Historical Overview
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A Depiction of Lord Oqan
Oqanteɬ(oh-QAHN-tehɬ (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Voiceless_alveolar_lateral_fricative.ogg)) is a religious philosophy and way of life that is profoundly held sacrosanct in Ahkabnil. In it’s early fruition the religion was considered a peasant belief system, one that the lower classes were susceptible to, as it was shamanistic and superstitiously ritual. It would develop as a central guide to most people’s livelihoods, for community and comfort. It was during the collapse of the Quywe Empire, that Oqantel rose to represent the people’s will and beliefs against the perceived cold and calculating imperial class that ruled over them. Shaman’s and other local spiritual guides became paramount figures, rising to become priest, prophets, monks and protectors. Formulating a central Temple that would unite Ahkabnil under a Theocratic Confederation in a time of chaos. The Temple of Oqan would rebuild the country with a strict foundation, based upon guiding Oqanist principles that would overhaul society.
The beginning of Oqantel can be traced back to the 8th century, when before the rise of the Quywe Empire, Lord Oqan of the ancient City-State Kwaltenche ascended in prominence as a just leader, philosopher, warrior and poet, gathering a large following of common people and wise men who would form an order based on his teachings. Lord Oqan was also a religious skeptic for his time in regards to human sacrifice and other extreme rituals. His teachings were one of many during the time, deriving from commonly held spiritual beliefs, but Lord Oqan’s grand teaching’s resonated across the land more profoundly through his actions as a conqueror, as well as his repugnance for harsh rituals like mass sacrificing. However, he still believed in it to some degree, only employing ritual sacrifice for worthy war captives and nobles.
Oqan would go on to form a monk order that would rule over his domain, it would eventually die off with him when he sacrifice himself during a full-moon under the command of Yaotenmel, after being overrun by enemies. It is believed that when Oqan committed suicide, as commanded by Yaotenmel and pressed into doing so by the incurred circumstances, that his spirit became the new Yaotenmel. In fact Oqan isn’t the real name of the historical Lord in which the legend is based on, it is Ugwekekochnuyi, however he is commonly referred as Oqan in the context of religious text, because it means A Good Death, referencing Ugwekekochnuyi’s finale sacrifice. The -teɬ as the end of Oqan is an ancient augmented word meaning ‘of people’ or ‘for people’ depending on the context. Therefore, Oqantel roughly means A Good Death for the People.
Oqantel was a prominent religion in Ahkabnil, full of epic stories and legends, with an emphasis on spiritual superstition. Lord Oqan had taught about spiritual balance, which the most pragmatic Priest and Lords took as superstition. His philosophy would greatly influence the Quywe Empire, however ‘Oqan’ was, up until the 19th century, considered a mere religious faction in the grand scheme of the Empire. It was mostly accessible to the lower classes, as the Order of Oqantell had worked at a grassroots level among them, as monks and caregivers. The 19th century is remarked as the ‘Great Awakening’ and historically, when the divide between the people and imperial nobles of the Quywe Empire became apparent through religious dissent. Nobles were also seen as too ‘Ardianized’ as a negative view of the Ardian Empire and it’s influences grew. Oqantel soon came to represent a collective will of the common man and sovereignty, the events leading up the Great War formalized the Temple of Oqan in the midst of the Empire’s decline.
The Temple of Oqan became the foundation of Ahkabnil and would spread formal conventions of the religion. Today, Oqantel has millions of followers, with the Temple held in high regard as a moral bastion to the Theocratic Confederation.