Taychendi Hero Worship is the native faith of the Taychendi peoples that emerged from the ideologies of the first warlords that rose in Taychend following the Day of Ashen Skies. The faith is a loose pantheon of “God-Heroes”, great individuals that transcended their mortality and became gods after their death. During the 15th-18th centuries, the faith would experience a decline in its own homeland as the ideology of Kheionism, heresies of the Sun Cult, Corinism, and Ravelianism spread among the Taychendi.
Theology[]
Central Tenets[]
The Taychendi believe that after one’s death, they are reincarnated. To escape this cycle, one must perform great feats in life, as becoming a legendary hero will allow one to ascend and become a god upon death. Therefore, anyone can become a god after death, as long as enough followers recognize it.
The actions and legendary feats needed to ascend vary greatly. An outsider at first might assume that only warlords and great kings could become gods, but this is not necessarily the case. In many places in Taychend, you will find legendary smiths, writers, philosophers, mages, adventurers and even bureaucrats worshiped as gods. Due to this, the amount of gods found in Taychend is uncountable.
Hero Cults[]
An important aspect of the Taychendi faith is the presence of hero cults. These are organizations that worship a specific God-Hero, believing that in emulating and worshipping their chosen deity, they could gain favor with said god or even ascend themselves. Hero cults are widespread in Taychend, and are a critical part in daily Taychendi life. These cults hold both religious and political influence and are a key part of the Taychendi faith. Every Taychendi god has a hero cult of their own, and it is through these cults that the Taychendi faith is practiced.
The religious importance of the hero-cults are built on two theological pillars. The first is that as God-Heroes once achieved apotheosis, imitating their lives is an easy way to achieve it as well. The second pillar is that as the God-Heroes themselves are the force that allows people into Dhivumanhu (the Taychendi heavens), they naturally want more people who are like them to ascend. Therefore, should one actively sacrifice to and patronise a God-Hero, they will give gifts in return, in the form of divine magic.
Destiny And Fate[]
Traditionally the Taychendi place great reverence in fate. To go against one’s fate is a dangerous move, as it is to defy the gods themselves. The payoff can be incredible however, as seen with the legendary actions of Erankar the Defiant, whose defiance of fate led him to found the Larankar Empire and ascend to godhood.
Oracles[]
There are a number of temples scattered throughout Taychend, whose halls contain oracles. These oracles directly speak to their god, and often give prophecies and warnings of the future. It is tradition for every Taychendi ruler to visit an oracle at least once during their reign. The most famous orcale in Taychend is that of the Fateweaver of Korrimutren, a powerful Precursor divination relic whose predictions have been demonstrated to be extremely accurate.
These prophecies can have profound implications for a ruler's reign. The first famous example is that of the unifier of Taychend, Olhokar the Fortuitous, who consulted oracles at every turn during his reign, conquering all of Taychend, before he finally recieved a prophecy that led to him sacrificing his firstborn in order to save his Empire. The other example is of Laskaris the Conqueror, who visited the Fateweaver and learned the exact place and time of his demise, and that nothing could kill him before then. Using this effective immortality, he founded the Ambhen Empire by conquering a large portion of Taychend.