Habel Religion

The Habel religion, following the God Habel, is a montheistic Producer Religion which arose in the year 530AP on the continent of Apa. The religion was started by a breakaway sect of the older religion of the First Pintus Empire which began to spread the God Habel in particular. The changes to the religion were controversial and led to the Habel Liberation Wars which ended in the acceptance of Habelism as the new doctrine of the Pintus Empire and followers of the Old Pintic Religion.

Neo-Habelism remains popular with many, being more of a culture than established religion in modern Producer Society. In 4233AP around 41% of Producers claimed to affiliate to the beliefs of the religion.

Teachings
Habelism places emphasis on the old God of Luck Habel. Habel, known to many as 'Lady Luck', is a God who is said to act in situations whereby people cannot affect the circumstances on their own. For example, extreme weather, sudden infection, correct timing and many other unusual events are normally seen to be the effects of Habels choices. Habel is often said to have set 'the world in motion' according to the Religion's holy text simply known as 'the Book of Habel'. Following setting the world in motion, Habel chose to leave people to choose their own paths in the world but favour those who are honest, ambitious and bold.

Habel rose to prominence because of the importance of luck in early warfare. A number of early battles in the Pan Wars had been decided more by circumstance than  particular tactical prowess making Habel an important god for Generals of the Army. In everyday life Habel's figure had become a mainstay in most houses across the Pintus Empire to protect against bad luck.

History
In 530AP a band of clerics, the Habelites, had chosen to do away with many of the other inferior Gods stating that Habel was the one true God. The 'Book of Habel' was a codified version of the previously unwritten teachings of the old Gods, which were not allowed to be published in text. These teachings were sent across the lands and were seen as popular by many of the followers of the Old Pintus Religion which had a following in most areas of Apa.

Within 3 years of its founding the Habelites had begun to demand that the state religion be changed. This was facilitated by a corrupt and authoritarian elite governing the Old Gods and led to the Habel Liberation Wars. By 550 the Pintus Empire had adopted Habelism as its state religion and begun to attack the strongholds and Kingdoms of Apa who had not accepted the new ways. These wars ended with the execution of the heads of the Old Religion who had refused to accept the new order in 560 following the collapse of the final Kingdom of Elmitia who defended to Old Gods.

The popularity of the Utate Philosophy which began in 744 and began to spread fast in the 1200s forced many people to consider life without Gods. The Utate taught that even if there were Gods, the people of Apa should attempt to live their life virtuously because it is a good in itself. This forced the Neo-Habelists to begin to portray Habel as the embodiment of 'lady luck' in a metaphorical term. The split was also facilitated by the influence of the Ijubo practices, which were more Humanistic than those of Apa.

In 1300 a major split in the Church occurred for a second time leading to an 8 year war whereby the two sects became split north to south. In 1322 the New Habel Church was founded which represented the new order of Neo-Habelism.