Cult of the Night

The Cult of the Night was a relatively short-lived religious movement in late Asatic Empire, during 20th and 21st centuries 4A. It is considered to be a late member of the larger phenomenon of the Imperial Cults.

History
The cult was founded by a self-proclaimed prophet and miracle-worker called Yure of Astàr (Arazi: Yure Astàri, born circa 1910-1915 4A), who claimed to receive revelations and supernatural powers from his connection to Amnìr, the God of Night in the now rapidly dying Arazi Polytheism. Exact date of the founding is not certain, but earliest evidence of Yure and the cult's activities date from 1930 4A.

The cult rose to prominence in 1969, when Yure became one of the advisors of Emperor Luidare II fan Relesári. A few short years later, Emperor Luidare II fully converted to the Cult's teachings, abandoning Obenism in his search for a way to secure a heir. This made the Cult widely recognisable across the Empire, and the movement saw it's biggest rise in new members.

At Midsummer 1975, Yure and the Cult was involved in a religious ceremony to bring forth the Emperor of the Stars that was intended to culminate with the Emperor committing a suicide. The ceremony was spoiled by Luidare's guards, but the Emperor was severely mentally damaged afterwards and passed away less than a year later.

Following the ceremony, the Cult was officially banned in the Empire. However, it continued its practices in secret at least until the 2040s, though little is known about what it was up to or who, if anyone, became the cult's leader after the presumed death of Yure Astàri.

Beliefs
Due to the cryptic nature of the Cult, little survives on their beliefs.

The cult worshipped a deity called Amnìr, which is the name of the God of the Night in Arazi Polytheism. However, it is likely that the name is by far the largest similarity between the two deities, and that the Cult's version of Amnìr is largely a completely new spiritual entity, perhaps dreamt up by Yure himself.

The Cult also believed in a figured called the Emperor of the Stars. He was supposed to be the last and greatest emperor of the Asatic Empire, a leader to bring peace and prosperity to first the Empire, then the whole Sutarna. The ceremony conducted in 1975 was intended to bring forth the legendary figure by Emperor Luidare's suicide and purported reincarnation as the Emperor of the Stars, his own son by his wife Liáro fan Marizi.

Yure and his followers were also firm believers in the Arazi cosmology - the Word Tree Saldibeno, the myriad of worlds it supports and the branch Fetśu that connects them and allows for worldwalking. Yure claimed to have the ability himself, and maintained that he has visited several other worlds, most importantly of all Zisaldi, the World Above, the elusive Void of Creation, home of Amnìr himself.