Atru

Sivran, a warlike deity in the Atru pantheon.

Atru is a monolatristic religion in the Kill Six Billion Demons universe. The dominant religion in Throne, Atru has several billion adherents and can be viewed as a way of life, rather than a strict collection of beliefs.

Followers of Atru believe that YISUN is the name of God, who has always existed and never existed. In addition to YISUN, Atru contains many other deities, most of whom can be found within the Psalms, the Spasms, and the Song of Maybe. And though it is believed these deities were all annihilated during the creation of the multiverse, the corpses of these gods still remain throughout Throne and the void, revealing that they did exist eons before the present day.

Characteristics

In Atru, YISUN is believed to exist and not exist.

Atru is characterized by a multitude of deities, the highest of which is YISUN. Unlike most religious figures, YISUN is portrayed as neither benevolent nor malevolent, and he is not characterized by any defining trait. Rather, YISUN is most often portrayed as a teacher whose lessons are purposefully incoherent. Various texts indicate YISUN is just as likely to espouse deception and sin as he is to uphold goodness, beauty, and the like. The result is that every work attributed to YISUN seems to be deeply confusing and paradoxical; few of the liturgical works that involve YISUN have a meaning that can be easily grasped.

Mythology

The clairvoyant goddess Voya.

Atru is monolatristic, meaning it contains multiple deities but places emphasis on a higher-order being (i.e. YISUN). According to the texts, YISUN eventually grew tired of an infinite existence and committed suicide. Known as the First Division, this act generated the deities YIS and UN, who warred for seven years. Then after seven days of procreation, YIS and UN produced 777,777 offspring collectively known as the Multiplicity.

With enough followers, it is very likely Atru began to develop at this time. Eventually, the gods constructed Throne and the four orders of Inheritors some time after. But by doing so, the gods underwent the process of annihilation and disappeared from the known world.

Practices

Because Atru does not contain a code of ethics, its prayers contain vastly different conclusions about proper conduct. What prayers are used by whom tends to depend on the disposition and personal beliefs of the individual.

The Concordant Prayer

The Concordant Prayer is recited by members of the Concordant Harmonies. It is most often said before an angel commits an act of violence.

Pree Aesma

Ys-Asram (the Blooded One)

Ys-Prama, Hansa, and Prat Payam (who temper my heart)

YISUN Atru Vyam

Forgive me for this violence I am about to inflict.

The Third Middle Hym

The Third Middle Hym is a prayer used primarily by the Mendicant Knights:

VM ASRA, VM ITTM (To the sky, to the other-side that is not sky)

YISUN PATTM ATTRA AM (YISUN is the Universal Lord)

AUN VS UTTR (Of nothing he was)

AUN VS YA (And nothing he is now)

YTTR AM! (What a paradox!)

ATOMUS UNSM (We must constantly seek salvation and perfection through division.)

VM ITTR A VSK PRET (Seek heaven through violence.)

YISUN ATUN! (Praise YISUN!)

Symbols

• 108 — the number 108 is often used to represent completeness; rarely the number 109 will also appear
• Division — the greatest form of violence, it is viewed by some as a sacred act
• Plum — used to represent beauty, or the paradox between things that appear to be simple, but are actually mysterious

Religious texts

• The Concordance
• Psalms
• Song of Maybe
• Spasms

Trivia

• Atru borrows heavily from real-world religions and ethical principles, often taking them to extremes or reversing them completely.
  • The number 777,777 can be seen as a reference to the number 7 in the Judeo-Christian Bible as it represents completeness and perfection.
  • YISUN's revelation of his universal form to Aesma is comparable to the meeting between Krishna and Arjuna in the Mahabharata, but the outcomes are reversed.
  • YISUN is depicted as fallible and occasionally malevolent, despite being the equivalent of God.
  • The teachings of YISUN can be seen as a reversal of Buddhist principles, which reject self-deception.