Anstolh Matra (Old Lore)

Introduction
The Anstolh Matra, also known as the Mothercult, the Calath Asgur or the Tribum of the Depts is the main religion of the Deepwalkers and the capital faith of Kaith. The majority of all Deepwalker community embrace the teachings of this Cult.

History
Originated from the Anstolh Pratass, the Ancestorcult of the Pratonians, the Anstolh Matra grew after the Grand Incursion. The Mothercult existed since the first days of the Era of light but never really attracted alot of Pratonian attention. Their servants, the Asguri, favoured the Anstolh Matra most of the times since ascension in the rank of a Asar Cor was impossible for them anyways. Their masters often prohibited the open worship of Matra and her harmonic teachings since it defied their path of will and strength.

After their masters fall, the Cult grew quickly as the first priests and preachers tried to embrace it in order to gain controll over the chaotic Asguri soceity. After a while, it became the main faith of all Asguri of Kaith, founding the Anstothri, the House of faith. In all days to come, the Anstothri was the leading force of Asguri soceity. Their politicall power was usually small and lay in the hands of the local syndicats and (…), however they always represented a higher instance for each and every Asguri. Sooner or later they would need to consult it in order to gain a place in afterlife and secure their heritage.

The Anstolh Matra and ist Deathsingers always controlled the Born in Pratonian fashion and divided it equally under the weaker men in order to avoid degeneration. However, it also avoided the creation of Godkings, making the Asguri the only tribe that never knew their tyranny in the Bloodclad Ages.

When Aton and his Dawnbringers arrived in Kaith, they rather spoke with the Anstothri in order to take controll of a city or fortress. Kaith was the first world the Thrid Conquest took and the one that required the least amount of blood to spill. The leaders of the Anstolh Matra where persuaded to embrace the teachings of the Dawnbringers as long as they where allowed to keep their traditions and ancestorial worship. No outlander would be allowed to change or controll the (…) rites or their beliefs of afterlife.

Central believes
The Anstolh Matra is divided into three important teachings:

Suthla Matra
The Suthla Matra or Voice of the Mother embraces the ancient teachings of the cult from the Era of light. That each and every Asguri is not judged by his or her actions, but by the power their community holds. That the individual is meaningless before the crowd, that a soceity can only function in unity and harmony. For that reason, each Asguri should only act to strengthen the community, never himself on the expense of others.

The Suthla Matra gives special meanings to mothers and women in general as they are seen as the gateways of life and must be treated with special respect.

This is responisble for the dualistic view that women represent life while men represent death. The Anstolh Matra in ist early days served the purpose to create a harmonic soceity of servants that would rather act to please their masters and family then fufill their own egoisitc wishes. It was the counterpart to the Antolh Pratass, that teached strength, willpower and personal glory and was usually reserved for the pratonian nobility.

Derived from these pratonic teachings, the Sutlha Matra sees women as the base of soceity and protects them over all others, for they are the spirit of community.

Suthla Pratra
The Suthla Pratra or Voice of the Father can be seen as the remains of the Anstolh Pratass. It represents personal power and strength of will. Unlike the cult before, the Suthla Pratra neither cares for the light nor the power of humanity. It does not teach the Asguri to seek personal glory to become legends, but to honor the voices of the crowd, the Hatho Hement. These Hatho Hement are those who become outstanding members of a soceity, heros, leaders and champions born from the collective power of the people.

The Suthla Pratra teaches ist followers to either honor those who become Hatho Hements or remind those who already are of their origin and responsibility. One can never achieve the status of a legend by him- or herself nor is unrestrained ambition the key to such a position. One must walk the path of the many, must empower soceity so soceity can empower them.

Suthla Necrach
The Suthla Necrach or Voice of Deathrepresents the afterlife, like the other teachings represented life. Its main component are the myths and legends that surround the realm of the dead and the stories of ancestors. The Suthla Necrach teaches the Asguri what happens after their end and what is necessairy to honor the dead. This teaching is the most important component of the Anstolh Matra and the one that is most relevant for the Asguri soceity. It contains the memories of the people as well as the common spirit that is older then dead and will be there when all life has perished.

The Suthla Necrach represents the ancestorial worship. It says, like the Anstolh Pratass before, that each and every human can become a permanent spirit rather then decaying flesh. Every soul becomes a beacon of light in the void that guides and protects its ancestors. According to the Suthla Necrach, every human is bound to their flesh. When preparated corrtely however, their soul is able to leave ist body and wander Kaith unhindered. They either return to their former houses where they gaurd their families or enter the (…). A Hatho Hement will always do the second, taking their place in the court of the dead.

Threw carrying a part of a corpse however, a Asguri can gain the protection of a lost soul as it is still bound to their flesh and bones. No matter how many aeons pass, the dead never truly perish and their influence over Kaith never truly fades.

Rites
There are a lot of important rites that focus on the invocation of the dead and ancestral powers. It is beliefed that the corpse represents the strength of a soul. After ist dead it is usually strong and wanders the earth unhindered. The more its body decays, the more it suffers while its sanity and selfawarness fade. A unburried corpse that rots freely is usually seen as a great shame as the soul is still bound to ist flesh while maggots torture it until it goes mad and fades away fully.

The three stages of death 

Whenever some that is older then 16 dies, their corpse is brought to the local temple. After the so called last (…), the corpse is taken to the crypts where the Deathsingers extract the bornenergy and prepare it for afterlife.

The Last (…) 

The fresh corpse is taken to a bath that is usually a natural hot spring. In the vulcanic waters, the corpse is washed and completely cleaned under the eyes of ist family and children. After that, all of the hair is cut off and burned while the entire skin, especially the newly shaved areas, is rubed in a special oil that supresses decay.

The Release 

In the rite called release, the corpse is prepared to be taken into the deep temple. First, a Deathsinger takes out all organs, including the brain, heart and guts and burns them. The ash is mixed with oils and harps in order to create a solid material that is used to fill the eyes, the noise and the ears of the corpse. Then, in a special alchemistical process, the bornenergy from the rest of the body is extracted aswell as all of its water and given back to the holy fond.

What remains is a conservated corpse that decays far slower then usually. Most of the times the head is cut off and send to the family in order to function as a beacon for the now freed soul.

Then, the preparated corpse is taken to the crypts, where it usually gains a special mask to replace ist head. Tone for the poor, brass for the ambitious, silver for the priests, gold for the rich.

Then, according to the amount of respect (paid money) the family has to the temple, the taken is carried to a fitting location and fixed in a pose fitting the level its placed. The bigger the fee, the deeper the corpse is taken down to the crypt, thus closer to (…).

The Temple
Within each city in Kaith (and outlander community) is a central temple, in bigger city usually two. Each Temple is divided in the Upper Temple and the Deep Temple.

The Upper Temple 

The Upper Temple represents the ideas of the two teachings of Matra and Praton and in later days also the Dawnbringer cult and the worship of light.

In smaller temples each of the upper parts must be above groundlevel as everything below is dedicated to the dead.

In the great temples of Kaith, the Upper Temple is usally a stalaktit like building with a small garden or (…) towering over the worlds surface and the local mountains to canalyse real daylight. '  '

Priests
Since all temples of the Anstolh Matra are strongly associated with death, women are normally not allowed to enter it since the touch of the dead might weaken the gate of life they represent. There are two kinds of priests in the temples.

Coldhearts
The Coldhearts are a all male group of priests responsible for the Upper Temple. Their task is to comfort those suffering from the loss of a family member and to act as the voices of the ancestors. Alot of those selfproclaimed oracles consum drugs before their meditation.

Deathsingers
Deathsingers are a the priests of the deep temple which they are not allowed to leave. Should a women be found infertile, she is immeaditly send to the local temple where she is forced to serve as a Deathsinger. Its their task to prepare the dead for their rituals and sing the traditional chants that free the souls from their deceased bodies.