God of Unity

Identity

• Title(s) – God of Unity
• Influence – People, Unity, Strength
• Appearance – A humbly dressed man whose opened hands await the grasp of his fellow people. Jul is usually depicted as an older hunched man, bare-chested, with worn sandals and tousled white hair.

Attributions

• Symbol –
• Focus – White cloth, long bandage
• Color(s) – White
• Element – Earth and Blood
• Animal –

Cult

• Center of Worship – City of Urzar, Jadàkða
• Scriptures –
• Leader –
• Priesthood –
• Orders –
• Aspects – NA
• Touched –
• Holy Days –
• Friends –
• Enemies –
• Sayings –

Introduction

The most influential god of Jūlun in the Third Age, the Cult of Jūl arose from the ruins of the old temples of Urzar. Viewed as an emergent god, having been born upon the steps to the Temple of Gardaz, the new religion was vilified and its adherents persecuted, not by the state but by the threatened Urzàri priesthood. Though the city of his birth is contested, it is believed to have been somewhere in present-day Kir Jùlūn, hence its name. Eventually, Jūlári worship spread throughout southern Lyrast, but never gained a foothold in the frozen north. The concept of a humble and compassionate god resonated with people who had supported hundreds of temples and priesthoods through the ages, under the banners of Zirak, Urzar, and Jorn.

Origins

A key aspect of the Jūlári faith was its conspicuous lack of lineage. Each of the region’s major religions to this point were bound by familial ties. Jūl arrived unceremoniously on the steps of an old temple, a sign of his humanity and a bloody mark on the public face of the established, popular, and corrupt cults. The source of Jūl’s divinity and powers are some of the main unanswered mysteries of the cult. Some have suggested that his unnamed mother belonged to the prolific Jorni or Ziràki hierarchies. Why else would the temple feel threatened by the child? The faithful rebut this position, claiming that if the mother was divine, she could not have been killed by soldiers. This is a modern argument. The ancients did not attribute invincibility to their gods, instead imbuing them with a great many mortal vices and weaknesses. Antithetic claims notwithstanding, the legends of Jūl illustrate a powerful god for which a great corpus of accounts survive.

Dūja’s Child

Jūl’s fame spread immediately following his birth, thanks to his industrious and equally mysterious benefactor, the grandmotherly Dūja. The Urzàri temple’s decree that the child must be found and killed, catapulted the unlikely duo into folk-hero status among the disenfranchised populace. While Dūja gets most of the credit, and rightfully so, it is likely that they received assistance at all turns from an underclass itching to embarrass the oppressive Urzàri cult. Regular tithes, penance, and labors of devotion were requirements of all Urzàryr. These obligations of faith had accumulated over the course of generations, and served to support an intractably large organization that was both oppressive and irrelevant. So, when Dūja would appear with her young protege for a few moments at random times and places, the whispers of apostasy grew.

In all likelihood, the authorities could have no idea who Dūja and the child truly were. Any old woman carrying a newborn could have been dragged off the street and killed, and rumors soon circulated that that very thing was happening throughout the region. It was not until five years after the Child’s birth, that a young Jūl stepped out of his caretaker’s shadow and proved his divinity. The event is recorded as the Ring of Swords, and is believed to be the first of Jūl’s many miracles. It is also the most widely depicted religious event in contemporary Lyrásti artwork. While moving through a marketplace, the young Jūl was identified and grabbed by a passing soldier. Instead of resisting, the young boy placed his hand on the man and told him, “I am Jūl. I know the path that leads to the Fifth Sphere but no man that raises arms against me or his faithful neighbor will find the way.” The soldier stared into the eyes of the thin boy and was overwhelmed by what he found. Weeping, the soldier fell to his knees and laid his sword at the boy’s feet. One by one, as other soldiers came to investigate, they too abandoned their arms and joined their brothers upon the filthy street. Within an hour, the young boy was surrounded by a wall of swords and the marketplace was filled with soldiers, reduced to repentant tears, but elevated to good men.

Some years after the Ring of Swords, Dūja fades from the narrative of Jūl. There are conflicting stories about her fate. Sects within the Cult agree only that she was not divine, but rather a mortal who adopted a god. A popular story retells that upon her impending death, Jūl went to her death bed, pulled the old woman to her feet, and walked her outside. Supporting her weight, they passed from the yard and turned down a country lane. When her helpers asked where he was taking her, Jūl smiled and said, “I know the path. For many years she was my legs, now it is my turn to walk for her. Who among you deserves better?”

Dissident

As an adult, Jūl began a long campaign to undermine the Urzàri Cult. He spoke throughout the region about how the priests and temples served no other purpose than venerating dead, distant, or disinterested gods and making themselves wealthy on the backs of the fearful. He reiterated the ideas that “lives, obedience, and money” were the only tenets that the temples valued. He explained, to great reception, that there was a different path. He described himself as a messenger, that the universe had revealed to him a great secret, and that it was his duty to share it with those who opened their hearts and ears. He preached that gods did not require their hard earned coins, they did not listen to mortal prayers, and they did not care whether their temples were built from marble or sticks. He preached that each Yrūn was given one opportunity, once chance to find his path to the Fifth Sphere, and though each path was different, the milestones were always the same.

These apostatical words were met with abhorrence by the Urzàri temples. High priests bent the ears of the kings and queens of Lyrast to find and kill the heretic. More than once assassins located Jūl but left him as good men. The farther he traveled and the longer he spoke without retribution from the temples, the more pervasive his message became. Temples pleaded with the Crowns of Lyrast to enforce their tithes and obligations, as more and more of the populace refused to honor the old gods. In many cities, heretics were rounded-up and burned, dragged, and mutilated but the movement continued to grow. In Jadàkða, Urzàri temples burned as people gathered in the streets singing to the glory of Jūl. Many hid in their homes, fearful of the gods’ wrath, while others danced in the glow of the flames. Similar fires were set throughout the region, which some attribute to the land’s epithet, the Burning Crescent.

The scriptures that record Jūl’s teachings are curiously quiet regarding the burnings, the martyrdoms, and the rebellion. Though Jūl never advocated taking up arms against another, his words were specific. Over and again he emphasized not harming “faithful neighbors”, words which left a presumption of permission for converting or destroying the unfaithful. Jūlári apologists refute this translation, insisting that warfare was distasteful to Jūl, but his words and events that surrounded him tell a different, unwritten story. The Urzàri Cult and its many Crown adherents would not fall by words alone.

Miracles

There are many miracles ascribed to Jūl. Though most of his magics would be considered non-vulgar (i.e., passive), there are records of Weavings that are beyond the recorded abilities of Wizards and High Priests. It bears repeating that the Urzàri Cult would not die quietly or peacefully. Whether its gods were disinterested or not, its priests were formidable and counted among their members the most skilled Yrūni Channelers of their Age. This impending clash, reintroduced the question of Jūl’s divinity and its meaning. The emaciated savior did not carry the same presence as the warrior gods of the past. He did not gird himself for battle, his fingers were not stained red with the blood of his foes, he did not appear with trumpeted fanfare amid legions of half-naked, frenzied women. He was different, not only in his appearance but in the fact that he walked in the Mortal World like the gods of the Ogdar. For Ages, men had worshiped the power of gods from afar. If Jūl were truly a god, they would soon test their iron against the same.

Hermitage

Traveler

The Cult

Though the kingdoms of Lyrast were initially nervous about the rise of the Jūláryr, in time they came to embrace the cult. Before the cult’s rise, there was a constant struggle for power between state and religion. The Pryr Jūl dismantled the existing religious hegemony, razed the great temples, and erected simple chapels and monasteries in their place. Wherever Crowns became greedy or overbearing, the Pryr Jūl would call upon the people of many kingdoms to rise against the tyrants. Though Jūl preached compassion, he also warned against complacency, and advocated that his followers should find strength among their neighbors regardless of the borders of men. Though many generations repeated the same mistakes, the Crowns of Lyrast soon learned that they could rule unopposed provided they respected the rights of the cult and its followers.

The Priesthood

The Pryr Jūl are exceptional among their contemporary ecclesiastical colleagues. They abide by a strict forfeiture of material wealth, sometimes including clothes and footwear in warmer climates. Priests are permitted to own land and grow food, but are obliged to feed any that seek food at their table, and to give charitably of any produce that exceeds their needs.

Daily Activities

Holy Days and Rituals

Places of Worship

Nomenclature: Jul Dekàlic: Jūl (god), Jūlári (pertaining to), Jūláryn (follower), Jūláryr (followers), Pryn Jūl (priest), Pryr Jūl (priests)