Maar Zon
Maar Zon is the organized religion of the Sylean people.
- It is a fantastically complex set of dogma, precepts, and intricate philosophies.
Description (Specifications)
According to Maar Zon, the universe was created by a supreme deity, but that being has since withdrawn from contact with its creation. It is up to Humans to discover the purpose behind the universe's creation, and further that purpose through their actions. Maar Zon does not describe that purpose, and indeed claims that Humans will never be able to discover it until they have attained a higher plane of consciousness.
Remaining gods within the universe include Mora (the best known), Forigi, Dimoph, and Lisharen.
Maar Zon has no organized hierarchy of priests. The religion's authority figures are its kel ten zon, "Masters of the Way." Only those of pure Sylean descent may become kel ten zon, but the only other obstacle is a grueling course of study.
The primary religious text is the Maar Ki Zon.
History & Background (Dossier)
Though Sylea was contacted early by the Vilani and made part of the First Imperium, a small group of Syleans remained in reservations. These scattered tribes lived in inhospitable areas of Sylea and were left alone simply because no one thought they possessed anything of value. During the Long Night, the Sylean Thar Ven -- "successors" -- began a concerted effort to reconstruct their planet's pre-Vilani culture. This effort concentrated on the late Sarnese Empire, the last great era of Sylean independence. Scholars gathered the few scraps that remained of late-Sarnese literature -- including, supposedly, the Maar Ki Zon, "Book of the Way".
There is suspicion that the Maar Ki Zon may have been a forgery. Linguistic and archaeological evidence suggest that at least parts of it were indeed derived from late-Sarnese texts, but many passages address moral and philosophical issues that wouldn't have been relevant to the Sarnese, but were very important under the conditions faced by reservation Syleans during the early Long Night.
Culture & Society (Ethnology)
The Maar Zon adherents, know as Lan Ki Zon, are responsible for maintaining the Sylean culture to this day. See: Sylean Worlds.
There is a recent movement among the Maar Zon communities on Mora (a world named for a Maar Zon goddess) that professes that the gods were mortal beings who later used the gifts of technology to transcend the material plane to a higher one, where they still looked down upon sophonts.
References & Contributors (Sources)
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- Gary L. Thomas. "Core Subsector." The Travellers' Digest 08 (1987): TBD.
- Lester Smith. Milieu 0 (Imperium Games, 1996), TBD.
- Jon F. Zeigler. "Contact: Syleans". JTAS Online published June 24, 2003. (2003)
- Loren Wiseman, Jon F. Zeigler. Humaniti (Steve Jackson Games, 2003), 127-134.
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science