Religion in Azeryani Society
As with all Lythian societies, religion is an important part of private life, and it also plays an important role in public life as well. Religious festivals are celebrated city-wide with holidays, festivals, games and general mayhem. (All of which is duly noted and recorded, of course.) In general Azeryani are very tolerant of religions and will allow any worship which does not directly interfere with their lives. Many otherwise little-known religions go through brief fads when they are brought to Azeryani cities and the locals discover them. A few religions have gained widespread popularity and are celebrated throughout the empire. While many Azeryani follow a particular deity, most would not describe themselves as devoted to any one deity but rather pay respect, or at least lip service, to them all.
The four most popular deities in the empire are Agrik, Morgath, Peoni, and Azer. Azer is primarily worshipped by the military, though certainly civilians acknowledge his status as founder and savior of the empire. (There is a writeup of the religion of Azer available in a separate file.) Morgath is popular among the wealthy, in particular the very wealthy and decadent nobility. Agrik is popular among the nobility but is also worshipped in the military. Peoni is worshipped almost exclusively by farmers. In addition to these four, Save K'nor is popular as an archiver and scholar and temples can be found in every major city. Halea enjoys widespread popularity among both the merchant classes and the nobility. Larani is not very popular but a few worshippers can be found nonetheless. Worship of Ilvir went through a phase of extreme popularity in the mid-7th century but has fallen off severely since then. Temples can still be found in most cities but they are much larger than needed for their current population of followers. In the countryside a few worshippers of Siem might be found, though these would mostly be rare. Of course, there are a few noble mystics who worship Siem but this is really a private affair. Naveh is a popular deity in all Azeryani cities, though the worship is kept fairly secret. This is one of the very few deities outlawed by the government; political assassination is too common to publicly tolerate a cult which produces superb assassins. Worship of Sarajin is rare but does exist, mostly in temples maintained by the small Ivinian population in the major port cities.
As both Agrikan and Morgathian rites routinely use human sacrifices, these religions are unpopular or outlawed in most other countries. The Azeryani see nothing wrong with such practices though, and enjoy the spectacle. By Azeryani law only convicted criminals and slaves can be used for sacrifice, and the seller of a slave must be notified if the slave is being purchased for that reason. In practice most of the sacrifices are indeed criminals or slaves but many are not, often being kidnap victims from the lower strata of society. Most Azeryani realize this but rather than being indignant or afraid, find that it adds spice to the whole proceedings.
In addition to the major deities, Azeryani universally believe in a deity of
the household, the household genius. Each household has its own genius and the
members of the household maintain a small shrine. In effect, maintaining a shrine
to the household genius acts as the Peoni spell Bless Home, with the difference
that the spell is tied to the shrine instead of the hearth.
July 16, 2001
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January 23, 2002
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