Húðaŋïl

Húðaŋïl is a term that has been employed for a variety of different concepts, but it is always linked to the culture stance and values of the Khólteð Family. There are four such cultural stances that are known by that name, and although they have been posthumously given distinct prefixes, they will all be discussed in this article.

• Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl refers to the pre-Ïlýrhonid, or traditional, culture of the Khólteð Family that was carried over in sparse tablets when they made the trek to the Ïlýrhonid Tribe. They were finally rediscovered and reinterpreted by Bömwvak, one of the Žötó-Žimiara, around 25080 AYM.
• Kavamïŋ-HúðaŋÏl (or Ïlýrhonid-Húðaŋïl) refers to the version of the Húðaŋïl that was created by merging parts of the Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl with the Kavamïŋ-Ïlýrhonid, the state religion of the Ïlýrhonid Tribe, in an attempt to make it more palatable to the Ïlýrhonidian officials. This version effectively neutered its practicality, as the parts of the Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl that were lost were nonetheless integral to the overall reasoning thereof.
• Šïhal-Húðaŋïl (or Ŋërwïlo-Húðaŋïl) refers to a new cultural stance that was formulated by Šïhal-Ýïr during the Second Phase of the Crisis of 24982 AYM. This was done as intending to carry over as much of the original Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl as possible, all the while adapting it to the chaos that they were living in.
• Halëðem-Húðaŋïl (or Löd-Húðaŋïl) refers to a similarly new cultural stance that was formulated by Halëðem-Ýïr, around the same time of the Šïhal-Húðaŋïl, but instead of adhering to the original, it deliberately tried to change an entirely new stance, with the belief that such outdated beliefs and values had no place at all in the new world.

Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl

Philosophy

The Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl (archaic/ancient Húðaŋïl) is by far the most encompassing of the three, in that it was a descriptor of the thinking and approach upon which all of Khólteðian society was built. At its core, it reflects the worldly outlook of the Khólteð Family, especially in concerning ideas of society, leadership, and the nature of the individual. This all is summed up in the simple sentence that the world and its many provisions are 'harsh and deceitful, such that the Ibrófeneð alone can bear to stand up against it'. To ensure survival in this harsh world, it aimed to enforce proper conduct of mental aptitude, interpersonal decisions, and the construction of society to create a means by which the unique ability of the Ibrófeneð could come forth. In their eyes, the unique ability thereof was concentrated in growth, which was enforced in three ways. This proper conduct, and its resultant growth, can be summarized as the following:

• Memory, or the growth of the populace: By constantly remembering, a group of people would naturally inherit qualities that better their chances of survival. This was the main defensive mechanism against the world, which although harsh, was simultaneously seen as repetitive and bound by a set of rules. This is the most biological of the three, as although the Húðaŋïl still found it relevant to include, they saw it as inherently resulting from the action of living and working together as a group.
• Consciousness, or the growth of the individual: The individual has an important position in this philosophy as the place from which the notion of the populace and kinship can be equally sustained or destroyed. Consciousness was the main force from which the individual's decisions came forth, and in such a world of danger, consciousness was what paved the way for memory and pacifism. That is, to live in constant awareness was to be ready for any such threats, both within the physical world and within the other social spheres.
• Pacifism, or the growth of kinship: In the language of the Khólteð Family, the notion of kinship describes the special relationship between individuals that transcends mere participation in a group setting. From it springs the urge to protect and serve others, and is the most emotionally charged of the three social realms. However, it is threatened by discordance and argument, and a strict adherence to pacifism provides the time and space needed for memory and consciousness to rise to the surface, and for kinship bonds to be restored.

In the dynamics of the Khólteð society, these three qualities were the supreme authority that all members were to look towards. However, they were also self-defeating; Memory, and the ills of the past, had the tendency to kill Pacifism; Pacifism, and the passions of the heart, had the tendency to kill Consciousness; and Consciousness, and the gift of the present, had the tendency to kill Memory. It was thus the goal of the society not to attain the most comprehensive memory, or the most pacifist outlook, or the most conscious population, but to strike a perfect balance between the three that would allow them to react to all the stresses that the world brought while still functioning as a cohesive society.

Because these three qualities were the supreme authority, the Khólteðians were naturally suspicious of the notion of a familial leader. When they did implement such a role, they would interpret it in the context of these three virtues. To become a leader, therefore, was to take on the responsibility of ensuring the balance of the three across the entire populace. As such, both the leader and the populace would undergo several trials on a yearly basis to prove the upholding of these virtues. If the leader was found not to be conscious, and/or if the populace was found not to remember, or to adhere to pacifism, the leader was almost always seen as the root of this divergence, and would be swiftly replaced.

History

The Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl is almost certainly the dominant stance of the Family in the years prior to their full integration into the Tribe. In terms of ideology, it is extremely far-removed from Ïlýrhonidian notions of leadership and culture, and this contrast is likely why the two proved incompatible. In the end, societal pressures from the Ïlýrhonid Tribe at large almost certainly caused the suppression and abandonment of the Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl by the time that most of the staples of the Tribe itself were established, like the Hyvamto-Rhïlýrhonid, Hyvamto-Žö-Ýsïb, and the Alaghúl-Garhifiŋ.

The Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl is known solely from a few tablets that were unearthed between 25100 and 25080 AYM, likely due at least partially to the flood of natural disasters that permeated the Ïlýrhonid Tribe at large during this time. Due to the fairly sidelined nature of this family-specific philosophical system, it was likely discovered in the outskirts of the lands, deep underground and/or very close to lands far away from the center of the Tribe (certainly near to the Krëšŋ-Ðórr and Khëlër-Ðórr). Although unearthed in that general timeframe, they were only truly analyzed starting around 25080 AYM, most notably by Bömwvak, now regarded as one of the two Khólteðtian representatives of the Žötó-Žimiara. It was he who deciphered the archaic text of the tablets and first began to compile the philosophical tenets from these works. However, a crucial part of the philosophy, namely the placement of these virtues above worldly leaders, troubled Bömwvak due to its abject disalignment with Ïlýrhonidian politics, and he kept that specific part hidden from the public. His younger contemporary and fellow Žimiarian Ëknëteög would similarly work to integrate these tenets with the Ïlýrhonidian tribal rituals of the Kavamïŋ-Ïlýrhonid, likely to prevent a potential suppression from the Tribal authorities. More specifically, Ëknëteög would use the concept of the three virtues in their isolation, holding them subservient to the Ïlýrhonidian notion of familial and tribal authority as a clear break from the earlier conventions.

Although the Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl did spread through the Family, it was mainly treated as outdated and never truly implemented in its intended manner. Its most visible component was indeed Ëknëteög's implementation within the context of the Kavamïŋ-Ïlýrhonid, but even then, its effectiveness was hampered by the moral relianceon figures like the Hyvamto-Žö-Ýšïb. As such, it did not gain much traction, especially when compared against other Žimiarian movements favoring traditional cultures (the actions of Úmýdëš in the Ërtúfën Family often come up as an example of a more effective movement). By 25020 AYM, the Khólteðians would almost entirely revert back to a purely-Ïlýrhonidian worldview, and it was this worldview that was in effect during such events like the suppression of the Fýr-Hŋýtor and the Crisis of 24982 AYM.

Kavamïŋ-Húðaŋïl

The Kavamïŋ-Húðaŋïl, Ëknëteög-Húðaŋïl, or Ïlýrhonid-Húðaŋïl, refers to the aforementioned work of the Žötó-Žimiarian Ëknëteög, who, realizing the familial and philosophical viability of the Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl, sought to implement it in contemporary society. However, like Bömwvak, he was greatly worried by the implications that the three tenets were to be placed far above the notion of worldly leaders, regardless of their actual authority. In fact, the entire idea of challenging these worldly leaders in regards to the three tenets would have been hugely disagreeable if the Ïlýrhonid Tribe at large had known about it. Thus, the straightforward solution was to popularize the three tenets as before, but render them innately below the worldly leaders, and thus controllable and dictatable by these such leaders. Such ability to control these abstract concepts, especially one as explicitly personal as consciousness, was seen as unfounded. At best, the Kavamïŋ-Húðaŋïl was seen as intellectually stimulating, and at worst, it was seen as indicative of a past that was deeply primitive and illogical when compared to the current Ïlýrhonid perception of government. It was strangely this 'intellectual stimulation' that became the reasoning for including Ëknëteög as part of the Žötó-Žimiara, but Ëknëteög himself would very soon disavow it when he witnessed the reactions to this system.

Perhaps the longest-lived, and most genuinely implemented portion of the Kavamïŋ-Húðaŋïl, was the use of Memory and Consciousness when it referred to the various rituals of the Kavamïŋ-Ïlýrhonid, particularly the Aparaŋ-Ïlýrhonid. One was encouraged to think deeply about the reasons, both past and present, as to why one was doing such rituals, it worked well with the Kavamïŋ-Ïlýrhonid's mythos of the past (the legendary founding of the Ïlýrhonid Tribe through Hyvam and Vëtam) and the asserted present threat of the Zar-Isyer-Akwor. Such a rebranding of the rituals came at arguably the right time, thus revitalizing an act that had been seen as increasingly trivial by the layfolk. However, it was also a stuff towards, not against, tribal hegemony, rendering the Kavamïŋ-Ïlýrhonid deeply unpopular when bona fide movements for traditional familial culture began to emerge with Úmýdëš, and even more so when, in 25025 AYM, the Kavamïŋ-Ïlýrhonid was found to be false.

Šïhal-Húðaŋïl

The Šïhal-Húðaŋïl, or Ŋërwïlo-Húðaŋïl (embodied Húðaŋïl), was that created by the members of the Ýïr, or tribe, of Šïhal during the second phase of the Crisis of 24982 AYM. This was the overarching goal of that tribe, as they saw the chaos and violence that had permeated the Khólteð Family as directly resulting from the total break from the Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl. Thus, they wished to create a new version of the Húðaŋïl that sought to emulate the same notions that were put forth long ago, while keeping it up to date with the stresses and threats of the Crisis, and later on, the Khólteðian Wars. In this manner, they did not wish to spread their notion of the Húðaŋïl, but viewed themselves as the only true progenitors of the Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl and thus tasked with keeping it alive through defense against those that had 'fallen away'.

Although they still based the central philosophy around the tenets of Memory, Consciousness, and Pacifism, they viewed the notion of Pacifism as fundamentally flawed and limited in its scope. Faced with the perpetual violence and fractured state of the Family that the Crisis had created, they instead saw violence as a necessary short-term evil that would ideally allow the Šïhalians to reach a long-term good. It was hoped that, upon escaping the violence, one could come back to the Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl in its original form. As such, Šïhal-Húðaŋïl was a disaster-mode version of the Žašvúlak-Húðaŋïl, and was not intended to last beyond the Crisis and the Wars.

The notion of Pacifism was thus replaced with that of Patience (sometimes called Clear-Mindedness), and its central tenet was that one must refrain from violence as a means of assessing the present situation. The act of assessing was what the other two, Memory and Consciousness, were focused towards, and upon attaining a complete understanding, violence would be employed in ways that would work towards the notion of preserving the tribe of Šïhal-Ýïr.