pordens- a market town that had recently slipped from Ezekelan domination. Elenon was raised to perform the old rituals and look for new revelations, like generations of Tizeshan priests before him. Elenon was brilliant but deeply concerned with the way that the growing city-life of the town was breaking up the old ways of life. Some said that this abandonment of the old ways would be the end of the world, as the Gods and spirits would grow angry at the debased and godless new culture. But Elenon refused to give up, and swore that there was a revelation waiting out in the world that would make these changes make sense. Rather than wait for it, Elenon ventured out to find it. After many years of travel across Larazel, Elenon returned to Pordens with a number of friends and newly acquired magic items. He found his old community in crisis: the town was again facing outside attack, an outbreak of disease threatened the region, and people were panicking. Elenon brought the town together and declared that there was a 'final revelation': a way to survive this apocalypse and eventually work towards a new world. The town came together, and were able to survive the year unconquered and alive. It was a hard fight, and Elenon preached that their struggles were the essence of worship: that everyone who gave to the community fulfilled their sacred duty. It was through such effort that magical items were forged in the South, he explained- it was hard toil for one another that invested their very spirits into the item, giving it supernatural power. Through memory of the old ways, fulfilling duties to one another, and virtuous labor, the community could find their own way to adapt to this new kind of sedentary society that had been forced upon them. And, unlike the Ezekelans or foreign religions, their community could value the workers- not the decadent parasites that sought to steal their worship. They would exalt every hard worker, remember their roots, and eventually create a utopian world that all nature is striving for: one where work is without suffering and brings true satisfaction, and idle decadence and cruelty is but a memory.
What began as a local religion in Pordens proved to be really attractive for other communities grappling with these big changes. It spread rapidly across Tizesho and soon developed its own momentum. At first, Hadina was seen as a threatening religion of rebellion in Ezekel- but it did not take too long for someone to see its potential usefulness. In 925 ME, an Ezekelan Warlord by the name of Drelen the Steelskinned rose over the rest. A pragmatic Prism from the North, Drelen was ruthless, adaptive, and ambitious. And as they conquered into Tizesho, they differentiated themselves from the other conquerors by adopting Hadina as a second religion. They rode in as a "protector" of Hadina from the nomadic raiders of Kiozel and from tyranny and encouraged a unified Hadina tradition. And as they formalized Hadina in law, they witnessed its incredible power: by fetishizing work as a worship and a way to create community relics, Hadina helped tie down tribes into taxpayers and increased productivity. And so, Drelen began expanding Hadina in Ezekel, albeit in modified safe forms. The monarchs were enshrined as heroes (or hero-connected) and framed as important spiritual mediators, and the administrators and landlords below them were forced to compete and demonstrate their usefulness to the state. To bridge the gaps and inconsistencies, bits and pieces of Geomancy were borrowed. 
From 950 to 1110, Hadina and Geomancy existed side-by-side. Hadina spread slowly to the West, through merchants and established coalitions of nomadic allies; Geomancy declined as the Ipekelan empire declined. In 1110, an eccentric monarch in Ipekel invited in Zihari monks and merchants to advise and revitalize the empire. Soon, Pratasa merchants were also trying to court their way in. The infighting turned into an imperial crisis of legitimacy, and in 1118 Geomancers and Hadinan priests worked together to coup the government and bring Hadina Eastward. The conversion of Ipekel and the fear of foreign intervention led to the creation of the Hadinan Trade League in 1120- and so Hadina entered the fray as a fully fledged evangelical international religious guild.

Modern Hadina

Garadek religions trade, Garadek religions fight over trade, everyone has to pick a side but most people lose. That's how the model works. Zihari's the individualist one, Hadina's the communal one, Zesheko's the angry one, Pratasam's the foreign magic one, and Saraka's the quirky one- its like high school but the bullies are billionaire priests with knives. We've all been there. 
And so Hadina gained ground through trade and war. Each new converted land built its own little version of Hadina, with their own ancestors and heroes. For the most part, Hadina focused on controlling the trade routes to Samvara and Sonev rather than trying to enter the battle royale over the actual Dragon Forges on continental Garadel. Hadina really didn't even touch continental Garadel until the Northeastern kingdom of Alaran converted in the 1600s. 
Its difficult to really talk about Hadina as a whole because it has such a local focus. Oftentimes, these conflicts meld theology and local economics: who gets what magic items, what guilds or trades are valued, who owns the land. By keeping things local, the Hadinan Church-Guild has avoided large-scale factionalizing and schism- local reform movements are kept away from the other Hadinan states and crises are averted. This has come at the cost of having a weak central command that is less effective at coordinating wars and missionary efforts, but so far things have been sustainable.

Mythology & Lore

Hadina has no defined origin mythology, only a destiny for the world. Regardless of who the Gods may be, they are manifestations of the Divine Intent, the Izimvra. The Izimvra made the world for the same reason all people make things: because creation is both virtuous and because it is immortality. The Izimvra drives all beings of creation to create even more and to seek transcendent utopia. The bees and the ants, holy messengers, had their own prophets that taught them and imbued them with ultimate Izimvra before we even learned of it. Some even say it was a bee that landed on the prophet Elenon's shoulders and taught him the Final Revelation. For this reason, ants and bees must be treated respectfully as enlightened creatures.
What other Enlightened Beings or spirits exist? Many hold different accounts. The heavens are known only to the dead, and according to the deceased they are quite full of gods and monsters indeed! These include:

• Potaka the Weaver of Fate
• Zekravika the River Serpent
• Lonozi the Wind Rider
• Tunelo the Sky Queen
• Azerta, Goddess of War, Trade, Steel
• Alima the Masked Purifier
• Izikiro the Sunsmith

But ancestors are almost always the most important. The Gods are to be honored while you work, but their monument is the earth itself. The ancestors are more connected to you, dependent on you and more immediately relevant to life. These are mostly ancestors of people, but some communities include the ancestors of places- such as the spirits of now-destroyed forests- as well.

Cosmological Views

The heavens may be real, but they are inherently less real. No accomplishment in them matters or remains as a monument to their efforts. Over-worry about the nature of the afterlife is unnecessary, as true immortality is on the material plane. 
The Lunar Pantheon are perceived as primeval ancestors, worthy of respect and veneration. Cults primarily focus on the "dutiful triad" of Orchid of Blue, Wimbo Aizitu, and Emesh. The dutiful triad may try to influence our world, but they understand that such influence is a give and take process and recognize their place within it. Lily of Red, Ishkibal, and Jade Atharzen are "forgetful spirits" that do not remember that they have died and seek to rule still as immortal monarchs. Hiku the Muse and Theia the Liberator are eccentric tricksters worthy of caution. Agamine the Lost is dead, their true name lost to time. And Haru is simply a lesser God that frequently visits the afterlife.

Tenets of Faith

• Preserve the World and Its Beauty: The world is a gift from our ancestors. Build and make prosperous, but do not risk what exists for your ephemeral dreams of success- prioritize preservation. 
• Never Show Beastly Emotion: Animals, plants, stones- these things have no rights. We have a divine duty to differentiate ourselves from these base elements, through self control and purpose. Never show grief, anger, or spite in public, or you might put your very personhood at risk.
• Keep Alive the Memory of the Past: Memory is spirit. Remembrance feeds memory, and therefore spirit. It is your duty to remember the past, or the world you rely on will die and have to be rebuilt
• Honor Your Family and Community: We are born indebted to our family and community, and it is our life work to pay off that debt. Be respectful and dutiful.
• Respect the Dead and the Sacred: We live in a dead world, crafted by the still-moving hands of our ancestors. Disturb those dead, and expect retribution. 
• Do Not Covet or Steal: Property is a sacred bond between person and material. To attack property is to attack the spirit. Envy is a path to grave sin and marks an inferior person.
• Let No Child Go Unclaimed: Blood is nothing- it is through the labor of raising a child that lineage is forged, both communal and parental. Blood preference is dishonesty, and unadopted children are a sign of laziness and foolishness.

Ethics

People have rights, objects do not. People act; objects are acted upon. Cruelty towards objects is still a sign of beastly behavior and emotional overreaction as well as disrespect towards the Gods and planet, but objects have no rights to their own fate. But what separates people from objects? Well a dryad can control itself; a tree cannot. A bat cannot have manners or make small talk, a Vesper can. Any object-like thing can earn its personhood through good behavior. 
What is goodness, though? Well, it is the fulfillment of one's duties to another. We are born obligated to our families that raised us, our societies that enabled us, and our ancestors that made the world safe and prosperous. We fulfill those debts by creating joy and putting our effort to the betterment of others. Intent is important, but the attempt is the spirit of the thing- and the attempt is always framed in context. Not all situations have a good answer, but we do our best and that is what makes us good.

Worship

There are three forms of worship: reverence, memorial, and communion with the divine. These can overlap and often do. Reverence is prayers of thanks, memorial is feeding the past by remembering it, and communion is inviting in the divine intent and joining with it. 
The most common form of this is work-prayer: communion and reverence with ancestors and Gods during day to day activities. By re-enacting and inviting in ancestors during work that they once did, one can rejoice with them and feel them working alongside you. By thanking and joining with the land-spirits as one harvests crops, one communes with them in an intimate and emotional way. Work, that sacred expression of self, is also an opportunity for all kinds of worship. Whenever a new method or technology is adopted, work begins immediately to find its divine purpose and inherently ritual.
Community festival is also important. Storytelling, community plays, and holidays of memorial are all ways for a community to acknowledge their debts to one another and join in divine harmony. It is also common to engage in divine-re-enactment: memorializing the spirits and the dead by giving them another chance to live through you. This is often done through donning a work of mask of them (ideally made by them). One can also invite and memorialize many deceased at once through powerful relic-masks that must be made and consecrated. Relic-masks are potentially dangerous as they invite shades of all the dead into themselves, and so are usually consecrated and restricted to a specific category: ghosts of a specific family are common in rural areas, while ghosts of a specific guild or trade are common in towns and cities. Urban Guild Masks are particularly useful in times of crisis to validate guild's morality and to unify the artisans or workers during wage negotiations.

Sects

Grave Knights: A specific order of Paladins, often of Emesh, found in the Kingdom of Alaran. They are believed to be channels for community spirits, and a way for poor youth to advance if gifted in combat. They are relic-guardians and avengers founded to protect the faithful against bandits and religious enemies and have become media icons of late. 
Geomancers: Older than Hadina itself, the order of Geomancers has shrunk to a niche position in Ipekel but never truly faded. They adapted to the new religious order, becoming spiritual specialists that handle mystical healing and philosophy. This actually served them well, and they became quite proficient druids when they partnered with the Selkie Circle of the Sea in 1860.

"Memory is Spirit"

Founding Date

880

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Demonym

Hadinan

Permeated Organizations

• Kingdom of Airka