Faith in Zahkara

[Zaim al-Daleel]

All enlightened Zakharans, no matter what how they worship, share a common belief in Fate, the Loregiver, and the Grand Caliph.

Fate is the natural force that decides the future of every man or woman.

The Loregiver was the woman who originally wrote down and defined the Law that is directed by that natural force.

The Grand Caliph is the ruler of Zakhara. He is the direct descendant of the first Grand Caliph, who brought forth the Law, as described by the Loregiver and defined by Fate, to the people of Zakhara.


Zahkaran deities and their ethos:

Hajama the courageous: "Bravery wins over opposition".

Hakiyah of the Sea Breezes: "Truth will always win out".

Haku, Master of the Desert Wind: "A man and a woman must be free to be considered alive".

Jauhar the Gemmed: "Money changes everything".

Jisan of the Floods: "Hard work brings abundance".

Kor the Venerable: "With age comes wisdom, and with wisdom comes strength".

Najm the Adventurous: "Make the Unknown known".

Selan the Beautiful Moon: "There is beauty in everything".

Zann the Learned: "Understanding is the key to all doors".

There are other faiths, variations on these faiths, and extremes of these faiths. For example, the Everlasting are a cadre of assassins devoted to the worship of Hajama, and strike down all who they believe do not live up to the deity's standards of bravery and fortitude. Members of the Pantheist League persecutes those that do not worship Hajama, Jauhar, Kor, Najm and Selan.

Then there are priests who worships idols; there is The Temple of Ten Thousand Gods, who worship absolutely ALL deities; there are thousands of local gods, Savage Gods, Elemental gods, Ajami gods and others.

[Zaim al-Daleel]

Savage Gods

Major and local gods share a common origin in the legends of Zakhara, but there are also beings strange to these civilized lands, whose worshippers have never heard of the Law of the Loregiver, and who do not recognize that law or even the existence of other gods. These strange deities come from a number of areas, mostly from the borders of the civilized world. They have no organized mosques, and their clerics (mortals foolish enough to follow them) are usually considered outland priests.  Below are a few of the many savage (or heathen) gods.

---

Forgotten Gods

The great river empires of Nog and Kadar worshipped their own deities, allegedly through foul and inhuman rites. Crumbling edifices and statues erected in honor of those gods still litter the Ruined Kingdoms. While little is remembered about these deities, the following have been identified:

* Kiga, the Predator, who commanded a pride of female were-leopards.
* Lotha, a human-headed spider venerated by evil elves who were burned alive for their sins.
* Migal, also called the Mentor of the Gods in some writings. He had a horde of winged assassins to enforce his orders.
* Shajar, an obese, hippo-headed god of the river.
* His mate, Raggara, who appears as a crocodile headed woman with bat wings.

Gods of the Crowded Sea

Many islands in the Crowded Sea have been isolated for decades or centuries. In these exotic climes, strange and mysterious gods have arisen. Some are monsters. Others are heroes raised to mythic proportions. And some are truly gods of a type that has not been encountered since the first genie pledged service to the first sha'ir. Tales from these distant and savage lands include:
* The Drummer, who has no form but travels through the air when his shamans beat great drums made from hollow logs. When summoned by his worshippers, the Drummer can pass through the bodies of his enemies, gnawing the flesh off an unbeliever's body.
* Kar'r'rga, a giant with the head of a horseshoe crab, who is said to live in the deep inlet of an uncharted island. The natives, it is said, give offerings to this immortal creature. In turn, the giant protects their villages from all who attempt to sail into the bay and enslave his worshippers.
* The Lost One, who is said to be an outcast from the land of Afyal itself. Statuettes of this being portrayed as a great elephant-headed humanoid with a long, flowing mane-are still found upon that island kingdom. When discovered, they are destroyed by the church of Selan (Afyal's prevailing enlightened faith). The Lost One has no name, having abandoned it when he fled Afyal under the assault of priests of the enlightened gods, who were supported by genies. Since then, the Lost One has allegedly confined himself to some island or underwater shoal, where he lurks, brooding and awaiting his return to his homeland.
* Pag, a nature god who provides rich bounty. Pag is said to inhabit every tree and flower on the chain of islands over which he reigns. For this reason, his worshippers eat only fish and seaweed, and let berries rot on the vine.

Wild Gods

The gods who are deemed "wild" by civilized Zakharans watch over the Hill Tribes and others who live at Zakhara's highest altitudes, far above the hot desert floor. These deities are brutal, beastlike creatures who are not native to the Land of Fate. Once, it is said, they ruled the heavens above far-away lands. As a punishment for misdeeds, they were cast out, seeking refuge in the outlands of Zakhara. There are as many wild gods as there are tribes and savage peoples, but two of them typify their breed:
* The Beast is worshiped by some Hill Tribes south of the Free Cities. He is said to be a drooling, snarling half-man with the eyes and fangs of a cat. According to legend, he stalks the hills looking for lost and stolen children, so that he may grant them the freedom of death. Shamans of the Beast can whip their people into a fever-pitch to assault the coastlands, resulting in a bloodbath for both sides.
* The Faceless God watches over the evil and malicious yak-men, who dwell in the northeastern corner of Zakhara. These yak-headed humanoids are more deadly than any savage tribe, for they know the arts and magics of civilization, but they wield them without joy, wisdom, or tolerance. They have but one deity-a great giant. Like the yak-men, the god wears heavy, sweeping robes. It, too, has the head of a yak, with great, curved horns. Unlike its followers, however, the god has no face.

Cold Gods of the Elements

Akadi of Air, Grumbar of Earth, Istishia of Water, Kossuth of Fire-these are the cold gods of the elements. Their power is great. Mortals who have seen the phenomenal strength of an elemental monolith know that such a creation is but a slight shadow of the deity born of the same plane.

Despite their power, few creatures look to the cold gods for magic or guidance. These deities are dubbed "cold" because of their attitudes toward men and other "inferior" beings: indifference or outright hostility. The genies, who are themselves creatures of the elements, recognize the existence of the cold gods. As a rule, however, not even the genies would worship them.

Occasionally a mad priest or mystic may come under a cold god's spell, but few would set out to do so. And more than one evil mage belonging to the Brotherhood of the True Flame has sought to tame one of these dark gods. Such mages have only courted their own destruction.

Ajami Gods

Some faiths are brought to Zakhara through traders, explorers, and slaves from far-off lands. To Zakharans, such foreign gods-the ajami gods-are invariably vain and selfish. Their temples are restrictive, for each demands worship in a shrine erected solely in his or her name. Nearly all grant power through their symbols, and allow themselves to be flattered with graphic portrayals at every turn. Often they are carried like a burden by the travelers who worship them. While these gods are many (too many, say Zakharans), only a few deserve mention here:

* Gond is revered by traders from the distant land of Lantan, who evoke his name while conducting business. Such traders occasionally make stops in the Free Cities. Gond makes devices, a poor occupation for a deity, but perhaps there was nothing else left by the time he reached the table of the gods. His symbol is a knobby wheel. It is used to mark devices that are potentially dangerous.

* The Golden God Helam, also called Helam the Watcher, serves as a guardian of the northern barbarian. Helam is the barbarian's shield, much as the great city of Qudra shields the civilized world against a barbarian invasion. In fact, it was at Qudra's door that Zakharans first gained their understanding of Helam. Not long ago, a group of ajami adventurers landed near the City of Power and attempted to claim all ground they spied in
the name of their homeland. A few marids and djinn quickly discouraged such attitudes, and the survivors are said to be serving the mamluks as slaves.

* Clang exemplifies the strange nature of distant northerners. Like Gond, he makes things, meaning that northerners have two gods doing the same thing. But Clang is a dwarf god and Gond is a human god, which to a northerner makes all the sense in the world. Tales of Clang have been handed down in the families of dwarves for generations, usually diminishing in the process.

Many other gods from lands to the north and east have drifted through the Land of Fate, carried by the word of the faithful. Most left not so much as a ripple. A few ajamis felt the need to convert others to the "right" way of thinking. Some even managed to create small religious communities that survived as long as the outlanders themselves. More often, the would-be "missionaries" aroused an angry, insulted mob by implying that their ajami faith was superior merely because it was theirs.