Teohcxe
Summary
Before the fall of their nations, the tokyau had a diverse religious spectrum. Monotheism, pantheons, and many more faiths coincided in relative peace. The issues of who went where when they died in a multi-faith situation, however, necessitated something to handle it. A way of appeasing one goddess or many, and keeping the living people happy with the result. The uncertainty of this issue attracted the attention of reclusive necromancers, whose talents with the dead may actually be useful. They banded together into an administrative group, and after tense negotiations, received an official organization. By studying various doctrines, they would act as the spiritual intermediators between the faiths and the dead. It worked out quite well up until the downfall happened. When their nations were invaded and torn apart, the peoples called upon their goddesses for help. Yet in the midst of this calamity, their goddesses failed, and the refugees fled. The migration proved terrible, and nearly everyone resented their goddesses for their failures. The necromancers couldn't readily bridge the gap anymore, not when people turned away from faith. Instead, they trusted their forebearers and mothers from before them. Ancestral worship became the demand, and the necromancers did all they could to accommodate it. Left in an awkward position, they had to codify new doctrine. Through time and effort they ground down all the faiths they still had records for. They took the most estimable parts and rearranged them, creating codes of ethics, preserving old proverbs and parables, and weaving a brand new identity. By the time of Kubuadac's founding, the cult of Teohcxe (te-o-cek) had supplanted every surviving religion as the primary faith. Life and death transformed into an eternal cycle, a proverbial prison a soul was trapped within. This idea became attached to a world-changing idea, that existence as conceived of was the prison. To escape it required the world itself be confronted. As a result, Teohcxe has no goddesses or otherwise. They've come to regard such beings as spiritual entities, living in a different manner from the mortally-bound peoples. What this ultimately took on depends on the person or scholar. Some believe them to be dangerous parasites, others a kind of life that neither side could understand the differences of. Rather than trust the unknown, Teohcxe faithful choose to trust those who came before, and so worship the greatest of their past heroines. Necromancery became the bones of clerical work, and those who could commune with the dead became highly coveted. Thus, to escape the prison and reach paradise–or achieve enlightenment–the task of changing the world became the burden. Until then, all within would be kept, and would have to toil in life or death. Enormous as the idea was, the structure of honor built to reach it formed the ideological foundation. Those within Teohcxe strive for virtuous living, born in the crucible of struggle and the grandiosity of overcoming it. In death, they would become the foundations of the next step in life. A proverbial, enormous pyramid, ever lifting the living up until the prison is broken. Faced with Jerhegn's awesome presence and seemingly insurmountable threats, it became the perfect framework to endure.Structure
Lacking a central administration or other controlling body, Teohcxe is governed by various priestesses. Hierarchy is derived more from age and experience, tempered by rites of passage proving one's skill. It could be said they're many different sects within the same faith, micro-groups handling their own affairs. When matters of greater import fall upon them, they let out a call so that a new convening can occur and decisions be made. This is typically either for national security or matters of doctrine, such as new philosophies or discoveries. While it's hard to speak more concretely about each sect's behaviors, there are some overall trends they share.
Oudatre, or 'bone gatherer/hunter/collector', are menial workers, charged with gathering the unsanctified dead. They skin and de-flesh the bones, mincing it into chunks that can be used for animal feed, bait, or soil fertilization. People bones are specially catalogued, with details of death location, physical description, and other identifying markers taken. They also sift apart uncatalogued bone piles, doing their best to find the people lost in them. A fair number of them end up becoming architects, responsible for rebuilding or repairing areas. The bone mixtures used for the stonework, thusly, become very important to them. Animal and criminal bones are used for the most disgraceful of things, such as sewage lines. People are used wherever honor can be found, even in humble walkways used by the living.
A stripped down idea of merchants, called the Haud, function as currency caretakers. They're responsible for the monetary system and taking care of t'hani coins, playful things they are. As the value of money is very relative, the 'value' changes with their assessments and financial updating. It ends up being closer to a record keeping job, studying the ebb and flow of supply and demand. Such a somber profession would be far less lively if the t'hani coins weren't around to bother them constantly.
Priestesses combine the scholarly habits of old necromancers with religious purpose. When they are not handling ceremonies for the dead or living, they are studying matters of the great prison. The rest leave to study magical theory, combining insight and reverence into a unique process. As they chiefly center themselves on matters of life and death, this can be anything from healing magic to animating spiritual golems. This leaves other magical theory fields to mages and smiths seeking to create exotic wares.
Performers, theater workers, artists, and musicians all end up together as Ge'nao. These lively souls are responsible for the colorful paint adorning Kubuadac, the ebb and flow of music, and entertainment at large. It is a luxurious lifestyle weighed heavily by public reception; few can break out of popular molds that are expected. From the mundane to the vital, many of their groups have long lineages in their performances. Indeed, their demands are great not only for the living, but the dead as well. Ge'nao need to move around the city somewhat regularly, for if the living come to them, the dead surely cannot. One can imagine the need for good performance is a heavy burden. The living may have never seen it before, but an ancestor who has thousands of times is quite another matter. The dead are not that stingy, though, since it gives them time to be with the living together.
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Location
Comments