Tepottous Boutalarat

General introduction

The Tepottous Boutalarad (Messellat Mdûlûn for 'masters of the altars') is the religious order that runs the theocratic Messellat Mdûlûn city state of Inarikudad. Head of the order is the leading moon priest, who carries the title Salenad Kotokai. The other temples and worships are seen as subordinate to the moon temple Okta Tsumol Si and are branches of it. Each of the temples has a certain role in society and government and the respective head priests and priestresses are installed by the Salenad Kotokai. The entire system forms the Teppotous Boutalarad.

Known members and history

Legends about Inarikudads founding tell of a group of Mdûlûn driven from the southern regions where today the Arakat people live. The Arakat are considered to be autochthonous to the area. It is not entirely clear, where the Mdûlûn exactly came from, but they were located somewhere south of the Central Erana Mountain Range competing with the Arakat people.

The group that Inarikudad traces its roots back to is said to have been guided by a man called Hayator Fomonn, who one day on the arduous journey northward supposedly saw a sign given by the moon good. At this place, the Okta Tsumol Si was erected and soon people started to believe the sayings about the sign, given by the moon god and the close relation between the area and that deity. Eventually people started making pilgrimages there, the local community grew and Inarikudad became a major city in the area.

After Hayator Fomonn, an ambitious priest called Inkata Tetoki became head priest. He started to use his power to consolidate Inarikudads power by relating to the people that the moon god instructed him to build an army to secure more land and to push back rivalling settlements. This must have been very unexpected for the neighbouring settlements, as temporarily Inarikudad grew significantly, until its growth got hampered by a few other city states banding together. In the end Inarikudad shrunk back a bit, but still was bigger than it was before Inkata Tetokis actions.
Last of the three great founding figures was Kirasul Kohi. He was the one to reorganise the structure of the religious insitutions in Inarikudad and was basically the founder of the Tepottous Boutalarat.

Structure and responsibilities

The moon temple is the centre of power in Inarikudad. It's head priest is basically the king or governor of the city state. Other than in most states, he does not have a seat of government with houses and chambers, but supervises the other religious institutions in the city state. Being polytheistic, about a dozen deities receive major worship and each of their temples is assigned a task within the city state. For example the temples of Dekkan, lord of arts and crafts are responsible for training the military, be it leaders or soldiers. Thus every Dekkan temple has a training ground and a weapon chamber. People from the vicinity have to go there for prescribed periods of time to receive martial arts training.
Another important duty goes to the temples of Itiropan, the god of travelling, seafaring, merchants and pilgrims, which is responsible for collecting taxes and organising market days.

All the heads of the subordinate temples are installed by the Salenad Kotokai to ensure their loyalty to the main temple. Also legates are employed, to check on the rightful fulfillment of the respective temples duties. These legates are feared by the temples, as all accusations they make can lead to capital punishments within the temple they report. Their word is taken very seriously, so legal defense against wrongful accusations is difficult, bordering on impossible.

Type

Religious, Monastic Order