Bravkar

Bravkar is the name of the 9-volume religious text that forms the basis of the Marconian religon. It is one of the very few pieces of Marcon literature to survive the Second Chaotic Period and was preserved during the Golden Age. The only other significant piece would be the Diary of the Slave-Girl Lyria, which continued to be read well into the Sixth Age.

The Bravkar is preserved only for its historical importance, as there were no practitioners of the Marconian religion after the empire was destroyed. Nearly all practitioners of the Marcon religon were slaughtered by the Gudersnipe Army in 301 B.G.A.; that same force also attempted to burn every last copy of the Bravkar.

By the close of the Mage Wars, it was believed permenantly lost. A number of archeological finds during the early centuries of the Golden Age allowed historians to reconstruct roughly 90% of the text to varying degrees of accuracy.

The Kamians would later claim to have recovered a fully intact copy of the text, and would excercise many of its teachings in the construction of their empire. A key difference between the Kami and the Marcons is their view of women: Kamian women are basically equal to men, while the Marcons did not view women as sentient.

Teachings

The teachings of the Bravkar center primarily around the superiority of the master race, the veneration of ancestors, and the subjugation of all those who do not belong to the pure bloodline. It devotes many lines of text to stressing the weakness and unimportance of women, though one large section seems to focus on their value in providing pleasure. This is the nearest any Marcon author came, to love-poetry; and can be quite lurid, in places.

Only 2 of the 9 volumes concern the ancestor worship practiced by the Marcons. Much of the text is about the importance of venerating one's ancestors, because only they can address the first Emperor, and through him the Great Sun Gods. Only about a fourth of each volume is actually about the rituals and customs of ancestor worship, though there is some indication that the rituals may have been magical in nature, and bear some resemblence to Necromantic practices.

Controversy

Volume 5 contains a curious derivation. Though the "Great Sun Gods" would appear to the Marcons' primary deities, much of the 5th volume focuses on the worship of darkness. Volume 5 is also the most incomplete, and historians believe many missing verses would explain this inconsistency.

According to the surviving scriptures, the darkness is to be venerated above all else; that each home is to have have a special space for darkness (usually thought to be an empty cupboard or a sealed room); and many other ritualistic practices. Over and over again, it stresses the importance of honor and love of the dark.

Several Alliance historians posit that because the Great Sun Gods are the chief deity, and light creates shadow, the worship of darkness is a reasonable conclusion. However, while some passages in other volumes speak of the Great Sun Gods, nowhere is it stated that they are to be worshipped.

Further, the wording of the other scriptures use terms like 'venerate' and 'honor' in regard to ancestors and the Great Sun Gods. No where in the Bravkar does it specifically state that the emperor should be worshipped. Darkness is the only thing specifically granted that distinction.

Foundation historians have hinted at an explanation in the missing text, though they have never revealed the exact nature of the Marconian system.

Other

In general, the teachings of the Bravkar were viewed with disgust, and only a few historians were willing to study it. When the finds were first announced, many citizens of the Unity Earth Sphere Alliance called for their destruction. The Gudersnipe Foundation, which normally supported archeological endeavors, agreed with the sentiment, but though the Gudersnipe Foundation carried out a long and public destruction of the Bravkar itself, they saved almost all other records from the Marcon Alliance. Thus, it would seem questionable that they have destroyed every last Bravkar.

In fact, Gudersnipe's Cultural Anthropology department has seven complete copies of the Bravkar dating to seven distinct periods in Marconian history. Differences between these copies, are studied in secret.