Bagaar

Bagaar is the native faith of Beygir, and other Salkhi peoples. As such it is a major religion in Beygir, and has a minority presence in Kameria. It has no concept of divine or universal morality, and focuses on the concept mortality. There is an afterlife in the heavens. It is believed that one’s dying breath rises to the sky, and they collect to form the clouds.

One core analogy drawn is that of air. It is believed that air is alive when it blows as wind, or when it is drawn into the lungs as breath. Air does not die, it merely changes in nature. They believe that to die is to become like the wind, and to live is to become like breath.

A key practice is divination by reading the clouds, believed to be messages from their ancestors.

There is but one deity, Baguul. Baguul is the ultimate consciousness of life as a whole. He is the guiding force behind nature, the reason why trees grow upwards and their roots downwards. He is the collective mind of the panicked herd, and the inner voice of a nation. While everything has its own mind to make its own choices, everything too is guided by Baguul. The voice of panic, of fight-or-flight, is Baguul. The fear of fire, of losing one’s child, all of man’s primal instincts is the voice of Baguul.

Bagaar has no doctrine. It is merely an understanding of the way the world works. Morality is the domain of the human mind, not of divinity. As a result, the Suka faith often guides the morals of even the most devout Bagaar practitioners. One can follow the Suka’s teachings on ethics while subscribing the Bagaar cosmology.

Life and death are merely two states of being.Wind can become breath and breath can become wind. When one dies, they may join their ancestors in the sky, or they may become new life once more. Heaven is not a paradise, and life is not a punishment. They are natural states of existence.

Responsibility for the punishment of immoral acts lies with man, not with the afterlife. Baguul does not punish wickedness directly. Mostly his followers punish on his behalf, but should the offender die before punishment takes place venerated men can pray to Baguul to punish their soul.

There is no written account of Bagaar, as it is passed orally between holy men. The monks of the Suka faith (or Sukaar in the Kulo languages) have taken to writing down the teachings.