Gaalsien

Historically, while minor cults have come and gone, the majority of Kharakians have always believed in the Great Maker Sajuuk, whose Hand Shapes What Is. The majority of religious sects don't differ over whether or not Sajuuk exists, but in what His nature may be, and His reasons for bringing us to Kharak. The majority view up until the Age of Reason was some variation on the theme of punishment, the logic being that no just God would leave His people on such an inhospitable world if they had not done something to earn this fate. Many vital survival tactics, such as conservation of resources and not risking the future of the kiith on untried methods, were reinforced by dogma in ancient Kharak; undesirable acts were always described in terms of punishable arrogance. These beliefs helped to keep our people alive during the great trek from the central deserts, but once we'd gained the temperate polar regions, the same beliefs held back useful innovations that the more hospitable environment made possible. Generally, how wrathful one believed Sajuuk to be tended to dictate how wary one was of cultural and technological advances.

Of the three major religious kiithid—Gaalsien, Ferriil and Somtaaw—it was Gaalsien who preached the strongest message of punishment. The dogma of righteous suffering and humility held that Sajuuk had cast our people down to Kharak from some celestial paradise to pay for our arrogance. Gaalsien theologians preached that to deviate from the most accepted and ritualized survival methods was to actually extend the period of time before our people would be lifted back up to heaven. In the early days, this strict dogma paid off, and allowed Kiith Gaalsien to survive and prosper during various ecological disasters during the period between 75 and 250. Once this turbulent time passed, though, and people penetrated further into the temperate polar region, more innovative kiithid regained their power and Gaalsien power began to fade somewhat. Many anthrocists believe that Kiith Gaalsien deliberately started the Heresy Wars as an attempt to bring all the lesser kiithid back under its power during the resulting chaos.

Fortunately for the technologically inclined among us, it was Kiith Naabal which emerged victorious from the Heresy Wars, and the dogma of penance and repression began to fade from the hearts and minds of Kharaki. Despite this, the Gaalsien, power shattered forever after nearly 300 years of war, became even more extreme in their religious beliefs—as if to compensate for the rest of the sinful planet. By the time the Age of Reason was at its height, in 710, the Gaalsien were down to less than 30 vassal families, and only the great desert temple city of Saju-ka remained under their power. Perhaps it was their sense that history had passed them by, or simply their desire to commit an act of sacrifice strong enough to regain the favor of Sajuuk Himself, but in the year 717, the kiith'sa of the Gaalsien performed an act that has lived in infamy ever since.

At the time, Saju-ka was the artistic gem of Kharak. In its great temples and halls were most of the great works commissioned in the name of the God Sajuuk, and in its libraries were the collected works of our people, gathered before His eyes so that He could see them and judge us worthy. Though Saju-ka had been built in the first hospitable valley found in the north, time had allowed the deserts to crawl ever northward themselves, and by the 700s, sand would have completely swallowed Saju-ka if not for the complex series of wind baffles, dykes and sand paths designed by the great engineer Gar Naabal. One night, during the height of the spring winds, Saju-ka was lost to our people. In a single act of divine madness, Miirpat Gaalsien-Sa ordered his people to blow up the entire system that held back the sand. The light from the hundreds of explosions was still visible when the hungry sands began pouring down the streets of Saju-ka. Within two days the city was completely buried and thousands died in the mass evacuation.

The whole of Kiith Gaalsien was convicted in absentia by the Daiamid in Tiir, and deemed an outlaw Kiith, but this punishment had very little effect on the Gaalsien, as they slipped away into the wastes during that terrible night, abandoning the progress they saw as a decadence that would eventually bring down the wrath of God.

Since then, Kiith Gaalsien has wandered the great central deserts, surviving by the skills and rituals they held so dear. Occasionally they will make themselves known by raiding scientific communities or stations in the wastes, and leaving massive theological documents proclaiming how close we are to the end. Military expeditions to track them down once and for all have always failed, and a certain mythology has grown up around them—as if there is a nagging suspicion in the minds of modern Kharakians that the only way Kiith Gaalsien could have survived for so long is if they really did have the grace of Sajuuk. Some say that they have even found His lost city under the sands, and Saju-ka once again echoes with mumbled prayers, and offerings made in the darkness.

Certain acts of sabotage during the construction of the Mothership seemed to be Gaalsien-inspired, and it's likely that, even today, there are still families that are secretly aligned with the ancient religious kiith.