Yahnvaism

An arcane religion developed in Zulithan as a response to the rise of the monotheistic Zulit faith by the polytheistic aristocracy. Yahnvaism, like most arcane religions, holds secret beliefs known only to inner circles of elite priests and practitioners. It's public beliefs are primarily used to justify the Zulithan caste system, legitimize the Parhrhu's (king's) reign, and promote social harmony between the majority Zulit and minority Yahnvaist faiths.

For the novice, who may be a child of a priest or simply a curious outsider, Yahnvaist teachings blend the role of the caste system and the ancient pantheons of gods into the monotheistic teachings of Zulit. Novices are taught that the Zulit God (called True God), communicated with Zilit from the future, but that God has yet to fully unify, with the gods of today holding spiritual puzzle pieces that must be combined into a whole. The Parhru was appointed by True God to protect the Zulit people from The Darkness, and the priestly nobility are both his civil servants to see his will done, and theological guardians to defend both Yahnvaism and Zulit against The Darkness's many attempts at deception. The Zulit faith is protected by the Parhru, as the lack of time travel is easier for simple commoners to understand, yet both Zulit and Yahnvaism worship the same True God.

In this view the Zulit concept of The Light is the being to unite all things, materially and spiritually, to birth True God. The process to do this, and the identity of The Light, are known by the inner circle, i.e. the high priests and Parhru, but kept secret so that The Darkness will not learn details that might help it thwart True God's plan. Novices must swear themselves to The Light and his priesthood, and demonstrate the ability to keep secrets, before being initiated and trusted with further knowledge.

Once sworn to secrecy, initiates are taught a second, dualistic, layer of beliefs. The Darkness is not a vague spiritual enemy of The Light, as taught in Zulit. Rather it is The Creator, a god created by True God and sent backwards in time to create all the spiritual pieces that would combine into True God. This creator, however, betrayed True God and made not just the spiritual pieces, but also the material universe, which he trapped the spiritual pieces within so they would not combine, allowing this creator to rule instead. Initially some spirits escaped their prison, and these are the gods of the pantheons worshiped today. The Spiritual Realm is where they are locked in struggle with The Creator to free more spirits and ultimately combine into True God.

Thus initiate teachings are anti-material - emphasizing the superiority of the spiritual over the material, and that the highest calling of humans it to transcend their physical bodies to join the gods in becoming True God. This they attempt with various methods passed down by the high priests. Only the highest ranks are then invited into the inner circle to learn the secrets that informed the creation of those methods of enlightenment.

In the inner circle of high priests and Parhru, beliefs re-cast the The Great War as an attempt to prevent Elesh from joining with Tasi to achieve enlightenment, transcending to divine status and birthing True God. Those who opposed Elesh were agents of The Creator/The Darkness, who successfully delayed True God's birth. These servants of The Creator continue that work today, so that The Creator/The Darkness might rule forever.

Elesh was always fated to fail, however, as the bloodline to produce The Light belongs to the Parhru. It is the priestly caste's duty to support each Parhru's attempt to transcend, including keeping records of previous methods and attempts made. Each high priest is tasked with a different category of knowledge or line of inquiry to pursue.