Dharmu-Tavakhra, The Thought-Giver

Followers and Priesthood

Though the continent of Ruatiwanga and its people are a polytheistic culture who venerates each of the Six Sky Gods of Haako-san-tara as a collective pantheon, it is not usually uncommon for the particularly devout to dedicate themselves to one such deity within the pantheon - yet, for The Thought-Giver, Sixth of the Sky Gods of Haako-san-tara and Husband to Jaku-Pushana(Mother Ocean, Goddess of Water, Tides, and Life), such an occurance could not be rarer in the modern day. Though he was once one of the most widespread and populous of all the Sky Gods of Haako-san-tara, Dharmu-Tavakhra has long since fallen out of favor with the people of Ruatiwanga - where once his followers often found his faith within the countless schools, coffee shops, and universities across the continent where all manner of Scholars once laughed and studied into the long hours of the night peeling back the secrets of the universe through mathematics and understanding, drawn to his faith through curiosity, tolerance, a desire to explore and see the world, or even out of a strong desire to help spread the glory of the Sky Gods to others, now the followers of The Thought-Giver are few and far between.   Now, the once legendary universities of Ruatiwanga have all but closed - the scholars all but gone, the smoky hookah shops and academic halls where all the glories of the Gods were once catalogued and explained with science and faith in equal measure dark and silent - ancient, silent echoes of a time hundreds of years passed where the creatures of Ruatiwanga once delighted as kin in learning about the beautiful world made by the Gods. Once, in ancient and brighter times, the followers of Dharmu-Tavakhra adorned themselves simply; delighting in humility before the eyes of gods in accordance with the teachings of Dharmu-Tavakhra. Once, the followers of The Thought-Giver dressed plainly and in whichever manners best hid their physical forms - which they believed better insulated them from the unwanted status and recognition they believed interfered with their scholarly and pious work - most oftne using turbans, keffiyehs, or other head and face-obscuring headwear adorned with gemstones, minerals, or other items evoking the power and visage of the earth. Dressing practically and in a manner best suited to travel, the faithful of Dharmu-Tavakhra in ancient times often wore thick boots and gloves along with thick travelers cloaks - often combined with thick robes suited to both long nights in scholarly studies and long days on the road, often with natural earthen colors such as brown, grey, tan, and the like. Belts, pouches, holsters, backpacks, and the like were also common accessories enjoyed by the faithful - both for practicality and as a way to show off their faith and what little status they allowed themselves to have.   Now, the followers of Dharmu-Tavakhra are few and far between - his faith entirely forgotten in some sections of the continent - meaning most of those ancient traditions have been lost forever. For followers of the modern day, they dress far more subtly and simply than their ancestors - preferring clothes and outfits suited for adventuring and traveling above all else, though they often retain the preference for headgear that obscures their heads and faces as much as possible to remain humble before God and Man alike. There is seldom a unifying color, theme, pattern, or style of dress amongst the faithful - as they are almost never populous enough in a given area to warrant organization into a church, parish, or group of any kind - though modern followers of The Thought-Giver often delight in collecting souvenirs from the many places they have traveled and using them as accessories and adornments on their person; oftentimes using such souvenirs to fashion makeshift holy symbols. Additionally, while tattooing has always been an important part of Dharmu-Tavakhra's faith, it has become even moreso in the centuries following the decline of his faith - his followers, now paranoid and untrusting after centuries of exile, distrust, and sometimes even open hunting from their fellows turning them to tattoos and other bodily arts to coat their skin, fur, or bodies in the results of their scholarly efforts; often turning their bodies into canvases of mathematical formulae, archiectural designs, or whatever scholarly fields they focus in.   Unfortunately, though they once held near universal respect from all Ruatiwangan as the shining paragons of Ruatiwangan science and as perhaps the greatest and proudest cultural accomplishment of the era, followers of Dharmu-Tavakhra in the modern day enjoy no such attentions - they are often ostracized and ridiculed by their fellows as adherents of an ideology many consider Naive or overly Idealistic, relics of a time best forgotten, or in many circles even outright hunted by certain adherents of other Sky Gods(Namely Akash-Palla and Trishna-Kapur) for their ancient ties to the Lotus King of Isu in pursuit of an ancient grudge dating back nearly 600 years. For all these reasons and more, followers of Dharmu-Tavakhra are rarely recognized as such in the modern day - often preferring to hide their faiths where possible. They tend to serve as adventurers, explorers, or scholars wherever such professions can find gainful employment or local support - often switching between all three and more as needs arise - though in many areas they go to decent lengths to disguise their scholarly tasks and hide them from the eyes of skeptics or close-minded tribes who would otherwise react violently to their attempts to learn and understand the world around them. Oftentimes, they can be found seeking out patrons to support their work - though just as many can be found devoting themselves to adventuring parties and explorers across the continent.  

Ethics

In many ways, the followers of Dharmu-Tavakhra are best described as "Those who seek to understand how the world works, that they may better understand the glory of the Gods who made it" - this quote, though simple, perhaps best encapsulates the ideology they ascribe to. Humble and inquisitive, the followers of The Thought-Giver believe dutifully in the notions of humility and anonymity - believing that to seek status, station, recognition, or exaltation is an act inherently tied to the Ego and thus one that carries one further and further away from the Gods. To them, while the notion of being granted such gifts is not intrinsically blasphemous or heretical provided they are not sought out or specifically requested, the act of desiring such things and seeking them out clouds the mind and stains the spirit - and hinders the mortal ability to feel and commune with God, meaning that while only the most extreme followers of The Thought-Giver completely eschew all status, station, and rank(Sometimes even going so far as to forgo their own names and identities) to be closer to the Gods, all of his followers believe that to seek such things is an inherently selfish and blasphemous act that leads only to isolation of the soul; to them, worldly affairs such as those are things best tolerated in the interests of pursuing the scholarly, intellectual, and spiritual pursuits that truly matter which they believe mortals were made to pursue.   Perhaps even more importantly, however, they are curious and inquisitive by nature - for while despite all their piousness and faith, to the surprise of many who meet them the followers of the Thought-Giver are some of the most scientifically and intellectually minded people one may ever meet. Deep and profound believers of philosophical principles of Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis as tools to seek higher realms of thought and understanding as well as in science and all scholarly pursuits, followers of The Thought-Giver believe that to accept things at face value or "just because" is a sinful and lazy act, and one that even goes so far as to bring shame upon one and the gods who watch over them. For, to them, one can only truly call themselves faithful or pious if one questions and learns of the world around them - if the glories of the gods and all they have made cannot be questioned or understood, they believe, are they really even worthy of being called divinity? To followers of Dharmu-Tavakhra, the answer is a resounding no - only by studying, researching, asking questions, attempting to disprove everything they know and then accepting only that which is unassailable fact, can one truly come to appreciate the beauties and glories of the Gods and the gifts they have given to the mortal world; only then can one truly find certainty in faith through comprehending how vast and awe-inspiring the world truly is. Though this at times makes them natural debaters, bickerers, and quibblers, they hold the ideals of curiosity and the scientific method truly close to their hearts - and believe that the pursuit of knowledge and of understanding the mysteries of God is one of, if not the most pious acts one can undertake as a mortal being.   Their love for all things scholarly rarely stops there, however - for the followers of the Thought-Giver are firm believers in welcoming even the most doubtful, hateful, or outspoken nonbelievers into the fold with patience and understanding; holding the idea that no being should be disparaged or shamed for their ignorance very near and dear to their hearts. To them, the act of question and answer - of debate and teaching - is at the core of their worship of the divine; and that only the truly ignorant or unworthy would turn away an opportunity to meet such creatures in good faith and instruct and educate them on the brilliance of God, of their beliefs, and of the intellectual wisdoms of the world and hopefully, as a result, teach them a better way than ignorance and hate. Even foreigners and those belonging to different faiths, they believe, are deserving of this patience - and indeed, many followers of the Thought-Giver relish the chance to speak to such beings even moreso than usual, treasuring the idea of exchanging beliefs and coming to an understanding with a completely different culture and faith a beautifully central tenet to their faith and to science itself. Even if they do not come to full agreement, what ultimately matters to them is the dispelling of ignorance and the spreading of knowledge - for if a creature, so properly armed and educated, still chooses to indulge in their ignorance or continue to Blaspheme even having been taught and tutored, then it becomes the duty of the faithful to dispense the wrath of God appropriately in whatever forms that may best take.   To that end, followers of the Thought-Giver are natural explorers and wanderers - believing that, as children of God(Whether one believes or not), it is one's duty to bear witness to the glory and splendor of the world they live in. This, they consider one of the most centrally spiritual tenets of life itself - to behold the world in which they live, to wander and explore the corners of God's land and see its mysteries, to see its ugliness and beauty in equal measure; it is ultimately born of the their central religious desire to test themselves constantly - to constantly seek to disprove their own beliefs and thus reinforce the beliefs that are truth and emerge all the more pious for it. To the followers of the Thought-Giver, it is no mere matter of simple morality or divine teaching - it is an obligation, a duty, a central tenet of being alive that drives one to roam and explore; To broaden one's worldview and contrast one's scholarly knowledge with worldly experiences. As a result, they are frequent pilgrims and constant adventurers - either to seek out some long forgotten scrap of knowledge to further their scientific understanding or simply to see the world and relish in its beauties as a way to enrich themselves and their souls.   Finally, and perhaps most tragically in the modern-day, followers of The Thought-Giver believe most ardently in the ideals of equality under God - believing that all creatures that walk upon and within the lands of God are, by right and divine mandate, equal - and therefore deserving of equal access to the bounties of God. While in ancient times scholarly of Dharmu-Tavakhra debated and bickered constantly over the precise definitions of "equal" and of what it meant to "walk the land", which exactly "bounties" means in various contexts, and which creatures qualified for such protections, modern followers of The Thought-Giver tend to abide a more general consensus of their beliefs - often standing firm against slavery, against oppression, and especially against the treatment of other sentient races as things to be hunted and killed(As the Shersūra often do with the Bhadu). Ultimately, though, the exact definitions of such things are up to personal interpretation - though the injustices of the modern day make it hard for many followers of the Thought-Giver to truly ignore certain facets of life in Ruatiwanga.