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Template:!ReligionMarwanism is a polytheistic religion practiced across the universe, especially in the Florathel Galaxy. It was created over a period of roughly 5,000 years as various prophets told stories of the Marwa, the Marwanist pantheon of gods. It is by far the most populous religion in Florathel and the second most practiced religion in the entire universe. The largest concentrations of adherents are within the territory of the Theocracy of Yaztas and the Darari Kelnai, and most of the rest of the population is thinly scattered throughout the galaxy.
Marwanism has become increasingly diverse in its many variants as well as individual interpretations of the various key components of the religion. The variants usually all have a distinction between the true supreme beings, the Marwa, and various lesser deities.
While many Marwanists believe that this religion was revealed to many different civilizations across all of time, the modern form of Marwanism evolved over roughly five thousand years between 45,000 and 50,000 CE in the region of space known as Yaztas. It was originally limited to this region until it slowly began to trickle outwards alongside both refugees from the oppressive policies there as well as, later, the ToY's conquests. It was at this point when large differences began to occur between various branches of the religion, forming the diversity we see today.
Origins and History
Modern Marwanism traces most of its teachings to a series of prophets known as the Hundred Lords. The first of them only described a few gods, and said that Artas herself initially created the universe. To most any modern Marwanist, this ancient form would be considered almost unrecognizable, although there are some that still adhere to it.
Interestingly, some of the Hundred Lords were originally Fuukanists hailing from Florescence, who were exiled and ostracized for suggesting that Fuukos was not the one and only god. As time went on, more gods were added to the Marwa, and some new concepts such as the Karyads (spirits of individual celestial bodies) were added, and various details of the myths were fleshed out.
Shortly before the creation of the Theocracy of Yaztas, Marwanism was roughly in its modern form. Various refugee groups fleeing the Yaztas region, cut off from the original holy texts, gradually diverged from the main religion, forming several branches scattered throughout the galaxy.
The conquests of the Theocracy also spread the religion, and the Arnot Republic came to have a large population of adherents as well before its destruction. Today, Marwanism is the second largest religion in the entire universe, and the fastest growing.
The Three Cornerstones: Most Important Practices
Although practices vary between individuals, there are three things that every Marwanist does. These things, known as the Three Cornerstones, are as follows:
Belief
All Marwanists believe that a group of 23 gods, known as the Marwa, are the most powerful and holy of all the various gods and spirits. However, they are still permitted to acknowledge the existence of other gods, and opinions vary on this.
Almsgiving
Rather than sacrifice to the gods, Marwanism mandates giving roughly 2 percent of your net worth to the poor, unless of course you are yourself poor. This exemplifies the egalitarianism of the Marwanist religion.
Pilgrimage to Temples
Marwanism mandates that at least once in ones lifetime, an adherent must embark on a pilgrimage to one of the major temples to the Marwa, at Artas, Kelestra, and Kaxor. Those who cannot afford this religious duty are exempted. There are also minor temples that one can make an optional pilgrimage to, and prayers made to the god in question are believed to be more powerful than prayers made at any old place.
Other Practices
Although the above are the most important practices to any Marwanist, there are other things done by most Marwanists. However, fundamentalists say that undertaking many of these practices is unholy, as they are not explicitly referred to in the Marwanist holy books.
Kata ke'Nara
Kata ke'Nara, roughly translated as the Festival of Birth, is a ten day long celebration of the birth of the first five of the Marwa. According to Marwanist myth, Artas, Talkas, Tawir, Iress, and Lias were born from Alachem's womb over a period of ten days. Celebrators feast heavily during the festival, and a full fourth of the population of the Theocracy of Yaztas have birthdays that fall within the festival. The first two, fourth, sixth, and tenth days of the festival are especially raucous and are dedicated to a particular god that was said to be born on that day. On the corresponding day, many people dress up in the vein of common representations of the god being celebrated on that day.
Kata ke'Nara is the most well-known of the Marwanist festivals and is by far the most celebrated. Some non-Marwanists also celebrate it for cultural reasons, and it is a week off in most countries in the UNFG. The festival falls at the beginning of the year in the Marwanist calendar.
Kata ke'Fela
Kata ke'Fela, roughly translated as the Festival of Freedom or the Festival of Life, celebrates the expulsion of Alachem and was placed essentially arbitrarily on the calendar. Kata ke'Fela is not quite as widely known as Kata ke'Nara, although it is still celebrated by most Marwanists.
Other Holidays
There are many minor holidays scattered across the Marwanist calendar, most of which commemorate particular gods or major events. Generally Marwanists celebrate the holy days of the gods most relevant to their lives, although there are some who try to practice all of them.
The Marwanist Calendar
The Marwanist calendar is based primarily on the orbital period of the planet Artas (not the goddess). The year is split into 27 months, based on the orbital period of Alos, Artas' largest moon and the seat of government of the Theocracy of Yaztas. Artas is said to be the original site of the Holy Palace of the Marwa before it was moved into an alternate plane to avoid the searchings of mortal men, and that is why the planet was chosen to mark the system of time in the Marwanist calendar.
The Marwa: The Pantheon of Gods
The Marwa is the pantheon of gods of the Marwanist religion, and contains many gods and goddesses, each of which does different things. Some gods are not in the Marwa itself, but still exist and do various niche things, but they aren't as important.
Alachem is the first creator of everything in the universe, and is not technically a member of the Marwa. According to Marwanist myth, she arrived in the empty region of stabilized space created by the Cosmic Primordia, heavily pregnant with her five children. It is believed that she created a large cloud of gas and dust, with a single planet located somewhere in the middle, where she finally gave birth to her children over a period of around ten days.
Artas came first, and helped her mother give birth to her four siblings, who were considerably more resistant to leaving Alachem's womb. Alachem and her children lived in harmony for thousands of years, during which time Artas began the creation of the first galaxies from the primordial cloud.
Alachem wished to stop any life from forming in the universe until she herself was ready to perfect it. Thus, she sent out her children to destroy any unlucky bacteria that happened to evolve. However, after her son Talkas disobeyed her and refused to do this, she swallowed Talkas whole. The other four banded together, rescued Talkas, and exiled Alachem from the universe. Most Marwanists believe that a vengeful Alachem will return at the end of time and wage war against her children, ending the universe in flame and devouring all the gods.
Artas is the Queen of the cosmos and ruler of the Marwa. She is usually described as a loving mother of all things, and is the oldest of the five children of Alachem. She helped Alachem give birth to her siblings, who were considerably more resistant to leaving her womb, and is the most powerful of the Marwa.
Artas is usually depicted as a pregnant woman with a quill pen in hand, and has seven godly children. Four; Tarka, Umo, Phain, and Alos, by her brother Talkas; one, Trytho, by her brother Tawir, Dymos, who she gave birth to on her own on what essentially amounted to a dare, and Kalamora and Gesara, by her son Dymos. Gesara killed herself soon after her birth by throwing herself into Artas' stomach, however. Talkas and Artas also created the Karyads, tens of trillions of beings which are the spirits of individual celestial bodies.
Artas was one of the most hesitant of the children of Alachem to exile her, and therefore Artas is believed to be the only god who will escape from Alachem at the end of time, and the souls of the faithful will be carried to the next universe with her. In the good ending of the last battle, she will swallow her mother, free her siblings and children, and create a new universe in the ashes of the old.
Talkas, the second-born of the children of Alachem, is the consort of Artas and king of the cosmos, although he is still subordinate to her. His domain consists mainly of astrophysical phenomena such as supernovae, making him important to those living around volatile stars such as Plokeon.
Talkas is generally depicted with a whip that represents a solar flare. He has eight godly children, four from Artas; Tarka, Umo, Alos, and Phain, and three from Iress; Telamon, Lekas, and Kiras. In some sects of Marwanism, he was also the father of Dymos, although mainstream Marwanism states that Dymos had no father.
At the end of the rule of Alachem, Talkas disobeyed his mother’s order to kill any bacteria that evolved in this early universe, and she swallowed him. He was trapped in Alachem’s belly for between one hundred and a million years (opinions vary) while his siblings fought to free him.
At Alachem’s return and the end of time, Talkas will be the first to be devoured by his mother. This time, he will not escape from her stomach if the gods lose, slowly digesting in unimaginable pain alongside the rest of the gods for all eternity. If the gods win the Last Battle, Artas will free Talkas and devour Alachem, and Talkas will help rebuild the universe.
Tawir is the Marwa’s god of war, soldiers, and strategy, and the third of the children of Alachem. He is married to Lias, and has had one child with her, although some myths say that Trita is also his child. The soldiers during the Holy Revolution and the War of Revenge prayed primarily to him. Some myths say that he had a habit of jumping back and forth between genders, and while in female form mothered a number of war spirits.
Tawir has only two godly children, Kel, who’s mother is Lias, and Trytho, born to Artas. He is usually depicted with a long throwing spear. After Alachem swallowed Talkas, Tawir led the charge against her and personally pulled Talkas out of her stomach. At the end of time, Tawir will lead the charge again, but he will be devoured by his mother at the end of the Last Battle if it is lost. Tawir is said to personally devour the souls of the dead who committed egregious war crimes in some myths.
Iress is the goddess of growth and nourishment. The fourth-born of the children of Alachem, she is weirdly married to her son Lekas. Iress is sometimes prayed to by, for example, those who tend agricultural stations, although her significance has faded. She is sometimes considered as the goddess of motherhood, though in mainstream Marwanism that role is taken by Artas.
Iress has three godly children. One by Talkas; Lekas, and two by Lekas himself, Telamon and Kiras. This strange family tree technically means that Telamon and Kiras are simultaneously Iress' children and grandchildren. Non-marwanist historians believe that this came about because of the long timescale over which the religion was revealed.
Not much is said about her role in the Last Battle. Some even think that she survives it by hiding in the belly of Artas, or among the endless rubble created by the battle. The myth of the Last Battle is somewhat unclear on this.
Lias is the last of the children of Alachem, and is considered to be the goddess of the dead and the afterlife. She is married to Tawir. Lias is generally prayed to by individuals who have lost a loved one, hoping that their soul will find their way to her. She is usually depicted as a heavily pregnant woman with a long knife in hand.
Lias has two godly children. Kel, by Tawir, and Trita, who she gave birth to on her own. Not much is said about Kel, aside from the fact that he is the god of death itself (not the dead). The parthenogenetic birth of Trita is believed to represent the way new life can come from death.
Lias has also birthed a huge number of other children, which are collectively referred to as the Liads, who are led by Trita. These spirits are Lias's servants, and are invariably depicted as female. They carry the souls of the dead to Lias herself, who ensures punishment if necessary or safe passage to the afterlife. Lias birthed the first Liads along with Trita, but after this Trita took over the job of giving birth to new Liads.
The afterlife, for some reason, is usually described as Lias's stomach or womb where it is described at all. It is believed that the belly of Lias is the only place where true, absolute peace is attainable. However, if the Last Battle is lost, Lias will pass them to Artas before being devoured.
Lekas is the first child and husband of Iress. He is considered to be a god of wealth, which would make more sense if Marwanism was created during the early agricultural age. But it wasn't, so historians are scratching their heads over this.
Lekas has three godly children. Two by his mother Iress, Telamon and Kiras, and one by his daughter Telamon, Wero. This is so weird that even religious scholars are starting to think that there was an error. To the woe of eschatologists and no one else, Lekas is barely mentioned in the story of the Last Battle.
Telamon is the daughter of Iress and Lekas and is sometimes thought of as the goddess of death, although that role is usually taken by Lias. Telamon is also the goddess of life and fertility. Telamon is generally portrayed as a very pregnant woman in a robe holding a scroll. Sometimes a "cutaway view" is painted showing Wero also.
Telamon has only one godly child, Wero. For some reason, Telamon remained pregnant with Wero for much longer than normal, and he is said to only leave his mother's womb for specific tasks that she asks of him.
Kiras, second daughter of Lekas and Iress, is the goddess of pregnant women and newborn babies. She is married to her sister's son Wero, and she can commonly be found in Telamon's belly with him. Unlike her husband, however, she doesn't spend all her time there.
Kiras has only one godly child with Wero, Alna. Alna is not often depicted alongside her mother, except in the scene when she hasn't even finished being born yet.
Wero is the only daughter of Telamon and Lekas, and doesn't seem to have anything in particular restricted to him. He often isn't really considered to be part of the Marwa, and really doesn't do much in the myths. He essentially lives in the womb of either his mother Telamon or his wife Kiras, rarely leaving. Wero has one godly child, Alna.
Alna is the daughter of Kiras and Wero, and is the goddess of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, and metallurgy. She left the Holy Palace of the Marwa shortly after her birth, to travel around the universe helping small civilizations to rise. Thus, she is considered to be the patron of developing civilizations. For some reason, she is always depicted with incredibly high contrast in color.
Alna is the mother of the goddess Mira by Alos. She has no other godly children, although she had a vast number of demigod children on her travels. Some myths actually state that she is male, although she has given birth to a child so most Marwanists disregard this.
Aside from the children of Alachem, the myths go into the most detail on what will happen to her at the Last Battle if it is lost. Apparently, she will dive down Alachem's throat after Talkas in an attempt to rescue him. Unfortunately, this will barely do anything, and she will be trapped in her stomach for the rest of the battle.
Alos is the oldest son of the goddess Artas and the husband of Alna. He is considered to be the god of scientific endeavor, and scientists of all kinds pray to him. Alos fell in love with Alna shortly after she returned from her travels, and they left the Holy Palace shortly afterwards to continue Alna's original travels. He is often depicted in a lab coat, although chemistry isn't the only field of science.
Alos has five godly children, who are arranged really weirdly on the family tree. His first child, Mira, was born to Alna. However, his second child Fuukos was born to Mira herself, and his third and fourth children Kokos and Pryga were born to Fuukos. This is so utterly bizarre that even high religious scholars are confused by it. There is one more normal birth, that of Elera, to his sister Phain.
Umo is the second child of Artas, and is worshipped widely as the goddess of beauty and splendor. Almost every Marwanist has prayed to her at some point, and she has traveled widely, beautifying parts of the universe on her way. Umo has also had many demigod children, and many of the most beautiful people in the universe are said to be children of Umo.
Umo is married to no one and has no godly children. She is almost never present alongside other gods within the pantheon in myths or art. Most of Umo's myths involve her traveling around the universe, birthing various beautiful children who may or may not go on to be heroes, and making the universe prettier. She will be among the last to be consumed by Alachem in the bad ending of the Last Battle.
Phain is the god or goddess of prophecy, and the daughter or son of Artas and Talkas. Phain's sex seems to jump back and forth between male and female, but she is female in roughly 80 percent of myths regarding her. Phain is married to no one, but she has traveled throughout the universe and concieved hundreds of demigod children. It is said that each of the Hundred Lords is a child of Phain, as Artas sent her away from the Holy Palace of the Marwa to concieve and protect one hundred individuals who would grow up to spread the knowledge of the gods. Aside from this, she does rather little in Marwanist myth.
Elera is the goddess of water and the daughter of Alos and Phain. She was born fairly late in the mythological timeline. Elera is also the goddess of rain and of the ocean itself. She is mostly worshipped by those who live on or near the ocean.
Elera is usually portrayed as a woman with a large, round belly as if pregnant, but she is not. In her myths, she is described as carrying inexhaustable amounts of water in her stomach, which she can release at will to nourish or destroy. She is not married to anyone and has no children.
Tarka is the youngest daughter of Artas and Talkas, and is the goddess of love, youth and the prime of life, and is sometimes associated with nebulae. She is sometimes associated with revolutions, for reasons which are unclear.
Tarka is married to her half-brother Trytho, and has one child with him, Silverstar. This was not present in old versions of Marwanism, and was only added towards the end of its initial development period. Some myths regarding her husband Trytho state that the two were in Artas' belly at the same time, and fell in love before they were even born. In fact, one late myth says that Tarka came out of the womb pregnant with Silverstar.
Mira is the daughter of Alna and Alos and the goddess of memory and art. Artists, architects, and writers pray to her. Mira is also the mother of the Mirads, three inspirational spirits representing literature, visual art, and architecture. Mira also traveled around the universe shortly after her birth to help engender creativity in various developing civilizations, having many demigod children on her travels.
Mira has had one godly child with her father Alos, Fuukos. They are not married, as Alos is married to her mother Alna. Mira also parthenogenetically became pregnant with the Mirads shortly after Fuukos' birth.
The ending of the Last Battle hinges almost entirely on Mira's actions. Her daughter, Fuukos, will return from the Empyrean at the last battle to help Alachem to destroy the universe. Mira must swallow Fuukos for the gods to have any chance of winning, but the only way for this to happen is to catch her off guard as she forces Kokos down her throat. Unfortunately, both Kokos and Fuukos will be digested together if she succeeds.
Fuukos' presence in the Marwanist pantheon is odd, as she was originally the god of the monotheistic religion of Fuukanism. Roughly five of the Hundred Lords, the prophets which created Marwanism over a period of roughly 5,000 years, were of the Ravis species, found primarily in Floresence. However, they were exiled from Empyros after they suggested that Fuukos was not the only god in the universe. A small group of them eventually made their way to the Yaztas region of Florathel and integrated Fuukos into the existing Marwanist pantheon.
In mythology, Fuukos is the daughter of Mira and Alos. However, she eventually came to believe that imperfect life should not exist, similar to Alachem, who was expelled long before. Just after she became pregnant with her daughters Kokos and Pryga, she leaves to a new, empty universe, molding it into what she believed to be perfect and giving birth to her daughters there. This came to be known as "The Empyrean".
However, Kokos eventually returned to the Local Cosmos and caused a cluster of tiny galaxies located roughly 15 million light-years from Florathel to coalesce into the Via Aylathiya galaxy and its satellites. This angered her mother, who banished her from the place of her birth to exist purely in the main universe that she looked down upon so much.
In the Last Battle, Fuukos will actually help Alachem upon her return to destroy the physical universe. However, her mother Mira will be forced to devour Fuukos. If this does not happen, Alachem will succeed in devouring the gods and destroying everything. However, if Mira succeeds in trapping Fuukos, the gods will win, Artas will devour Alachem, and the gods will rebuild the universe from the destruction caused by the Last Battle.
Similar to Fuukos, Kokos originated in the religion of Fuukanism, although in Fuukanism Kokos was the embodiment of evil itself. However, in Marwanism, Kokos is nothing of the sort, simply disagreeing with her mother over the crucial issue of whether life should be allowed to be imperfect.
In Marwanist myth, Fuukos left the main universe behind to create her own perfect realm, the Empyrean, where she gave birth to Kokos. However, Kokos eventually came to believe that imperfect life should be allowed to exist, and left the Empyrean. She then drew together a collection of tiny, uninhabited galaxies situated fifteen million light-years from Florathel into Via Aylathiya and its satellites. This angered her mother, causing Fuukos to banish her from the "perfect" realm that she created, the Empyrean. This act also made Kokos the patron goddess of the Via Aylathiya region, and she is said to have birthed many servants to help her with this task. Very few of them are named, and they are said to reside in her stomach unless they are on missions.
When her mother returns from the Empyrean at the last battle, her first act will be to track down Kokos and swallow her. Unfortunately, neither possible ending to the Last Battle results in Kokos being freed from her mother's belly, and she will be digested regardless of whether Mira successfully swallows Fuukos.
Pryga is the daughter of Fuukos and Alos. Unlike her mother and sister, Pryga is original to Marwanism, although she first appeared fairly late in the development of the religion. She is a minor goddess of chaos, trickery, and mischief and spends her life wandering the universe messing with the lives of ordinary people.
Pryga has no godly children. However, on her travels she has given birth to untold trillions of chaotic spirits which wander the universe like her. These spirits are not intelligent, and are rather blunt in their mechanisms of creating chaos. Pryga herself is much more subtle and much more dangerous.
Many myths revolving around her have a moral of avoiding temptation. They usually go like this: Pryga appears to a random person, seduces them, and then devours them. These simplistic stories are no one's favorite myths, but a more complex one also has Pryga's most important act in all the Mythos. Pryga actually disguises herself as Artas and attempts to give orders to the other gods in an attempt to mess up the universe. The other gods notice something is up, but dither over what to do about it. The story ends when the real Artas appears before Pryga and challenges her to a duel, which ends with Artas imprisoning Pryga in her stomach for a million years.
Her participation in the story of the Last Battle is minimal. Upon her mother's return to the universe, she goes to her expecting to be praised. However, Fuukos devours her for not doing enough to upset the rule of the gods.
Dymos is a bit of an oddity amongst the gods. His mother, Artas, gave birth to him completely parthenogenetically on what essentially amounted to a dare from Tawir. Thus, he has no father as such, and he is much closer to his mother relationship-wise than to anyone else. He had two daughters, Kalamora and Gesara, with his mother Artas.
Dymos doesn't do particularly much, in Marwanist myth. Only three years after Artas gave birth to him, he eventually hid back in Artas' womb, where he remains to this day. However, some believe that Dymos is sort of a gatekeeper to the Holy Palace of the Marwa, where he stops the unworthy from entering. This is not confirmed by the myths.
According to legend, one of the Hundred Lords was infertile and decided to pray to Dymos to fix this, although this was a rather unorthodox choice. The next morning, she supposedly woke up heavily pregnant, and this earned Dymos a reputation as a fertility god. This is not confirmed in the actual myths however.
Some believe that in the Last Battle, Dymos survives alongside his mother by hiding in her belly as she flees from Alachem in the event of a loss, but the actual myth is somewhat unclear and only mentions Artas surviving by name.
Kalamora was a quite recent addition to the pantheon, and could be considered as the last god, both in the mythical timeline and in real life. Her parents are Artas and Dymos, although she is more commonly associated with Tawir.
Kalamora is usually depicted as a pregnant woman holding a shield and spear. The shield obviously represents defense, and her pregnant belly represents the protection she is said to provide. Sometimes paintings of her show varying numbers of men inside her belly as if it is a cutaway painting. She is a goddess of war, but her purview is restricted to defensive war and the more strategic aspects of it. She has no children and has sworn never to marry. Those in the Holy Revolution sometimes prayed to her.
Gesara is an odd one. She was the daughter of Artas and Dymos, and came out of the womb along with Kalamora. She is not considered part of the Marwa for various reasons. Gesara is only mentioned in one story, which desecribes both her birth and her death.
This myth describes the birth of Kalamora and Gesara from the womb of Artas. It is said that Artas had to summon Tawir to physically cut Gesara out of her womb, as she was incredibly resistant to being born. Kalamora's birth was much easier. However, at the time of their birth, life in the universe had just been destroyed by the Aeternum Event, a real historical event which was supposedly caused by the excess and greed of the Lareas Alliance, but its not really clear.
Gesara traveled across the desolate universe and saw vast megastructures devoid of life. She saw hundreds of trillions of rooms filled with the perfectly preserved dead bodies of the citizens of the Lareas Alliance, and became incredibly depressed.
She returned home to the Holy Palace of the Marwa and beseeched her mother to reseed the universe with life. Artas flatly refused, and said that even the gods are not that powerful. Gesara knew that she could not convince Artas to change her mind normally, and resorted to extraordinary means to convince her. She cried out, "and so I die for what is yet to be!", threw herself into Artas' stomach, and let herself be digested.
Artas hastily attempted to cut her out, but soon realized that her stomach had already killed Gesara and resolved to do what was right, no matter the cost. As Gesara's body was slowly dissolved in her mother's belly, Artas used the power which came to her as that happened to replant simple life forms on many planets across the universe and accelerate their evolution.
Gesara is never depicted alone in art, although some artists depict her diving down Artas' throat as in the one myth where she appears. Artas reseeding the universe with life is very often depicted also, and some paintings of this depict a "cutaway view" of Gesara's dead body in her swollen belly.
Trytho is the only son of Artas and Tawir, and is a god of war. Specifically, Trytho focuses on the more horrifying parts of war, especially in offensive war. Despite this, he is usually depicted as a kindly personality, although he gets really mad at you if you treat prisoners badly.
Trytho was falsely believed for some reason to be a supporter of the ways of Alachem, and Artas temporarily trapped Trytho in her stomach during the expulsion, and let him out after Alachem was successfully banished. This unjust imprisonment supposedly gave him a soft spot for prisoners of war.
Trytho was the fourth child of Artas. Artas was pregnant with Tarka, who's father was Talkas, at the same time, and the two fell in love before they were even born. Trytho impregnated Tarka with their child before they were born, and Tarka came out of the womb pregnant.
Trita is the parthenogenetic daughter of Lias, and is often considered the goddess of death alongside her brother Kel. She is married to Kel, although in most myths they have had no godly children. Trita is usually described as a sad, lonely personality, and is depicted with a long knife like her mother's.
Trita parthenogenetically gave birth to all the Liads, servants of Lias and escorts of the dead to the afterlife, except the first ten, which were born to Lias. Trita is the leader of the Liads as well.
Very little is said about Kel in the Marwanist myths. However, it is known that he is married to Trita and is the god of death alongside his wife and half-sister. Kel is the son of Lias and Tawir.
One important myth involving Kel centers around his capture by the Karyad of the Florathel Galaxy. In this myth, Florathel set out to stop death from happening within her domain and targeted Kel and Trita, who she believed had control over these things. She handily defeated Kel and swallowed him whole, but Trita would not go without a fight. Florathel and Trita clashed, Florathel weighed down by her recent swallowing of Kel and Trita weighed down by the unborn Liads inside her. Soon, however, Lias herself appeared and joined the fight, and Florathel was quickly defeated. Lias and Trita pulled Kel out of Florathel's belly, and Lias wanted to devour Florathel right there. Trita and Kel interceded, saying that then the galaxy itself would cease to exist, and that would be bad. Kel did get to punch her a few times though.
Selevarsa, like Fuukos and Kokos, is not an original Marwanist god. He was introduced into the mythos fairly late in its evolution in a manner so confusing that historians today still produce contradictory explanations.
The most common explanation is that a small sect of the Theocracy of Silverstar somehow came to the belief that Silverstar was actually a lesser god, rather than the greatest of them all and the only one worthy of worship. They weren't forced out under the laws of the Theocracy, but they were treated rather harshly by their neighbors.
Thus, they left, scattering throughout the universe and putting Silverstar in whatever pantheons they came across. A small group of them appeared in the Yaztas region of Florathel, and started talking about Silverstar. Somehow, they ended up seamlessly integrating Silverstar into Marwanist myth and renaming him to Selevarsa.
In Marwanist mythology, Selevarsa is the son of Tarka and Trytho. He is a fairly narcissistic trickster god that is usually depicted in the form of a cat.
Because of his narcissistic tendencies, he ended up leaving the Holy Palace of the Marwa to be on his own, eventually making his way to the then-newly formed Via Aylathiya. Sometime later, he appeared to Moonmoon and convinced him that he is the only god worthy of worship, and the rest is actual history.
Other Gods and Spirits
Although the Marwa are the only gods and spirits that are truly worshipped by Marwanists, there are many other gods and spirits which are mentioned throughout Marwanist mythology.
The Karyads are celestial spirits of various space objects such as planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies. They are children of Artas and Talkas, and are part of the reason why Artas is almost invariably portrayed as very pregnant.
Karyads have wildly varying personalities that can affect the behavior of the object that they represent, so nothing general can be said about their personalities. An interesting trait common to all Karyads is that they have incredibly powerful instincts, which their intelligence can sometimes not override. A traditional sad story is that of the Karyad of the Florathel Galaxy and that of the now-dead Farrala Galaxy. This story centers around the friendship between the two, and its abrupt end when Farrala got too close and Florathel's instincts took over, causing her to swallow her best friend. She is said to weep to this day over this event, and she is commonly portrayed as a sad woman with a round belly representing the slowly digesting Farrala.
Karyads generally share the name of the object that they personify. The most powerful among the Karyads are those which personify entire galaxies, and these are the only ones whose names are well-known. When galaxies merge, the Karyad representing the larger galaxy swallows and digests the Karyad representing the smaller one. This occurs with planets and black holes too, but for galaxies it's the most noticeable on a universal scale. Something like Via Aylathiya's subgalaxies is explained by the Karyad representing the larger galaxy having not finished the digestion of the Karyads which personified the smaller galaxies she consumed.
The Karyads are usually depicted as women wearing a dress matching the colors of the object that they represent. However, in mythology, they do not really have a gender per se. A popular religious art subject involving Karyads is the battle between Peppei, Enedia, and Binasa, who represent the galaxies which are presently merging to form Nilus, or the Karyad representing Via Aylathiya.
The Liads are a set of beings who are said to escort the souls of the dead to the afterlife. The Liads are usually described as servants of Lias, despite the fact that they are led by Lias' daughter Trita. They are usually depicted as winged women carrying long spears. Despite the fact that they are essentially personifications of death, many among their number have fallen in love with mortal beings and had children with them.
When a person dies, a Liad grabs their soul, swallows it, and flies back to wherever Lias is. Lias then swallows her, and her digestion frees the soul inside her to go to the afterlife. Some people disagree with this, and say that the Liad lets the soul she carries out after she is swallowed, and then she leaves again. Luckily, the myths are unclear.
Lias parthenogenetically gave birth to the first ten of the Liads alongside Trita herself. However, after this, Trita took over the job of making more and became pregnant with a much larger group of over a thousand. She continues birthing new groups of the Liads to this day. Trita is the leader of the Liads as well.
The Mirads are a group of three inspirational spirits representing literature, visual art, and music. It is kind of disputed whether they are gods or not, but many artists pray to them. They are the daughters of Mira, who parthenogenetically became pregnant with them after the birth of Fuukos.
For some reason, the Mirads are never truly portrayed in visual art. This is considered bad luck, because some believe that if an artist does this, they will curse them to be unable to make anything above mediocre in quality.
Eschatology
Death and the Afterlife
The afterlife, for some reason, is usually described as Lias's stomach or womb where it is described at all. It is believed that the belly of Lias is the only place where true, absolute peace is attainable. However, if the Last Battle is lost, Lias will pass them to Artas before being devoured, who will flee to a new universe and reembody the souls of the faithful.
After the death of an individual's body, their soul is carried by one of the Liads to Lias herself, who will apply whatever punishment is deserved by that individual's actions in life. However, unlike some religions, there is no "eternal hellfire" or eternal punishment of any kind. Marwanists believe that no act deserves eternal punishment, so there will always be a point after which a soul is free to join the rest of the dead in the afterlife.
The End of Time
Most Marwanists believe that the end of time will come when a vengeful Alachem returns to wage war against the gods. The myths specify that there are two possibilities for the way the Last Battle will end. Both of them begin with Alachem returning to the universe and devouring Talkas and Alna. Also, Fuukos will return from the Empyrean and swallow her daughter Kokos.
However, this is where everything diverges. If Mira succeeds in swallowing her daughter Fuukos, the gods have a chance against Alachem. The only way for this to happen is for Mira to catch Fuukos off guard while she is forcing her struggling daughter Kokos into her stomach. Unfortunately, regardless of whether the gods win the Last Battle, Kokos is doomed to be digested.
If Mira succeeds, after a long period of fighting, during which over half the universe is reduced to rubble, Artas will rescue Talkas and Alna and devour her mother Alachem, finally ending the threat. Then, the gods will rebuild the universe from the destruction.
However, if Mira fails, Alachem and Fuukos will devour the rest of the gods one by one starting with Mira and Tawir, save Artas, who will flee with the souls of the faithful to a new universe. All the rest are doomed to be digested in unimaginable pain.
The myth of the Last Battle is slightly unclear on who will survive the Last Battle if the gods lose. It is clear that Artas will escape and Alachem and Fuukos will rule the dead universe for the rest of eternity. However, a common interpretation of the myth states that Artas' son Dymos will survive by hiding in Artas' womb as she flees. A rarer interpretation states that Iress will do the same, and some Marwanists think that Phain will escape by simply hiding until the battle ends, as she is never actually mentioned.
If the gods win the battle, the universe will continue on, and eventually die of heat death eons into the future. Even the gods cannot stop entropy. After this, the pantheon will migrate to another empty bubble created by the Cosmic Primordia and create a perfect, peaceful universe, as well as new bodies for the souls of the faithful to inhabit.
Some say that if the faithful and good of the universe succeed in making the entire place ruled by a near-perfect society, Alachem and Fuukos won't return at all, infinitely postponing the Last Battle.
Variants
Given that it has spread over almost half the universe and fifty thousand years, Marwanism obviously has many variants. Most of them are relatively small and restricted to small areas, but some have great influence. However, because of the diversity of Marwanist myth, very few "variants" are actually clearly delineated from mainstream Marwanism.
Kafanism
Kafanism is considered to be the largest non-mainstream branch of Marwanism. Kafanism arose when the false prophet Kafalun declared himself as such shortly after the end of the War of Saiheran Succession. He wrote what he said was a new addition to the Holy Texts of Marwanism, which radically contradicted virtually everything of what came before.
One such change was that Artas abruptly replaced Alachem as the mother of all the gods, and her personality changes to become significantly more sinister. There are lots of Kafanist myths about how she devours entire civilizations at will and regularly has children only to swallow them, massively contradicting her "loving mother" ethos in mainstream Marwanism.
Artas is the only constant in Kafanist myths. In myths depicting earlier parts of the mythological timeline, one pantheon exists, but then is consumed by Artas, who then births another pantheon. The pantheon depicted by mainstream Marwanism is believed by Kafanists to only be the pantheon for now, until Artas chooses to devour them again.
Because of this, most Kafanists pray to the other gods nowhere near as often as to Artas herself. The Kafanist conception of the afterlife is vastly different from that in mainstream Marwanism, and they believe that Artas will consume the souls of the dead and there is not actually an afterlife at all. Because of the nonexistence of Alachem, the entire Last Battle story is thrown out, and the cosmology is so different that some consider Kafanism an entirely different religion.
Kafanism itself has its own branches, mostly stemming from timeline changes. One large branch, known as Dark Kafanism, believes that the pantheon worshipped by mainstream Marwanism was in fact just devoured by Artas, and that they still have some influence over the universe before they are digested. This branch views Artas in a much darker light than mainstream Kafanism, and do not treat being consumed by Artas as a privilege.
In this branch, they believe that they can finally stop the cycle of birth and digestion of the pantheons by massively increasing the number of people praying to these gods and giving them energy. If a large enough number of people convert to Kafanism, they believe that the gods that are digesting in Artas' stomach will gather enough power to break out. After this, the gods will defeat Artas and she will be devoured, going the way she sent so many of her children. The gods will then rebuild the universe from Artas' tyranny and all the faithful will live forever in a perfect universe.
Aylathiyan Marwanism
There are many Marwanists in Via Aylathiya. The variant known as Aylathiyan Marwanism is most common, although roughly 40% of the Marwanist practitioners within the galaxy are still mainstream or other. Aylathiyan Marwanism, same with mainstream Marwanism, can be found in almost every nation save Alkon-Aylathiya and Sedrua, where they would be severely persecuted.
This variant centers around the importance of Kokos as the patron goddess of Via Aylathiya. Aylathiyan Marwanists worship Kokos almost singularly, only rarely calling upon the other gods. They believe that the other gods mostly only pay attention to Florathel, and that Kokos is the only one does most things in Aylathiya.
Aylathiyan Marwanist mythology does not actually have much differences to mainstream mythology. Kokos will still unfortunately be consumed by her mother at the Last Battle. However, Kokos looms much larger in the lives of Aylathiyan Marwanists. They believe, like mainstream Marwanism, that when she created Via Aylathiya, she also birthed a sort of "mini-pantheon" to help her with ruling the galaxy. These gods actually have very little individual importance, and are simply her servants. They reside inside her belly when not off on missions.
The Acolytes of the Great and Powerful Tawir
The Acolytes of the Great and Powerful Tawir are a branch of Marwanism that most Marwanists consider heretical. They completely ignore the existence of the entire Marwa aside from the war god Tawir. They even ignore a decent portion of the principles of Tawir himself, as they are incredibly violent. Their numbers were vastly decreased after the Sylean Civil War, and today they are numbered only in the hundreds of thousands. Because of their secrecy, very little is known about their practices.
The Followers of Alachem
The Followers of Alachem is incredibly strange and secretive, and most mainstream Marwanists don't consider them to even be a branch of Marwanism.. Very little is known about it, despite its quite large membership. Rather than worshipping the Marwa, the Followers of Alachem worship Alachem alone, and they are in fact hoping for Alachem to return, swallow the gods, and free them from material existence.
According to the Followers, Alachem was fully within her rights to consume Talkas after he disobeyed her, and the gods were only looking for an excuse to take over. They believe that the souls of the Followers will escape the Liads and travel to the womb of Alachem, where they will live in comfort for the rest of time. They believe that the normal Marwanist afterlife is a lie, and Lias in fact consumes the souls of the dead that are taken to her.
The Followers of Alachem commonly reenact their story of the Last Battle in a way that almost everyone agrees is incredibly disgusting. This practice is only known via former Followers that returned to mainstream Marwanism after seeing it, as it is always practiced in secret, and goes as follows: One woman always plays Alachem throughout her life, and is genetically modified to have an incredibly stretchy stomach. Then, criminals secretly kidnapped from prisons the previous day are chosen to portray the other gods, and all the actors are released onto a stage.
The actress playing Alachem grabs one of the other actors and forces him down her throat, and begins circling the others. Inevitably, one of them lashes out against her, and down they go. They are soon followed by twenty other actors, which kicks up a lot of dust from the stage, and suddenly all is quiet. The actress playing Alachem walks out of the dust with an incredibly swollen stomach, and lies down on the stage to begin to digest her huge meal, the sounds of which are broadcast to the audience. Once she is finally done digesting a year later, it is reenacted again.
The Cult of Iress
The Cult of Iress is odd. Members of the Cult believe in a radically different interpretation of the Marwanist family tree. For them, Alachem gave birth to only Iress, who then herself gave birth to the other four gods that mainstream Marwanists consider children of Alachem. Aside from this, the myths describe in great detail various qualities of Iress. Most of these myths were not products of the Hundred Lords, but rather from a pair of individuals known as the Children of Iress, who were born in 91,388 CE and begun the creation of the Cult. Because of this, most Marwanists declare these myths illegitimate.
The Cult of Iress looks at Alachem in a much nicer fashion than mainstream Marwanism. According to the cult, Alachem simply left of her own accord after giving birth to a pregnant Iress. Her reasoning is not described. As such, they do not believe in the story of the Last Battle and believe that the universe will simply die of heat death eons in the future. After this, Iress will carry all the gods in her belly to a new universe, to populate it with life. Cult members are not entirely sure why the gods cannot travel to this universe themselves, but they say it kind of sounds nice.
Often, centers of worship of the Cult take the form of massive statues of Iress about to give birth to her children. These centers of worship vary hugely in size, with the smallest privately-owned ones having only enough room for one person in the belly of the statue and requiring robotic actuation to convey the owner inside, while the largest has room for millions of people. One enters through its mouth, and walks down a long hallway filled with various depictions of Cult myths until they reach a large domed room symbolically referred to as the Womb, which is centered on a large upright statue of Iress in the larger centers, although different centers vary on which myth the statue is taken from. After group prayer to Iress, they all exit through a door across from the one they entered, which symbolizes a rebirth.
The House of Artas
The House of Artas is a smaller sect of Marwanism that believes that the Marwa is much smaller than mainstream Marwanists believe it to be. Members of the House believe that Artas carried her siblings out of Alachem's womb inside her own womb, thus becoming their metaphorical mother. They also believe that there are only twelve members of the Marwa: Iress, Talkas, Artas, Tawir, Lias, Lekas, Telamon, Wero, Alos, Trita, Tarka, and Trytho.
The House states that Artas is much more powerful that even in mainstream Marwanism. They believe that anyone, even a god, who disobeys her will be devoured. This explains the smaller number of gods in the Marwa. Alachem, upon her return, has absolutely no chance, and will be swallowed almost immediately. After this, the souls of the faithful will be reembodied and Artas will create a perfect universe.
According to the House, the afterlife is much different than it is in mainstream Marwanism. All except the most perfect and faithful will be devoured by Artas, although after that it is essentially the same. Because of this, many onlookers view the Artas that the House believes in as a much more vengeful god, but members of the House say that they're missing the point.
The House does not have centers of worship per se, they can meet as a group anywhere, but a common fixture in the homes of members is a statue of Artas with a hollow belly, often used to store books of myths. A very common art piece for members of the House is that of Artas herself, always depicted with a very large round belly as if pregnant. However, for them, Artas' belly represents both her creative power as she gives birth to all things, and her destructive power as she digests those who disobey her.
Marwanist Myth
The Creation of the Universe and the Expulsion of Alachem
In the beginning, the goddess Alachem appeared in the empty void, her belly swollen with her five unborn children. Searching for a place to finally relieve herself of her load and give birth, she created the first matter, a large cloud of primordial gas and dust, and finally set foot on the starless ground of the First Planet. Upon this planet, she finally, slowly, pushed her children out of the womb, one by one.
Artas was the firstborn of Alachem, and she immediately became her mother's midwife. Her siblings wished to remain in their mother's belly, but this could not be so, and she beseeched them to let themselves enter the world. Hours later, they finally relented and slid out of the womb, one by one. Talkas came next, followed by Tawir, and Iress. Lias remained inside her mother for another week before she was ready to be born.
Alachem and her children lived in harmony for millennia. Artas, who was becoming attached to the universe where she was born, caused a stirring in the primordial cloud, and it began to split. As the fragments of the cloud drew apart, something new started happening. The first stars formed. As this happened, Artas and Talkas created the first of the Karyads, spirits representing celestial bodies.
Alachem wished there to be no life in the universe until she herself could perfect it. To this end, she sent out her children to destroy any living thing that may have evolved in the young universe. They did this without question for centuries, but Talkas had his doubts. He eventually refused to bombard a water world which bacteria had evolved on.
Alachem, furious at her son, swallowed Talkas whole. His siblings, thus awakened to the reality of how tyrannical their mother had become, begun a great battle. They waged war against their mother for a million years, causing destruction of large areas of space. Finally, the combined effort defeated Alachem, and Tawir reached down her throat and pulled his brother out of her stomach. With the power of Talkas added to their forces, they were able to banish Alachem from the universe until the end of time.
Children of the First Gods
After the expulsion of Alachem, the gods were left to rule the universe. They rapidly rebuilt from the destruction caused by the Expulsion, and then realized that the universe was far too large for them five to rule alone.
Artas and Talkas began the process of expanding the pantheon and fixing that problem. Artas became pregnant and gave birth to Alos. The union of Artas and Talkas soon produced the twins Umo and Phain. However, her faithfulness strayed, and she soon was impregnated with Trytho, son of Tawir. However, at the same time, Talkas made her pregnant with Tarka, and two children of different fathers were in the womb together.
Tarka and Trytho fell in love before they were even born. Tarka gave birth to her first child, Selevarsa or Silverstar, just months after she herself was born. Even Talkas' faithfulness to Artas wavered briefly, and he and his sister Iress produced a son, Lekas.
Lias and her brother Tawir produced one child together, Kel, who was incredibly resistant to leaving his mother's womb. However, after Tawir had Trytho with Artas, Lias became angry with her husband. To show him that he was the junior partner in their relationship, Lias became pregnant on her own. When it came time for her to give birth, rather than having one child, she had thousands. The first was the goddess Trita, but thousands of lesser spirits known as the Liads came rushing out of her belly after Trita was born. The Liads were to become servants of Lias, escorting the souls of the dead to her, and Trita became their leader.
Shortly afterwards. Iress fell in love with her son Lekas, and gave birth to Kiras and Telamon. Telamon later fell in love with her father, and became pregnant with Wero. Kiras would fall in love with Wero, and Wero would live in the belly of his wife or his mother for the rest of time, rarely leaving.
Kiras would give birth to the goddess Alna, who would travel around the universe helping civilizations to rise, having many demigod children in the civilizations that she helped elevate. After she returned, she fell in love and got married to Alos, having one child with him, Mira. Mira traveled around the universe like her mother engendering creativity in developing civilizations, and will have thousands of demigod children over the course of her travels. After she returned, Alos had a child with her, Fuukos. This angered his wife, who would leave him to wander the universe. Alos, learning nothing, then got Fuukos pregnant with her daughter Kokos. Mira, in an act similar to Lias after Tawir's unfaithfulness, became pregnant with the Mirads, three inspirational spirits representing various art forms.
Shortly after the birth of the Mirads, Artas became pregnant with her next child, Dymos. Artas gave birth to Dymos by herself, with no father involved. However, there is at least one interpretation implicating virtually every male god in the pantheon of being the father of Dymos. Most agree that Dymos spends nearly all his life in his mother's womb.
Dymos impregnated his mother Artas with two daughters, Kalamora and Gesara. Gesara was so resistant to leaving her mother's belly that Tawir had to cut her out. Kalamora took up the role of the goddess of defensive war after wandering for a while. However, Gesara's story is wildly different.
At the time of their birth, life in the universe had just been destroyed by the Aeternum Event, a real historical event which was supposedly caused by the excess and greed of the Lareas Alliance, but it is not really clear in the myths.
Gesara traveled across the desolate universe and saw vast megastructures devoid of life. She saw hundreds of trillions of rooms filled with the perfectly preserved dead bodies of the citizens of the Lareas Alliance, and became incredibly depressed.
She returned home to the Holy Palace of the Marwa and beseeched her mother to reseed the universe with life. Artas flatly refused, and said that even the gods are not that powerful. Gesara knew that she could not convince Artas to change her mind normally, and resorted to extraordinary means to convince her. She cried out, "and so I die for what is yet to be!", threw herself into Artas' stomach, and let herself be digested.
Artas hastily attempted to cut her out, but soon realized that her stomach had already killed Gesara and resolved to do what was right, no matter the cost. As Gesara's body was slowly dissolved in her mother's belly, Artas used the power which came to her as this happened to replant simple life forms on many planets across the universe and accelerate their evolution.
The Karyad of the Florathel Galaxy set out to stop death from happening within her domain and targeted Kel and Trita, who she believed had control over these things. She handily defeated Kel and swallowed him whole, but Trita would not go without a fight. Florathel and Trita clashed, Florathel weighed down by her recent swallowing of Kel and Trita weighed down by the unborn Liads inside her. Soon, however, Lias herself appeared and joined the fight, and Florathel was quickly defeated. Lias and Trita pulled Kel out of Florathel's belly, and Lias wanted to devour Florathel right there. Trita and Kel interceded, saying that then the galaxy itself would cease to exist, and that would be bad. Kel did get to punch her a few times though.
Fuukos & Kokos
Fuukos came to believe that nothing that is imperfect should be allowed to exist. Thus, heavily pregnant with her daughter, she left the main universe and created an alternate plane known as The Empyrean, which she carefully modeled to be perfect in every way in her eyes.
After the birth of Kokos, she lived in the Empyrean for centuries. Over the eons, Kokos came to disagree with her mother that only perfect things should be allowed to exist. Thus, he gathered together a collection of tiny, empty galaxies across the universe from Florathel into what would come to be known as Via Aylathiya.
This angered her mother, who permanently exiled her from the Empyrean. Fuukos then began making plans to destroy the imperfect universe once and for all...
Kokos, being the creator of Via Aylathiya, also became its patron goddess. To help her rule the region, she gave birth to fifteen powerful servants who were essentially gods beholden to her will. These gods were individually unimportant and indistinguishable, and they all resided in their mother's belly when not on missions.
The Last Battle and the End of Time
At the end of time, a vengeful Alachem will return to the universe and devour Talkas, and Alna will dive down Alachem's throat in an attempt to rescue him. Fuukos will return from the Empyrean for the first time since she created it, swallow her daughter Kokos, and attempt to join Alachem. However, this is where the two stories diverge.
The Good Ending
The ending of the Last Battle hinges almost entirely on the actions of Mira. Her daughter, Fuukos, will return from the Empyrean at the last battle to help Alachem to destroy the universe. Mira will attempt to swallow Fuukos just after Kokos is devoured.
If she succeeds, Alachem has no powerful allies. The gods will together fight Alachem, causing destruction over vast areas of space. At the end of the battle, Artas will rescue Talkas from their mother's belly and swallow Alachem, finally ending the threat. All the gods will survive. However, Kokos cannot be rescued from Fuukos' stomach, and she is doomed to be digested by Mira, no matter how much she doesn't want to.
If the gods win, they will rebuild the universe from the destruction and Lias will reembody the souls of the dead. Thus, every living thing in the history of the universe will help the rebuilding effort, and a more perfect universe will be created.
The Bad Ending
If Mira fails to devour her daughter, Fuukos will immediately swallow her, followed by all the Mirads. She will also consume her father Alos before finally being swallowed herself by Artas. However, the damage was done. The battle will wage for thousands of years, but gradually, one by one, Alachem will devour all the gods.
The first to go will be Tawir, who will lead the charge against her and will be gulped down in an instant. She will gradually eat her way through the ranks of the gods after this. Lias will pass all the souls of the dead from her womb to Artas before Alachem devours her, and Artas will flee to a new universe. What she does there is not told.
Most myths regarding the bad ending of the Last Battle have very specific orders in which all the gods are swallowed by Alachem and Fuukos, but they are left out of this summary because they all contradict each other.
Some myths say that Dymos will survive the Last Battle by hiding in his mother's belly as she flees, and some others say that Iress will do the same. The only god who consistently survives is Artas, though.
The Really Good Ending
This ending is not attested to in the myth of the Last Battle, but it is generally believed in by most adherents to mainstream Marwanism. In this ending, if all the faithful and good individuals in the universe succeed in uniting every nation under a near-perfect society, Alachem and Fuukos will not return at all. In this eventuality, the souls of the dead will be reembodied, and the universe will be essentially complete.
Holy Texts
The holy texts of Marwanism begun their compilation during the lifetime of the last of the Hundred Lords. However, after the death of the last of them, the then-small Marwanist community scrambled to find every myth that was recorded and place them in a single set of books.
The original copies of these books are found in the Great Temple at Artas, although they were not always housed here. During the Dominion of Khae and the Trezhath Republic's persecution of the early Marwanist community, they were hidden carefully on an uncharted rogue asteroid near the border of the Marakat Interstellar Union, but after the successful independence of the Theocracy of Yaztas they were restored to the temple.
Marwanism has five widely accepted holy texts, alongside the Book of Kafalun which is generally considered to be heretical by almost all Marwanists except the branch of Kafanism. The five holy books are referred to as the Marelsis Canon. Marwanists derive their practices from the actions of the gods and virtuous heroes as described in the Marelsis Canon alongside traditions of the actions of the Hundred Lords themselves, rather than there being explicit directions. are titled as follows:
- The Creation: This book covers the creation of most structures in the universe, the birth of the first five of the Marwa, and the expulsion of Alachem. It is the shortest of the Marelsis Canon.
- The Expansion: This book covers the births of some more of the Marwa, as well as the improvement of the universe after the expulsion of Alachem and the Aeternum Event.
- The Exploration: This book covers the journeys of Alna and Mira, as well as the births of the remaining gods. The Exploration also discusses the departure of Fuukos and Kokos and the creation of Via Aylathiya. It is the longest of the Marelsis Canon.
- The Revelation: This book covers the revelations of the Marwanist religion to the species of the universe. It is relatively short, and mostly describes Phain's adventures around the universe to bring the Hundred Lords into the world.
- The Last Battle: The Last Battle covers the Last Battle at the end of time, and describes every possible ending in gruesome detail. The Last Battle is by far the most gruesome of the Marelsis Canon, and is the second shortest. Unlike the other four, it describes events in the future, and covers multiple directions in which the Last Battle could go. As such, it is the most well-known to non-Marwanists.
During the time of the hundred lords, the myths that compose the Marelsis Canon were not arranged in any order, and were simply told whenever the teller felt it necessary. The Canon was arranged in rough chronological order, and titled in reference to whatever topic was most important within the book.