Hulti
The Hulti, or the Old Folk, represent the tradition of Omban religion that was not influenced by Zunuga or the Corps that emerged from her Epiphany, and instead retains many elements of the older, shamanic, ancestor-worship tradition that was once common prior to the Empire. Persecuted as heretics and scorned throughout much of the former Empire, the Hulti nonetheless remain a potent religious living faith tradition in the present.
The word hulti derives from Ombesh hul 'old' and is a name applied within the past 400 years to the faith, and then largely as an exonym - the name given to them by followers of the Corps. The Hulti themselves are aware of and use the term hulti "elder, senior" only occasionally. More often they call their faith ildomo 'truth-journey' among themselves.
History
The deep history of the Old Folk is largely lost. There is textual evidence for the practice of ancestor reverence well over 1000 years ago, though most of these practices were never written down. Because the Hulti revere but do not communicate with their ancestors, and because bodies are buried where they decay and are lost, far less is known of the early history of the faith than might be desired. The Omban monarchy did not have a formal official faith, but inasmuch as it had one, it was the predecessor of the modern Hulti.
After the Epiphany of Zunuga and especially after the Corps became the official faith of the Omban Empire, Hulti theology needed to account for the new Kinds of human, i.e., bubun, revenants, and saints. All of these were regarded as contrary to the natural order of things, and it quickly became clear that the two faiths could not coexist peacefully. The creation of bubun (living corpses), the resurrection of the dead (reanimation), and the half-dead saints, are all grave violations in need of remedy. Things that die should stay dead. A revenant, no matter how moral or sentient, should not exist. Some Hulti began persecuting and eliminating the new Kinds. While saints were largely too powerful to be directly vulnerable, and while bubun, as non-sentient entities, were, if not expendable, then at least not seen as people, the killing of revenants was very common in those early days, and was a major source of tension between the two religions.
Although originally a small minority faith, the Corps quickly became extremely powerful especially after the awakening of Eluli Ula, and then after the Treaty of Lekhi gave enormous economic and military power to the Hand of the Dead within the Imperial power structure. The Jemosine purge (71-79) and the Atamurine purge (119-120) were the first direct, concerted Imperial efforts to limit the influence of the older faith, forcing many Hulti to retreat to Malfan or to practice in secret. The Battle of Burafa in 242 marked the last time that Hulti noble lineages had any influence in the Imperial core. The conquest of Malfan, beginning in 229, was inspired at least in part by the desire to further restrict the influence of the Old Folk. However, under the Treaty of Romaz in 271, which formally incorporated Malfan as a province of the Empire, the late Omban emperors were forced to accord religious freedom to Hulti in that province, a privilege which extended beyond the Empire and to the present day. However, the Great Purge of 534-541 was a brutal, repressive effort to eliminate Hulti throughout all other regions of the former Empire, and was seen as particularly successful in Khutu, Taizi, and Omba, with forcible conversions, land removals, and even executions common throughout this period.
Recently, the Third Council of Romaz in 757 was the first concerted effort in many years for the Old Folk to assert their right to exist outside of Malfan, and perhaps even (very controversially) to find grounds for coexistence with the Corps. There are some Hulti who are extremely opposed to any kind of reconciliation and who continue to see saints, haunts, and bubun as monstrosities to be destroyed. The council occurred in the wake of the fos rush in Ashnabis, which brought many Hulti living in that area considerable wealth, and for the first time, Malfan is not seen as the sole refuge for the faith.
Current Distribution
While no one could say for certain, it is likely that there are around 700,000 - 900,000 Hulti practicing today. Hulti today live principally in Malfan, where they comprise a majority of the total population. Especially in the southern part of Malfan south of the Damusa River, the Corps is almost absent other than some extremely brave missionaries, whereas in the northern Malfander city of Zipus, there is a majority of Corps adherents with a small but longstanding Hulti community. A smaller population of Hulti lives in Ashnabis, which was never fully conquered or settled by Ombans before the end of the Empire. Perhaps 15% of Ashnabis is Hulti, especially in the northeast where many of the last Choradani Hulti fled. Finally, while the official ideology is that most of the successor states are completely free of the Old Folk, there are always occasional accusations of Hulti individuals or whole lineages. Daligash, in particular, is seen as ripe for Hulti activity because its large cities and weak lineage system make it easier for one to live one's life free from the activities of the Corps.
While the Old Folk have not practiced openly in most of the former Empire in centuries, there are some lineages which, though nominally of the Corps, continue to understand themselves as Hulti and perhaps, secretly, to engage in some of the religious practices of the Old Folk. These crypto-Hulti are not a fixed or organized group and, while they surely exist, it is not clear to what extent they actually pose a threat to the Corps within the core of the former Empire. In particular, lineages that avoid reviving their dead, or wealthy lineages that do not use bubun labour, are often scrutinized or even accused of having Hulti sympathies.
Beliefs and Practices
The religious practitioners of the Old Folk are known informally as 'shamans' especially among Corps followers, and among the community themselves simply as ildir (wanderers, travellers). Shamans may be either male or female, and serve their communities in a variety of pastoral functions. They are diviners and healers who serve their local communities without any formal hierarchy. They have the power to identify dead spirits not properly laid to rest, and to correct these wrongs in the world.
The cosmology and theology of the Hulti is complex and traditionally was not codified in writing, being instead shared through oral tradition across generations, in a set of epic poems (girazh, pl. girazze), of which four are particularly important. The creation of the world and animals and the responsibility of humans over nature and the Ancestors is told in the Veil. The building of the relations between humans and their different roles is set down in the Balance. The views of the Hulti with respect to the Corps, and the Six Kinds, are laid out in the Song of Sorrows. Finally, new historical, theological and social developments and histories are told in the ongoing unfinished poem, the Chain. All of these have now been written down, and are used and shared among Hulti communities, but no written codification is considered truly adequate and learning these teachings orally is central to the faith.
Given the persecution of the Hulti over the centuries by Corps followers, Hulti are quite secretive about their actual beliefs. There is a principle of rujavai ('pretend-habitual') whereby Hulti are prescribed to confabulate and engage in pretense when discussing their beliefs with outsiders. As a result, many historical and theological texts written by the Corps are full of inaccuracies. Old Folk funerary rituals involve hanging dead bodies from trees in net bags, followed by a secondary burial. The net burial is meant, or so it is said, to ensure that the person is really dead. Hulti honour their dead ancestors but they do not themselves speak to the dead - once dead, they are buried and left alone.
Hulti communities have lineages just as Corps communities do. Due to the long history of violence and suppression of the Hulti, many noble lineages were able to flee to Malfan where they still exist, but having lost their landholdings and estates, without much of the means to make that class distinction meaningful. In many areas, the Hulti live simple, rural lives indistinguishable from country lineages. Where they can practice openly, Hulti villages and towns are often segregated from Corps believers. Even in places like Malfan, where most are Hulti, there is a strong sense of separateness in social life.
