Church of Hartrah

The Church of Hartrah is the state religion of Harthera. Adherents believe in a single god who is a fusion of all the righteous ancestors of the nation. Upon death, your spirit is judged by God, and begins a slow process of merging with the Godhead. As a faith it is a syncretism of ancestor-worship and veneration of a monotheistic protector god who is the embodiment of the station. The church strongly promotes respect for family, tradition and heirarchy as well as duty and personal morality.

The main principles of the Church are:

• respect for the family
• paying honour to your mother and father
• prayers and devotions to honoured ancestors
• courtesy, loyalty, honesty
• honour and duty to the state.

The church is the state religion of modern Hartheraplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigHarthera

The Hartheran Union, commonly named Harthera, is an imperialist maritime nation state dominating the northeast of Anásthias. It is one of the two great powers of the modern epoch, arguably the most technologically and militarily powerful nation in the world, only matched by the vast size and wealth of its neighbour, viridOrorrMEOrorrOrorrOrorrOrorr, adopted by the authorities in opposition to the rampant missionary zeal of its powerful neighbour, Ororr. The faith is the product of three quite separate traditions: Junda ancestor worship, Saloyan theism and the Chelidd martial tradition.

Ancient Saloya exercised a great degree of religious tolerance, its people having a strongly philosophical and metaphysical approach inherited from Miyarrisplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigMiyarris

Miyarris [mee-YA-riss], (also Miarris, from Mayápo Mayarous) was a hugely influential ancient civilisation located which flourished during the Celadon Epoch, from 4000-3000 BME. It is considered the first great civilisation in history since the the mythic Godmen.

Ancient Miyarris

BMElanguagelanguagelanguageAnásthiasEloyounlanguagelanguagelanguage. Saloyan theists, particularly in the western provinces, were influenced to some extent by the matriarchal En-Sanni, but they were opposed to mindless worship and did not believe in an all-powerful goddess. The Chelidt on the other hand had a strong monotheism, with an uncomplicated Father God whom they worshipped and served without question, even to the point of sacrificing their lives.

With Hartheranplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigHarthera

The Hartheran Union, commonly named Harthera, is an imperialist maritime nation state dominating the northeast of Anásthias. It is one of the two great powers of the modern epoch, arguably the most technologically and militarily powerful nation in the world, only matched by the vast size and wealth of its neighbour, viridOrorrMEOrorrOrorrOrorrOrorr expansion, peoples with varying religious traditions were brought into the Church. By the 4th Hartheran century there were a number of different sects, tolerated to a greater or lesser degree, all with similar beliefs but differing in their mode of worship. Some sects made offerings to the relics of their ancestors, giving food and even placing the ashes in effigies representing their mortal bodies. Descendants wanted to placate and pamper their spirits, and a variety of rituals developed, particularly in the south. There was even a powerful sect called the Katrahled , who carried on many of the secret rites of Junda shaman, making talismans from the bones of the dead. This ghoulish sect was eventually persecuted by the Church and exterminated. With a need to absorb and convert new faiths an attempt was made to unify ritual. In the 7 th century these 'decadent' practices were stamped out by the Church, under a regime of Chelidt Purism.

The modern Church of Hartrah is a blend of these three faiths. Hartherans believe than when they die, their spirit ascends by stages to fuse with the Godhead, Hartrah. Their God is not the creator of the world, there are no myths or stories of the God's deeds, there is no mythical heaven and hell. Hartrah is a spirit formed from the collective will of the Hartheran people, housing the souls of all righteous Hartherans who have gone before. He is a single Being, the Voice, Arm, Shield and Spirit of the Hartheran Nation.

Theologically it is unclear whether Hartrah is a immanent god, who can make practical changes to the world. Prayers to Hartrah more commonly call for spiritual comfort, guidance, and forgiveness for immoral acts.

Family, duty, service, honour and nation are the fundamental focus of the Hartheran Church. When Hartherans die, their soul remains for a time, watching over their children and grandchildren. Hartherans are surrounded every moment of the day by the souls of their ancestors, who guide them, aid them and even punish them if they have done wrong. Privately they pray to their ancestors, asking them to intercede with them on personal and spiritual matters, asking for help, healing, aid and protection. In public ceremonies they pray in praise of the Godhead, who is an amalgam of all ancestors.

When Hartherans die, they are cremated. Their ashes are retained, and the rich have ornate family reliquaries where the remains of the ancestors lie, kept as a means of communion with their ancestor spirits. Once the spirit has passed to the Godhead, the remains are scattered.

Their soul however stays on earth in spirit form, watching over their descendants. Their own ancestors, who had watched over them when they were alive, gradually move closer to the Godhead as their ties to the mortal world diminish. Once everyone they have known in life has passed on, their ties are severed, and they become absorbed into supreme communion with the Godhead.

Ancestors are the key to a Hartheran's entry to the afterlife. Ancestors must open the door for your spirit to begin its ascent to the Godhead, and are closest to you at the moment of death, when they take your hand and set you on the path of Ascension. If your life has been dishonourable, they can forever block your ascent, condemning your spirit to wander the earth, slowly fading into nothingness. This punishment awaits those who disrespect their family, dishonour their name, or commit petty crimes.

The worst crime is betrayal of family, Church and State. The rite of Webrokshar is hardly spoken in Harthera, and only with fear. It was based on an ancient Chelidt ritual (yebrogzar), revived in the 5th century to punish heretics against the reformation of the church. Traitors, alive or dead, were securely bound and locked in a strong wooden casket, buried beneath the ground. Traitor's souls are forever trapped in the earth, an eternity of suffering.

This idea spurred the missionary zeal of the middle-era Church. The former Eloyounplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigEloyoun People

The Eloyoun people are an ethnic group found throughout eastern and northeastern Anásthias. They are the majority ethnicity in Kahtoyn and most of southern Harthera. Modern Hartheran language and culture is a blend of Eloyoun and Iskean.

The Eloyoun people claim descent from the ancient realm of Harthera nations of Northeastern Anásthiasplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnásthias

Anásthias [a-NAS-thee-ass / ænæsθiːæs], or [an-ass-THEE-as] is an equatorial island continent, heart of the Civilised World. The north straddles the equator and is hot and humid, while most of the equatorial centre is an upland plateau with fertile river valleys, and stretches of arid plains and desert in the shadow of the mountains. The south is temperate but more wild, separated from the civilisations of the north by the almost impassable Harthera practiced ritual burial of the dead, something looked on with horror by Hartherans, who believed that burial traps the soul in eternal torment. As such it was the duty of Hartherans to save these souls from torment. Graveyards in captured territories were violated, bodies dug up and burned in huge pyres. Conquered peoples (and other nations) saw these as monstrous atrocities, whereas to Hartherans it was an act of kindness. To the Hartheran mind, this would gain the eternal gratitude of these 'trapped' ancestors, and allow newly conquered peoples to be more easily assimilated into the state religion. Unfortunately it instead led to generations of bitter resentment and unrest.

Family relationships are therefore very important, spiritually as well as socially. In certain circumstances people can formally adopt people into their family line, giving them full social and spiritual rights within the Church. During the period of Hartheran expansion this was very important, to bind newly conquered lands, and the offspring of mixed parentage. The elite of the conquered peoples, particularly in Ravorr and Oonar, were gradually adopted into Hartheran clans, under dispensation from the Church. Today, modern Harthera is bound by a Godhead who is not just the god of the conquerors: He is a fusion of every honourable soul in history.

The centre of the church is the Basilica of Holy Hart in the Old City of Vahltor. Beneath its vast domed roof the high rituals of State are carried out: blessings, prayers and invocations. Around the centre there is a ring corridor with seven tiers rising above, containing hundreds of thousands of alcoves holding the remains of the great families of recent decades. The most eminent clans have private sanctuaries on the First Tier, whereas the upper floors have shelves up to the ceiling, accessed by ladders on wheels. Military leaders, functionaries of church and state, diplomats, teachers, thinkers, builders - all these are awarded places in their lifetime within the Basilica.

The most famous citizens, those who have given outstanding service to the State, may be awarded the title Father or Mother of Harthera . These formally adopt the Nation as their spiritual heir, so that as long as the state exists, they will always retain their identity within the Godhead, and have the wellbeing of the nation as their charge. The title is very rare and seldom given in life, it is mostly posthumous. All the great heroes of the nation are given this status. Cults of Fathers or Mothers have never really developed, but their popularity reached its height two centuries ago when medallions of heroes, both male and female, were adopted by the Commonwealth.