The Asuna Heresy

"Caterpillars need no teachers to become butterflies. Foxes need no priests to learn their tricks. Nature has them act according to their holy customs, their Suneka. And, to ponder further, a caged wolf acts with unnatural ferocity. So why do we cage our minds and our children? Why do we mutilate the instructions that the Gods placed within us, to create a flawed and artificial Suneka in its place? The answer, sadly, is ignorance and pride" 

The Asuna movement is a heresy of the Suneka religion, often represented by a crowned butterfly, two birds moving away from each other, or a cloud with a closed eye on it.  
Followers of Asuna philosophy embrace the theology of the Suneka, but reject its methods. They believe that all the world must be brought to harmony, but that such harmony does not need to be made, for it exists within all creatures naturally. Exactly what that means and what to do about it varies from Asunist to Asunist, but all agree on the inherent nature of harmony in all creatures. 
The Asuna movement was in its heyday in the 1000s ME, when they were able to seize control of the Republic of Ikatlan and attempted to take control of the Sacred Assembly. These takeovers failed and the greater movement was crushed, but small pockets of Asuna remain to this day, hiding in remote corners of the Suneka. Given that the movement has existed this way for over 500 years ago, each Asuna clique has evolved to be radically different from the others - but the symbols and basic premise remain intact.

History

Origins

Asuna was not born whole-cloth from the mind of its 'founder' - before there was the Asuna movement, there was the Chisokel School of the 500s and 600s ME. The Chisokel were not heretics (though official Sunekan histories have not looked kindly on them), but were advisors to the Sacred Empire of the Ghost King Yezok, parent of the unified Suneka. The Chisokel School was a group of priests who believed that people could only brought into harmony through joy. They argued that people have a natural affinity for holiness and goodness, and that the Suneka should appeal to that love and joy. Essentially, they argued for positive reinforcement, lots of holidays, and the formation of a relentless culture of love and happiness. The Chisokel were not fully accepted by Yezok, but they were not dismissed either, and their philosophies were really popular in artistic circles in the land of Tuzek after the fall of the Ghost Emperor.
The Chisokel school never really formulated into a coherent political movement, but a handful of their followers grew more radical over time. These Chisokel acolytes mourned the way that the republics fought with one another, and blamed the Suneka's over-reliance on force for these wars. And in 912 ME, this radical Chisokel literature inspired a young priest and writer by the name of Ileto. Ileto wrote what some call the 'founding documents' of Asuna and gathered together likeminded priests and thinkers at their estate in Ikatlan. At the time, these radical mystics, artists, and thinkers were not politically organized or much of a threat to the establishment at all. But, over the 900s, the group gathered influence and power, and began inspiring copycats across the Suneka. 

The Asuna Takeovers

As the Asuna movement attracted more and more followers, the Suneka entered a period of crisis: Mageplague, a deadly disease from Stildane, was killing tens of thousands in cities across the continent, and horse nomads were carving through the disease-wracked Sunekan armies. Even some among the elites were attracted to their banner. In 1019 ME, an Ikatlani prince by the name of Unetzen the Bold deposed their sibling and crowned themselves the Tlakra of the Republic of Ikatlan. They revealed their true colors as an Asunist not long afterwards, and invited their favorite Asuna priests into power alongside them. This sudden turn emboldened Asuna groups across the continent, who began to try their own grabs for power. Heretic priests began openly evangelizing to communities and rallying mobs against unpopular priests. A group of heretical sympathizers in the Sacred Assembly - the central body of the Sunekan religious administration - even tried to take control there in 1031. 
It was Tlakra Unetzen, the warlord and politician, who most shaped the movement as a whole. Unetzen looted the temples for war funds, surrounding themselves with occultists and mystics, and led their army Southward into Gwalan to help an allied Asuna cultist and prince by the name of Nokri take the throne of Gwalan. Unetzen was emboldened by this success, and marched even further South and East to spread political Asunism. Always more ambitious than realistic, the heretic-prince declared themselves a successor to the Ghost King, and called for the creation of a 'New Suneka'. Unetzen finally fell in battle in 1040, and their successor lacked their charisma and was betrayed and executed in 1048. Ikatlan fell into brutal civil war as followers of the Asuna Suneka fought the traditionalists across the valley. In Gwalan, the heresy was crushed by a coalition of invading powers - political Asunism was extinguished with blood and fire. By 1060 ME, the moment had passed and the movement had lost most of its inertia. 
Unetzen's twist on the Asuna movement gave it a lot of the superstitious flavor that it has today. There was always a strong sense of mysticism in the movement, but the nihilism, overt occultism, and militarism were all brought in by Unetzen's regime.

Ethics

There are three main strains of ethical thought in the Asuna tradition: Intuitive, Processive, and Nihilistic. 
The Intuitive approach would define moral behavior by how it feels. If it feels wrong, it is wrong; if it feels moral, it is moral. Of course, these sentiments can be seen as warped by society, so those who are purer and closer to nature are seen as have more legitimate moral impulses. The Intuitive approach tends to be popular among mystics and eccentrics in the movement.
The Processive approach seeks to create a "natural Sunekan code": basically, a new Suneka needs to be made that is 'more natural', and the details of this new Suneka can be deduced from observing people and animals in a natural state. This approach tends to be popular among academics and organized Asunist groups. 
The Nihilistic approach essentially dismisses action as having any meaning entirely. After all, the Suneka is the natural state - what we do only slows or hastens its arrival in a relatively inconsequential way. Only states of being matter in this approach.

"The Order is Inside You Always"

Founding Date

912 ME

Type

Religious, Sect

Demonym

Asunan

Location

Suneka (place)