The Religion of Zaang:
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Long ago, when the Birdfolk split from their kin in their ability to fly, they formed the belief in a being that granted them the ability to cast magic spells and produce art. The god was named Zaang due to the metallic sound produced by the instrument they invented.
They grew past their Tribal nature, and started building structures made of stone and equipment made of metal. By then, their neighbours have developed gods of their own. The goddess Salar of the neighbouring kingdom is a deity of Fertility, Love and Creation. The Birdfolk was inspired by the concept of a god directly creating them, and so they call themselves Zaangors, the sons of Zaang.
There were other gods, such as Nug, the god that represents death and rebirth, and Kore, the god of war and bloodlust. The Zaangors believed that these gods exists together, but as the temple of Zaang increases in influence, the 3 adopted gods are forbiddened to be worshiped. Though the nation has become devoted to Zaang, the 3 other gods still have their imprints on their culture.
One day, their magic vanished. The clerics attributed it to the inexplicable murder of Zaang, caused by Kore. However, the nation that worships Kore has a very powerful army that is impossible to face without use of magic, and so the Zaangors grew desperate. They scoured through their ancient writings, and discovered a written ritual from centuries ago describing the process to perform a resurrection that is powerful enough to affect a god.
Taking this as their final hope, the Zaangors priests seeked the aid of Nug once again to return their god. However, it's not easy as the writings were in their outdated language. They assumed that a "sacrifice of the holy number in 5 degrees" meant they need to sacrifice 99'999 of their citizens, as 9 is the holy number for their god.
And so, a huge portion of their populace is sacrificed, and it seems to work, as magic energies began to return to them. Suddenly, the performers of the ritual transformed into horrific thorny monsters, and the rest of surviving citizens instantaneously grew horns on their heads and became crazed with anger and violence.
As Hra'an, the young commander of his nation's army, gathered his loyal men and talented friends to depart to sea to escape the city that was falling to madness, the clerics began to form theories of what happened on their rocking ships.
1) Nug has deceived the Zaangors into corrupting them.
2) The sacrifice amount was inaccurate.
3) The foreign gods all plotted to kill their god to ruin the Zaangors through their desperate use of the ritual.
4) Or, there could be another being that influenced their downfall.
When the Zaangors enslaved the people of the new land, they heard the mentions of a god being compared to Zaang. A cult was formed that believed that they are the same, explaining that it was the Ashen King's spirit that entered and revived Zaang. And so they named this combined deity Ashen-Zaang, to distinguish Him from the common public's idea of Zaang.
The worshipers of Ashen-Zaang believe that He has a greater plan for their race. He would use them as part of his great dark army in his next attempt to claim the world. It was with this that the cult do not think that their race is afflicted with a curse, instead, they think of it as a blessing.
New Zaangoria does not outlaw Ashen-Zaang worship, but warns that if conflict breaks out due to it, they will change their minds. And so the Church of Ashen-Zaang is secretly working in the darkness in hopes of changing the course of their growing nation.
Last edited January 23, 2020 12:10 pm
