Heretical Religion in the Heart of Hyboria
The religion of Asura is largely an underground, secretive one, since many Hyborians regard Asura as no more than a demon; however, his cult stretches over most of the world from Vendhya across all the Hyborian kingdoms, his worshippers meeting in hidden safe-houses in every major city.
Equality
Aquilonia is home to one of these secretive cults of Asura, at least under King Vilerus – the later reforms of King Conan extended freedom to all religions in Aquilonia, much to the disgust of many ordinary Mitra-worshippers who still feared the cult of Asura. The cult’s influence extends throughout Aquilonia but no further south than the Khorotas. The cult has a secret, highly magical communications and spying network, based around the sorcerous news spell and other spells of the Divination sorcery style.
Asurans condemn violent crime and treachery.
Asura is known as the Shining One. He came to the world and gave man civilisation. He revealed the secret wisdom of the heavens to men in order that they may use the knowledge to combat evil. Freedom of thought is emphasised in the Asuran cult.
Philosophy of the Asuran Religion The Grand Illusion of Life Life is a grand illusion perpetrated by Ahriman and the Asuran cult tries to see past that illusion. Asura grants a man wisdom to control his impulses and insight to see past the obvious. Evil is a manifestation of the grand illusion.
Evil The Asurans believe evil is in the eye of the beholder and is a relative concept, not an absolute one like the Mitrans claim. To an Asuran, evil exists in Asura (or whatever one wants to name their god) just as poison exists in a snake. The poison is not poisonous to the snake, nor is evil harmful to a god. What is evil is only evil from Man’s point of view and depends upon how it is used. To a snake, poison helps it defend itself and capture prey – so too is Asuran ‘evil’ used. There is no absolute evil but relative evil is a horrible reality. Thus, while sorcery can certainly be used for evil, it is not inherently evil.
Men and women are equal in the Asuran religion. Any difference between men and women is on a physical level only and thus part of the grand illusion.
Aquilonia's Asura
Aquilonia’s Asura Violence
Religious Tolerance To the Asurans, all religions have the same basic goals and lead men on the same basic paths, so there is no reason why coexistence should not be actively pursued. The shallow differences between various religions are part of the grand illusion. If one peers deep enough, all religions are functionally the same. Although Mitraists believe the Asurans to be devil-worshipping cannibals, the Asurans harbour no ill-will against the Mitran religion, nor do they spread lies about the religion. In general, Asurans find mystery religions to be silly and do not engage in pointless ritual initiations and any sort of irrational ceremony. However, they do not disparage those who enjoy such things.
Vigilance Asura watches the cosmos to witness its unfolding and so too must the Asurans. Divination spells are used for this purpose, and spells such as sorcerous news are especially beloved. Like serpents, they lie in the shadows and watch, waiting for the opportunity to act in their best interests. One of the things they watch for is Acheronian activity. They know pockets of Acheron still survive, especially in Nemedia, and they know the weaknesses of the Acheronians. They know the GiantKings are the offspring of Ahriman, a powerful demon, and are a relative evil on the earth. Followers of Asura strive to have high ranks in Spot and Sense Motive in order to see past the illusions of evil. The Asurans are also vigilant in their watch for Corruption, especially among their own members. Wisdom is an important statistic for Asurans.
Secrecy Popular antagonism has driven the cult into hiding. They have become experts at disguise and secrets. Their temples are cunningly hidden. Ironically, the
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