Aqiq

2026-08-14T16:00:37Z

Aleph:

Aqiq

2026-08-14T15:36:38Z

Aleph:

Aqiq

2026-08-14T14:57:04Z

Aleph: Created page with "'''Aqiq''' is the Sirdabi word for gemstones in the chalcedony family, especially but not limited to agate. Other stones referred to as aqiq include carnelian, sard, jasper, marzite, chrysoprase, bloodstone, and onyx. Although most varieties are not as rare as truly precious gems like emerald or ruby, aqiq stones are highly prized within Azadi culture for their association with the Prophet al-Azad and before him with such honored figures as Shamsar, the lege..."

'''Aqiq''' is the [[Sirdabi]] word for gemstones in the chalcedony family, especially but not limited to agate. Other stones referred to as aqiq include carnelian, sard, jasper, marzite, chrysoprase, bloodstone, and onyx.

Although most varieties are not as rare as truly precious gems like emerald or ruby, aqiq stones are highly prized within [[Azadi]] culture for their association with the Prophet al-Azad and before him with such honored figures as [[Shamsar]], the legendary ancient king of the Marzumite [[Yehani]]. Aqiq are often engraved with small symbols and calligraphic mottoes to make personal signet rings.

==The First Aqiq Ring==
The very first aqiq ring in the style of those worn by many Azadi today was that belonging to the Prophet al-Azad. His third wife [[Haleb]] had tried to bestow on him the marriage gift of an aqiq originally worn in the crown of her ancestor King Shamsar, a marzite engraved with the image of the sun-crowned fish eagle once used to symbolize Elu-Hani. When al-Azad turned this well-meant gift down due to its traditional Yehani imagery, Haleb grew upset and offended, her pride stung by this perceived slight to herself and her ancestry. Seeing this, the Prophet eventually relented -- but only on condition that the marzite should be engraved on its reverse side with the first line of the Surah of Oneness, and that it should be set within a ring with the original image turned to the ring's backing and out of view. Al-Azad told his bride-to-be that this would symbolize the overturning of the old ways and beliefs, while reaffirming the link between the first worshipers of the One God and those who now now knew It correctly as Annur, the illuminator of the now-Perfected Song. Haleb agreed to this request, having the stone worked and set as requested in a simple silver band, and so was the first aqiq ring devised.

Ilexi

2026-08-05T17:48:29Z

Aleph:

The '''Ilexi''' are the people of far western [[Ruvera]], native to the Kingdom of [[Ensor]] and the [[High Hinterlands]]. They also make up the better part of the population of the newly separate principality of [[Innithel]].

Ilexi tend to be both individualistic and clannish, particularly in the highland regions of north Ensor and in the High Hinterlands themselves. Most other peoples of Ruvera view them as brash, boorish, and generally unsophisticated, if not outright wild. The more cultured Ilexi of the south are continually embarrassed by this reputation, which spurs an extra bit of resentment between the residents of north and south Ensor.

==Appearance==
The Ilexi are a middling sort of people in build and appearance. Not as fair as the [[Rhodish]], they tend towards light to tanned skin and dark blond to brown hair. Truly black hair is rare, but dark brown is not uncommon, and various darker shades of red are also frequently mixed in. The color of their eyes runs the gamut of lighter tones from grey to deep brown, with blue and light brown being most typical.

[[Category:Heritage]]
[[Category:Character Information]]

Skeggit

2026-08-05T17:00:54Z

Aleph: headers

The '''skeggit''' is a large bovine similar to a musk ox. It can be found in the far northern reaches of [[Ruvera]], where it is well adapted to the long and bitter winters and brief summers.

==Appearance==

The skeggit is a very shaggy beast, with extremely long outer guard hairs and a dense woolly undercoat. More unusual than the coat itself, however, is the layer of moss that grows on top of it. This moss, nearly as long and shaggy as the skeggit's coat, adds a light but still warmer layer to the creature's defenses against the cold. Young skeggit start to be lightly splotched with this moss at an early age, and the oldest skeggit in a herd can easily be distinguished by their luxuriant green-grey trappings. The skeggit has a large head topped with pronged horns, which are longer and more heavily pronged in males than females. It lacks the bony head shield of its cousin the musk ox, and instead of fighting for dominance by head-butting one another, they instead seem to compete by attempting to intimidate other bulls with a head-swaying display that shows off the spread of their moss-festooned horns.

==Behavior==

Wild skeggit live together in herds of a dozen to two dozen animals, larger in the summer than the winter. The winter herds mix males and females together, but after the breeding season's battles for dominance among the bulls, the victor will drive the other bulls off from the herd and leave only the females. Calving occurs in the spring, but following the hardest winters conception does not occur in female skeggit and no young are born the following year. Skeggit typically wander with the seasons, following their seasonal food sources of willows, lichen, and other nutritious browse.

==Relationship with Humans==

Skeggit have been at least partially domesticated by the Qalqesh tribes of [[Angrosh]] that make the far north their home, and some of the [[Frekki]] have done the same. Although the tamed skeggit may be only lightly tended by these pastoralist peoples, they show a mysterious bond with their tenders which some say is due to some sort of sympathetic shamanistic magic. Skeggit herders will drive their animals to areas of better browse in the hardest months of the year to ensure better breeding outcomes for their herds, and in the summer the skeggit allow them to harvest the wool of their undercoats to be made into warm garments and blankets. The Qalqesh and Frekki also harvest the moss that grows on the skeggit's coats, as it is said to have both medicinal and nutritional value.

[[Category:Mammals]]
[[Category:Fauna]]
[[Category:Natural History]]
[[Category:Lore]]

Bubal

2026-08-05T16:30:41Z

Aleph:

The '''bubal''' is a type of kongoni or hartebeest native to northern [[Idiri]]. Avoiding desert interiors and wooded areas, they can be found in small herds on coastal plain and in grassy scrub throughout the lands of the southern [[Adelantean Sea|Adelantean]]. In [[Raziya]], they are found chiefly on the [[Plain of Storms]] and in the [[Stormbreak Hills]], up to the lower levels of the [[Rassi Plateau]].

==Appearance==

The bubal is a large ungulate, standing up to three and a half feet at the shoulder and weighing between 220 and 400 pounds. It has a large powerful chest, and its back slopes down noticeably from the shoulders which have a small but noticeable hump. The bubal has a very svelte wedge-shaped head, with an elongated forehead and long flat-topped snout. Its dark ridged horns are equally unusual, looking U-shaped with viewed from the front but making a back-swept S when seen from the side. Its short and shiny coat is a plain and sandy color overall, except for long greyish patches on either side of its muzzle above the nostrils, and the black tuft on its short tail.

==Behavior==

Bubals are primarily grazers who consume the hardy grasses of the coastal plains and lower massifs of north Idiri. While they will roam extensively over their preferred environment of rocky, scrubby plains, they are non-migratory and maintain a rough territory within a given area. Sometimes they will stray up to the edges of oases to nibble on one of their favorite treats, fresh green orchardgrass.

Like other kongoni, bubals are social animals that are usually found in herds of a hundred or more individuals. Multiple generations live together in one herd, with smaller subgroups of territorial, non-territorial, and subadult males, and of females and calves. They are alert and intelligent creatures, and though the placement of their eyes high on their foreheads allows them to keep watch while grazing, usually a herd will have at least one animal on lookout as well, standing up on a rock or mound of dirt for the best view. Sometimes younger adult bubals will wander off to graze by themselves or in pairs, particularly in areas where their chief predator the [[Tessary lion]] is uncommon; this can make them vulnerable to human hunters. Although only lions will kill an adult bubal, calves may be preyed on by leopards and hyenas.

Bubals' eyesight is not all that sharp but their sense of hearing and smell are very keen and discriminating, so most of their communication comes in the form of vocalizations and scent marking with dung piles. They make quiet quacking and grunting sounds to one another, and produce a sharper quacking call when alarmed. Juveniles tend to be noiser than adults, and a group of calves will often be accompanied by a low gabble of their youthful voices.

==Relationship with Humans==

Bubals are not extensively hunted in most places where they live, as their meat is considered too oily for it to be preferred as a game animal. Its coat and hide, too, tend to be somewhat oily, which limits its desirability for clothing, rugs, or blankets. It is however sometimes used to produce rustic but weatherproof awnings and bags, particularly saddlebags.

Respected in ancient times by both the [[Yemelites]] (pagan precursors to the [[Yehani]]) and the [[Amunati]], bubals were once used as a sacrificial animal in their temples.

[[Category:Mammals]]
[[Category:Fauna]]
[[Category:Natural History]]

Bubal

2026-08-05T15:31:42Z

Aleph:

Bubal

2026-08-05T15:20:58Z

Aleph: Created page with "The '''bubal''' is a type of kongoni or hartebeest native to northern Idiri. Avoiding desert interiors and wooded areas, they can be found in small herds on coastal plain and in grassy scrub throughout the lands of the southern Adelantean. ==Appearance== The bubal is a large ungulate, standing over three feet at the shoulder and weighing between 220 and 400 pounds. It has a large powerful chest, and its back slopes down noticeably from the should..."

Mongoose

2026-08-05T14:47:22Z

Aleph:

The '''mongoose''' is a small to medium-sized carnivore that can be found throughout most of [[Idiri]] and into [[Ruleska]] and [[Riendu]] as well, where it occupies a wide variety of environments. Although absent from most of the [[Great Hazari Desert|Great Hazari]] and other extreme deserts, mongooses can be found along the [[Adelantean Sea|Adelantean]] coast where it favors scrub, plains, and woodlands. They can also be found in urban areas, free-ranging, semi-feral, or even kept as cherished pets. Although they can sometimes prey on domestic fowl and their eggs, mongooses have a good reputation overall, being considered lucky and plucky, as well as good protection against snakes and scorpions. The two most common types of mongoose in [[Raziya]] are the Raziyan or '''great grey mongoose''' and the '''pepperspot moongoose'''.

==Great Grey Mongoose==
The great grey mongoose is of medium size, with a small-eared pointed head and a long, agile body with an almost equally long tail. While it is most commonly grey in color overall, it can also shade more rusty or yellowish, and even grey-pelted individuals also have flecks of yellow, brown, and rust amid the heavy ticking that accents their fur. Its coat is fairly long and coarse, and in colder seasons it can look a little as if it has draped a shabby marzuq around itself.

Adaptable and wide-ranging, great grey mongooses do not live in deeply arid or densely forested environments but can be found nearly anywhere else. In [[Amunat]] they are common all up and down the [[Tamarat River]] and its delta, while elsewhere they favor the scrubby coastal plain, the light montane forests and verdantcanyons of the desert massifs, and the submerged but still green course of the [[River Tamrasset|Tamrasset River]] in [[Raziya]]. The great grey is mostly diurnal, but can be found hunting at dawn and dusk as well and sometimes even into the night, especially when the moons are bright. The creatures live in small social groups, usually a single mating pair or a small unit of related individuals.

They have a very broad diet, consuming everything from lizards and frogs to insects and crayfish to birds and smaller mammals -- occasionally including their cousins the pepperspot mongoose. But great grey mongooses have earned their valiant reputation for their ability to do battle venomous snakes without sustaining harm, as well as for still less common feats. It is said, both among the [[Razmani]] and the [[Amunati]], that certain great grey mongooses are born with a destiny to be the true heroes of their kind, and to track down and slay crocodiles and even dragons. In Amunat it is said that this mongoose is the only creature that capable of hunting even the terrible [[Gargut-Ammat]], and with a well-placed bite to its throat can induce it to disgorge itself of all the things it has ever swallowed.

==Pepperspot Mongoose==
The pepperspot is a species of dwarf moongoose, which at about the size of a large kitten makes it one of the smaller of its kind. It has a round head with a pointed muzzle, and small rounded ears set close to the skull. Short-legged and low to the ground, it gets around with a scampering motion and can be surprisingly fast and agile. Its short soft coat comes in many different colors, from rusty peach to brown or dark russet. In place of the ticking seen on the pelts of its cousins, the pepperspot lives up to its name with a dense scattering of little dark spots across its shoulders and upper forelegs, which become steadily sparser further down its sides and back.

The pepperspot mongoose is almost strictly diurnal, and lives in groups of about a dozen or so animals. These are most often related, but sometimes a newcomer will be "adopted" into the group and will join the rest in lookout duty and helping to care for the young of the chief breeding pair. Pepperspots prefer scrub environments with ample clumped grass and woody shrubbery, and unlike other dwarf mongooses will also dwell within the more densely vegetated environment of spring- or river-fed oases. They can make themselves quite at home in cities too, particularly where there is plentiful cover from shrubs or junk.

Pepperspots take mostly smaller prey, from small lizards and frogs to their favorite meals of cicadas and scorpions. As their larger great grey relatives are valued for the role in keeping venomous snakes at bay, pepperspots are appreciated for reducing the number of scorpions available to go crawling about in one's house or shoes. Like the great grey, pepperspot mongooses can make good pets, though they do best with another mongoose or other small animal for additional companionship.

[[Category:Mammals]]
[[Category:Fauna]]
[[Category:Natural History]]

Murder cicada

2026-08-05T14:46:36Z

Aleph:

The '''murder cicada''' is a type of cicada whose range spans north [[Idiri]] and [[Rahoum]]. These insects usually are found along wadis and other seasonal or subterranean water courses, where they perch on the trunks and branches of various shrubs and small trees. They are known to reside in similarly shrubby environments within cities such as [[:Omrazir]], where their rhythmic pulsing song fills the air on hot summer nights. They are a favored prey item for the [[silverstreak kite]] and [[Mongoose#Pepperspot_Mongoose|pepperspot mongoose]], both also common in [[Raziya]], and when fried in oil are a treat enjoyed by many [[Tessouare]] as well.

The murder cicada's name comes from the very loud grating shriek the creatures emit when disturbed, which not only sounds "like screaming bloody murder" but is also so intensely startling that it is claimed weak-hearted people have been frightened to death on hearing its cry. It is sometimes also just called the murderbug.

[[Category:Insects]]
[[Category:Fauna]]
[[Category:Natural History]]

Mongoose

2026-08-05T14:44:11Z

Aleph: /* Pepperspot Mongoose */

The '''mongoose''' is a small to medium-sized carnivore that can be found throughout most of [[Idiri]] and into [[Ruleska]] and [[Riendu]] as well, where it occupies a wide variety of environments. Although absent from most of the [[Great Hazari Desert|Great Hazari]] and other extreme deserts, mongooses can be found along the [[Adelantean Sea|Adelantean]] coast where it favors scrub, plains, and woodlands. They can also be found in urban areas, free-ranging, semi-feral, or even kept as cherished pets. Although they can sometimes prey on domestic fowl and their eggs, mongooses have a good reputation overall, being considered lucky and plucky, as well as good protection against snakes and scorpions. The two most common types of mongoose in [[Raziya]] are the Raziyan or '''great grey mongoose''' and the '''pepperspot moongoose'''.

==Great Grey Mongoose==
The great grey mongoose is of medium size, with a small-eared pointed head and a long, agile body with an almost equally long tail. While it is most commonly grey in color overall, it can also shade more rusty or yellowish, and even grey-pelted individuals also have flecks of yellow, brown, and rust amid the heavy ticking that accents their fur. Its coat is fairly long and coarse, and in colder seasons it can look a little as if it has draped a shabby marzuq around itself.

Adaptable and wide-ranging, great grey mongooses do not live in deeply arid or densely forested environments but can be found nearly anywhere else. In [[Amunat]] they are common all up and down the [[Tamarat River]] and its delta, while elsewhere they favor the scrubby coastal plain, the light montane forests and verdantcanyons of the desert massifs, and the submerged but still green course of the [[Tamrasset|Tamrasset River]] in [[Raziya]]. The great grey is mostly diurnal, but can be found hunting at dawn and dusk as well and sometimes even into the night, especially when the moons are bright. The creatures live in small social groups, usually a single mating pair or a small unit of related individuals.

They have a very broad diet, consuming everything from lizards and frogs to insects and crayfish to birds and smaller mammals -- occasionally including their cousins the pepperspot mongoose. But great grey mongooses have earned their valiant reputation for their ability to do battle venomous snakes without sustaining harm, as well as for still less common feats. It is said, both among the [[Razmani]] and the [[Amunati]], that certain great grey mongooses are born with a destiny to be the true heroes of their kind, and to track down and slay crocodiles and even dragons. In Amunat it is said that this mongoose is the only creature that capable of hunting even the terrible [[Gargut-Ammat]], and with a well-placed bite to its throat can induce it to disgorge itself of all the things it has ever swallowed.

==Pepperspot Mongoose==
The pepperspot is a species of dwarf moongoose, which at about the size of a large kitten makes it one of the smaller of its kind. It has a round head with a pointed muzzle, and small rounded ears set close to the skull. Short-legged and low to the ground, it gets around with a scampering motion and can be surprisingly fast and agile. Its short soft coat comes in many different colors, from rusty peach to brown or dark russet. In place of the ticking seen on the pelts of its cousins, the pepperspot lives up to its name with a dense scattering of little dark spots across its shoulders and upper forelegs, which become steadily sparser further down its sides and back.

The pepperspot mongoose is almost strictly diurnal, and lives in groups of about a dozen or so animals. These are most often related, but sometimes a newcomer will be "adopted" into the group and will join the rest in lookout duty and helping to care for the young of the chief breeding pair. Pepperspots prefer scrub environments with ample clumped grass and woody shrubbery, and unlike other dwarf mongooses will also dwell within the more densely vegetated environment of spring- or river-fed oases. They can make themselves quite at home in cities too, particularly where there is plentiful cover from shrubs or junk.

Pepperspots take mostly smaller prey, from small lizards and frogs to their favorite meals of cicadas and scorpions. As their larger great grey relatives are valued for the role in keeping venomous snakes at bay, pepperspots are appreciated for reducing the number of scorpions available to go crawling about in one's house or shoes. Like the great grey, pepperspot mongooses can make good pets, though they do best with another mongoose or other small animal for additional companionship.

[[Category:Mammals]]
[[Category:Fauna]]
[[Category:Natural History]]

Mongoose

2026-08-05T14:42:16Z

Aleph:

The '''mongoose''' is a small to medium-sized carnivore that can be found throughout most of [[Idiri]] and into [[Ruleska]] and [[Riendu]] as well, where it occupies a wide variety of environments. Although absent from most of the [[Great Hazari Desert|Great Hazari]] and other extreme deserts, mongooses can be found along the [[Adelantean Sea|Adelantean]] coast where it favors scrub, plains, and woodlands. They can also be found in urban areas, free-ranging, semi-feral, or even kept as cherished pets. Although they can sometimes prey on domestic fowl and their eggs, mongooses have a good reputation overall, being considered lucky and plucky, as well as good protection against snakes and scorpions. The two most common types of mongoose in [[Raziya]] are the Raziyan or '''great grey mongoose''' and the '''pepperspot moongoose'''.

==Great Grey Mongoose==
The great grey mongoose is of medium size, with a small-eared pointed head and a long, agile body with an almost equally long tail. While it is most commonly grey in color overall, it can also shade more rusty or yellowish, and even grey-pelted individuals also have flecks of yellow, brown, and rust amid the heavy ticking that accents their fur. Its coat is fairly long and coarse, and in colder seasons it can look a little as if it has draped a shabby marzuq around itself.

Adaptable and wide-ranging, great grey mongooses do not live in deeply arid or densely forested environments but can be found nearly anywhere else. In [[Amunat]] they are common all up and down the [[Tamarat River]] and its delta, while elsewhere they favor the scrubby coastal plain, the light montane forests and verdantcanyons of the desert massifs, and the submerged but still green course of the [[Tamrasset|Tamrasset River]] in [[Raziya]]. The great grey is mostly diurnal, but can be found hunting at dawn and dusk as well and sometimes even into the night, especially when the moons are bright. The creatures live in small social groups, usually a single mating pair or a small unit of related individuals.

They have a very broad diet, consuming everything from lizards and frogs to insects and crayfish to birds and smaller mammals -- occasionally including their cousins the pepperspot mongoose. But great grey mongooses have earned their valiant reputation for their ability to do battle venomous snakes without sustaining harm, as well as for still less common feats. It is said, both among the [[Razmani]] and the [[Amunati]], that certain great grey mongooses are born with a destiny to be the true heroes of their kind, and to track down and slay crocodiles and even dragons. In Amunat it is said that this mongoose is the only creature that capable of hunting even the terrible [[Gargut-Ammat]], and with a well-placed bite to its throat can induce it to disgorge itself of all the things it has ever swallowed.

==Pepperspot Mongoose==
The pepperspot is a species of dwarf moongoose, which at about the size of a large kitten makes it one of the smaller of its kind. It has a round head with a pointed muzzle, and small rounded ears set close to the skull. Short-legged and low to the ground, it gets around with a scampering motion and can be surprisingly fast and agile. Its short soft coat comes in many different colors, from rusty peach to brown or dark russet. In place of the ticking seen on the pelts of its cousins, the pepperspot lives up to its name with a dense scattering of little dark spots across its shoulders and upper forelegs, which become steadily sparser further down its sides and back.

The pepperspot mongoose is almost strictly diurnal, and lives in groups of about a dozen or so animals. These are most often related, but sometimes a newcomer will be "adopted" into the group and will join the rest in lookout duty and helping to care for the young of the chief breeding pair. Pepperspots prefer scrub environments with ample clumped grass and woody shrubbery, and unlike other dwarf mongooses also will dwell within the more densely vegetated environment of spring- or river-fed oases. They can make themselves quite at home in cities too, particularly where there is plentiful cover from shrubs or junk.

Pepperspots take mostly smaller prey, from small lizards and frogs to their favorite meals of cicadas and scorpions. As their larger great grey relatives are valued for the role in keeping venomous snakes at bay, pepperspots are appreciated for reducing the number of scorpions available to go crawling about in one's house or shoes. Like the great grey, pepperspot mongooses can make good pets, though they do best with another mongoose or other small animal for additional companionship.

[[Category:Mammals]]
[[Category:Fauna]]
[[Category:Natural History]]

Mongoose

2026-08-04T16:52:53Z

Aleph:

Mongoose

2026-08-04T16:51:55Z

Aleph:

Mongoose

2026-08-04T16:51:21Z

Aleph:

2026-07-23T18:30:10Z

Nirzali

2026-02-25T22:15:41Z

Aleph:

'''Nirzali''' is one of the chief deities of [[Idiri]], and the faith that bears her name is widespread throughout the continent. While most gods and spirits worshiped in Idiri are local ones, Nirzali transcends geographic boundaries and is revered alongside the deities of given places and peoples. Represented in the sky by the pole star of the north, often called the Outcast, Nirzali watches over mortalkind from afar, distant from her people yet ever-present.

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left: 20px;"
|+'''Nirzali'''
|-
|'''Deity'''
|Nirzali ("the Outcast")
|-
|'''Texts'''
|None
|-
|'''Founder'''
| Unknown
|-
|'''Community'''
|Nirzalites
|-
|'''Symbols'''
|Many-rayed star with the bottom ray depending as a teardrop
|-
|'''Origin'''
|[[Idiri]]
|-
|'''Positive Domains'''
|Rain, fresh water, healing, compassion, guidance, purification by water
|-
|'''Negative Domains'''
|Storms, floods, drought, isolation, sorrow, selfishness
|-
|'''Chief Religious Observance'''
|Solitary
|-
|'''Most Sacred Site'''
|Nirzali's Mirror
|}

=The Nature of the Goddess=

==Aspects==
Like the mortals she looks after, Nirzali is a mix of positive and negative aspects. She is a goddess of compassion, healing, and purification, the bringer of the rains that allow crops to grow and livestock and people to flourish. But in her dark moods she brings instead the violence of storm and flood, and in her exile she represents solitude, selfishness, and sorrow. She guides travelers through the night and lends comfort to those who are alone and forsaken as she is, but woe betide the mortal who forgets her during times of merriment and revelry, and fails to make their offering to the eternal Outcast.

==Depiction==
Nirzali is most often depicted in art as a dark-skinned woman with blue-green stars for eyes, and long black hair worn in a multitude of braids. However, various watery motifs such as showers of rain, waterspouts, tidal waves, and stormclouds are often used as a symbolic stand-in for the goddess. In Amunati art, she is occasionally also shown as a figure with the body of a woman but with a radiant star in place of a head.

Her particular sigil is a many-rayed star in which the bottommost ray depends as a teardrop. The sea hawk or osprey is also sometimes associated with Nirzali.

=Organization & Practice=

==Worship==
As with many pagan deities, the way in which ordinary people worship Nirzali is relatively simple. It is common to appeal to Nirzali in times of drought, famine, and illness, either asking for her merciful blessing or seeking to appease her anger. She is not considered responsible for famine and illness in themselves, but her healing and benevolent aspects are appealed to in order to alleviate their effects. Drought, on the other hand, is believed to be more directly connected to Nirzali and to suggest that she has allowed her face to be turned away from her people, either in distraction or disdain. Whether in appeasement or appeal, or in simple thanks, it is common for prayers and votive offerings to be offered at shrines or temples by individual worshipers, while the priesthood is responsible for carrying out more elaborate rituals and coordinating the prayers of the faithful.

For most Nirzalites, the chief holy observance of the year are the days of [[Solitary]]. This is a time of self-isolation and meditation meant to encourage mindful solidarity with the goddess who remains outcast, yet from afar still serves as a guide and beacon for mortals.

==Religious Structures & Sites==

Formal worship of Nirzali by her priesthood is carried out in temples. The style and layout of these temples varies from place to place, but all of them share a pair of features: an opening in the temple's roof called an ocular, through which rain falls into a small pool beneath it. The waters of the lacrimal pool, as it is known, are considered to have sacred powers from Nirzali herself and are treated as her sacred tears. The pool is used for divination, while water taken from it is used in various purification rituals. Often the lacrimal pool is in the public center of the temple, but in some places the ocular and lacrimal are located deep within the temple and off-limits to all but senior members of the priesthood.

Nirzalite temples are often found in prominent places in cities in lands where worship of the goddess is widespread. They are usually set apart from the surrounding city in some way while remaining close to its heart; most commonly they are built on high ground within the city limits, or they may be surrounded by a canal or parkland. Worshipers are allowed access to the outer portions of the temple at any time, but certain inner areas are restricted in access to priests only. Temples may be found outside cities as well, and again are typically located on higher ground than the surrounding area or encircled by water.

More widespread than temples are shrines dedicated to Nirzali. These can be seen scattered across the countryside, usually set slightly apart from villages though within easy access of them, sometimes simply located near major routes of travel. These shrines are small and simple constructions of stone or wood, usually consisting of a raised altar with a basin set into or on it, beneath a small roof with its own ocular opening. The very simplest shrines consist of only altar and basin with no roof at all.

The most sacred site to Nirzalites is the immense lake known as [[Nirzali's Mirror]], located in the [[Izendi Highlands]]. The crater in which the lake rests is believed to have been formed by the fall of Nirzali's friend and lover Nthanda, while the waters that now fill it are the tears the goddess shed in her great grief at Nthanda's death. Nirzali's Mirror is a pilgrimage site for her faithful, and the merfolk-like [[jengu]] who dwell within the lake are considered to act as messengers between worshipers and the goddess.

==Priesthood==
Nirzali has an extensive and well-organized priesthood throughout Idiri. There is no single authority at the head of the faith, but each large temple is headed up by a High Priestess who coordinates most of the activities in that temple and communicates with her sister High Priestesses in other parts of the continent. Although these highest leadership positions as well as some other special roles are filled exclusively by women, the middle ranks of the priesthood includes both sexes and other roles are performed relatively indiscriminately.

Nirzalite priests and priestesses have a number of duties depending on the needs of their temple or on their own particular calling. Caring for the goddess herself is the most important of these, as the priests consider themselves both the servants and companions of Nirzali. This involves such tasks as keeping her temples and shrines ritually cleaned and purified, creating objects of beauty with which to adorn the temples and give in offering, caring for the ritual pools, and periodically collecting the offerings cast into them by both priest and common worshipers. Carrying out both daily rituals in the service of the goddess and special rituals in times of celebration or crisis is also a central responsibility of Nirzali's priests.

Besides these, some priestesses of Nirzali have more specialized duties as well. Divination in order to discern the will of the goddess and glimpse the future is a commonly employed skill. There are various methods for divination. The most common daily practice is for the High Priestess or other senior priestesses to observe the temple lacrimal each morning or after a rain, noting the color of the water and the patterns of any debris that may have fallen into it through the ocular, before ritually cleaning the pool each day. Another manner of divination is to sprinkle water from the lacrimal onto a non-absorbent surface and observe the patterns the droplets form. Combining some aspects of both of these practices, divination by the patterns and character of puddles or raindrops are also believed to give insight when performed by a properly trained priestess.

Other priestesses of Nirzali, called lodestars, find their calling in offering guidance to any who come seeking it and are also considered healers of the spirit. Some priestesses (and a few male priests) are itinerants known as wandering stars, who offer various spiritual services and also clean and reconsecrate shrines wherever they go. More unusually, a few women act as oracles of the goddess, though this seems to be an ancient practice and it is not officially condoned by the priesthood.

==Lay Servants==

Nirzalites have both a professional priesthood and a large body of laypersons who periodically offer their services to the goddess. These laypersons will typically step away from their other life duties for a period of weeks to months, and take up a temporary life at a local temple. This is especially common for young adults before they marry, and for older women and men after their children have grown, but it is not unusual for an adult of any age. Lay servants typically help keep the temple and its grounds clean and tidy, accept offerings to the goddess from the faithful, sing prayers to Nirzali, and assist the priests with daily rituals.

Some lay servants may eventually choose to be initiated into the priesthood, but for most a periodic alternation between ordinary work and service to the divine is a natural rhythm of their lives. Sometimes individuals will also become lay servants at a time of their lives when they feel especially in need of divine guidance or purpose.

=Relationship with Azadi=
Many Nirzalites live within the bounds of the [[Sirdabi Caliphate]] where [[Azadi]] is the official and most widespread religion. Although frictions do exist between the two faiths, there is also a fair amount of syncretism between the two which has allowed them to coexist relatively peacefully.

Many Nirzalites see the Prophet al-Azad and his first wife Adwa as semi-divine manifestations of Nthanda and Nirzali, and offer them both honor and prayers. Many temples to Nirzali within the caliphate include a special day of prayer devoted to Nirzali-as-Adwa, and some Nirzalites even go so far as to occasionally attend Azadi services (though traditional Azadi are irked by this and many Nirzalites are dubious of the practice). Both Azadi and Nirzalites observe the holy days of Solitary, and they share a belief in the importance of water and its use in purification. The Nirzalite lacrimal pool or basin also mirrors the Azadi sirdab with its essential water feature.

Most friction occurs simply due to the fundamental antagonism between the Azadi's monotheistic worship of Annur, and the Nirzalite's worship that is chiefly directed towards Nirzali but which acknowledges a belief in and often a duty towards other divine and semi-divine beings as well. A few Nirzalites, however -- no doubt influenced by the dominant faith of the western caliphate, and encouraged by the disinclination of the Azadi to assign a gender to their god -- have come to identify Nirzali and the One True God as one and the same.

=Legends & Prayers=

==The Legend of Nirzali the Outcast==
The bright blue-green northern pole star is known to most peoples of Idiri and the south [[Adelantean Sea|Adeleantean]] shores as the Outcast. But this is not just a star; it is also the goddess Nirzali, goddess of storms, sorrow, loss, solitude, and compassion. She was cast out from among the gods of Idiri for her culpability in the death of the great hero Nthanda, who had been raised to a place among the gods for his wondrous deeds. But though he lived among the gods he was still mortal, and when he boasted thoughtlessly to his friend and lover Nirzali that he was so great he could best even her at anything, she vied with him in a series of increasingly ambitious challenges that led to the most terrible disaster. In jumping mountains that were leagues apart, even the wonderful hero Nthanda could not follow Nirzali's furthest leap between the two highest peaks of Idiri -- and he fell, plunging to the earth with such force that his impact created a deep crater, and he perished.

The goddess was beside herself with horror and sorrow, and in the storm of her grief she filled up the bowl of the crater with her tears, which also flowed off the land and created the great rivers of Idiri. The other gods, meantime, were aghast at what Nirzali's foolish pride and daring had led to, and she was exiled from among them, sent off to wander in the lands far to the north and cursed to solitude until such time that the other gods deemed her punishment sufficient. But she vowed that she would no longer lead others astray and would instead serve as a beacon for them in the darkest night, and so now she can be seen in the heavens all night long, every night of the year, always occupying a fixed spot in the cold northern sky and helping guide travelers safely to their destination. But all the other stars circle around her at a distance, and she must watch and guide their own wanderings while knowing she can never be reunited with her beloved friend until her penance is finally done.

==Purification Prayer==
This traditional chant is often used as part of lustration rituals of various kinds, as well as a simple prayer to Nirzali.

<blockquote>

Tempest shake me 
Blast remake me 
Earthly tarnish 
Scoured by storm

Monsoon melt me 
Hailstones pelt me 
Pound me in 
More perfect form

Downpour drench me 
Torrent quench me 
Storm and shower 
Soak me through

Flood wrack flense me 
Cloudburst cleanse me 
Rainfall sprout 
My soul anew

Mist caress me 
Wash and bless me 
Sluice away 
All cares and fears

Deluge drown me 
Rainbow crown me 
Impurities dissolved 
By tears

[[Category:Lore]]
[[Category:Religion]]