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Religion In Kyr
Kheyesa, The Sun
The most widespread faith in the empire of Kyr is the
worship of Kheyesa. The origins of the faith originated
within the tribal Sundered Desert and spread fast across
the lands. Quite simply, Kheyesa is the sun. According
to those who practise the religion, the world was originally
a dark and dismal place. Kheyesa, a primal force of
nature, found this displeasing. He rose into the sky
and lit the world with his radiance.
The worship of Kheyesa is a neutral one. While it supports
law and structure to some extent, there is a definite
taint of “the strong will rule the weak” throughout
the religious writings. This sits well with the Kyrian
way of life and probably explains the success of the
faith in the empire. Berenian sages believe that Kheyesa
is simply an aspect of one of their gods, Merl. Kheyesan
priests who have studied the Book of Merl actually agree
with this, although in their opinion it is Merl who
is the aspect and Kheyesa the original.
The Three Promises
The worship of Kheyesa is strikingly simple. To be
considered a devout Kheyesaini (a follower of Kheyesa),
a Kyrian need only fulfil three requirements, called
“The Three Promises.”
First, they must promise to obey the word of Kheyesa,
through his priests, above all other laws. In practice
this usually means that when encountering a priest of
Kheyesa they must give golden pieces in offering for
the poor, give shelter and food, and listen to a sermon.
Second, they must pray twice daily, at sunrise and
sunset. The Kheyesaini ritual of prayer is very strict.
While in prayer the worshipper must be completely naked,
“clean in the eye of the sun.” Before prayer
the worshipper must clean themselves completely using
sand and water. Prayer must take place underneath the
open sky. There must be no members of the opposite sex
present during the ritual. Temples are constructed for
the purpose of prayer in large settlements, with separate
areas for men and women, with open roofs to pray as
required. However, any quiet open place would serve
as a suitable point of worship for a Kheyesaini in need
of a place to pray.
Third, they must bring light to darkness. What this
actually means is not completely agreed between Kheyesaini
and this promise has been abused over the centuries.
It is commonly accepted that places where people live
must never be dark, and Kheyesaini light lamps and candles
all over the places they live. Kyrian cities often glow
in the night with the luminance of thousands of hanging
lamps, while desert settlements can seem beautiful and
strange in the night with the glow of hundreds of candles
along their temporary boundaries.
The third promise is also generally accepted to mean
that the laws of the ruler of a settlement should be
obeyed, since priests explain that light is the same
as order, and darkness as chaos.
This is carried on to a general belief that wealthy
Kyrians who own much land, many horses or camels, or
have a large harem, must give gold pieces to the poor
to bring light to the darkness of their lives. This
most commonly takes place through a Kheyesaini priest
intermediary (since any wealthy Kyrian, proud of their
cleanliness, would not wish to speak with or associate
with the poor.)
The recent war with Bereny, orchestrated by the strange
invaders known as the Jenna, was not opposed as strongly
as it might have been due to a misuse of the Third Promise,
which claims that the worship of other powers as equal
to Kheyesa casts a shadow upon the land where it takes
place. Many Kheyesaini approved of the Jenna’s
plans, seeing this as an opportunity to combat the darkness
with their own light. The terrible effect upon the economy
in the absence of trade with Bereny, and with the Lacusan
Islands, caused by the war, has since made many capitulate.
Cleanliness
There is little that is more important to a Kheyesaini
than cleanliness. Fire is seen as the ultimate purifier,
and those who worship the sun must attempt to be clean
in its eye. Kheyesaini do not mind becoming dirty in
the practice of their business or their lives, but they
do take elaborate precautions to make themselves clean
again thereafter. Kheyesaini barbers, who open stalls
and practice their trade in larger settlements, actually
pour a flammable liquid called “Ayyari” on
the hands and feet of their customers and light it,
to clean those vital tools more thoroughly. (This liquid
burns bright and fast, stinging but seldom actually
harming the user.)
Sufi
Another common religious practice in Kyr is that of
the Sufi. Dismissed as ‘mysticism’ by many,
and therefore unclean, it is tolerated but not encouraged
by worshippers of Kheyesa. Practicers of Sufi, called
Fakirs, do not worship gods (although they do not deny
their existence) but instead worship something called
“meticalos”, which means “the power of
the world.” There are many schools, and some are
dismissed by others as confused or incomplete. Sufi
teachers say that trying to mix schools is foolish and
dangerous. Fakirs can often by recognised by their patchwork
robes and ascetic lifestyles. The main schools of Sufi
are; Dervishes - who practice magics with weapons, Djan
- who summon and control the mysterious Djinni, Zoroastrians
- who study the power of fire and the lowly Tourdalan
- who work with the animals.
The Dark Ones
Kyrians believe that there are many evil powers, called
the Dark Ones, who lurk in the shadows of the world
and seek to cause harm or bring ill to good and honest
men. In particular, they fear that demons will steal
their horses, camels or perhaps their women, bring sickness
to their children, harm their business, or cause their
friends and associates to feel disdain towards them.
The Kyrian people are extremely supersticious. Charms,
wards and many types of talisman are sold to protect
against different unseen threats and evil powers. The
term “evil” is used differently in Kyr than
it is in Bereny, however. Evil would simply be anything
which wished to cause harm to or steal from the Kyrian,
or to bring darkness where there is light. It is an
extremely bad idea, in most Kyrian settlements, to enter
somebodies home and snuff out a candle.
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