Asura



ASURA ''“Men say our cult is a survival of the ancient Stygian serpent worship. That is a lie. Our ancestors came from Vendhya, beyond the Sea of Vilayet and the blue Himelian mountains. We are sons of the East, not the South, and we have knowledge of all the wizards of the East, who are greater than the wizards of the West.”— Robert E. Howard, Hour of the Dragon'' 

Pantheon

 * Only with the Vendhyan Pantheon

Regions of Worship

 * Vendhya
 * Iranistan
 * Aquilonia and all the Hyborian kingdoms (as hidden cult)

Divine Relationships

 * Mitra (Enemy)
 * Set (Enemy)

Representation
According to his priests, Asura has no true form, but is a part of all cosmos. When the god wishes to send messages to his followers, he does so by the reincarnation-birth of an exceptional mortal.

Symbolism

 * Time-wheel
 * Lotus

Spheres of Power

 * Illusion
 * Knowledge
 * Reincarnation
 * Serpents
 * Sky
 * Water
 * Healing

Most Vendhyans worship Asura who is their chief god, much as Mitra is the primary god of the Hyborians. But, unlike Mitra, Asura leads an entire pantheon of mysterious gods including Agni, Katar, Yama, Soma, Yizil, Hanuman (see: Vendhyan Pantheon) Many northern Iranistani have adopted the Asuran religion, though their culture flavoured their worship, adding even more fatalism in it. Outside Vendhya the religion of Asura is largely an underground, secretive one, since many Hyborians regard Asura as no more than a demon. Despite the oppressiveness of the Mitran religion, Asura still has a small following in Aquilonia.

Asura teaches that life is illusory and the only final truth comes after death, in the light of the soul. The cult devotes itself to «penetrating the veil of illusion of life». Asura’s doctrines reveal that all beings reincarnate, and that the purpose of life is the paying of the karmic debt against the soul. Each evil act extends the cycle of reincarnation; each good act shortens it. Those who suffer earned their trials in previous lives; they are not to be pitied.

Rituals & Beliefs
Worship consists primarily of sacrifices and chanting. Enormously complex rituals are derived from four great books, the compilations of centuries of religious thought and practices. Rituals of meditation and purification include ritual baths in the holy rivers of Vendhya. The dead are burned to dust on great funeral pyres, their ashes blessed and spread on the winds. Anyone not properly cremated may rise as undead. Human sacrifices and trafficking with demons are prohibited. Slavery is accepted and practiced. Believers pay a regular tithe to the local priests of Asura.

The priests teach that if the mysterious rituals are performed incorrectly, the cosmic order will be disturbed and catastrophe will follow, for Asura keeps a keen eye on how smoothly the world runs. Of course, the priest are the only ones able to perform those rituals properly. Water and pigment play a large role in Vendhyan rituals. Sound is also important, since creation time came about when Asura beat upon a drum.

In Hyborian kingdoms worshipers meet in hidden safe-houses. In Aquilonia the dead are usually carried out on pilgrim boats and buried in the sea.

Implementation IC & In-Game
No altars can be used due to highly secretive nature of the cult. Worhsippers of Asura can pose as followers of any religion during the IC conversations but can’t craft religious items on vanilla altars (they can receive those form other characters though). Any decorative water source (fountain) can be used as place of prayer and meditation, except for Mitra one.

More Information

 * hyboria.xoth.net
 * Faith and Fervour (Conan RPG book)
 * Hyboria’s Finest - Nobles, Scholars,Soldiers (Conan RPG book)
 * Aquilonia, Flower of the West (Conan RPG book)