the Uô cult

Origin and myths#

During ancient times, as nomads were legions. oracles were speaking of a god seeking its people. It was said, massive, heavy and also described as "one who moves very little" (translations vary among tribes). Yet, The prophecy narrated that "moving" it would be the challenge for its people, and that those who would have participated to its rise through history would be rewarded accordingly. As noamds were roaming, they found a geological anomaly: a huge rock which was roughly rhomboidal, sitting in the middle of a valley. Scientifically speaking, it is an iron-type meteorite which crashed on earth approximately two billions years ago, creating the said valley. It got submerged by the lands as erosion from near by mountains drained sediments, and reappeared when the bassin actually "re-opened" to the oceans through that same process, leaking the sediments over the course of millions of years. It is believed that due to the intermediary stages, as rain accumulated, it would also be the "black island" known in ancient texts from other civilisations. The Nomads settled nearby, and thus started the rise of Oplmek, city of the Great. We know very little on how long the task of raising the artifact took, but it probably went through several milleniums. We also ignore the actual process(es?) that got involved, nor the exact mass, as the rock extends below the surface. Those doubts led to a trend in geology and archeology that the stone was actually already vertical when it crashed, and only got revealed as the sand got drained from the bassin. An unknown regent would have then pretended that it was the act of his people to impose his power over the surrounding nations. This theory is quite popular as it is still compatible with the "black island" event, and is heavily backed up by the fact that the only traces of history around this miracle are oral tales and ancient reports from across the continent, but not from the site itself. This is the origin of a still ongoing religion known as "Uô".

Organisation#

The main church lies on top of the Rock, in the High District. For centuries, disciples were asked to reach for that sacred temple by escalading the various structures around the rock, including the growing city. It led to a hierarchy based on which path one used, as some were harder than others. A well known path was the South Face of the rock, which was the easiest and was basically very rough stairs created by farmers to access millenials trees that started to fracture the rock and grow. It is known nowaday as a plain but challenging hiking path. The North side, which is so inclined that it is actually tilted down, is the origin of a legend of "Hakan' Bil"; he or she was for centuries the only person who succesfully climbed that side. "Hakan' Bil" is now the title of the highest rank in the organisation: because of the original way of reaching that rank, there may be several Hakan' Bil at one time, or none. Nowaday, the process for reaching ranks is way more classical, through evaluation of the commitment of one and votes from "Uoas", the members of the cult. The church displays a rather atypical structure: it is composed of a black main tower situated in a corner of the top of the rock, from which extends a triangular roof covering the main room for the ceremonies. Under it, each disciple has his/her attributed place. The rest of the surface is occupied by the housing. Despite being a cult based upon a high place, the most prestigious quarters, inhabited by the highest ranks, are suspend houses on the East side of the Rock. The lowest suspended house used to be a prison which contained a garden, prisoners being used for the harvests. This task is now reduced to the maintenance of the now ornemental garden, which is done by the elders.

A word on Oplmek#

The city was for a long time mainly known as a religious hub: a fair part of the city's incomes was from an luxury alcool made out of the milleniums trees growing on the South side of the rock. Some wood could be found on the grey market as magical artifacts, but it was mainly kept for the Uoas as prt of a deal with the city for the inconvenience caused by the culture. The city now also include a lot of modern buildings, including the Iris, highest tower of the city and unavoidable element of the city skyline with its white colour. Some of those towers are build on the side of the huge rock, and the prices for the flats which have an adjacent wall with the Artifact skyrocket. Due to the sand retained, the main city is on a small hill: the rest of the valley is composed of farms, separated from the city by the historic wall. The mill which feeds the fields (and which uses bassins to retain water) is one of the oldest buildings of the city. Its conduct also now support the funicular for the tourists, and the rest of the path is made through a via ferrata.

The fall#

People living in the High District and in the vertical suburbs started to complain of the growing number of people esacalading their houses and destroying the precious trees. Because of that, it was decided 50 years ago by the city council to build an elevator on the West side. The goal was to ease the access to the religion and thus the influence of the city. Today's Historians are still fascinated of how a simple and concrete structure induced the fall of such a major religion. ##Today status As of today, three persons in the city's council defined themselves as Uoas, and its influence even affects general public culture through various references to a "black-ish monolith" of unknown power. Yet, it is mostly considered as folklore rather than a religion. The meteorite itself is considered as the potential source of life by some scientists: analysis shown very high rates of organic materials deep inside the monolith, even if we are unable to explain how a meteorite could contain such traces. This status is mostly what maintains Uô in the collective memory, even in a mostly atheist civilisation.