It should come as no surprise that the basic tenets of Aiyanism should have provoked considerable thought and discussion, some of this leading to alternative definitions of certain aspects of the faith. Many short-lived movements have risen and fallen through the centuries. Some have been politely listened to, others persecuted for heresy. The four most important are Kroneticism, Hittarism, Sinjenicism and Parajenicism, of which the first two are considered here.
Both Kroneticism and Hittarism represent attempts to resolve a central tenet of Aiyanism, that of a conflict between the demands of body and soul. In orthodox Aiyanism the soul, by convention, is the province of Aiyas, inviolate and inviolable. The body is the province of Verina Konsortia, plagued by fleshly needs and weakness. He who lives for his soul is destined for salvation, whilst he who surrendurs to the weakness of the flesh is doomed to damnation, and his soul may be claimed by the Consort for her army. The souls of the damned are fought over in the misery of Interstacion.
Both kronetics and hittars refute the existence of Interstacion, but in different ways. Kronetics assert that the body corrupts the soul, and the polluted souls of the damned are taken directly by the Consort. Therefore the body must be subjugated by the soul to facilitate the triumph of Aiyas at the end of time. Hittars, conversely, seek for accomodation of the body by the soul, so that the body may be rendered as pure as possible.
Simply put, kronetics believe that they are destined for salvation, whatever they may do in their mortal lives. At death their souls go directly to Paranaskum, taken there by Sefurdimi alloted to this task and bypassing the Pronunskati completely. This was not the first time that predestinationism had been devised within the framework of Aiyan theology, but unlike previous occasions it has remained in general and widespread practice.
Kroneticism takes its name from Kronetis of Lafrion, who set down his thoughts in the 11th Century AC. He devised a rite, the Preskriptum, by which salvation could be assured. This was in a time of doubt and crisis for the Church - the Azambans had humbled the Empire, forcing the Kaiat to annul the right of all Aiyans to trade in Azamban slaves. This in turn allowed the Shanites to take over much of the slave trade, which Aiyans had previously monopolised. The Church was thus seen as weak and ineffectual in the face of heathen power, and the people consequently demoralised. Kronetis found many willing to follow his new doctrine. For this he was summoned before the Kaiat in AC 1077, placed on trial, found guilty and burned for heresy. Just three days later, the Kaiat spontaneously combusted whilst addressing the people of Druthuin. This was taken as a sign that Kronetis had been misjudged.
What was at that time not known was that one of Kronetis' disciples, Tobas Grull, Guurat of Umbria, was secretly working for what would later come to be called the Demonikus. It can be deduced in retrospect that some very powerful yet highly subtle Wild Magic was at play here. Grull feigned repentance from heresy and tried to step down from his position of influence while carefully chosen stooges forcibly pushed him back into place. In 1082, feigning reluctance, he became the 224th kaiat, and annulled the judgement placed on Kronetis. Since the founder of Kroneticism was safely out of the way (as intended from the start), Grull was now free to peddle his own distorted version of it. Declaring the End to be at hand, he won many converts out of fear. The Emperor resisted him, a quarrel which Grull deliberately inflamed. By the end of the year he could command a popular uprising that overthrew the Emperor and allowed him to merge the spiritual and temporal offices into the post of Ullkaiat, of which he was the first. Through Tobas Grull, the Demonikus gained command of the Umerund Empire, and much of the Aiyan Church. Though Grull died in 1114, the line of kronetic Ullkaiats continued for nearly two centuries more, finally being overthrown by Aiyan veritates backed by the armies of Lisbar in YL 80.
From that year on, kroneticism was officially banned by the new veritata Kaiat, though it did not die out completely. Most kronetics, of course, were not willing agents of the Demonikus. They had merely been hapless pawns. Under Guthwynne's Edict of Faith, which guaranteed religious freedom throughout the signatories to the Treaty of Lisbar, they were allowed to continue their practice as a church apart in Heptovania, though not in Umerund. Most of the few kronetics remaining in Umerund crossed the sea to settle in Saro (which was not then Shanite territory). They developed their own church hierarchy and their own mode of practice. As the veritata Church grew more overtly wealthy and authoritarian (a legacy of Tobas Grull and his hedonistic Ullkaiats) so the Kronetic Church swung more firmly to simplicity, austerity and a sterner level of self-discipline. (As indeed did the Hittars, though in a completely different way.)
It was not until the First Gran Kongres of YL 839-40, when the schism between sinjenic and parajenic branches of the Church first opened, that Kronetis' original writings came back under proper scrutiny. It was found that much of the foundation for the charge of heresy was lacking, and some (mainly Sinjenics) argued a case for further investigation. The Second Gran Kongres (930-32) reviewed Kronetis' special interpretation of critical sections of the Libris Zaron, and the role of Tobas Grull was exposed. One thousand and seventy one years after his death, Kronetis was finally vindicated, and the outlaw creed he had promulgated was finally welcomed back into the main body of the Church. (Though theologically sound, at least to the majority of those attending the Gran Kongres, there were also political factors in play - readmitting kroneticism strengthened the sinjenic position, and blocked any chance of the Hittars gaining respectability.)
A kronetic is any person who has undergone the rite of Preskriptum, which nearly all those born in a kronetic family do as a matter of course. The most obvious outward sign of a kronetic is the kirukuna (the Aiyan symbol, of a triangle enclosed within a circle) branded on the forehead. This forms part of the rite of Preskriptum, which is undertaken on reaching puberty. The rite also includes the recitation by heart of the Kodex Meritanos, which is essentially a list of sacred and profane actions which begins with the basic Seven Laws of Zaron but includes a further 42 prinkipes, making a total of 49 (7x7). On completion of this rite, the initiate becomes a full kronetic and is absolved of all past and future sin, and is thus assured of salvation. He or she also acquires a koniraton, or 'fellow traveller', a spirit-double that bears the burden of sin acquired by the kronetic through life. This koniraton is by nature damned, destined to end up in the legions of the Consort. There is no Hiathestrum in kronetic theology.
In order to prevent the final triumph of the Consort at the end of time, the koniraton should ideally be as light and insubstantial as possible, preferably next to non-existent. Thus will the armies of the Consort be weak against those of Aiyas when she finally lays siege to Mirrad Eternis.
To minimise the substance of their konirates, kronetics follow a life of austere simplicity. The Seven Laws of Zaron are adhered to with complete strictness, as are the other prinkipes of the Kodex Meritanos. These laws, amongst other things, prescribe the days on which meat or fowl may or may not be eaten (not on any holy day), when wine may be drunk (only between sunset and sunrise), who may or may not be spoken to, and how wealth may be accrued (in coin or in property, but not in gems, jewellery or any kind of finery). In addition to the conventional prayers at sunrise and sunset, a third obligatory set of prayers is alloted to noon, and when the moon is full then midnight prayers must be said to defy the waxing influence of the Consort.
Kronetic law is characterised by its harshness. Those who will clearly never be able to recite the Kodex (for example, the mute or feeble-minded) are killed as soon as their condition is confirmed. So too are those born with physical deformities - the true Kronetic is in perfektis, physically as well as spiritually. Criminals are judged on the substantiality of their koniraton - if this is deemed to outweigh the prescripted soul, then the criminal will be put to death. The likelihood of reoffending is carefully considered, along with mitigating factors. Where possible, penance will be offered as a means of lightening the burden of the koniraton - this might include long periods of solitary confinement spent in prayer and meditation, or a prolonged time of selfless service to the community. There are many voluntary penitents in kronetic communities, who willingly adopt a life of suffering and deprivation to atone for their crimes.
Kronetics are frequently self-contradictory in their behaviour. On the one hand, they strive to minimise the substance of their konitaron through a life of austerity and self-deprivation. On the other hand, they know that they are guaranteed salvation, no matter how far their koniraton falls from grace. For it is the koniraton, not the kronetic her/imself, that sins. Therefore it is not unusual for a kronetic to indulge himself or herself in a way that few mainstream Aiyans could countenance. Kronetic warriors, even paladins, are noted for their often wanton acts of casual cruelty, to unbelievers and other Aiyans alike. Complaints tend to fall on deaf ears, especially when they come from non-kronetics. The Great Crusade saw many Sarodin communities ruthlessly eradicated by kronetic knights, the kronetics themselves suffering in turn when the Sarodin embarked on their conquests in the wake of the Cataclysm.
In short, kronetics can be insufferably self-assured and immune to criticism, assuming the right to do and say as they please on the basis that their soul is already saved. For their own part, they regard everyone else as half-hearted and spiritually weak.
One further point should be noted, and that is a kronetic disdain of sorcery. No true kronetic will ever become a sorcerer, since this science is regarded as merely a refinement of Wild Magic, and that has uncomfortably close associations with the fickle whim of the evil Consort.
From the Trial of Goronis of Hitt, YL 439:
Goronis: Where are the Yrkhum in
the Book of Blessed Zaron? I have searched for them hard and
long, and found them not.
Kaiat: Blessed Zaron, whose
word is the Truth of Aiyas, tells us to shun the Konsortiani.
Goronis: Indeed. Yet on what
basis do we place the Yrkhum among the servants of wicked Verina
Konsortia?
Kaiat: Is not the Moon her
chariot? And is not the Moon also the chariot of the goddess of
the Yrkhum? Are you appealing to coincidence?
Goronis: Not to coincidence, O
Kaiat, but to ignorance. For the orcen Moon is no chariot of
their Goddess, but a vessel for the sacred fire that was of their
own devising.
Kaiat: Forged in mockery of
the Holy Fire of Aiyas, for such is ever the way of Konsortia
Imitatrix.
On Year's First Day, YL 440, Goronis of Hitt was burned for heresy. He had comitted the unpardonable sin of extending the Covenant of Zaron to a community of goblins. It is commonly believed that Goronis was a simple monk, a man of True Life and Will, in whom the principle of Divine Love was manifest through his sincerity and humility, all cultivated throughout a lifetime of pastoral innocence.
In truth, 'Goronis' was an outcast from a wealthy merchant family who had spent many years as a mercenary and explorer. He had fought against the Shadow Orcs when they invaded Haldring in 412, and was probably dwelling in Argund Lisbar when Imathrann the Seer arrived unannounced in 429. By 432, however, he was definitely back in Umerund, having founded a monastic retreat, and was by now calling himself Goronis. If this name were of Anachek origin, as is sometimes asserted, this would make him 'The Man who would be Fire', in which case it was ironically prescient.
As to the goblins who lived in the community he founded and administered, there are again two versions. The first has it that the simple rustic monk found a goblin child abandoned in the hills, and took him back to the monastery, raising him in the Aiyan faith until he had matured. The goblin then left to rejoin his own kind. Years later, marauding goblins descended on the monastery, and one of their number was this self-same individual that Goronis had saved. He persuaded the rest of his band to leave the monks alone, and along with some others elected to stay under Goronis' teaching.
The other, and more plausible version, has the goblins accompanying Goronis on his return to Umerund, having been converted somewhere in northern Heptovania. Certainly Goronis was not the first to notice the absence of any specific reference to the orcen kin in the Libris Zaron, and others before him had abstractly theorised that the Yrkhum might be counted among the senknossar, or even the infideli. Such thinking was not uncommon in Sudenin at this time, and Goronis on his wanderings could not have failed to encounter it in some form or another. Ungracious as it may seem, it is easy to perceive Goronis as the self-appointed figurehead of an underground movement he had chosen to appropriate as his own. It might also be noted that his surviving followers elected to call themselves the Hittars rather than, for example, the Goronisti.
With Goronis found guilty of heresy, the armies of the Emperor-Kaiat marched across the borderlands of Hitt, expecting to meet a formidable host of heretics. Instead they found only a handful. Some allowed themselves to be taken and tried, denouncing the Kaiat as they burned. Most fled, back over the sea to Castilmare and hence to Umbria. The Tainic kings of Edenin had long practiced a policy of religious tolerance, and the Hittars were allowed to settle in Elhillith and the Imman Viride, where humans were few and the native Quinandi managed their own affairs.
Over the next half century they expanded their influence into western Firrilmor, prompting a crusade against them, ordained by the Kaiat, in YL 502. Since the firrilmori were distancing themselves from an increasingly authoritarian Church, the Hittars found many supporters, and ended the year in a stronger position than that in which they started. From there they spread further eastward, into Estermor and Morantia, prompting a second Hittarin Crusade in YL 563. This series of little wars ousted the Hittars from much of Rhannagon and reached far into the Imman Viride, though not all Hittar strongholds fell to the crusading armies. Hittars found sanctuary in cosmopolitan Morantia and managed to hold sway in the Estermorian duonato of Dorolla.
Sporadic persecution over the next two centuries prevented the Hittars from extending their influence. They then suffered at the hands of the Sarodin conquest, until Ubamai assumed rule of the Sarodin Empire and gave them unprecedented freedom. They were unable to attend the First Gran Kongres of YL 839, since that was held in Druthuin over the sea, but they were enthused by the emerging parajenic ideology since it seemed to support many of their notions. The Second Gran Kongres (930-32) was held in Inguente, much closer to home, and the Hittars made their presence felt there. There they found the parajenics less friendly than they had hoped, and in the end the kronetics won out, their own heresy rescinded whilst the Hittars remained outside the Church.
Hittarism remains heretical in sinjenic territory, notably Armoria and Barandor as well as Umerund. It is tolerated to a greater or lesser degree in parajenic lands, such as Sudenin and much of Rhannagon, but not regarded as part of the Aiyan Church proper.
The Hittars regard themselves as a reformist movement within the Church (they still see themselves as part of the Church, even if the Church itself thinks otherwise). Their values are based on the (admittedly quite logical) idea that restricting salvation to a select few is a guaranteed way of giving the Consort victory in the last war at the end of time. Salvation, they argue, should be extended to as many people as possible. That is what most people understand by Hittarism.
But Hittarin thought goes even further than this, and far further than Goronis himself was prepared to contemplate. The Hittars in exile, augmented by radical thinkers from all over Heptovania, developed the theory that it was the Church, not they themselves, who had abandoned Aiyas. The 'Aiyan' Church, they argued, was really the Zaronist Church, or perhaps more properly Urzaronist since it was built on a misinterpretation of the message of the First and Last Prophet. The Church had become corrupt, self-aggrandizing, and elitist, using Salvation as a tool for enforcing its own tyranny. The faithful no longer feared Aiyas, they feared only the Church.
As noted above, Hittarism seeks to resolve the notion of conflict between body and soul. But this conflict is no simple struggle between 'good' and 'evil'. To separate body from soul is the easy path, the way of the Church, to declare war on the Consort and thus plunge the cosmos into the torment of eternal war. The true and righteous path is the gentle way, of embracing the Consort, to bring Her beneath the light of the soul, so that She might then submit of Her own free will to the Love of Aiyas and thus be redeemed. Only then can the soul find peace, and hence peace come to the mortal world.
It is on this basis that the most obvious characteristics of Hittarism are founded. All souls, even those of the Konsortiani, are redeemable. The likes of orcs and pagans are not to be persecuted, but welcomed into the faith. They should come of their own free will, not through coercion. Hittars further refute the simplistic identification of women with the vices of the Consort, and hence allow women to reach the highest offices in the Hittarin church.
Like kronetics, Hittars strive for a life of simplicity and material austerity, but in their case this is seen as a means of accomodating the body so that it might be cleansed of its corrupting needs. Hittars work towards a state of mind where the body needs nothing (ideally, though this is hardly achievable in practice). They dress and eat simply, shunning needless luxury and comfort. With this doctrine taken to extremes (and it often is), a Hittar might embark on a programme of prolonged starvation in the very rudest of dwellings, but official Hittarin doctrine rejects the conscious pursuit of suffering since this is in its way an indulgence of the flesh. This has not prevented the emergence of various sects that engage in purification through such means as flagellation and self-mutilation.
For Hittarism is diverse in its manifestation, and is better seen as an umbrella term for various radical movements, unlike Kroneticism which is fairly uniform. At its best, Hittarism promotes an atmosphere of progressive radical debate, far more fluid and intellectually charged than the ossified Church, but at worst it dissolves into infighting and recrimination. Several cults may be present in any one area, often alongside more orthodox Aiyans, and each may exert some influence on the others.
The inherent sanctity of all life is pronounced to some degree in all the various strains of Hittarism, though more so in some than in others. Some sects abstain from eating all animal products, some will allow for eating fish, whilst others will consider only those vegetable products - such as nuts and berries - that do not entail killing the plant. This does not prevent the secular authorities in Hittar territory pursuing a more conventional form of recriminatory justice, where capital punishment is as common as it is elsewhere and local warfare remains endemic. As reformation by example, Hittarism can only be judged a failure.
The blatant military persecution of the Hittars presented something of a moral quandary: should they or should they not resist the Church crusaders with force of arms. Some elected not to do so, and were mostly wiped out, though they have sprung back where persecution has ceased. Others took up the sword, and have since created what are effectively Hittarin mini-states within more orthodox territory. The Republica de Dorolla is the largest and strongest of these, and well able to defend itself should the need arise.
The Hittarin church is more loosely organised than the orthodox Church or that of the Kronetics. The primacy of the Kaiat is not acknowledged, and there is no elaborate hierarchy of guurati, alsakerdates, sakerdates etc. Each strand of Hittarism has its Primaron (or Primarina), often the founder of a new sect that dies with him or her. Primares have limited influence, geographically, and no one individual or body has overall control. Services are likewise informal, and very diverse in nature, often conducted communally under the guidance of a lay priest or Pareson. Pareses are often self-appointed religious, taking their position by common consent, without the formal ordination undergone by orthodox sakerdates.