Cult of the Moon

The Cult of the Moon is a closed set of practises practised by some of the Eastern Spirit Valley Tribes. It was first discovered by the Fire Nation expeditionary forces under the Baron of Even Newer Mexico, and its beliefs are not well understood. During the exile from their homeland, the Kaerii, Carnii, Othii, and Senerii tribes were forced eastwards over swamps. Travel by daylight was impossible due to the risk of spirit attack, so they learned to navigate via canoes under the light of the moon. It is likely that the Carnii were the origin of the faith due to their respected role as religious leaders.

Beliefs

While the religion is closed to outsiders, major themes are known. These are reverence towards the moon, suspicion of daylight, and a generally hostile attitude to the sun and fire for being "pretenders". Practitioners are extremely hostile towards spirits, but this attitude appears to last for those who convert out of the religion. In communication with Fire Nation forces during the War of the Flowers, it appeared that firebenders and sun-worshippers were identified as effectively identical to the spirits that had tormented the tribes. Whether this is a literal identification with the force of evil that spirits are interpreted as constituting, or simply an insult, is unclear.

Practices

As the religion is under harsh repression by the Church of Fire, its practises are rare and not well understood.

One known practise is the Full Moon service. When the full moon comes, the power is seen to be at its strongest, so members of the cult will try to reach a place where they can be bathed in its light. While this is the most well-known ritual due to its relative openness, repression has still forced it underground. What we are aware of is that a prayer (stated in the native language of whoever is reading it) is said, of which some lines are:

Mother of light, feed us Push away those fiends of flame We are but flecks on the glory And the power of your being.

Scriptures

All written records of the faith are composed by Flametouched writers or from their perspective, as the conditions of the exile were not conducive for the written word, nor are the polities of the tribes conducive to a hierarchical written religion. There has been some interest in the Galethii Free State by Pan-Tribalist academics to have these texts written down, but no known members of the Cult have entered the State as of yet.

History

The Cult was first encountered by Even Newer Mexican forces in northern Othii territory. Attempting to negotiate the surrender of a small village, the Baron was informed that no surrender would come to those who worship fire. The village was promptly stormed, causing the Carnii tribe to enter the war against what they saw as evil spirits.

Following this incident, conversion to the Church of Fire became a mandatory component for Fire Nation strategy to subdue the tribes. The Senerii leader, Arkala, famously refused this offer and saw his entire tribe destroyed as a result. Following this result, the Kaerii and Othii agreed to vassalage and their leaders converted. Shortly after, the Carnii surrendered too, also agreeing to conversion. It is unclear how successful proselytization against the cult has been with the tribal populations that survived the war, but it is clear that the Cult of the Moon has seen no converts among the Fire Nation settlers entering the region. What is also clear is that the Church of Fire has successfully implemented harsh repressive policies against the cult. In April 2022, multiple shrines were identified in Skimmerhamn in private residences, leading to a crackdown.

See also

• Spirit Valley Tribes
• Carnii
• War of the Flowers
• List of religions