Cult of the Hanged Man

The Cult of the Hanged Man, also known as the Menkirians or Hangers, is a faith which flourished in the final decades of the Empire of Dor-en-Sann. It followed the teachings of the Apostate Menkirafed, who was executed and dismembered by the old Imperial Churchplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigMother of All Aspects

The Mother Of All Aspects was the Supreme Goddess of the religion of the ancient Empire of Dor-en-Sann. It was officially called the Church of the Mother of All Aspects, more often simply called the Imperial Religion.

Belief

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The religion gained thousands of converts in Deltirot, but adherents were later persecuted by the Mother Church, fleeing to many other parts of the world. Today there are Menkirian communities in many parts of the world, particularly Torthien, Schai-dam and the port cities of Harthera. Various purges largely expunged the faith from Ororr, but underground communities still exist.

After preaching throughout Deltirot againt the decadence of Imperial religion, he was imprisoned, and after a brief show-trial in which he was given little opportunity to speak, he was condemned to death and hanged. There are several conflicting stories, which have led to myths and ceremonies upon which his modern cult is based.

According to the first account, after his body was cut down he was dismembered by the authorities in front of a baying crowd. The crowd tore his body into scraps, and some even devoured his flesh in their crazed intensity. This story was circulated by the EnSanni, as an example of the punishment meted out to heretics.

The most famous legend, enshrined in cult texts, is that after his trial and execution, in which his followers had made no attempt to defend him, his closest adherents were all arrested. Ten of them were locked in a room along with the tortured dead body of Menkirafed, an act which the authorities meant to terrorise them and demonstrate the horrors to come. The authorities intended parading the corpse in victory around cities where the Cult had gained a hold, to deter further dissent.

The followers were desperate to prevent this, but had no means of protecting the body of their fallen saint. So, with great horror and solemnity, they devoured the flesh of their leader, so that there would be no remains for the authorities to exploit.

The cult grew exponentially after Menkirafed's death, infiltrating the Deltiriot government and causing a political and religious schism from the Empire. Gaalkesh threatened war against Deltirot, but by this time the Empire was too decadent and weakened by famine in the homelands and aggression by the Mother Army to attempt a lengthy campaign in the far south.

Over the next century the cult gained footholds in many Imperial cities, and enclaves were persecuted by city governments. Menkirians even aided the Prophet Therionplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTherion

The Great Prophet Therion, founder of the Church of the Mother. during his conquest of Ororrplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigOrorr

Ororr [o-ROARR, ɒ̝rɔ'ɾ], also called the Holy Motherland of Ororr, is a theocratic nation in Anásthias, one of the world's great powers. It the largest nation in the world, perhaps the largest empire in history, occupying the entire northwest of the continent between the mountains and the sea. Ororrlanguagelanguagelanguage, supplying military intelligence and even carrying out acts of sabotage. However, in the years after the foundation of the new Church-State of Ororr, the memory of Menkirafed was hijacked by the church. He was incorporated into Theristplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigMother Church of Ororr (Therism)

The Mother Church is the state religion of Ororr, which combines both religion and government in one institution. It is based on the teachings of the Great Prophet Therion, who in the early decades of the modern era raised an army that conquered much of northwestern OrorrOrorrOrorrOrorrOrorrMEMEOrorrMEMEOrorrOrorrHerHerHerHerHerHerHerHerHerher doctrine as a precursor of the Great Prophet. Based on these new texts and the obvious divinity of the Prophet, many Deltiriot cultists were converted to the new religion. Those that clung to the old tradition were persecuted, sometimes by their own family members; persecuted and ridiculed for their adoration of the gallows, symbolising the death of their prophet, and their ritual of mock flesh-eating.

Today they exist as an independent underground sect in many Ororran cities. The cultists are forced to practice in secret, further reinforcing the suspicion with which they are viewed by Ororran society. Many cultists fled abroad but the faith never spread much beyond its root community. Today there are refugee enclaves in many large port cities around the world: in Harlon in 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, Marr Sirque in Otekahré and Belisan Freeport in Anret.