Wysoki Wyunałt
Wysoki Wyunałt is the main religion present among the Rodłowi peoples, and is their native religion. It focuses on the worship of the high gods above local spirits, putting it in contrast to other related religions. Wyunałtists believe in a court of gods, each one a deity which guided the Rodłowi in ancient times. It is a highly localized religion, where each nation has their own patriarch, who works alongside the monarchy of the nation in order to decide the direction of worship. Wyunałtists also believe in veration of nature spirits, but this is handled on a local level much like in their related religions such as Old Prioslevidy.
Wysoki Wyunałt was originally much more decentralized than it is today, as in ancient times each Rodłowi tribe had their own patron god. During the consolidation of the Rodłowi and their formation into countries, such beliefs led to a confusing mess of worship, where certain tribes retained control over their people's worship even as they were paritioned or as the moved. This came into conflict with rulers and cities who also wished to lead the worship of their people but could not because of overlapping authorty. Finally, a great council of shamans would meet, and came to the conclusion that the old tribal-base system of worship was to be done away with. If it was the gods' wills that the people be divided into nations, they reasoned, then it was the right of the ruler, as leader of the people, to determine the religious path of the nation. Although this caused some uproar at first, because almost all of the shamans sided with this faction, the people largely accepted the changes. Those who refused became known as the Scecpow, and the few who remain that follow a single god for their tribe rally under that banner. This reform would also lead to the acknowledgement of all deities by all shamans, and the size of the unified pantheon became quite large, with numerous gods overlapping with one another. This might seem unreasonable to some religions, but the Rodłowi argue that just because one man is a master of the bow does not mean nobody else can match him in skill or power. Besides, there are usually small differences even among similar gods, such as the original 12 war gods of the Vedolians, each having their own quirks of worship or battlefield favor (although it would later be declared that this was one 12-faced god).
Although the monarchy (or, technically, a republican leader in some city-states) set the religious direction of the state, the shamans, whose leader in a nation is known as the patriarch, also exert great influence over this course. Additionally, though a national direction of worship is set, that does not mean that the other gods are ignored. Each city or village determines a secondary god who is also worshipped in that region for a certain amount of time. Finally, each person has their own deity who they pray to exclusively based on astrological signs. This is assigned at birth and is a key part of each person's life, with signs determined by the shamans. It is believed to be a great crime to leave a child without the knowledge of their personal deity, though Maciandy, Mother of the Lost, is said to be open to all those who know not their birth. Wysoki Wyunałt, with their huge varitey of gods and syncreticism with spirit worship, had spread extensively in the east, with many Relvetsians having converted to the religion in a "Dual Worship" with their original Old Prioslevidy faith. Originally introduced to the Chernoyetsians by various Rodłowi states before the rise of the Relvetsian Empire, become the majority religion in the region despite efforts by that Empire to stamp out what they saw as a heresy. The faith would also see a major boost in converstions as a side effect of the formation of the New Prioslevidy faith for two reasons. First, the originally Rodłowi deity of Niebazar Grzm (Nebesar Grom to the Relvetsians) was designated as the only true god, with the other deities of Prioslevidy seen as powerful spirits and not gods. Many saw this and came to believe that if Nebesar Grom was real, so must be the other Wyunałti gods. Secondly, the conflict between Old and New Prioslevidy took some of the pressure off the Wyunałti faithful in the peripheral.
Wysoki Wyunałt was originally much more decentralized than it is today, as in ancient times each Rodłowi tribe had their own patron god. During the consolidation of the Rodłowi and their formation into countries, such beliefs led to a confusing mess of worship, where certain tribes retained control over their people's worship even as they were paritioned or as the moved. This came into conflict with rulers and cities who also wished to lead the worship of their people but could not because of overlapping authorty. Finally, a great council of shamans would meet, and came to the conclusion that the old tribal-base system of worship was to be done away with. If it was the gods' wills that the people be divided into nations, they reasoned, then it was the right of the ruler, as leader of the people, to determine the religious path of the nation. Although this caused some uproar at first, because almost all of the shamans sided with this faction, the people largely accepted the changes. Those who refused became known as the Scecpow, and the few who remain that follow a single god for their tribe rally under that banner. This reform would also lead to the acknowledgement of all deities by all shamans, and the size of the unified pantheon became quite large, with numerous gods overlapping with one another. This might seem unreasonable to some religions, but the Rodłowi argue that just because one man is a master of the bow does not mean nobody else can match him in skill or power. Besides, there are usually small differences even among similar gods, such as the original 12 war gods of the Vedolians, each having their own quirks of worship or battlefield favor (although it would later be declared that this was one 12-faced god).
Although the monarchy (or, technically, a republican leader in some city-states) set the religious direction of the state, the shamans, whose leader in a nation is known as the patriarch, also exert great influence over this course. Additionally, though a national direction of worship is set, that does not mean that the other gods are ignored. Each city or village determines a secondary god who is also worshipped in that region for a certain amount of time. Finally, each person has their own deity who they pray to exclusively based on astrological signs. This is assigned at birth and is a key part of each person's life, with signs determined by the shamans. It is believed to be a great crime to leave a child without the knowledge of their personal deity, though Maciandy, Mother of the Lost, is said to be open to all those who know not their birth. Wysoki Wyunałt, with their huge varitey of gods and syncreticism with spirit worship, had spread extensively in the east, with many Relvetsians having converted to the religion in a "Dual Worship" with their original Old Prioslevidy faith. Originally introduced to the Chernoyetsians by various Rodłowi states before the rise of the Relvetsian Empire, become the majority religion in the region despite efforts by that Empire to stamp out what they saw as a heresy. The faith would also see a major boost in converstions as a side effect of the formation of the New Prioslevidy faith for two reasons. First, the originally Rodłowi deity of Niebazar Grzm (Nebesar Grom to the Relvetsians) was designated as the only true god, with the other deities of Prioslevidy seen as powerful spirits and not gods. Many saw this and came to believe that if Nebesar Grom was real, so must be the other Wyunałti gods. Secondly, the conflict between Old and New Prioslevidy took some of the pressure off the Wyunałti faithful in the peripheral.
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