This article belongs to the lore of Anteria.

Innaniazh

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Innaniazh
ClassificationSouth Gulfic
TheologyPolytheistic
LanguageShadoveilian
Separated fromTashreki Folk Religions

Innaniazh is a religion originating in Shadoveil. Classified as a South Gulfic religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Shadoveil's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners Innaniazhists or by the outdated term Njorists, although adherents rarely use that term themselves. There is no strong central authority in control of Innaniazh, with much diversity of belief and practice evident among practitioners, although in recent times the Shadoveilian government has made attempts at creating a national Innaniazh authority.

A polytheistic and animistic religion, Innaniazh revolves around the veneration of supernatural entities called Dethon as well as the five main patron gods known as the Five Great Siblings. The Dethon are believed to inhabit all things, including forces of nature and prominent landscape locations. The Dethon are worshiped at small family shrines, outdoor megaliths, and large public shrines. The latter are staffed by priests, known as Dethonakhs, who oversee offerings of food, drink, and other offerings to the specific Dethon venerated at that location. This is done to cultivate harmony between humans and Dethon and to solicit the latter's blessing. Other common rituals include bonfire dances, coming-of-age rituals, and seasonal festivals. Public shrines facilitate forms of divination and supply religious objects, such as masks, to the religion's adherents. Innaniazh places a major focus on worshiping and representing the Five Great Siblings as well as venerating the various constellations of Anteria, known as Fox Fires to Innaniazhists. Little emphasis is placed on specific moral codes or particular afterlife beliefs, although the dead are deemed capable of becoming Dethon, reincarnated, or in extraordinary cases one of the Fox Fires. There is no single creator in Innaniazh, with the world being crafted together by the Siblings.