Zockensianism

An embellished display of the Twin Suns, a primary symbol of the Zockensian Church.

The Zockensian Church (, Zockenburzau), also known as the Church of Zockoth or the Eastern Alvish Church, is the largest church of the Alvish with more than 52 billion followers in 242 AC according to the Records Office of the Radiant Curia. Frequently cited as the oldest continuous institution in Alvish history, the Church and its mythology have played a formative role in the development of Valckish culture and society, and have helped to shape Alvish civilization more broadly. The Church is headed by the Mottic Gattenyiogg, otherwise known to aliens as the Great Yiogg, who oversees a vast priestly bureaucracy from his seat of power in the clerical enclave of Stauckel, a small district on the planet of Gozoth.

Zockensian mythology is based principally on the Legend of Zockoth, a mythic hero (often simply called "the Hero" in Zockensian texts) who defeated the tyrannical Gattstalsir and oversaw an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity. The legend's final chapters recount Zockoth's own fall from grace, as he is corrupted by his power and overthrown in the same fashion as the Gattstalsir by a new hero known in the texts only as "the Young One." The Church maintains that it has collected the full and complete story of Zockoth, and also that the texts illustrate a clear morality and social code based on the Hero's endeavors and mistakes. However, the Church's various clerical and psionic orders profess a variety of interpretations of the Zockensian mythos: over the centuries the church has closely regulated which deviations it tolerates, and which are considered heresies.

The Church's calendar has gradually come to be the dominant Alvish calendar, so much that many other churches have adopted or revised it as their own. Zockensianism splits the year into two parts, the normal cycles and the mythic cycles, the latter containing all of its festivals. The Church holds that the mythic cycles follow the timeline of the Legend of Zockoth, as described in the Zockenschauft and its Nich'aldan. The first festival, Schalmacht, describes Zockoth's youth and innocence: the next two festivals, Henckel and Aisenkothel, describe the Hero's journey to gather strength and knowledge and enter maturity. Vitschel, the second most-popular and most-celebrated of the Zockensian festivals, describes Zockoth's battle with the Gattstalsir, and frequently contains excessive or even violent celebrations. The final festival, Wismacht, which is the most popular, describes the Young One's innocence and his victory over the corrupted Zockoth.

The Zockensian Church has influenced Alvish philosophy, culture, science, and art. The Church shared its mythology and philosophy with the Volzoth Church until the Zō Schism in 37 AC, disputing the legitimacy of the drug Zō's usage to enhance the abilities of psions. Various doctrinal disputes ensued, and to this day Volzis are frequently called Schismatists for this split. However, since the advent of organic implants in the 2nd century AC, the Schismatist Church has seen a significant resurgence.

Sacred Texts

Legend of Zockoft

Schafkagen

The Schafkagen serve as the primary instructional texts for apprenticed Psions in the Zockensian Church.