Siken

It is a highly demanding religion with strict rules that all followers must obey in order to be reincarnated into a higher form. These include taking part in the Duty of the Guard (Heta Os) at least once a week, being honest, loyal and trustworthy, giving charity and attending the morning and evening rites, never drinking alcohol and being always prepared to fight (ie you must have sufficient prowess in one or more forms of combat and be able to use one or more weapons) in order to defend others of your faith. They believe the highest form of life is the Silthen, an almost extinct animal that they protect with rigour, it is believed that it brings the rains and keeps members of the faith safe from harm. To reciprocate followers of Siken leave sacrifices (ie a Teket - though this is considered to be a poor gift - the more common gift is tounge of Hes), as well as defending it from all harm.

Sekin (in the language of the Ki (Dwarfs)
Silafa (in the language of the Sin (Elves)
Seinta (in the language of the Linta (Bird-Like Creatures)
Sefa (in the language of the Det (Reptillian Humanoids)
Silken (in the local langauges of most other Pos Pos ):
(Variations:
Selken
Silven
Sillken
Silkeen)

The first members of the Siken - according to their own myths - were the 2 sisters Lifa and Pefan Ven.

The world had only newly been created and not a drop of rain had yet fallen apon the Great Dunes (Dek Pan) The Great Dunes (Dek Pan) . Slowly, it seemed the world was dying, the plants that had once been abundant were ceasing to be and the animals that relied apon them were becoming scarcer and scarcer, often hunts returned without success.

In the end it was decided that the Creator Tia En was angry with them and so a sacrifice must be made. Lifa was chosen as she was young, beautiful and most importantly an orphan therefore deemed below others in the society. But on the day they came for her, her sister Pefan had already fled taking Lifa with her deep into the desert.

They wandered for many days and nights alone and dehydrated when they came across a cave. It was almost 20ft wide and around double that high and from within came the unmistakable sound of running water. The 2 of them ventured within going deep within the bowls of the earth in search of the stream. As they walked they noticed strange markings on the wall as if the tunnels they roamed in were carved out with the claws of a beast.

Finally after hours of wandering the twisting paths of the cave they came across a river. Weeping with delight the sisters knelt down - and cupping the water in their hands - were about to take a sip when a sound like the roaring of the wind over the dunes echoed around the chamber. They froze in fear not daring to turn round as they heard the sound of padding paws on the ground making their way towards them.

The beast came to halt behind them, after a long while the sisters cautiously looked behind them. What they saw left them in awe, it was indescribably beautiful. It had feathers in a myriad of colours and a mane of the purest white. It had amber eyes and talons of a deep scarlet. It was built like a Povek but moved almost like a Pos Pos , and its eyes, its amber eyes were so startlingly intelligent. It looked at them with eyes that were wise beyond our comprehension.Ali's

At once the girls realised that this creature must be an avatar of the Creator Tia En. They knelt before it in awe and begged it to save them. They explained that Lifa was to be sacrificed to bring the rain, and asked that the creature would bring the rains in exchange instead for their devotion. They promised to guard it with their lives and to bring sacrifices of lesser animals, to perform rites. At long last they ended their plea when the creature spoke to them, but not out loud, instead a voice rang through their minds. It said "I am one of many, we are the Silthen, in exchange for your devotion I will bring the rains, once a year on this day, the Day of the Binding (Opa It Es Pata) ((𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘯 (𝘖𝘱𝘢 𝘐𝘵 𝘈𝘬𝘢)).".

With this the pact was sealed and the sisters were lead out by a second Silthen, out to the desert. They wandered back to the settlement, and when the people saw the Silthen they too went down on their knees, the Silthen told them of the pact, of The Binding (Es Pata), and commanded them to go to the highest point they could and perform The Rite of the Rains (Es Kek It Es Akad).

They must take a object that holds great value (whether emotional or monetary) and cast it to the sun, they then must take a Sand Dagger (Teka) and cut across their hand. Take that blood, they were commanded, and scatter it across the sands. Finally they must pray, pray to the Silthen with all their heart. They did so and as the last was down on their knees the sky darkened and the rain fell. They wept for joy as the land was revitalised, and every year they vowed to perform the rite, and every day to defend the Silthen to protect them and to bring them sacrifices.

And so they called themselves the Siken (Followers of the Silthen), and worshipped the avatars of the Creator.

The Siken teach the value of honesty, loyalty, kindness and charity. As well as honour and duty, they believe that your first thought should always be your family and your duty to them. They also believe in being able to defend yourself, those around you and the Silthen so they put great focus on combat training, members of the Siken are known for their prowess in battle. Family is essential to the faith and the greatest sin (second only to the betrayal of the Silthen) is the betrayal of your family. Traditionally the head of the family crafts a Sand Dagger (Teka) for each of the children when they reach the age of seven that they must then use to defend the family till their deaths.

The Siken perform the rites on the towers that adorn each building, the higher they are the closer to the Lipa (Spiritual Realm) they will be. The highest tower will always be built next to the Well (Pefat) in the centre of the settlement, this is were the leader of the settlement will pray each time the moon vanishes and on the Day of the Binding (Isad Nek Pata).

They have the two daily rites the morning and the evening prayers. Every day in the morning the family will climb the tower with an offering of some sort that they will first burn and then cast the ashes to the wind. After this they will pray for 2 Minutes (2 Sefats) until the sounding of the Sun Horn (Linta Nes). Each evening those not performing the Duty of the Guard (Heta Os) will sing the Song of the Setting Sun (Geta Ot Hefa Linta) while those on guard will simply repeat the morning ritual on the highest point they can reach. As they are already performing a devout service they dont have to prove their devotion through the song.

Apart from the core values such as honesty, kindness, charity and loyalty (to the Silthen to your faith and to your family), members must also perform the moring and evening rites, perform the Duty of the Guard (Heta Os) at least once a week, and be prepared to defend the faith at any point. As well as this most loyal Sikens generally work for the Great Library (Kifa) as this is considered charitable - especially if you work as a travelling librarian. some have sacred images such as the prair towers, the rains, the cave, the sisters or in some case the Silthen themsleves tattooed on them to show their faith visably. Anyone who doesn't follow the essential ideals and basic rites and duties will either be reborn as a lower form or cast out completly and become a Denpa (Outlaw) that can be reborn as nothing more than a Teket.

At age 7 the head of each family will give a Sand Dagger (Teka) to the child. When they except it they except their first responsibility, the duty to the family. At age 10 they will go to the tallest prair tower by the Well (Pefat) and each be blessed by the leader of the settlement, they now except responsibility for their faith. And finally age 12 they are lead into the dunes and left for 3 days to fend for themselves, when they return they except responsibility to guard the Silthen. They will now perform the Duty of the Guard (Heta Os) every week for the rest of their lives.

The ritual for birth and death is the only other major ritual of the Siken. It involves the cycle of life, as they believe in rebirth the rituals are very similar. The ritual for birth is simple, the mother will be taken to the burial grounds of their people (these grounds are high above the ground on tall towers far from the settlement) holding the body of a animal (it doesn't matter which) and stay their for 4 days and 4 nights. Till a spirit is ready to enter the body of her child, to be reborn, when she returns she will then stay always inside away from the light so that the spirit doesn't flee from fright (as spirits are repelled by light). If the child is a stillborn it is believed that no spirit came to rest in its body. Any imperfections are regarded as punishments for minor sins commited by the spirit in its past life, for example blindness is believed to be punishment for a lack of charity as you turned your eyes from those in need, those same eyes will no longer be able to see anyone. As such children with disbilities either of the body or mind will be isolated from other children until they complete the final responsibility at age 12 - when they are considered to have paid off their sins.
The ritual for death is that the body must be left for 4 days and 4 nights on the lower burial towers with the body of an animal (it doesn't matter which), until the spirit flees the body, it is then moved to the higher towers to be left to rest among the other empty shells.

It is traditional for clothing to be loose and modest, for example most women wear loose fitting robes with a scarf wrapped around the head covering the hair and mouth, any tattoos of faith though are usually revealed by having either see through fabric on the area in question or no fabric at all on the area. Men generally wear loose trousers , a scarf that covers the hair and mouth and no shirt, except for on the Day of Binding (Isad Nek Pata) when a loose shirt of either gold, white, scarlet or green is worn - the most common colours of Silthen manes.