Zurvanism

Zurvanism is a religious faith of Babkhan origins which was first brought to Benacia by the servitors of Ardashir Khan when he became Baron of the Shirerithian land of Elwynn, and which on the continent of Eura survives in Raspur, Vey and amongst the discreet communities of Babkhi survivors living in the eastern coastal cities.

Theology

The faith is Deist in that it holds that Zurvan is not only the creator of time and space but that he is time and space. As such Zurvan is believed to be remote from his creation though that creator bends to his will though it knows it not as his will permeates all aspects of creation.

While Zurvan's Will is the glue that holds the universe together it does not act directly upon it. For the Will of Zurvan to be acted out on the mortal plane requires the intervention of secondary avatars which are emanations of the divine will that have taken form - the deities Ahura Mazda and Ahriman are manifestations of Zurvan's Will to good or evil respectively. Accordingly the unending war between light and dark, truth and the lie, does maintain the universe in a state of equilibrium that is ultimately what Babkhan philosophers believe to be the natural order and the ultimate manifestation of Zurvan's Will; that the filament remains in constant turmoil and motion yet each part is related to the other and united in a synchronicity that is conducive to calm and balance.

It is uncertain where Namvarism, the worship of the deified Vizier Abbas Namvari, fits within Zurvanism. Whether he is the manifestation of Zurvan's Will, the Mahdi, or else an incarnation of the world spirit that belongs entirely outside of Zurvanism, has traditionally been a subject of speculation amongst Babkhans. In spite of this, the cry of "We are All Namvari" was once one that enjoyed a long and close association with the adherents of Zurvan.

Abbas ayivam asayat, Abbas saruvam asayat, Asayam, Asayit, Abbas Namvarî asayim.

Abbas is one, Abbas is everything, I am, You are, We are Abbas Namvari.

The Babkhan Orthodox Church fragmented after the nuclear holocaust on Eura proved an insurmountable test of the unity of the congregation of the faithful outside of Babkhan borders. The Namvari path is a syncretic system that preaches that Babkha's downfall was a punishment for betraying the Behdin (best religion) and the liberal values of the Kapavs. In contrast the Gozar Path maintains that it was a failure to preserve proper orthodoxy in thought and ritual which led to the corruption of the aristocracy and the destruction of the Kingdom as a temporal power. The Simrani Path, heavily influenced by Hyperborean religion believes that the downfall of the Kingdom was merely another stage in the ongoing struggle between the co-eternal and uncreated Light of Truth and the Darkness of the Lie which is the equal and opposite of the former.

In the early 1670's the True Path Movement arose in Alduria and Constancia, stimulated by contact with and opposition to the imported Melusine and Bassarid faiths, terming all the preceding paths of Zurvanism to be divergent sects and obstacles to the rediscovery of submission to the Oneness of the Divine Will.

Temples

Zurvanite fire temples contain a hidden alcove wherein the Mobads light incense and venerate icons depicting the Sayoshant (Messiah) in various dramatic poses slaying the depicted manifestations and avatars of rival deities. Zurvanite theology holds that all divine entities are but manifestations of Zurvan, yet the failure to recognise this is a form of rejection of Zurvan's boundless love and grace. The act of killing the deity of a rival religion, and by inference their followers, is therefore an act of love, as it releases souls from the captivity of delusions bound up in the mortal realm, freeing them to return to Zurvan whence their essence first emanated, restoring them to perfect union with the cosmos and by extension the peace of lasting oblivion.