The Sect of Athari

The dwarves believe there is one god, and that god has sent many prophets into the world to help spread his message. Each prophet had a purpose, a specific message to deliver, one that was considered most important at that time.
The Sect of Athari has discarded most of the older prophets in favor of a single one, called Athari.

Origins

The dwarves believe that in the beginning, there were only mountains, and the whole world was rocky, covered in peaks, and the dwarves were created to live in them. The other races were created later, and the gods lowered the landscape because they were too frail to survive in the rocky heights.

The first dwarves were created as a set of couples, men and women who birthed all dwarves. There were about one hundred of these couples, and during this time, they were led by five of those. These five are the sacred bloodlines, and they eventually gave rise to all dwarven leaders and monarchs.

While there were five monarch lineages, there were ten priest lineages. They were put in charge of spreading the word of the holy, and they gave rise to the eternal priest class, which holds much influence in dwarven society.

These bloodlines have long since been diluted and forgotten, and anyone who proves their faith can now become a priest. Still, there are few families that claim relation to these bloodlines, and use this to claim power.

Athari

Athari was a young woman, born in the slums of Enduril during one of Cordyan's less fortunate times. She spread a message of unity, strength, and peace. She was quickly acknowledged as the world's newest prophet, but not by all.
She preached equality and societal reform, which is why her movement was violently suppressed by the leadership of the time. Still, her followers were great in number, and she rallied the lower classes of Enduril and took over the city. She ruled the nation as its God-Queen.

Quickly, her sect grew in popularity, as she lifted Cordyan out of poverty and brought about a golden age that lasted for the duration of her long life. She sponsored philosophers and artists, and she encouraged people to contemplate morality and its endless variations.
She taught the importance of family, marriage, and the sanctity of life.

Succession

She ruled for two hundred years, and when she died, her daughter took over where she had left off, but with the end of her life came the end of religious rule.

Her daughter proclaimed that Athari had been God, that she had been female only in body, but that her spirit was that of god. She denounced all other sects as outdated and corrupted by the march of time. She reformed the faith and organized the persecution of all those who still denied her mother's god-hood.

She did so for her entire reign, and when she died, weaker heirs came after her. The golden age of Athari's leadership was now a distant memory, and it was replaced by religious extremism.

The civil wars that followed were both devastating for Cordyan but also healing, as they brought about a more peaceful solution. The royalty would rule the country and the people. And the churches would rule the mind. They would only guide people to live a better life, in accordance with the teachings of the one true god, Athari.

Branches of Faith

The Sect of Athari, also called Atharism, is but the most mainstream of dwarven faiths. They are the ones who believe Athari is god, and that god is Athari, but while this might be the most mainstream of branches, it isn't the only one.
They generally acknowledge older prophets as holy, but believe that their words have since been corrupted and can no longer be trusted. Still, many of the aspects and teachings of the older prophets have been kept, some of them because they were affirmed by Athari, and others simply because of tradition.

Khazkanism is the branch of Atharism that is practiced in the Khazkudal. It arose during the dwarven occupation of the region. They believe that Athari is god, and largely follow Atharist doctrine, but they have incorporated many dendorian beliefs into their faith, such as the veneration of spirits and natural forces, stating that they are holy phenomena, orchestrated by Athari.
They are seen as astray by mainstream Atharism.

Kharakism is a much more traditional branch. They acknowledge Athari as a prophet, but deny her godhood, placing her among all the other prophets that have ever existed. They still use Kharak as the name of God. This branch is most popular in more distant parks of the kingdom, such as the islands. These people are generally much less zealous than their continental counterparts and have much more moderate interpretations.
Atharists consider followers of this branch to be astray, having lost the way of Athari. They believe they need to be helped to find Athari's true importance and embrace her love and care. The people who follow this faith are generally annoyed by this.

Traditional Kharakism is the branch that largely ignores Athari. They reject her as a false prophet and focus on older prophets. Followers of this branch have long been persecuted as heretics, and they largely live as a dwarven diaspora in other nations, where they can practice their interpretation freely. Because they see Athari as a false prophet, they are the only one of the four branches that reject the book of Athari, only adhering to older texts.
This branch survived as a diaspora religion, as it was almost entirely stamped out in the homeland.
This branch is viewed by the two Athrist branches as heretics, but the Kharakists see them merely as astray.

Teachings

Athari preached the importance of family and said that the core of society of a husband, his wife, and their children, who are the future. She thought that to be just is to do the way you want others to. To be righteous is to look past your own flaws and see your better self, and see it in others. She preached that peace between neighbors is just as important as peace between nations, since without cooperation and mutual respect, success would be far away for all those involved.

She wrote a whole book about the importance of these values and many more.

Kharak vs Athari

Kharak is the name all of the prophets have for God. It is only in Atharist faiths where she is considered a deity, that this name is neglected in favor for Athari, in order to describe God.

Kharak was seen as a distant entity, whose presence had to be earned or requested. Athari is seen as a parent figure, always watching from over your shoulder.

Organization

Lower clerical members are called priests. They study theology at a local religious university, where they are taught the in-depth details of the faith. The way this is one exactly depends on the branch of faith.
In the two Atharist faiths, all priests and priestesses have to be married in order to be considered full priests. They then continue their journey in organized faith together.
The higher-ranked priests, who represent the clergy in the government, are called high-priests, and they are led by the Archpriest couple.
There are churches all over the country, especially in the countryside, because priests play an important role in society's daily lives there.

Neither Kharakist faith requires priests to be married, but allows both men and women to become one on equal footing. They are also much more tolerant towards those who deviate from the normal male-female gender dynamic, or at least, when compared to Atharist faiths, which isn't saying all that much.

Regions and cities have clerical councils where all priests gather to discuss things, and the state of religion, as well as newer religious ideas in relation to existing doctrine.

Prophets

The other prophets each have a holy text related to them, generally describing their lives and deeds as prophets.

Grakha

The first prophet. He was the revealer. He lived long ago, before writing, so his holy text, the book of Grakha, was written long after his death.
He taught of survival, strength, vigilance, and the importance of brotherhood in the face of hardships. His life was marked with violence and death, rejection, and persecution. Before him, the dwarves had no real religion, other than vague superstitions. He tried to show them the way and bring them under Kharak's light, but he was initially rejected.
All his pain and suffering shaped him, and how he saw the world, and greatly affected his teachings too.
Most of the stories in the book of Grakha are simple tales of overcoming hardships and surviving under extreme pressure and hatred.

Trimacam

Trimacam came many years later. He emerged during the early years of dwarven settled society. He was the one who helped them find their place in the world. There was no sophisticated writing yet, and he was only proclaimed a prophet after his death. The book of Trimacam tells tales of his leadership and teaches people how to live together, emphasizing the importance of manners, adherence to the law, and respect for one's elders.
The Trimacamian legal code, which has formed the basis for dwarven systems of law since those early years, has since been confirmed by later prophets to have been a mandate from god.

Heliam

Heliam came about three centuries after the death of Trimacam, and he lived for organizing the dwarves. He arrived during a time of internal struggle and religious debate, and he spent most of his life solving philosophical puzzles, or trying to.
He was also the first of the prophets who wrote their own book, and who were accepted as prophets during their lifetime.
The book of Heliam is filled with Philosophical analyses, and is often skimmed over by modern priests.
The more important aspects of his life were his confirmation of the prophethood of both Grakha and Trimacam.

Lamkha

This prophet arrived shortly after Heliam, and they were even alive at the same time for about twenty years. Lamkha followed in his predecessors' footsteps, but as a man of much more humble origins, he focused much more on everyday aspects of life. He proclaimed livestock to be a gift from god. He was the one who started the practice of praying before slaughtering an animal, and that of priests blessing crops.
Lamkha couldn't read or write, but his actions and deeds were recorded while he was still alive. There are multiple accounts of miracles he performed, especially surrounding the revival of dead crops, saving harvests that were thought doomed, and healing sick farm animals and people.

Kolkhan

After Lamkha, there was a long time without any new prophets, until the blood wars, during which there were three. The first of which was Kolkhan.
He preached strength and the necessity for aggression in the face of war. He was the one who most resoundingly banned all Ynue worship, which had been a subject for debate before he came along. He was also the one who revealed their origins as parasites, wishing to destroy God's creations. He was especially known for blessing warriors and defensive structures, and during his time, the dwarves were largely able to keep the vampires at bay. This is credited to his divine support.
The book of Kolkhan is short and was originally written on a wall in Enduril, a place which is now a holy temple.

Marimaxus

The second prophet of the blood wars came some time after Kolkhan, during a time of vampire power. During this time, the enemy controlled almost all of Cordyan. Under the martial leadership of Marimaxus, they were able to save Enduril from destruction and even retake much of the lowlands.
He was known for his martial leadership and the introduction of the military codes that stand to this day.
In the end, he was killed by vampires. The book of Marimaxus was written by himself, and it largely focuses of the divine way to organize one's army, the importance of flexibility, persistence, and continuous improvement.

Birmakh

The third prophet of the blood wars came towards the end. He not only helped liberate Cordyan, but he was a vital part of the reconstruction efforts, and worked together with the other races towards a common goal.
He focused on healing people and performed many miracles during his life, all of which were recorded by his clerical staff.