Adama

The Adama is a spiritual belief held by almost all Durparians.

After Mulhorand invaded Durpar and wiped out the barbarian clans, a simple trader emerged to lead the remnants of his people. His name was Satama and he claimed to have experienced a divine revelation which he turned into the philosophy of the Adama.

Tenets
The core principle of the Adama is that everything *is* the Adama. The gods, the world and everything in it are just aspects of the Adama.

To become one with the Adama, a person must have been born many times. As each reincarnation of that person is believed to reflect their previous life, Durparians strive to improve themselves and their lives. Crime is as dangerous to oneself as it is to the victim as it grievously jeopardizes a persons chance of being reincarnated as anything better than an animal. So not only do Durparians make very hard workers at whatever they choose to do, but crime levels are surprisingly low all over the Shining Lands.

Killing is frowned upon, even in self-defense, therefore, most Durparians who use arcane magic specialize in illusions since for one to die from magic from that school, one must have believed in the illusion. This is seen as fate killing the aggressor and thus a lesser offence against the Adama.

Durparians view the Adama as a unifying world-spirit and worship it's aspects, the gods, rather than the spirit itself. Therefore, no temples to the Adama will be found. This leads to massive religious diversity in the Shining Lands. Only gods who demand human sacrifice have their faiths suppressed along with Mask, the god of thieves for obvious reasons. Gods most associated with the Adama are Zionel (Gond), Curna (Oghma), Lucha (Selûne), Torm & Waukeen.

Just like the gods are aspects of the Adama, so are the various species of the world. No Durparian would turn away anyone based on their race alone.