The Temple of Amman-Suul
The children, the faithful, flock to the temple steps at twilight, the strange and tuneless horns mourn loudly, echoing down the streets, calling out into the walls of this old city, out down echoing down the great river, down the canals. They move as one mass, flickering under the lights of torches, moving as a single unit towards the heart of their city. The priest watches them come, the priest watches, scroll in hand, ready to present the words of one wiser than he and try and explain it to his people. The gilt statue of his patron stares down on him, through him, demanding his perfection, his sacrifice. The mass his coming and his words must follow.
Structure
The leadership of the temple is highly political. Individual priests have little actual power, some don't even know how to read the dialect in which their scriptures were originally wrote. Individual priests are children that have finished an apprenticeship at an established temple. The priests in the temple are all appointed by the arch-priest of that temple and the arch-priests are appointed by the high priest of Amman-Suul, the husband of the Pharaoh, who holds the ultimate interpretation of all scriptural and spiritual matters.
Public Agenda
The public agenda of the church is to destroy the bastions of ignorance that would oppose the light of Amman-Suul. The job of the priesthood and the Pharaoh are expected to forward the will of Amman-Suul on the world, these are their earthly callings. The ultimate goal is to have the world held under one earthly kingdom, that of the Pharaoh, and one heavenly kingdom, the light of Amman-Suul. The goal of the priesthood is also to bring, meaning and purpose in the lives of commoners, but also to find the path that the rulers of the country are meant to take in their governance of Amman-Suul's chosen people.
Assets
Theoretically, all things in Jahlbar belong to the Priesthood. The priesthood of Amman-Suul can commandeer private property as needed when deemed necessary. The army, the navy, the pharaoh, all ultimately serve the preisthood of Amman-Suul. The religion also possess its richest and holiest places: the Three Great Temples (Telmarna, Ammanis, and Amir Aldain) as well as the holiest mount, the mount on which Amman-Suul whispered the scriptures to Bashar (Mt. Seba).
Mythology & Lore
Creation: Creation itself was no mystery, Amman-Suul brought light into the void and therefore made life possible and all life spread from the ground which was created by the light shining in the void. This light was all things, that which was made, and was found wanting, had the light withdrawn from it and retreated underground, off into the edges of the world, or into the dark realm of space. Creation itself has been saved and grown by light and all things contain light, all things that are not evil contain this light of Amman-Suul. Since creation ended, mortalkind has done much to quench the light and it is fading, the priesthood must keep it alive at all costs.
Divine Origins
The Origins of this religion come from the direct revelation of the scriptures by Amman-Suul to Bashar, a heretical priest who practiced many different religions and would give out blessings for money as he traveled. One day Amman-Suul confronted him in humanoid form, directed him to the top of a mountain, and then spoke the scriptures unto him, for the spirit of the sun, the great Amman-Suul had been ignored and demanded worship. Unsurprisingly few people believed Bashar and his new religion, despite, his performance of miracles. Over time he grew a following, which would eventually include the princess of Telmarna in his old age, this would lead to the growth of the religion that would come in future years. Bashar himself has never died, but instead secluded himself deep in the desert and is awaiting certain enlightened souls to come seek him and receive the ultimate earthly union with Amman-Suul.
Cosmological Views
The cosmology of this religion is simple, there is only one god, his name is Amman-Suul and his priesthood holds the key to his favor and will speak his word as it is both written and heard. There is no great mystery of life or meaning for all things are very clear. The purpose of life is to be one with the light and the light is one with Amman-Suul. This light encompasses all good creations, the creations that are fulfilling their light, but not those that do not fulfill.
Those of Amman-Suul view any other deity as an outworking of shadow, a shadow to dilute and hide the light, a shadow that ought to have light shined upon it. The practice of any religion other than the worship of Amman-Suul is entirely banned in any land where Amman-Suul have risen and taken root.
Tenets of Faith
The Tenets of Faith are fairly simple and number out as 7:
1: There is no god but Amman-Suul and the Nisfa'an are his messengers.
2: The Words of Amman-Suul have only been given once for all of history to the great prophet Bashar, may he live forever.
3: The High Priest of Amman-Suul is the authority of Amman-Suul on earth, and in him there shall be no fault.
4: The Word of Amman-Suul can only be interprited by the High Priest and his guidance is good.
5: There is no darkness in Amman-Suul, and there should be no darkness in the conscience of his children.
6: The justice of Amman-Suul is bottomless and his vengeance is eternal.
7: The Sword of the Queen is the sword of Amman-Suul.
Ethics
As compared to the rather complex ethics of Tarjianism, the Ethics of Amman-Suul are relatively simple. The scriptures are all taken in the sense decreed by the high priest and followed to their true end, the good of Amman-Suul is the good of the state, the good of state is the good of the citizen. One must follow the law, because the god is in the law, and is in the hands of those that wrote it, and those that hold the scepter that allows the swords of his name to be used against those who disobey. Ethics come down to that all things are done by what is written down by Bashar. One treats believers with the best, infidels will be treated one of two ways, either as misinformed guests or as enemies. Money is good for helping society, conquest is good for those that follow, bad for those who don't, everything is wrapped up in everything else. All that is under the light is right, all that is under the shadow is wicked.
Worship
Worship is a great public and personal matter. Every day, at dawn, noon, and dusk, a child of Amman-Suul is to repeat the 7 phrases of the law 7 times and then carry on with their day and spread the light, however, in the middle of the week, Wednesday nightfall until Thursday nightfall is the day of worship, in which the great celebrations and praises are held at all the temples, this is when all members of the community gather, chant the 7 phrases, pay homage to the patron of their temple, and have the local priest explain the newest teachings of the high priest to the commoners.
Priesthood
A priest is a male child, raised in a monastery by priests. This child must be raised in the way of the priestly system and show an endless dedication to Amman-Suul, even undergoing various trials in order to prove their dedication. These children can become priests, or under-priests at smaller temples and slowly work their way to bigger and bigger appointments. Priests are forbidden to marry, but are not ordered to remain celibate. If a priest shows such exceptional skill and dedication to Amman-Suul as a youth they may be selected by the priests of the three great temples to then wed the princess and future pharaoh so that they may someday become the High Priest.
Granted Divine Powers
Divine powers are granted to the followers of the three great temples and their patron, their Nisfa'an (patron) who acts as an intercessor with Amman-Suul for the rest of humanity. These are three great and ancient beings, each representing or being a spirit of one of the three moons of Taikangard:
Amashtep (LG) (Community, Protection, Animals): Amoshtep is represented usually as a Lion-headed man holding the Tabaxi-symbol for Home. He is a noble patron, one of warmth and strength, though the mythos is often full of his fool-hardy blundering. His special temple is in Telmarna.
Nak (CG) (Trickery, Luck, Travel): Naks is represented usually as a stork-headed woman holding the Tabaxi symbol for Wealth. She is a fickle patron, often taking liberties to tip the hand in favor of her priests, the mythos is filled her tails of outwitting and seducing other great spirits, especially Sanus. Her special temple is in Amir Aldain.
Sanus (N) (Death, War, Healing): Sanus is represented usually as a sneak-headed man holding the Tabaxi symbol for Birth. He too is fickle, but often is hostile to mortals, but holds the secrets necessary to life. His special temple is in Ammanis.
Political Influence & Intrigue
Considering how intensely the Temple of Amman Suul is tied up with the political rule of a nation, all temple intrigue is state intrigue and all state intrigue eventually bleeds over into the temple. There is no separation of church and state as they could never be separated.
Sects
Because of its deeply monolithic religious and political structure, the followers of Amman-Suul have little respect or time for the idea of schism. However, there is a more spiritual and mystical strain of folk-religion that is very common in the lower classes and rural areas that tend to pay less attention to the words of the high priest and more to the earlier writings of the first three high-priests and the personal writings of Bashar who they consider to be the most important as they were the only ones who knew him personally. These also tend to be far less militant against outsiders.
There is also the special sect led by the high priest which, because of the high priest, like Bashar can have direct communion with Amman-Suul and therefore may serve him directly, this is limited to the high priest and Bashar and any other very powerful clerics of their cult and entourage. Annam-Suul (Glory, Fire, Earth) is represented only by an eye in the center of a glowing sun, often united with the Tabaxi sign for Kingship.
There is One and there are Three
Founding Date
Unknown: Said to be 3500 BV when Amman-Suul first came to the ascetic priest Bashar and demanded that he change his religion.
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Alternative Names
The Sun Children, Those of the Blessed, The Day Watchers
Demonym
Children
Permeated Organizations
Related Ethnicities
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