"While yokel farmers, gossip-minded midwives and long-winded scholars (forgive my redundancies) might draw some perverse delight in having you labor under the illusion that the "Sartor" in Sartor's Truth (that painfully terse sobriquet for Sartora Alitheia) refers to... nay... is an homage to that primal teng'mariza of the same moniker. Ahem. Well, I would ask my worthy opponent, the pedantic historian, to draw a notion from that most worthy friend to twisted tongues and tortured minds: the knowledgable linguist. Whereupon, he would discover... Sartor was named for a humble spinner of webs. And so was our calendar."
— Praxites the Urbane
"I believe simply that the tenga are but reflections of aitheras [heavenly] substances, whose admixture in a cloudless night sky produces a remarkable display. A conflict whose changes are observably cyclical. These changes affect us humans as surely as morning dew weighs upon the grass. I believe that Majai revolves about the Blood Moon, even as the Pale Sun circles us. All this woven together, and you refuse to let me ask, 'Who is the Weaver?'"
— Amiantassa, at her trial for Ajinabi worship
A timeline of Majai, measured in years S.A.
Kataigida: the current epoch. [Each epoch measures 700 years long. — E.D.]
303: Now
254: The Shifters take Essenor from the Aal Khaan Daani
Edafos: the previous epoch.
694: The city of Foust is founded
685: The Say is fully formed
680: Sartor begins his great work
440: The Living God Xaronthimus appears
420: The Living God Keba appears
Kafteros: an epoch long ago.
~100: Essenor is built by an unknown people
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 Tano Njia
Living Gods Dol Madanya
Tano Njia
One must not assume that since the majority of humans on Majai
worship no gods, they are not religious. A folk religion called Tano Njia, meaning "Five Paths," predates
the coming of the cities and the gods.
Life is a path with five branchings, five different ways to traverse, though each has the same enigmatic goal. The five paths
correspond to the five tenga and seasons.
Very much a rural religion, the beliefs are passed down verbally and the
most important facets are:
- Respect all spirits, but do not worship them.
The pale sun is the most powerful spirit, sheerly because of the light it brings every day. The blood moon exists only to provide beauty, thus the saying, "for the moon," which means something akin to: "what other purpose does perfection need?" As to the baser spirits, respect does not mean foolishness, followers of Tano Njia realize how tricky and dangerous tenga can be. By "spirit" is meant not merely tenga, but all living things.
The self-styled "gods" are regarded as (powerful) abominations, called Ajinabi. Priests and worshippers of the Ajinabi are viewed with disgust.
- Marriage and birth are the holiest occasions.
As a result, family ties are strong, both by blood and by the joining of families through marriage. Duty to family overshadows transient emotions of the individual, or: "The flower cannot bloom for a day unless the root drinks deeply for a year."
- A yearly celebration is called for.
This brings together the entire local community each harvest. It allows the people to rejoice in their blessed abundance and to remember the spirits, both great and small. So that they will remember us.
- Disorder and uncleanliness are the mark of chaos and death.
Disease is a sure sign of chaos, and a dead body is the dirtiest of all. Bereft of spirit, it is contaminated dirt. Those who bury the dead are social pariahs. Ancestors' spirits are best remembered each day in the home, not as some anonymous, decaying corpse planted in the field.
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The Living Gods
The largest cities have patron gods who, in return for proper worship, adoration and
occasional sacrifice, help further the causes of the city (generally) and the priests
(when they deserve it). These Living Gods do not dwell on another plane of existence; they, instead, are physical manifested, usually inhabiting their own High Temple.
In god cities, the priesthood provides temporal as well as spiritual leadership. Priests
may call for miracles from their god and often get what they ask for; still, miracles are
not an everyday phenomenon.
Most gods on not on very friendly terms with each other.
The God of the Mountain
This god has a different name in every language, but each epithet translates to the moniker above.
A god of wisdom and knowledge, he bides with his priests high in his mountain lair, extracting toll from the towns below while allowing them to trade with whomever they would. The Mountain God's library is rumored to be exhaustive, and his vault is said to hold many mystic treasures from the times before the gods. Many thieves have assayed his fortress and failed. While the Mountain Lord is neutral in many matters, he knows how to take 200 days to kill a would-be thief.
Xaronthimus
 Claiming disinterest in the struggles between
cities, the God of the Dead dwells hidden on the Bleak Isle, sending his priests out to
bring those souls to the afterlife that the city gods do not desire. Most god cities
tolerate these priests and even recognize their status. There are some notable exceptions,
such as Kharn.
Legend says this dates back to an ancient Pact in which Xaronthimus gave each of the gods
a key to the afterworld in exchange for their stray worshippers' souls.
Kharn
Jadar
Griskaz
Pelshi
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Dol Madanya
Overview
A part philosophical, part spiritual belief in an elevated collective unconscious binding
all living things. The belief that fate is a product of this unconscious, known as the Dol
Madanya, or "oversoul."
This theosophy is most commonly held by the Amari, but it is not unknown
among others.
Fundamental tenets follow.
Quick resignation
The Amari take bad news very well; not out of a belief that Dol Madanya ultimately works
in their best interest and they should accept it, but because they feel that there is
absolutely no point whatsoever in trying to fight it. "The way is the way," is a
common saying when events work out unfavorably.
Small footprint lifestyle
Planning too far ahead, making too big a dent in the world, living beyond one's means,
basically any action taken by an individual that has a significantly greater impact on the
world than those taken by other individuals in the community is considered to be
challenging the will of the Dol Madanya and irresponsible behavior. The people believe
that the oversoul maintains a balance, and that any excesses will be paid for in due time.
Magic
Some Amari are better able to perceive the machinations of Dol Madanya than others and are
more often called on to act as direct agents of it's will in maintaining the balance.
Sometimes such actions take the form of phenomena beyond the usual realm of human
capability. These phenomena tend to take the form of subtle magics; illusion,
transformation, manipulation of perceptions, rather than gross direct manipulation of
elemental forces. While this happens to some Amari more often than others (usually those
that are considered to be in the greatest state of balance), it is not a thing for which
an individual is given credit. There are no Amari shamans, there are just certain
individuals through whom Dol Madanya seems to perform inexplicable feats more often.
Moral flexibility
The Amari believe that it is the will of Dol Madanya that a balance should be maintained
in all things. They're perfectly happy to do the will of Dol Madanya by fleecing the
wealth of the cities when given the opportunity. They're just as likely, however, to use
all the resources at their disposal to help a struggling community. This inconsistent
behavior has earned them the reputation of being mercurial and untrustworthy
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