Vaena Askari
Lady Cadalthor
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Eldorai lore. I've written several submissions about Eldorai religious groups. The new religion template allows me to gather it all in one place and expand on key aspects. This submission has been developed in cooperation with [member="Valiens Nantaris"], the submitter of the Eldorai species submission.
Image Credit: Source is the Stellaris video game.
Links: Lost in Translation, Church of Ashira, Eldorai, Kaeshana, Eldorai Exodus from Kaeshana, Tygara, Blades of Reason, Emissaries of Illyria, The Aspirants, Four of a Kind, An Age of Iron, Angelii.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Religion Name: Ashiranism.
Religion Type: Polytheist/Henotheist. Some heresies and offshots tend towards monotheism.
Influence: Interplanetary. Once the Eldorai were confined to Kaeshana, but now the planet has been completely abandoned. Most of the elves live a nomadic existence aboard vast arkships, others in planetary colonies. As a result, the Ashiran population is scattered.
Symbol: The traditional Ashiran symbol is a triangle facing up, supported by three pillars. The cults dedicated to the other deities of the Eldorai Pantheon use their own logos. The Aspirants use a rising sun as their symbol, for it represents the light of Ashira.
Description: Ashiranism is the national religion of the Eldorai species. It is a polytheistic faith and named after Ashira, the Supreme Goddess of the Ashiran Pantheon. Ashiranism has been an intrinsic part of Eldorai culture for millennia, spawning numerous heresies, deviations and holy wars. To the conservative Eldorai, being an Eldorai means being an Ashiran, though this has not stopped heretical movements from rising. The Church of Ashira acts as the state church of the Eldorai Matriarchy and claims a monopoly on interpreting scripture and educating Eldorai on the faith's principles. Officially the Star Queen of the Eldorai is the High Priestess of Ashira and her viceroy. With the scattering of the Eldorai, heterodox sects that interpret the principles of the faith differently and reject the old order have become more prominent.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
- Founder: Strictly speaking Ashira herself. However, it was formalised by the first Star Queen, Tassaria I, and her successors. It was Anais I 'the Zealous' who transformed the position of Star Queen into that of a theocratic monach, as opposed to a secular ruler with a religious veneer.
- Membership: Strictly speaking, all Eldorai are supposed to be Ashirans. This is obviously not realistic. But all Eldorai are supposed to be born in the faith. New-born undergo a process that can be equated to baptism. There is a formal ceremony where new initiates pledge themselves to Ashira. In orthodox churches, this includes devoting themselves to the Star Queen. Only female Eldorai are able to become clerics. Theoretically, a non-elf, say a human, could proclaim they believe in Ashira. However, this would be seen as extremely bizarre, blasphemous or plain pointless. After all, Asur's gates would be closed to them. Old school Ashirans believe that all non-Eldorai go to hell anyway. A non-Eldorai who professes belief in Ashira might be spared that, but they would go to purgatory, as heaven is reserved for the Eldorai. This is hotly debated by scholars. More moderate voices suggest that non-Eldorai have other gods and would be judged by them. This is regarded as heretical by many Ashirans though, as other 'deities' can only be ghosts and demons. However, there is a consensus about Asur being a place for the elves alone. Ashiranism is extremely nationalist and Ashira is the goddess of the elves, not of other species. The Church of Ashira is a national church, not a universal one.
- Sacrosanct is the belief that Ashira is the creator goddess and that all other deities and spirits are manifestations of Her eternal will and part of Her eternal design. The Eldorai are Ashira's children and were made in her image. Heresy, apostates, false prophets, demons and atheism are true aberrations to the truly faithful. Further, the person of the Star Queen is the Goddess' viceroy and emissary in the mortal world. Ashira is everywhere and Her Will are what guides all things. Certain heresies reject the idea that the Queen is a sacral ruler.
- There are several texts, but the Book of Light is considered the key text. It contains the writings of Ashira, her disciples and later commentaries and epistles by holy males and females.
- Martyrs can achieve eternal favour by sacrifice for the faith and can be venerated but not worshipped. The most blessed will become angels.
- It is forbidden to make idols or representations of Ashira.
The Eldorai creation myth postulates that In the beginning, Ashira was created by the sun, the moon and the stars to create a chosen race which would one day inherit the universe. She in turn created the pantheon, infusing part of her knowledge into each, and together they formed the Eldorai to be perfect creatures in her image. Thus the Ashiran faith does not incorporate a concept akin to original sin. Ashira is the Queen of Heaven, the Goddess of Light, Fire and Air. Aside from her, the pantheon consists of the following deities:
- Valora – Goddess of War and Honour.
- Tyth – Goddess of the Oceans and Water.
- Ardarvia – Goddess of Law, Order and Justice.
- Liorre – Goddess of Craft and Trade.
- Ferrano – God of Agriculture and Fertility.
- Kyran – God of Nature and Animals
- Illyria – Goddess of the Underworld and Death.
The Ashirans acknowledge the other gods and goddesses, but regard them as subservient to Ashira. Extremely devout Ashirans would probably switch to outright monotheism if they could. Ashira is regarded as supreme though and is thus the goddess an Ashiran would pray to. Cults devoted to the other deities are legal, but must acknowledge Ashira's supremacy. This was not always the case, but the Ashiran Church managed to achieve preeminence in Eldorai society over the course of several centuries.
Since Illyria turned on the queen of heaven and spawned demonic creatures, she's an object of fear and revulsion instead of veneration. Old Ashiran scriptures claim that she spawned the Kar'zun, with whom the Eldorai fought for dominance over Kaeshana for several centuries until eventually prevailing. The Eldorai do not like the earth and they don't like the Kar'zun because they were made of it. Thusly, the rock people were traditionally seen as evil demons. Hence the fierce and tragic animosity between both races.
According to Ashiran beliefs, Eldorai who violate Ashira's go to Illyria's hellish realm and suffer horrible punishment. By contrast, Asur is seen as a paradise for the faithful. Traditional Ashiran beliefs on the afterlife can be summarised by the following quotes from Vaena Askari. It should be noted that she is somewhat more liberal than many old school Ashirans:
“I know not what happens to humans who pass beyond the mortal veil. Whether you have some deity who will judge you, but I know that the Great Goddess will judge me. I welcome that day, though I still hope it is long delayed, for it will give me the chance to one day sit by Ashira's side and reunite with my fallen battle sisters once more."
“For us, when we pass from the mortal veil all Eldorai, from lowliest person to the Star Queen herself must face judgement. There is a great beast with a burning gaze, the Kytharus. It is chosen by Ardarvia the Lawbringer to purge the worst sinners before they reach the eye of Ashira. All who pass are judged in one mind and with one voice by the Goddess. Has she left the world a better place? Has she followed the commandments of the Goddess? Has she lived a life of truth and justice? In that moment all falsehoods and lies fall away to reveal the truth, and judgement is set upon those who fail this standard.”
“Those who pass this most crowning of trials are welcomed into the arms of Ashira's side, our mortal lives being but preludes to the greatest and noblest of callings as a handmaiden of the Goddess. To those who fail the divine judgement are cast down to Illyria’s realm where she plots against her mother and aims ever to depose her as Queen of Stars. But always the unworthy will fail.”
One imagines that Eldorai males can also reach paradise, but knowing the Eldorai it is slightly less idyllic than what their female counterparts can expect. Ashiranism upholds the matriarchal values of Eldorai society. Males are expected to defer to females and be content in their roles as their helpers. The religion is staunchly opposed to slavery. Foreign slavers often attacked Kaeshana to abduct Eldorai and sell them as chattel. This was regarded as a source of great shame and anger. As a result, slavers are treated as most contemptible. The faith encourages alms giving and charitable works.
Crucial to Ashiran beliefs is the concept of Sciia. Non-Eldorai often equate this word with the Force, but it is more than that. From the Ashiran point of view, it is the very essence of a being. When the Goddess created the Eldorai and their little sisters, she imbued her chosen people with the Sciia of life. This spirit is what fills all of them, and what makes them a special people, for the Goddess has filled them with her energy and her power. Those of them whose Sciia burns brightest can tap into gifts which most cannot, it lets them connect their spirits to the very elemental essences of the Goddess. They are called Sciians.
The four fundamental elemental gifts are an Eldorai speciality, gifts from Ashira, and products of their Sciia. This also means that Ashiran reject Jedi and Sith views on the Force. The notion that you can 'go to the Dark Side' clashes with their beliefs. As mentioned above, there exists the concept of 'Dashdae Sciia'. However, this is not the Dark Side in the same way a Jedi might understand it. It does not refer to a metaphysical, corrupting power that leads Sciians astray, but to a person who uses their power wrongly. The best analogy might be calling someone a traitor or a heretic. Often it comes down to rhetoric, political and moral viewpoints.
For instance renegades and rebels have commonly been labelled 'Dashdae Eldorai'; Dark Eldorai. Many undoubtedly have been, but then the Eldorai have a history of being ruled by despots, so a Light Side rebel would be labelled the same. Equally there are Dark Side people who serve the Queen, and thus are not considered Dashdae if they obey the law. Ashiran beliefs are also the result of the fact that most of their Force-users have elemental powers. Most Jedi would consider lightning a Sith power, but it is also used by 1/4 of the Angelii, which means to them there is no connection between the power they use and their morality, unless it involves blatantly vile techniques such as blood sacrifices, necromancy, dark sorcery and so on.
The old doctrines postulate that only Eldorai possess Sciia and that those in the outside Galaxy are demons. The recent upheavals have put these beliefs into question. For one, the Eldorai have become tied to Firemane Industries, a corporation run by humans. Moreover, they lost their homeworld twice. They have also run into 'cousins', namely the lost elves of Tygara, the Qadiri, Xioquo and Vashyada. Extremely liberal Ashirans postulate that non-Eldorai might have Sciia, but were presumably created by other deities. Conservative Ashirans regard the idea that other species have gods as heretical though. The idea that Ashira would answer the prayer of a human or alien and intercede on their behalf is widely considered absurd. The Tygaran elves are commonly treated as the Eldorai's 'little sisters'. Yuuzhan Vong are regarded as soulless abominations. As far as Ashiranism is concerned, the Force Dead have no Sciia.
Like in almost every religion, there are deviations in Ashiranism. Indeed, the Eldorai have a penchant for heresies and ideological hair-splitting over the pettiest of issues. Nothing typifies the arcane and labyrinthine intricacies of Eldorai philosophy more than the 'One Mind' controversy. This controversy flared into life during the reign of the tenth Star Queen Sylviane II. This Queen, an intensely pious and ferocious woman, was persuaded that there had been an error in translation of the Book of Light centuries before and that thus the people had been in error for generations.
The error; a single word 'synocae' which means 'Will' but which she believed was 'sylocae' or 'Mind'. The implication was that Ashira had one mind shared with her daughters rather than one will. A seemingly minor and irrelevant discrepancy, but which required a minor civil war, a council of all church prelates and the burning of several heretics to resolve. In the end it was decided that the original translation was correct when an even older version was found which predated the error causing transcript. The controversy was forgotten, but is just one of my such religious issues the Eldorai inflicted on themselves.
In our day and age, the most important heretical - or heterodox, if you are feeling less judgemental - movements are the Illyrians, the Aspirants and the Followers of Arryn. Each were spawned by Ashiranism, but conservative Ashirans would regard them as heretical. Bloody conflicts have been fought over dogma. These shall be described in brief:
Illyrians:
The Illyrians reject traditional Ashiran teachings on Illyria. They regard Illyria as a liberator, who rose up against an unjust order. She is the first rebel and it is their duty to spread her word. The paradise Ashira offers is a lie. All the Great Goddess does is feed on the worship of those who prostrate themselves before her. True judgement can only come from the Mistress of the Underworld. A number of Illyrians have espoused radical beliefs, including wealth redistribution, abolition of feudal privileges, and in some cases gender equality. They are almost universally hostile to the Monarchy. Some tend towards anarchism and similar extreme doctrines. In present times, the Emissaries of Illyria are the most well-known Illyrian sect, though far from the only one. The Emissaries take their radical beliefs a step further than other Illyrians because they hold the Force Dead in high regard. In ironic inversion of the Church of Ashira's beliefs, the Emissaries are biased against Force-users.
To quote an influential cleric of the Emissaries, "Blessed are those whom the spirits do not haunt, for only in silence is the word of the Mistress heard. Favoured are those who do not hear the spirits, for in ignorance can the true word of the Mistress be taught. Cursed are those who are seduced by the spirits, for in such ways is the benediction of the Mistress forgotten, and personal vainglory predominates." These beliefs are not universal among the Illyrians though. Ironically, the founder of the Illyrian heresy was a Force-User and a disgraced aristocrat.
Aspirants:
The Aspirants believe in many traditional Ashiran principles. The Aspirants agree with the basics of the creation myth. Ashira made the Eldorai in her image, was betrayed by Illyria and ascended to heaven. Their views on the afterlife are also the same. However, the Aspirants reject the idea of a polytheistic pantheon. Valora, Ardarvia, Illyria etc. are not deities, but more comparable to angels. Instead they are manifestations of Ashira's grace, given form by her divine will. As a consequence, Aspirants are prohibited from treating them as goddesses and gods. Moreover, the Aspirants do not regard the Star Queen as Ashira's viceroy. Rather they postulate that every believer can find her own way to the Heavenly Mother, without requiring a Queen or a cleric to act as an intermediary. This makes the Queen a purely secular ruler.
Some Aspirants even deny her secular authority on the grounds that there can be no Queen but Ashira. Justification by scripture alone is one of the Aspirant's pillars. According to them, the believers must cut down the flummery, opulence and trappings of the old Church. Some Aspirant can accept a Queen if she submits to the 'guidance' of a council of devout elders who are well-versed in scripture, others wish to do away with the monarchy and replace it with an oligarchic theodemocracy. They were started by Sahome Tyral, an Ashiran prietess who became famous for nailing her 59 theses on the door of the Cathedral of Ashira. In them she attacked the Church's abuse of power and the sale of indulgences that promised remission from punishment for sin.
Followers of Arryn:
The Followers of Arryn are named after a heretical preacher who was executed for proclaiming that Ashira was not wholly divine, but also infused with the spirit of a mortal woman. Her disciples believethat Ashira was the embodiment of the divine force giving the Eldorai form. Her body was mortal, her will divine. This also affects their view of the other members of the pantheon. Even conventionally, the other deities are created from Ashira and so are lesser than her. Arryn believed that was still the case, but they would be one step lesser again, like a demigod/dess because they would be part motal and part divine. Rather than still divine but subordinate to the Chief Goddess. Of all the heterodox groups, they are the smallest. Their most prominent member is Naesala Faethyra, the elected leader of the Shadow Knights.
The fact that most Eldorai have turned into space nomads has reduced the intensity of these conflicts somewhat. After all, it is easier for the various denominations to avoid bumping into each other now. It is pertinent to note that Ashiranism is not a pacifist faith. Ashira is not the goddess of sunshine and rainbows, after all. On a more serious level, the religion incorporates the concepts of a just war and of a holy war. Because the Eldorai are Ashira's children, Ashiran theology maintains that their wars are just and holy ones by definition.
The Angelii, a corps of Force-Sensitive shock troops and palace guards of the Star Queen, are regarded as the Goddess' warriors. Ashiran clerics have often accompanied Eldorai troops into battle and fought alongside them. Ashiranism does not have any rules about these battle clerics not being allowed to spill blood. It is regarded as the duty of any Ashiran to contribute to the defence of the motherland in any way they can. Ashiranism is very nationalist and resolutely opposed to foreigners ruling over the Eldorai.
Reputation: The religion is known only broadly as so far that the Eldorai tend to worship Ashira. The tenants and faith would be poorly known by other races, though individuals and groups who have regular dealings with Eldorai would be more informed. The nature of their interaction with the Eldorai probably influence their perception of the faith. The Kar'zun really do not like Ashiranism since the Ashiran Church supported Ariane the Conqueror's war of annihilation against them.
MEMBERS
Officially Star Queen Tirathana VII, known to her close friends as Anya Venari, is the High Priestess of Ashira. As such, she is both a temporal ruler and the head of the Church of Ashira. Since she is busy being Queen, nine Matriarchs oversee the day-to-day affairs of the Church. Beneath there is a large collection of lesser prelates.
However, while the belief that the Star Queen is the Great Goddess' viceroy and emissary in the mortal world is one of the pillars of Ashiranism, there are Ashirans who reject it. An example would be the Aspirants. Their leader is Sahome Tyral, an Ashiran priestess who turned into a renegade after being persecuted by Tirathana VI, the present Star Queen's mother and predecessor. Sahome is the paramount leader of the Aspirants, though the Ashiran reformist movement follows a presbyterian model and has done away with elaborate ecclesiastical titles. Lilandra Taeyr is one of her spiritual followers and a warrior of Ashira trying to atone for atrocities she committed while in the service of Tirathana VI.
Servilia Lakalva and Eileithya Saedaris are Ashiran clerics. Servillia is a very stern, rigid cleric of Ardarvia, the Goddess of Law and Justice. She is an Abbess in the Eldorai cult, heading her own priory. She chairs an ecclesiastical tribunal that investigates and punished religious crimes, dark sorcery and so on. Scrupulously honest and disdainful of liberal tendencies, the inquisitor follows the old ways. By contrast, Eileithya is a more liberal Priestess of Ashira and a compassionate healer with ties to Firemane. Though willing to take up arms in the defence of the faith and the motherland, she is less xenophobic.
Vaena Cadalthor, born with the surname Askari, is a bastard of House Cadalthor and their current Duchess. She was raised in an Ashiran temple before being inducted into the Angelii and is a very pious woman. As of late, she has started to build a following among Ashirans who believe in the old ways, but are pragmatic enough to realise the Eldorai cannot act as if they are the top dogs in the galaxy...since that evidently is not the case. House Cadalthor is an very conservative house and a strong supporter of Ashiran tenets. Ariawyn Eloris is a former penal legionnaire, ex-Angelii and Vaena's Captain of the Guard. The warrior woman is a earth mage and very committed to the Ashiran deities, especially Valora, though scornful of the upper class.
Naesala Faethyra is the Archon of the Shadow Knights, a paramilitary survivalist movement founded by Eldorai renegades and ex-soldiers in response to Kaeshana's cataclysmic destruction. She is an example of a heterodox Ashiran, as she follows the teachings of Arryn. She is a career soldier who used to serve in the army of Tirathana VI before running afoul of court politics. Varisanthra Lycaeni, an independent Eldorai businesswoman, follows a somewhat idiosyncratic interpretation of Ashiran beliefs. For one, she treats the Star Queen as a secular monarch and just one of many rulers among the myriad Eldorai factions.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
In the beginning, Ashira was created by the sun, the moon and the stars to create a chosen race which would one day inherit the universe. She in turn created the pantheon, infusing part of her knowledge into each. Then she formed the Eldorai to be perfect creatures in her image. It was Ashira who hammered the eternal mountains of Kaeshana into plains for her people.
The Ashirans believe that Illyria turned away from the path and led a rebellion against the forces of light. This conflict is called the War in Heaven, a devastating, apocalyptic conflict. According to old scriptures, Illyria was also the one who spawned the Kar'zun, with whom the Eldorai fought for dominance over Kaeshana for several centuries until eventually prevailing. The Eldorai do not like the earth and they don't like the Kar'zun because they were made of it. Thusly, the rock people are seen as evil demons. Hence the fierce and tragic animosity between both races.
Illyria and Ashira are believed to have fought in an epic battle, at the end of which Illyria managed to wound but not kill Ashira. As punishment, Illyria and her followers were banished into the abyss beneath the earth. Meanwhile, Ashira ascended to the heavens. Millennia have passed since then. Did Ashira ever exist? Was she truly a goddess? The first of her race? An extremely powerful Force-user whose powers were close enough to that of a deity for her people to come to regard her as one? As far as the Ashirans are concerned, it would be blasphemous to question the sacred texts. The Book of Light is supposed to contain her writings, along with those of her disciples and later commentaries and epistles by holy males and females.
Ashiranism was truly codified during the reign of Tassaria the Liberator, the first Star Queen of the Eldorai. Tassaria came to power at a time of crisis for the Eldorai. In this day and age the elves were still divided. The old system of many small states had worked well for a time, but under the onslaught of the Kar’zun the system collapsed. The last Queen of Santaissa was killed in the sack of the city, and no central authority could be found to replace her. Into this stepped the High Priestess of Ashira, Tassaria Cytani. Rallying the people of the northern Larquis region she drove back the Kar’zun and was acclaimed Queen and High Priestess.
For the first time, supreme political and religious authority was vested in one person. This also marked the start of the Church of Ashira's ascent, as it achieved a position of dominance over the other Eldorai cults. However, many remote Eldorai states remained fiercely autonomous and the highest Ashiran clerics, the Matriarchs of the nine sees, were confident political actors. High-ranking clerics jealously guarded their privileges. In some cases, this led to conflict when clerics mustered their own militias. But over time the Church became an arm of the state.
It also performed an important social role by providing charity, education and so on. It was Queen Anais I. who solidified the alliance between throne and altar, transforming the largely secular office of queen into a theocratic one. From this moment on, Ashiranism and the secular state were one. The consequences can be felt to this day and have been both positive and negative. While the Eldorai state’s theocratic nature gave it a great deal of stability and longevity, despite internal strife, wars with foreign invaders and so on, it has come at the price of an often stifling conformism, religious purges and intolerance. In the long-term it also contributed to the fracturing of the Eldorai people.
As with virtually every religion, Ashiranism had its heresies. One of the most prominent heresiarchs was a disgraced noblewoman called Aedema Cytani, the founder of the Illyrian heresy. She was a granddaughter of Queen Esterlae I. Her family was supplanted by Rinnea Kaldis, known by her regnal name Callidora I. Aedema was one of the eight Cytani claimants who was defeated by the 'usurper'. She was forced to renounce her royal title and confined to a monastery, where she was isolated from contact with the outside world. She experience a spiritual crisis and came to believe that Ashira did not work through the Star Queen and that the true power was in Illyria, goddess of death and the underworld. Over time her believers became the original Dashdae Eldorai.
The heresy became popular among the smallfolk. It is doubtful that Aedema was much of a revolutionary, but the heresy soon became associated with social radicalism. They spawned violent insurgencies against Church and State. Finally Aedema was captured. She was burnt at the stake, but her elemental powers allowed her to overcome the fires, so she had to be shot by firing squad. Illyrian rebellions would continue to be a threat to the established order. Ironically, Illyrians sometimes made common cause with the Kar'zun. The infamous 'One Mind' controversy caused a period of strife during the reign of Star Queen Sylviane II, an exceptionally pious monarch.
Religious fervour reached new heights during the reign of Ariane Saedaris. At the time of her ascension, the Eldorai were on the brink. Weakened by infighting, they faced the prospect of being conquered by the Kar'zun. It was Ariane who united the Eldorai under one banner against and defeated the stone people. Branding the Kar'zun as demons, she led a war of extermination. It was a shocking near-genocide, which was justified as an Ashiran holy war. Her successors halted the mass killings, but the few surviving Kar'zun were confined to reservations far away from their ancestral homelands. The Eldorai would claim that the Kar'zun had wanted to exterminate them, though it is more likely that they intended to simply rule Kaeshana.
While the Ashiran Church has been an arm of the state for a long time, there have been conflicts between the clerics and the Crown. A good example is the fate of Thomina Beckat. The high-ranking Ashiran cleric was slain by a group of Angelii, after Maerys II demanded that someone ‘rid her of this tumultuous priestess’. Noble families often vied to place their ‘spare’ daughters in influential church posts. The so called Arrynian Heresy came into being after Tirathana V's ascent to power. Its author Arryn was a dissidet cleric, who saw the strife and corruption as a sign of the Goddess' disfavour. She began to question established orthodoxy and concluded that the established Church was in error. She was executed for proclaiming the dual nature of Ashira, but her followers went underground.
Religious orthodoxy was the law of the land while Tirathana VI was in power. This conservative, ruthless woman had come to power through a coup, banishing the Evora family, who were the legitimate heirs. Because her own claim stood on a shaky legal foundation, she tried to bolster her legitimacy by presenting herself as the standard-bearer of true Ashiranism. An entire community of secret Illyrians was exiled into outer space.
They ended up being captured by Vong slavers, who conducted experiments on them to turn them Force Dead and used them as slave-soldiers. However, the outcasts rebelled and escaped their masters. Over time they came to regard their condition as a blessing, believing it broke the shackles of Ashira and allowed them to commune with the mistress of the underworld. Calling themselves the Harbingers of Twilight, they launched several raids against the Matriarchy, especially Ashiran temples.
Closer to home, orthodox Ashiranism was split by the controversy about the sale of indulgences, which promised remission from the punishment for sin. An Ashiran priestess called Sahome Tyral nailed 59 theses on the door of the Cathedral of Ashira, attacking abuse of power, corruption in the clergy and the aforementioned practice. This fiery cleric demanded that the Ashirans return to the true ways of their foremothers and cast aside the flummery of the high clergy.
She was arrested by the Inquisition and put on trial, but refused to recant her beliefs. The Queen excommunicated Sahome, but she was able to escape Kaeshana with the help of her followers. She soon gathered a following among the growing community of Eldorai exiles. While originally Sahome had supported the old institutions and just believed they needed reformation, now she came to see the Star Queen's claim that she was Ashira's emissary in the mortal world as heretical. Her followers called themselves the Aspirants, for they sought to aspire to Ashira's grace. Justification by scripture alone became one of their main pillars.
The Church of Ashira underwent profound changes in modern times after Tirathana VI's death. Partly this was because nobles and clerics realised that persecution was not the best way to stamp out heresy, though many continued to cling to the old ways. As Kaeshana opened up to the galaxy and got into contact with outsiders who, unlike most of the previous visitors, did not mean harm, it became clear that the Eldorai were not alone in the galaxy and could not afford to act as if they were. Several reforms were implemented after the ascension of Tirathana VII (born as Anya Venari) to the throne. Not all of these were popular though.
Several coup attempts were motivated - or justified at any rate - by the belief that the new Queen was too soft on heretics, too reliant on foreign devils and thus practically an apostate. At the same time, Rationalism gained converts among members of the middle classes, especially radical students. Rationalism does not consider itself to be a religion, for it rejects the idea that Ashira and the other deities were divine. Ironically, it has adopted many of the trappings of the Old Church, despite claiming to be built on reason instead of superstition.
The Netherworld Event shook the faith. Like people on any world, Eldorai were raptured. Many of those left behind believed the End of Days had come. Sahome Tyral returned from exile at this point, though the split between Aspirants and Ashirans remained. Then the Eldorai learned that Kaeshana would be destroyed by a huge asteroid and had to evacuate the planet with the help of Firemane. Most Eldorai would be saved, but a small minority had to be left behind. They cursed the exodites, for they had to endure a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Both the Aspirants and Illyrians ministered to these Forsaken, tried to restore order - and clashed fiercely. For a while, several dissident groups were united by the Shadow Knights.
The exodites, meanwhile, built a new home on Tygara. There Ashirans were confronted with the existence of other elf races, who seemed related to the Eldorai. While many Ashirans were quick to accept that the Qadiri, Xioquo and Vashyada were their 'little sisters' or 'cousins', the so callled Paragon Theory was met with widespread disbelief. It stated that there were five Paragons: The Priestess, the Mage, the Negotiator, the Queen and the Warrior. The Queen was identified with Ashira, the Priestess with Tylania, prophetess and demigoddess of the Vashyada, the Mage with Mystra, the evil demigoddess of the Xioquo, the Warrior with a being called Eyrecae Alzari, who was believed to be in occultation, while the Negotiator was lost.
This implied that local Tygaran deities were co-equal with Ashira, which was obviously rejected as nonsense. Mystra was slain by Siobhan Kerrigan and her allies, which orthodox Ashirans (correctly) regarded as proof that she could not have been a goddess. Tylania, a farseeing woman, would lead the Vashyada into a close partnership with Firemane, realising that her people had to adapt to a changing Galaxy.
The Exodus – and later the fall of Kaeshana to the First Order – was a traumatic experience for the Ashiran faith. Kaeshana was sacred ground that had to be liberated, though this was obviously not realistic any longer. In modern days, the Ashiran is no limited to one world, as the Eldorai have sought new homes in the stars. The Ashirans' hopes of one day returning to Kaeshana have been squashed, as the planet was completely devastated by a cataclysm that saw it being dragged through the Netherworld. When the planet re-emerged and various Eldorai groups send teams to investigate and search for survivors, they found that their homeworld had been turned into a hellscape.
The political and religious authority of the Star Queen has diminished. Thus there are Ashiran groups who obey the Star Queen, but also those who pay lip service to her, but in practice are not subservient, as well as those who deny her authority entirely. Some have rallied around counter-Queens, especially very conservative ones, though these struggle for recognition. An attempt by a reactionary group to colonise Raevana and turn into an orthodox utopia ended in disaster. Relations between the different strands of Ashiranism and its heretical offshoots continue to remain tense. The Eldorai are no longer united under one Queen or faith. Instead there are many, all claiming to represent the true Eldorai way.
