Grishak'hiki

Grishak'hiki, from the Shokurung for "To Desire What is Good", is both the War Men's word for religion and the name of their specific religion. (If there is ambiguity, the word Grishak'hiki'a is sometimes used to refer to Grishak'hiki proper, and Grishak'hiki'e to refer to other religions. However, more commonly the ambiguity is resolved through more traditional manners, such as destroying all traces of the other religion with axes.)

The fundamental belief of Grishak'hiki is that each must hold himself to the highest possible standard, and that war, being the ultimate test of one's self and one's axe, is the highest good in the world. Although practitioners honor fallen heroes with feasts, there are no important gods to speak of in Grishak'hiki: for an immortal, war would be no challenge, as death would be impossible. Therefore a god could not challenge himself to the utmost, and thus has no possibility of being a worthy role model. War men do not dispute the notion of gods--they merely find them useless (with one exception).

This exception is Kuluk'shokourung'tagag'onk, or He-who-brought-war. This "god", depicted as a tall, gold-skinned War Man, is given the title Taghe'rakag'onk'rakag, or "The killed immortal" by the War Men--an immortal god who was so recklessly violent he still managed to get himself killed in war, and thus remains a great inspiration. It is held by followers of Grishak'hiki that the battle in which he died was the first conflict in history--and, additionally, was one caused purely of his violent will. Moreover, they believe that the violence unleashed in that battle was so dire and so polarizing that it set the stage for literally every conflict in history. That day, Kuluk'kuluk'shokurung'tagag, or "The Coming of War," is celebrated every year with a gladiatorial spectacle in which hundreds of War Men fight in a no-holds-barred, last-man-standing battle royale.

Axes, being the symbol of both war and the War Men themselves, are considered holy symbols, and each War Man considers his axe a possession greater than himself--he must honor it by keeping it sharp, he must fulfill it by using it to kill, and he must defend it by dying for it.