History states the religion of Mazda began in 701 Y.E. According to that history, Aadzor, the son of a rich tribal leader in the Nether Provinces, north of the Desert of Hamma, had a revelation of the god and his law. The people of the Nether Provinces, devout worshipers of the Baradonese god Bashtar, expelled Aadzor, who took up among the desert nomads.
Over a period of 70 years, up until Aadzor’s death in 786 Y.E. the faith took root across the desert, from Bezakirah to Kish. It remained a minority until the rise of the conqueror-prophet Mali in 790 Y.E. Under Mali, the law was codified into books and a great army was raised, storming the desert villages and the Land of Tadmor. The mountain city of Kish was conquered and ruled for approximately 100 years, after which the Mazdahi were thrown out.
In the 900s Y.E., the militant faithful of Mazda poured into Fharas, and from there, as far as the Empire. As of 1150 Y.E., the faith of Mazda remains a minority faith in Fharas, but exercises considerable power.
TERMS
The religious term for followers of Mazda is Mazdahi. Others, especially in Fharas and the Empire, refer to them as the lawgivers.
SOCIETY
The Mazdahi are a majority faith in the Desert of Hamma, including the Land of Tadmor in its center.
An episcopal province of Mazda is called a mokaa. The faith leader of a mokaa is called a Thul; he is the religious and military leader of that province. Mokaas are found wherever the Mazdahi have any number.
The leader of the faithful is called the Theomancer. The Mazdahi have been without a Theomancer since the events of the novel The Will of Imperium. In the wake of that loss, the Mazdahi’s grip over the desert and Fharas has steadily eroded.
BUILDINGS
A temple of Mazda is called a kabakh. Kabakhs are built of jet black stone and rectangular in shape.
CELEBRATIONS
Feast of Ascension: A day celebrating the conqueror-prophet Mali’s storming of the city of Mahara in Tadmor and his subsequent entry into heaven, riding up into the sky on a winged horse. Celebrants don black turbans, in the style of Mali.
Feast of Ten Tables: A day celebrating the prophet Aadzor’s revelation of the law, which he wrote on ten stone tablets. According to legend, these were the original precepts of the Law of Mazda. The day falls in the winter season.
