Pha Rann, creation, heaven, stars
Pha Rann was the first eldar intelligence to create. Though many copied, none attained his mastery in design, purpose, and glory. He created the stars and the planets and eventually, the Gate of Chaos so that his creations might have ability in and of themselves to change and grow.
When Time began to move, Pha Rann understood it and directed it through the Tehran Nexus and set in place oblivion that all created but aged matter might find renewal through the Gate of Chaos; it's not reincarnation as much as recycling.
Pha Rann is depicted as the sun, the stars, the moon, light, gold, and anything good though Pha Rann considers himself/herself/itself as Creation. Pha Rann is the Gate of Creation endowed with intelligence and is therefore not actually anthropomorphic.
Taysor is the largest group of Pha Rannic faithful. Worship is aspect based with any priest able to raise up churches and temples and demonstrate Pha Rannic power provided they adhere to the basic tenets of Pha Rann's guiding principles in Creation, which were: Marvelous design, self-reproducing, sentience, capacity to evolve, and careful stewardship towards beautiful. In practice, the worship of Pha Rann has evolved around interpretations in Merakoran scripture about Pha Rann and those things shared about Heaven in other scriptures by Ascended Gods.
When Time began to move, Pha Rann understood it and directed it through the Tehran Nexus and set in place oblivion that all created but aged matter might find renewal through the Gate of Chaos; it's not reincarnation as much as recycling.
Pha Rann is depicted as the sun, the stars, the moon, light, gold, and anything good though Pha Rann considers himself/herself/itself as Creation. Pha Rann is the Gate of Creation endowed with intelligence and is therefore not actually anthropomorphic.
Taysor is the largest group of Pha Rannic faithful. Worship is aspect based with any priest able to raise up churches and temples and demonstrate Pha Rannic power provided they adhere to the basic tenets of Pha Rann's guiding principles in Creation, which were: Marvelous design, self-reproducing, sentience, capacity to evolve, and careful stewardship towards beautiful. In practice, the worship of Pha Rann has evolved around interpretations in Merakoran scripture about Pha Rann and those things shared about Heaven in other scriptures by Ascended Gods.
- Literalists - This group believes in the literal interpretation of Pha Rannic scriptures. There is no symbolism. When an avatar comes and says, "Pha Rann is light," Literalists nod their heads and understand that Pha Rann is literally light. This is one of the most common churches among normal people who feel that the doctrines are more simple and easier to follow when one doesn't get overly hung up on metaphor.
- Creationists - This group believes that Pha Rann is the Creator and that the universe still drives based on the principles established by Pha Rann. They revere his benign love in the eldar days when Pha Rann might have become more like Set. They view this choice by Pha Rann "to be good" as their driver for their own behavior and how they should live their lives. That being said, Creationists also believe that Pha Rann is increasingly delegating the Gate of Creation to other members of the pantheon of Heaven. As such, Creationists tend to view other deities as avatars of Pha Rann.
- Absolutists - This group believes that Chaos and Warp are corruptions of the pure and absolute intent of the Gate of Creation and Pha Rann's purpose in creating a utopia of absolute Good. They view it as their job to remove these stains from creatures and societies as they encounter them. Where most people see a spectrum of good and evil, Absolutists see only Good and actively resist evil. Their worship requires resisting. Only when focussed on some greater objective do Absolutists find themselves able to prioritize and let certain things slide. While many Pha Rannic worshippers respect the differentiation and admire their Absolutist view of utopia - they want it too - the orthodox requirements of this faith are beyond normal citizens.
- Perfectionists - This group believes that Pha Rann established a creation process that was supposed to evolve into perfection and allow all Tehrans to Ascend. However, Warp specifically damaged this plan and made it much harder to do so by how Warp damaged the Gate of Chaos. Perfectionists interpret Pha Rann's teachings to mean that society should mirror the pantheon of Heaven, with all sharing equally. They seek towards perfection (compliance with doctrine) in all their endeavors. While they number well amongst the people, this Order has a high number of Ascendants, which to them proves their point. This group also maintains records of heroes in all the orders and is continually assessing them for Perfection.
- Pragmatists - This group believes that Pha Rann is one of many gods. While the most benign to mortal races, they understand that, like the other gods, there are boundaries and limits and it is the job of people to rise up and fill those gaps, by any means provided by the gods. Drawing from the other churches, this Order tends to focus on individual accountability and self-sacrifice for the greater good, where conscience and intelligent decision making go hand in hand with accountability. Repentance and a reverent demeanor with a balanced focus on outcomes and the path to the outcome mark a Pragmatist. Most Pha Rannic worshippers identify with this sect though few rise up to the level of understanding to actually participate in it. If Absolutists shun evil, Perfectionists shun failure, and Literalists shun metaphor, the Pragmatists shun ignorance... they believe that you cannot truly worship the way Pha Rann intends without understanding, coming to terms with, and bringing one's life into alignment with the teachings learned. While this is highly individual, every Pragmatist can tell you the date of their calling or epiphany.
- Symbolists - This group believes, as a counter to the Literalists, that everything in the scriptures and heaven is a symbol meant to generate meditation and self-reflection. Something as simple as Pha Rann's name is not really real. Somewhere out there, is the real Pha Rann and his/her/its name is not Pha Rann. They refer to this as the sacred name believing that, like Set, Pha Rann is asleep in Heaven and can only be awakened by calling to his real name. They believe that the scriptures, all of Heaven's scripture, is a map pointing towards the Sacred Name. Since they do not know what the sacred name is, they conduct all their business in the "Sacred Name."
- Lightist - A small but powerful group, Lightists believe that by studying the rules of creation, mortal races can fulfill Pha Rann's original intent for them - to ascend. Lightists study natural phenomena (like scientists do today) and, in tandem with alchemy/chemistry, seek to learn how and where and why Pha Rann created things to work the way they do. They believe that evil, toxins, even magic are unnatural and need to be healed by pulling the Gate of Chaos and Creation back together. Since Warp holds them apart, Lightists study Warp - for science - and freely wield Warp's tools against Warp. Lightists can be very dangerous as they have no compunction against using warp and chaos against itself.
- Optimists - This order believes that Pha Rann has preordained a time to return to Tehra and rule it personally. When this happens, Tehra will become Heaven and re-merge with Creation and Chaos into a perfect world.
- Fatalists - This order believes that Pha Rann took to Heaven all that were perfect and what is left is destined for Oblivion. The only chance anyone has, as proven by the few gods who ascended from Tehra, is to live a life of dedication and be as good as is possible in hopes that Pha Rann will grant you an afterlife.
- Materialists - This group believes that, since Pha Rann set in motion the creation of everything, that even Chaos and Warp are part of Pha Rann. Good, bad, these are relative. Pha Rann created everything to serve a purpose, or to be purposefully used. As such, revelry, sin, right, wrong... these do not matter so much as what feels right in the moment. While popular within certain groups, this order struggles to have a priesthood.