#fantasy religion

[cmrosens]

Creating fantasy religions: something I'm doing now so thought I would post about my process.

The mistake a lot of writers make is developing a religion from a singular event, and piling a ton of stuff on top of it that makes logical sense. Whereas, in reality, religions are self propelling systems that travel under their own steam and if there is an event that catalyses them, it is never in a socio-cultural or political and economic vacuum.

You also end up with an apparently totally random set of things attached to one figure which does make sense if you know the origins, but otherwise is just accepted even if the meaning is lost.

It is the difference between "the god of Midwinter and festivals around this originated because a cult of necromancers were banished into the frozen wastes and this <event> became the Origin Story for how we got to a midwinter festival with creepy bone puppets in my fantasy world" and a religion that feels ... Real.

Ok so firstly, this is a bit too neat. (This was my original reasoning for a midwinter god called Yarash and I changed it because it wasn't very realistic or interesting for my world.)

Why, let's say, is the god whose feast is at midwinter also the patron of puppet makers and osteopaths?

Well, we could say that this makes a lot of sense because the god's festival was originally to do with remembering the dead, and puppets were used in the festival to represent the dead, as necromancy should have been part of it but people didn't actually know how to raise the dead properly. Then as magic evolved people could actually raise the dead for short periods to deliver messages in these festivals, but this drew internal debate from the conservative priests who thought puppets were the original form and so should be maintained, and necromancy was an aberration, vs the progressives who saw necromancy as the original INTENTION and so the natural and correct progression from the puppets. The debate might rage on for years creating splinters, sects, differing traditions that sit uneasily together but find middle ground in other less controversial topics and practices, and even cults.

At some point, the secular authorities get involved for their own reasons. Maybe some rulers are pro-"The Old Bones" or anti-, or they want to outlaw necromancy or benefit from it for various political reasons, socio-cultural reasons, economic reasons, military intelligence reasons, etc. Whatever happens, happens. Times change. Official attitudes swing back and forth, while internally the religious debates continue, now informed by and perhaps as counters to, this secular intervention.

Then we end up in modern times, the times of the story. Nobody really believes in gods anymore. They do remember the old gods of the seasons and at the secular festival in winter, there are a lot of traditional puppet shows that have a whole history and life of their own. The puppets are called "the old bones" and nobody really remembers why. Osteopaths have the puppets and symbols relating to the midwinter festival on their certificates and college heraldry and nobody really remembers why, but the information is there to look up and is a fun thing to know for trivia nights.

And necromancy... is a controversial branch of science, divorced from its original religious significance for many but not for all, and more integrated as an art or practice in the public consciousness (positively or negatively depending on perspective and propaganda and actual usage).

And now, you have a ton of depth and meat to it without having to flesh out the arguments and debates themselves unless that is plot relevant.

There is a lot you can do with this society now, and by tweaking one thing you can create completely different societies and ideologies. The depth is now there to set your story at any point during this history and to develop numerous ideas. So much stuff can happen.

With the singular event version, and a static fact of a necromancy cult in the frozen wastes, things are much more limited and linear, with less depth to play with.

Also remember that your characters will not be expected to know everything about your world unless they are experts in religion and/or history, and also the 2 subjects are not mutually inclusive so a historian is not an expert theologian and vice versa. How much the average person on the street knows depends on levels of formal education, accessible knowledge beyond formal education, which may include religious instruction and folklore, and propaganda. But it means you can build in some subtle things - like the puppet symbols on the door of an osteopath or bone doctor - that never need to be explained, but have a logical in-world explanation below the surface.

Try taking a static idea and work it into a system and see where it leads!

#writeblr #worldbuilding #fantasy religion #writers on tumblr #writing community #writing tips #world building #writing fantasy #fantasy #fantasy writing

[niofo]

as much as i subscribe to the theory that andraste was a mage and the chantry just erased it, the same way they did with ameridan, i want to expand on it with two theories that have no real foothold in canon, i just think they'd be neat:

andraste was possessed by a spirit of faith and by trying to recreate it the seekers discovered the rite of tranquility

andraste wasn't even human, she was a spirit who took shape of a human same way cole did, when the human andraste died before the whole maker thing even started

it would be interesting if the spirit!andraste was actually brought back in the fade by the collective faith of her followers and she was the spirit of faith that was touching minds of the seekers during their vigils. tho i also can't see her being happy about the bs the chantry is now doing in her name, so maybe not that. she'd be like, wait a moment, where's the canticle of my best buddy shartan?

#dragon age #andraste #spirit of faith #fantasy religion

[druidx]

Saying fantasy grace as a spell to purify food & drink, and stop people becoming unwell or assassinated.

The royal family sits down to dinner. The archbishop says grace to ensure any poisons have been nullified.

The healer of a party of adventurers saying grace as the pottage is being stirred or the roast spitted so no one succumbs to dysentery.

A mother making sure all her children know how and when to say grace as she sends them off to their new homes, in the hope their family line continues.

People of different religions arguing over the wording, not realising that it doesn't matter - it's the faith and intent which makes the magic work.

#fantasy #magic #tropes #fantasy religion #fantasy tropes #'grace' as a magic spell

[puzzled-pegasus]

Additional WoF hcs

SandWings have a type of adapted webbing between their claws from their common ancestry with SeaWings, to keep them from sinking in the sand.

IceWings also have similar so they can swim and walk on the snow.

MudWings love frogs and will consider it good luck if they see a bullfrog, especially a particularly large one. For this reason, they tend to depict cranes and herons, which eat frogs, as crafty and a little bit evil in their storytelling.

MudWings generally don't eat alligators because of the belief they are related.

SkyWings incorporate eagles into their religious beliefs and believe that they are sacred, like angels or watchful guardian spirits in disguise, and they are Apalled at the prospect of eating one.

Coral loves dolphins so much, she named her daughter Orca. That's not really a headcanon, that's just a thing I just realized lol

SeaWings have a popular dessert they like to make from red kelp, it's like gelatin or pudding. It's especially popular among the lower class dragons.

SkyWings really aren't sure what to do with their war-mutilated veterans, especially the lower class ones. They hate any sort of imperfection, but they also admire the fact that they survived battle at all, so they altogether just try not to think about them. Maybe they even have a closed off section of town where they encourage them to stay. :(

I'm not sure if this happened already but I'm sure Thorn is going to either destroy the weirdling tower and cause riots or she will destroy the building and put the contents into a proper museum to preserve what an awful dragon Burn was

SeaWings have the highest literacy rate next to NightWings. Many IceWings can't read much more than their own names.

SeaWings can be immune to jellyfish venom.

Toys commonly given to dragonets include wooden, clay, or iron figures, dolls made from wood, cloth, or sometimes grass, stuffed animals, wooden practice weapons, dress up jewelry made from glass, and more. Additionally, dragonets, especially in the Kingdom of Sky, are commonly given bones to chew as an equivalent to being given a lollipop.

Dragons regrow their teeth multiple times in their life, as part of the reason they're able to live so long. This comes from their common ancestry with crocodilians.

There is said by RainWings to be a species of eagle in the rainforest that is similar to a harpy eagle, but much bigger, with talons as big as a dragon's. It has been reported to have flown away with dragonets before, and though a very rare occurrence, RainWings tell their dragonets about it partially for their safety and partially to scare them into listening to them. The eagle is probably called something SkyWing related---after one of the queens, perhaps. These predator attacks are one of the only reasons that RainWings still have venom.

As well as flowers, RainWings like to decorate themselves and their homes with brightly colored feathers they find.

NightWings, upon coming to the rainforest, have since introduced RainWings to glass flower vases. Many RainWings love them. They have also introduced them to the concept of cooking fruit to make jam and juicing it and/or fermenting to make tasty drinks

SandWings believe that ravens are a good omen and enjoy leaving scraps of prey out for them. They admire their tendency to clean up what is upsetting and avoided by most. IceWings see them as a symbol of death or a warning and are extremely creeped out by their intelligence.

Despite their love for ravens, SandWings are really annoyed by their obnoxious cousins, crows, and it is not an uncommon sight to see them chasing the birds away with a broomstick

MudWings are delighted whenever they see bluejays or similarly bright colored temperate forst birds, but not for any spiritual reason. They just don't see bright colors often :D

MudWings generally find it extremely disrespectful to pick flowers, especially ones that grow on someone else's property, because brightly colored flowers are not especially common in the swamps. It's quite the culture shock when they meet RainWings who pick every pretty blossom in sight.

Similarly, if a SandWing finds a flower in the desert which is wilting, they are obligated to bring it water.

#wings of fire #wof #wof hc #ableism #tw ableism #fantasy religion

[cookisugarrdraws]

Aphblr I am in need of some input. I saw a post on Instagram of a cat girl wearing a hijab and it got me thinking.

How would meif'wa/lu'pine wear different headdresses and religious coverings? Not just Muslim but Jewish, Christian, etc as well!

I am curious to see what y'all's ideas are! 👀

#aphmau #aphblr #mcd #mystreet #meif'wa #lu'pine #fantasy religion

[elaho]

---Viewing Music - "Please Don't Be" by Hazlett--- "May the Skies Speak forth Your Will, Oh Spirit, As we Seekers of Divine Knowledge encapsulate Our essence in Sacred Ice, Forsaking All and Pursuing None But the Great Eye of Enlightenment" - Sacred Prayer of the Seekers

A WIP illustration for my long-term project (The Halfway Series), loosely based on the G1 Bionicle series. This was my first time doing a full illustration with background details and framing, but it turned out better than expected. For now, it's just the flats/tone blocking, but I plan to add colour and rendering at some point.

(Click here for a full view of the illustration)

More about this Illustration:

I always liked the idea of Nokama representing the moon. The moon and water are interconnected, with the tides directly influenced by the moon's gravity. Its presence in the sky is calming, persistent, gentle, and comforting. It shifts and changes through its phases yet still remains present.

Not so the stars. Stars in the night sky are constantly in flux and change. New ones light up the night sky while old ones collapse into oblivion and die. The Earth rotates and shifts with the seasons, the planets change their alignments, and what was once visible becomes hidden and vice versa. The stars appear cold and distant, their nature indifferent and inconsistent.

Wouldn't one whose sole purpose was to pursue them slowly become like them?

The Man Nolokai (Nuju) is a prestigious religious astronomer ("Seeker") who had spent his life in solitude searching for answers written in the stars. His fear of making uninformed and inaccurate choices in life, which would ultimately cause harm to those closest to him, causes him to become obsessively consumed by his work. His dedication to predicting and preventing fatal disasters leads him to radical self-isolation and physical harm; however, he's so blinded by his pursuit of knowledge that he fails to see how his own inaction is causing the destruction he is so desperately trying to prevent. (Bleeding eyes and falling stars)

The Woman

Noeli (Nokama) is a Blessed Vessel, High Priestess, and accomplished religious alchemist who has always been a guiding, stable, emotional support for Nolokai, even amidst his chronic self-isolating tendencies (she represents the moon, dressed in a sea of stars).

However, the pain and grief Nolo has caused her from his emotional abandonment and self-destruction in the name of knowledge will become too much for Noeli to bear, and she will eventually fade from his life. (Her see-through arms, star tears, and inability to touch him.) She reaches down to him, melting the cage of ice he surrounds himself in once more. The question is: Will he return to reality -- return to her -- before it's too late?

#bionicle #bionicle au #character design #concept art #art nouveau #the halfway #the halfway project #humanized bionicle #water and ice #moon and stars #fantasy religion #portfolio 2023 #colour flats #star crossed lovers #nokama #nuju

[daily-fantasy-ideas]

Lotta religions across our world have some kind of storm god fighting and killing a big fuck-off snake thing.

So like . . . put that in your thing maybe.

Could also have snakes be weak to lighting . . . or maybe resistant to it so they can't get their snutts (snake butts) kicked in the same way again, idk the decisions are yours to make.

#fantasy ideas #fantasy setting #fantasy religion #swearing

[lsdoiphin]

Ancha is a character in Forever Gold, an IF RPG I'm developing with my wife @broncoburro.

More specifically though, Ancha is the High Sybil of the Cerostian faith. (So, she's the rough equivalent to "pope.") However, the Tri-Kingdom of Vestur is going through a bit of an Enlightenment phase, and so the job may be less eventful than you're imagining. Sure, it's still her job to channel prophecies for the crown, but the average Vesturian is less into religion than past generations. Her duties to the public are more ceremonial than anything nowadays... but that's fine by her. She did her time wrangling controversies and issuing religious edicts earlier in her career.

Besides, lower demand for her religious guidance leaves her with more time to spend with Prince Oscar and Prince Lucas, whom she practically raised after the death of their mother. She cares for the two boys like her own.

#verse: forever gold #oc: ancha #guest oc: oscar #guest oc: lucas #fantasy setting #fantasy religion #worldbuilding #oc ask #answered ask #askblog

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Hi!! this is a kinda random question, but I was just thinking about it. So we know that the Druskelle (and presumably most of Fjerda) are bigoted, racist, etc.. Does that stem from their culture and like the wars and stuff or is that part of their religion? I guess hypothetically could Matthias/Maya/your other Fjerdan ocs have corrected their prejudices and still believed in Djel or do the two beliefs contradict? Just wondering what your take is :)

Hi, thanks for the ask!

I absolutely adore religion in the Grishaverse and a while ago I wrote quite a long analysis on Matthias and Inej's relationship with their respective religions, mostly focusing on Djel since I feel I know more about Fjerdan religion than Ravkan having read the soc duology a lot more times than the other books, and I talked quite a bit about some of these things so I'll link that here in case anyone is interested and below I'll put a couple of quotes from that more specifically pertaining to what you've said here. Essentially, I believe that the Drüskelle order is a cult and represents a warped version of Fjerdan religion and that Matthias' journey of self-discovery and of learning to find the version of Djel that he believes in and that aligns with who he wants to be is one of the most beautifully written character arcs I have ever read.

Some quotes from my previous analysis:

"Theoretically, the Drüskelle are raised (forced) to believe the same basic principles of the religion that most of the religious people in the country are [...] However, what’s taken completely further is that the Drüskelle are told that the only way to be truly respected by their god is to take decisive action against Grisha people for their power, because it’s “demonic” and a warping of Djel’s gifts. Now first of all, none of the religious teachings we learn about as the reader even remotely suggest this, which suggest that it’s a baseless prejudice for which religion has been used as an excuse for so long that it’s become culturally ingrained and believed."

"Matthias even shows particular pride that he was personally told the secret of the second glass bridge by Jarl Brum himself"

"And this is the thing, ok, because by claiming that Djel will show the boys the path and then telling them himself (!!!!!!!!) Brum is claiming far more power than a servant of Djel and or Fjerda. No, now he turns himself into a messenger of Djel, a prophet if you will, just to reaaaalllly double down on that religious trauma he’s giving these kids. He is putting himself into the Messiah-like position; he’s saying that Djel sent him to them to tell them that they must kidnap and kill people to earn his love."

"in his own practice Matthias would appear to see Djel as a benevolent god"

"presented himself as a Messiah-like figure and effectively forced these young boys to believe that betraying him is akin to betraying Djel"

Okay I'm restraining myself from adding more to that list because I'm just sitting here reading through the original analysis going "ooo add that" "and that" "that too" and I'll just end up copy and pasting the whole thing if I carry on like this, so if you'd like to read more I should've linked it at the top :)

I'm gonna talk a bit about Djel and relationship with religion in terms of my Fjerdan OCs here, if anyone is interested but hasn't read the fic you don't have to have done to follow the religion info but it's worth knowing that it's set almost entirely in Ketterdam and takes place nearly 10 years after Crooked Kingdom :)

For my Fjerdan OCs religion is very much on my mind whenever I'm writing them, and I find it a very interesting thing to consider. So, I have three Fjerdan OCs in Daughter of the Rain and Snow: Maya, a Tidemaker and our titular character, Celina, a deceased (pre-events of the fic) otkazat'sya whose body was burned and who therefore cannot reach Djel, and Fiona, a Heartrender who lost her relationship with religion a long time ago and has no interest in taking it up again. I'm going to start with Fiona because I haven't really explored her relationship with Djel very much since she has had less scenes than the others thus far, but I tend to have quite fleshed out backstories for my side characters even if they don't make it into the story lol

Fiona is 22 during the events of the fic and has been working with Inej and the crew of the Wraith for almost four years. She made her way to Ketterdam at 17 after her family discovered she was Grisha and threw her out. In a desperate attempt to flee Fjerda - and notably not knowing any Kerch language - she signed an indenture contract with a Kerch merchant who offered her safe passage to the country. She did not know what she was signing, and her contract was written in Kerch, but she just wanted to get out of Fjerda as quickly as possible and this seemed like her only option. She was freed and ended up working with Inej when she was 18. Fiona had battled with her relationship with Djel for a long time after discovering she was Grisha and keeping it secret, but when her parents learnt the truth and started abusing her and eventually turned her out with nowhere to go and no protection to be found she adopted atheism completely, akin to the way Kaz and Wylan found their atheism. -

“Saints speed,” she said to Inej, who echoed the words she knew were said for her benefit alone.

Fiona had given up on Djel, the god she was raised with, and had no interest in taking up another. (Chapter 8) (I feel so weird quoting my own writing)

Religion is very much at the forefront of everything I write considering Maya and Celina, particularly since Celina only appears as a character in Maya's POV chapters (she exists more as a concept to Kaz, Inej, and Aimee, who connect her to things she represents to each of them but whom they never knew as a real person). Maya battling her relationship with Djel is very much in the forefront of the story and one of my favourite chapters is when she goes back to the tree she cut down in anger and prays for it; the chapter is essentially a long monologue of Maya talking to Djel and voicing every side of her argument out loud. I won't list everything here but I'll add this quote from the chapter:

“I’ve tried it every way,” she whispered, failing to fight the sobs that were growing in her throat, “I ignored it, I tried not to use it, I used it for others, I used it for myself, I used it for You. And I have somehow failed You every time. Maybe I deserve to burn now, but they say you are born Grisha. Did You really look at me and always know I would deserve to burn? From the very moment I was born? Perhaps this is all I am in Your grand tapestry of destiny; a game for You to play, a doll that You can take apart and stitch together at wrong angles. I am a broken toy that can be discarded and burnt whilst the world moves on as though I were never here. I made the wrong choices, but I thought they were the only ones left. You could have let me stay at home. You could have let her live - let both of them live. And I never would have done anything like this. I’m so sorry…” her voice broke and she felt the tears flooding over her cheeks as she collapsed over the ruined tree trunk and cried into its empty flesh, “I’m so sorry,” (Chapter 66 on tumblr, chapter 67 on AO3)

And the chapter ultimately ends with Maya asking Djel to teach her how to deserve forgiveness from Inej and the other characters for everything she'd done, or to at least teach her how to forgive Him.

I think one of the most important aspects of religion in terms of this and in terms of Maya and Celina's relationship with each other is that even though Celina knows Maya is a Tidemaker neither of them ever talk about it and Maya reached a point where she was actively afraid to bring it up because she didn't know how Celina felt about Grisha and she didn't want to jeopardise not only what is the only relationship she has with anyone right now but arguably what is the first relationship she's ever had that wouldn't be considered abusive (her relationship with her father is kinda up in the air, I know, but considering that he sold her I don't think it's a spoiler to say I hate that man's guts even though y'all have a little bit more to learn about him yet) since realistically Celina was the only person she had a real conversation with for three years and the only other people she spoke to in that time would be clients, Yennefer, and occasionally other girls at the Tulip Mill. Maya even saw Yennefer's death more as vengeance for Celina than she did for herself, saying that Yen's death was for Celina and Kaz's death would be for her before she finds out that Kaz was partially responsible for Celina's death in the worldview that she holds - and as Kaz considers himself no less responsible for her death than Rollins was for Jordie's. I don't know if I'm explaining it quite right but the fear that Maya developed surrounding other people's perspective on Grisha power preventing her from being able to share her feelings with Celina I found a really heart-wrenching detail to write and I was definitely hoping to present the idea that even if religiously the ideas don't contradict - considering that we see Celina adapt her belief in Djel to say that anything that she does at the Tulip Mill will be forgiven because she has no choice over it - culturally speaking it's still such a complex and difficult thing to move past that Maya isn't even sure she can ever express it to the only person she trusts, and I also hoped to touch on this idea with the flashbacks to the Ravkan boy at the Grisha workshop with Maya who didn't trust her because she was Fjerdan even though she was Grisha and had literally fled Drüskelle and her home country

Anyway I hope this made sense, it's starting to feel very rambly and random, and I hope that it was interesting to read. Thanks so much for teh ask and for your interest in the fic! <33

#maya olsen oc #six of crows #grishaverse #crooked kingdom #leigh bardugo #six of crows fic #six of crows duology #kanej fic #asks #grishaverse religion #djel #fjerda #druskelle #my ocs #matthias helvar #fantasy religion

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

How to train your Drake, Ch1

TWs for this chapter: self-harm (for religious reasons), religious trauma (also for religious reasons), lies, manipulation, and possessive behavior (not religious, actually)

Stay safe everyone!

Marinette had trained in the art of the blade for months, had heeded the townspeople’s warnings of flames and danger, had made the treacherous trek through a land filled with criminals, had balanced on the precarious bridge spanning between the world she knew and the one that belonged solely to the dragon, had climbed one of the tallest towers to get a good vantage point…

She had not been prepared to find a random, hot guy at the top of the tower.

Hot in temperature, maybe, as it pertained to the fire that the hulking beast could spew, but not… an attractive person, sitting at a desk, his long hair just barely falling into his face despite how often he pushed it aside, his shirt sliding down one of his shoulders, and sharp eyes that found her before she could even make a sound.

His gaze zeroed in on her sword, still outstretched in front of her.

She hesitated, unsure, before slowly lowering the weapon.

“Uh — I —…” she cleared her throat, awkward. She had not been prepared to pull on her persona (it wasn’t like a dragon she was either going to kill or die to would care if she acted ‘knightly’), but she could improvise! “Fear not! I’ll make sure you get out of here safely!”

For a moment, the stranger stared at her.

And then he smiled, resting his head in his hand. “Yeah?”

“Of course!” She bit her lip, glad that her armor covered her face. Honestly, she hadn’t heard a thing from her mentor about a potential captive, and that worried her more than she’d ever admit aloud. “Are you aware of any other people that may be in this castle?”

“Not any that I know of,” he said easily. “Couldn’t hurt to check, though.”

“That’s a sound plan,” she said. “Come with me, I’ll protect you.”

He snickered, even as he got to his feet and walked over. “You don’t have to be all formal, you know.”

She felt heat rise to her cheeks. “Perhaps not, but it is my job.”

“I won’t tell,” he said, smiling, holding out a finger as if for a pinky promise.

She glanced down at it, hesitating. Considering he had been locked up in this tower for who knows how long, he probably didn’t need his first interaction with a non-dragon to be quite so stiff.

“… okay.” Hesitantly, she lifted her visor to send him a slightly nervous smile in return. “I can’t do that, though, my armor will pinch your fingers.”

“I think I can handle it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe, but you shouldn’t have to.”

He tilted his head to the side as if considering that — or, maybe, considering her — before giving a small hum. “If you say so.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, his eyes gleaming with something she couldn’t quite decipher. “You can call me Tim.”

‘You can call me Tim’... the specific wording threw her off. Why did it sound like that wasn’t his real name?

Perhaps he was a faerie.

She looked him over again, this time with a far more critical eye. He had the right number of teeth, but they were slightly too sharp, as if he had only ever eaten meat, but this wasn’t particularly damning, as the whole reason the town had sent her had to do with the dragon stealing their livestock. His nails, too, were sharper than they probably should be, though she didn’t count any extra fingers. He radiated a slight heat, to the point where she might have normally worried that he had a fever. His eyes, though normal in color, seemed just a little too bright – not only reflecting the light of the room, but glowing from within.

But the main giveaway as to when someone was other was that they were often too perfect. Without a single pore or blemish in sight.

And that definitely described the person in front of her.

Why would a fae be here, though?

She recalled stories of faerie granting gold and fortune to those that they liked… perhaps they had a mutual agreement going on – gold for protection. Still, that didn’t explain why the fae might be staying there full-time.

Maybe ‘Tim’ was indebted to the dragon in some way? Or it had his True Name?

Either way, she couldn’t risk giving him hers.

She smiled, doing a tiny salute. “I’m Mari, I’ll be playing the part of your savior for the day.”

He snickered. “Not using your real name. Smart. But I don’t want to call you something untrue.”

“I don’t think giving you my True Name would be in my best interest,” she said.

“Well, then, lead the way, ‘Savior’.”

She was less than happy to do so. She would much rather stay here, bantering with Tim, than go back to braving the depths of the castle. She had yet to see the dragon, and it was putting her on edge.

Admittedly, the castle was huge, and she had heard that the dragon was relatively small, only having survived this long thanks to its speed and supposed cunning, so this wasn’t too surprising. Just unnerving.

And it didn’t help that she was quickly tiring. Her armor was heavy and bulky — it had to be, in order to be effective against a dragon’s claws and teeth — and she wished they had let her wear something more form-fitting because lugging it around was exhausting. Not to mention that, if the dragon ever happened to round a corner, she wouldn’t be able to run fast enough to dodge any of its flames, and the metal would only help it cook her alive.

Her only real chance of survival was Tim, really… and that was only if she assumed that faerie could be hurt by flames, and that the dragon would hesitate to send any their way because of it.

Basically, her chances of survival weren’t high.

Not a fun thing to think about. Especially not when she was suddenly aware of the fact that she must check every room from now on for other people that might have been taken by the dragon, and that she might end up finding said dragon instead.

“How’d you end up stuck here, anyways?” Marinette asked, partially because the silence was a little awkward when he wouldn’t stop staring at her like a puzzle he needed to solve, and partially because she just needed to distract herself from a possible impending doom.

“Dragons are possessive creatures, as I’m sure you know. If they want something, they’ll have it. Even if that ‘something’ is a human, so long as they’re precious enough.”

He glanced to the side, nerves creeping across his expression for the first time.

She bumped her shoulder with his playfully, and his expression immediately brightened.

“Oh? And what’d you do to get a dragon’s attention?” she teased.

He pressed a hand to his heart, giving a mock gasp of offense. “Excuse you, I like to think I’m plenty charming!”

She tipped her head back in a laugh, only for her smile to quickly fall. She cast her eyes around, silently praying that she hadn't accidentally alerted the dragon to her presence.

He noticed, his own eyes narrowing just slightly.

“You know… for a knight, you don’t seem particularly ‘knightly’.”

She snorted. “I think you’re calling me a coward, but I’m choosing to take that as a compliment.”

“It is one,” he confirmed, winking. “Knights are my least favorite kind of person.”

Her expression twisted. “Why?”

“I think that’s kind of obvious,” he said, glancing down briefly to step over an empty armor set delicately, careful not to so much as bump it. “You guys are kind of annoyingly persistent.”

“It’s not really by choice,” she defended, once again wishing her own armor were off, if only so she could cross her arms over her chest. “It’s not like we all want to go on suicide missions.”

He gave her a mildly skeptical look. “Really? You’re not doing it for honor, or riches?”

“I mean… some people are, probably. I know the last person, Otis Cesaire, volunteered because one of his cattle was stolen and he was pissed off,” she said.

Tim hummed. “I can get that. I’d be pretty annoyed, too.”

Marinette, privately, disagreed. She had never much cared for material possessions, and the cow had been old, certainly not worth dying over. But to each their own.

She eyed the gold coins littering the floor, careful not to step on any for fear of the metal clinking against her armor and damaging one of them, which would definitely land her on the dragon’s To Burn Alive list (assuming she wasn’t already on it). More and more precious things could be found in this area, and she thought it was safe to assume that the dragon’s lair was somewhere nearby because of this.

With that in mind, she grabbed Tim by the hand and immediately steered him away. She’d check that last, and only after she had ensured he was safely somewhere else. Anywhere else.

Tim looked at their interlocked hands and immediately added his other one, allowing her to lead him along with a brilliant smile.

She couldn’t fully bring herself to match the expression.

“Trust me, pretty much no one wants to die a fiery death. Most of us only come here because we were drafted.”

“Oh,” was all he said, but there was something darker in his expression now. Or maybe that was just because his eyes seemed to be glowing even brighter, making the rest of his face look darker in comparison. Regardless, there was something Other, something wild, in his gaze when he met hers again. He gripped her armored hand tighter. “They won’t hurt you again,” he promised.

She gave him a wry smile. “I thought I was the ‘Savior’ here. Shouldn’t I be telling you that?”

He huffed. “Fine, we can protect each other, then.”

“Oh, how terrible, you’re under the protection of a knight,” she said, rolling her eyes with a tiny smile. “I’m so mean for… ah, let’s see what my crime is… right! Doing my job.”

“You are! How dare you!”

She snickered. “Okay, okay, I get it. You don’t like knights or whatever. But I wouldn’t be here if the draft hadn’t made me, so you can’t be that mad about my job, right?”

He hummed, considering this. And then shook his head. “Nah. I’m choosing to hate the humans who sent you here and thank the gods for letting me meet you.”

The next door she had been about to look through swung open on its own, and Tim gave an abrupt laugh at the sight of whatever was inside.

She peeked around the frame, and wasn’t entirely surprised by what she saw:

An altar.

Whether this room had originally been devoted to a god, or it had been swapped with another one in the castle for the sake of the ‘thanks’ that Tim had promised, she was unsure. But it didn’t matter either way.

Marinette wasn’t particularly surprised to see one, even here. She had yet to meet anyone, human or Other, that didn’t, at the very least, have a patron god. Nor was she shocked that the runes etched into the wall above the window said it was devoted to Plagg, the god of destruction and chaos and bad luck, for Other beings tended to love the god, and he loved them. She had never really been sure whether the prayers to the god were supposed to prevent them from facing his wrath, or if the people praying to him wished to invoke his wrath upon their enemies.

He wasn’t her patron, wasn’t even a popular god among humans due to his fickle nature, so forgive her for being a little uninformed.

Tim stepped inside, and she watched him take careful, practiced steps toward the knife sitting on the table. The blade was clean, though Marinette knew you weren’t supposed to clean ritual knives yourself, which meant… Plagg actually listened to the people in this castle’s prayers.

Or, at least, he was willing to stop by and take their offerings.

Tim pushed his sleeves up over his shoulders, and then gingerly picked up the knife. He tipped his head back to look at her. “You coming?”

Well, she wouldn’t risk snubbing a god by leaving their altar empty.

Slowly, hesitantly, she removed her armor. The dragon likely wouldn’t attempt to kill her in a holy place, she would have sanctuary there, but she wasn’t safe while just outside of it. Unfortunately, she couldn’t take the armor off inside, either, as being armed in a holy place, especially one belonging to a god she had never sacrificed to before, could and would be taken as a threat.

But the dragon didn’t come, and she was finally freed. She breathed a sigh of relief, the cool castle air like a balm even through her bodysuit. She stretched stiff, tired muscles.

And then she walked over, rolling up her sleeves. Her right arm, dedicated solely to her patron, had a single scar trailing down the entirety of her forearm, the line still perfectly straight despite how many offers she had given over the years. Her left arm, however, was devoted to the gods she gave offerings to out of courtesy – she wasn’t theirs, and they weren’t hers, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t a level of respect there (and, besides, you never know when you’re going to need to call in a favor that your patron might not have dominion over, so sacrificing is always in your best interest). A series of lines, similar to tally marks, lay in her skin. Some were deeper, such as the one dedicated to Kaalki and another to Wayzz, while Trixx’s line was so thin she had to squint to see it.

She noted, absently, that Tim had only one mark on his left arm, though it was a shockingly deep line. She wondered who he treated as a secondary patron, even if it was often seen as rude to ask after someone else’s relationship with the gods.

Tim caught her staring, and she flushed a little, but his eyes flicked over her arms as well. “Who’s your patron?”

Or not, apparently.

She supposed it made sense for someone that was Other to not really mind that societal convention. Why would you care to hide your patron, when almost everyone already knew who it was?

“Ask me again when we’re not in Plagg’s domain,” she said, smiling weakly. “You might get an answer then.”

His eyes gleamed. “Fine then, keep your secrets,” he joked lightly.

She rolled her eyes. “Just give me the knife,” she said, sticking her hand out.

He handed it over, and she looked over her left arm for a good spot. After making sure that she was positioned well over the table, she sliced a new, neat line into her skin.

It wasn’t a particularly enjoyable experience, offering, but it wasn’t supposed to be. It was supposed to be a sacrifice, a show of devotion. If it didn’t hurt, then what was stopping people from simply tearing themselves open over every altar in hopes of as many blessings as possible?

She had heard of people who did it regardless, and she had heard that it never went well for them, anyway. If you’re willing to devote yourself to every god, are you really devoted to any of them?

She tipped her head forward in a silent recognition of the god, and then handed off the knife to Tim.

He was much less careful, dragging the blade down his arm almost carelessly, which she supposed made sense for Plagg, even if she could not personally imagine herself doing it.

As expected, he closed his eyes in a proper prayer. She looked down at the altar to give him some semblance of privacy, watching Tim’s blood join her own. At first glance, his blood was completely normal, but the moment it was next to hers it became clear that there was something off about it. The color was a shade too orange, the light of the setting sun streaming through the window bounced off of it just a little too much.

Tim gave a contented sigh, unclenching his fist and turning his arm to face the ceiling to somewhat keep the blood trapped inside. She wondered, absently, what Plagg did to tell his patrons that he had heard them. She usually felt a rush of warmth when her patron wanted her to know that she was listening, but she knew other gods had different signs.

Tim walked around the back of the altar to grab some bandages.

Normally, she would refuse to be treated first, as Tim had offered far more, but the blood welling on his arm wasn’t quite as bad as it probably should have been. She wasn’t sure whether this was Plagg’s doing, or if Other creatures simply had faster healing rates than humans.

Either way, when he told her to stick her arm out, she did so without complaint. However, she did complain a little when she realized that Tim wasn’t going to stop looping bandages around her arm until he ran out.

“Humans aren’t that fragile,” she said, though she didn’t really try to stop him from looping the roll of bandages around her another three times before deciding it was enough.

He only grinned at her and offered the much-depleted roll, holding his only barely bleeding arm out expectantly. She hummed as she worked her way up and down his arm in a practiced motion.

Her town had been full of devout followers, with an altar in almost every home, and many temples dotted liberally between the houses beyond that. Marinette herself had always been particularly religious, spotted visiting a temple as often as she could without bleeding out.

It hadn’t helped keep the dragon away from our livestock, a traitorous part of her mind whispered. It hadn’t prevented me from getting picked.

She shook her head to clear the thought.

The gods were kind. They were millions of years old, they had no reason to help people. They asked for very little in return. She closed her eyes, reminding herself that everyone questions the gods from time to time, and that it is only through questioning that your faith can truly become stronger.

Even now, the stinging in her arm had muted to a dull tingling sensation, and Plagg wasn’t even her patron. He didn’t have to help her through her pain, he simply chose to. It was likely that their skin would heal over the moment that the wounds were fully out of sight, even the more fickle gods weren’t likely to let their believers bleed out, if not out of compassion then at least because they didn’t want to lose their steady stream of offerings.

She tied off the bandage and then set the roll down on the altar, glancing outside. The sun was gone, now, and it was a starless night, leaving the only light in the room to come from the faint glow that came from within Tim’s irises, only a little more than a foot away, fixed solely on her. It was quiet in the room, save for the torches flickering in the hallway outside and the quiet drip-dripping of blood beginning to slide off of the altar table.

Marinette lifted a hand to cup his cheek, her thumb trailing beneath his eye. A hand covered her own, his face leaning into her touch.

“What… are you?” she asked.

He hesitated, his gaze flicking away briefly, before his eyes found their way back to his own. “A fae,” he admitted.

She hummed lightly. “Is that why I’m so enchanted by you?”

“Well, I do like to think I’m pretty charming,” he joked once again. “But, I promise, I’m not enchanting you.”

“And fae can’t lie,” she said.

He smiled. “Exactly.”

She pulled him down for a kiss, smiling when he kissed back just as eagerly. Arms wrapped themselves around her tightly, dragging her in close, and she was happy to reciprocate, her free hand sliding into his hair.

And if the slightly-too-sharp nails dug into her, just a hair too possessive, then she didn’t notice.

>>>>>

Next part

#i hyperfixated again... #maribat #timari #timinette #timmari #fantasy #dragons #knights #fantasy religion #tim drake #red robin #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #shutterbug

[killemwithkillness]

07/25/2023

Thinking about how part of my deconstruction journey was when I added a fake religion to my fantasy book, then had the uncomfortable realization of how easy it is to just make up an entire half-assed religion on the spot because it didn’t sound all that different from what I believed in real life. 

Now I’m an agnostic atheist who gives their characters religious trauma.  Write what you know I guess lol

#deconstruction #religious deconstruction #deconversion #exvangelical #deconstructing christianity #religious trauma #fantasy religion #fantasy book #debut author #political fantasy #religious fantasy #adult fantasy #fantasy reader #fantasy writer

[cmrosens]

Fantasy Religions: Rethinking Hell & Prayer

I'm creating a fantasy hellscape and death realms so I had some thoughts about that for worldbuilding:

What happens if your hellscape isn't a place of punishment? What alternatives are there to "punishment" as a concept, and what does that say about your fantasy religious system(s) and so on?

like: I'm using a system where it's about how you die. It literally doesn't matter what you were like as a person, if you die in a specific way, you go to the corresponding realm of the dead and you're at the mercy of whoever's realm that is. If they are pretty nice and the place is the one everyone wants to get into, you may need to convince the gatekeeper to let you in when you get there, but that's doable. Also people might then try and manipulate their deaths to fulfil the criteria for getting where they want to go.

It's also fun because then people can go to hellscapes (various) even if they don't deserve it, and what happens then? Can they escape? Can they journey through and find a way out? Can everyone?

Do/how do prayers function in this system?

Are people praying to a deity that can hear them?

How do they try and get said deity's attention and why is that meant to work?

If the deity/deities are very annoyed by the prayers of the living and have deliberately made it difficult for prayers to reach them, what then?

Or, is it more that the living require someone to open a channel of communication so they can be heard, and this also helps the souls of the dead in some way?

Can prayers benefit the dead? How and when?

Can the dead pray for themselves/for the living, so it operates in reverse?

I'm going with the system where you can't pray for yourself, that's an alien concept, because the person who prays becomes a conduit or a channel for somebody else. They have to try and make their mind go blank with repetition of words given to them by the wind - which carries the voices of the restless dead, who died without anyone to pray for them and open a road for them to travel on - and in that moment of blankness, the soul they are praying for can cross over from life to their appropriate death realm. If you don't have someone to pray for you like this, your soul joins the wind forever, and you are just a whisper bringing warnings and bad news to people, and telling them what to pray for everyone else.

This is based on the old folklore that you can hear the voices of the dead on the wind, I think it pops up in Flemish folklore in some form, but also I've heard it elsewhere. I just adapted it.

From this, you can build outwards and work out fantasy religions and philosophy and ideology. Just keep asking questions, layer on layer, and see where this goes, as your answers are the scaffolding and the shape will grow from those first decisions you make.

Like, ok, what's the terminology for these concepts and processes (do they even have words like 'hell' and 'prayer')? How do these terms show up in the language and casual conversation - idioms like "he hasn't got a prayer" or "not a hope in Hell" wouldn't work if prayer isn't something that's synonymous with 'chance this will work out', because in this world, the idea of asking for something in prayer doesn't exist.

So in my world, for example, 'he hasn't got a prayer' wouldn't mean 'he doesn't stand a chance', it means, 'he's going to join the restless dead because he's got no one to pray for him'. That might be used for a very unpopular person: he's so bad, he hasn't got a prayer. (He's such a bad person that he hasn't got anyone who will pray for him when he dies). Or, a very lonely, isolated person: I think that's so sad - living alone without a prayer.

Similarly, if there's no Hell, then all the idioms that use "Hell" as a place of punishment no longer apply, and if there's no equivalent, then "not a hope in Hell" would have to be retired and swapped out for something else that does make sense in this world instead.

Conversely, "living on a prayer" like Bon Jovi would mean "selling my ability to pray for you", like a service that people offer so you don't join the wind, or go to the wrong death realm, or that you'll get passed the gatekeeper if a prayer operates like a ticket to enter, or whatever this might mean in your world.

If this is something that can happen, how are these people seen - as necessary to the community, or as unscrupulous opportunists? Bit of both? There's a whole interesting series of characters you could develop from just that concept, which might draw parallels with the sin-eater figure. And what happens if someone who doesn't deserve a lovely afterlife pays someone to pray for them so that they get entry into a lovely death realm?

There's a lot to play with when you just take one idea away, and try to swap it for something else. In this case: Hell isn't a place of punishment, so what is it then, and does it exist at all, and if not, what is there instead and how does it work?

That's a good place to start with building fantasy religions. I've already done a few other posts on my thoughts there!

#fantasy world #fantasy worldbuilding #writers on tumblr #writeblr #fantasy #fantasy writing #fantasy religion #dark fantasy #high fantasy #modern fantasy #medieval fantasy #urban fantasy #world building #worldbuilding #thought dump #writetip #writing tips #writing prompt #writing process

[deramin2]

In analyzing the religious colonization, law enforcement, and bullying that Critical Role C3 E60 showed, I think it's important to remember that Essek's objections weren't the The Luxon itself, but to the institutions of worship around it and their zealotry.

Essek was motivated by that distaste, and that's what Ludinus used to manipulate him into stealing the beacon (both treason and heresy under a theocracy), but he never really explored that directly. He just wanted to be away from it.

But in Hearthdell we're getting a direct confrontation from an entire town that feel subjugated not by the Dawnfather directly, but by his follower's actions.

In this context it doesn't matter what The Downfather does or wants, it's about what's being done in his name. And that's an aspect of religion in Exandria that hasn't been gotten into much in Critical Role.

In general followers of good gods have been generally assumed to have positive effects. Even the Dwendalian Empire restricting religious practice was largely depicted as being about state power and control. The Kryn Dynasty was also about state power.

But this is about an institutional religious order exerting their control over the religious practices of a region through the civilian power of wealthy patrons and using temple building and missionaries to exert social control.

It doesn't matter if they're logically holding up the teachings and domains of The Dawnfather himself, just like our real world has many large churches that claim to stand for a profit's teachings and then do the opposite. That's a compelling story to me.

CR C3 E60 2:21:23 Orym: "I find the followers are often a bigger problem that the gods themselves, depending on the interpretation. I'm not a very religious man."

#Critical Role #Critical Role Spoilers #Critical Role Campaign 3 #Religion #Fantasy Religion

[land-of-candy]

A Perfect Garden

#citricia #fantasy religion #candyland #mother of the sour

[limbobilbo]

The Gods and Religion in The Lands of Night

So I get really obsessed with fictional religions and put a lot of thought into the religion for my fantasy world, the lands of night. I’ve posted about it before but for a refresher: the sun went dark about 200 years ago and everything is kind of shit.

So without further ado, heres the religions and gods

The God Sons:

The God Sons is a traditional fantasy polytheistic faith. Their theology begins thousands of years ago when the parts of One God (who’s name is the symbol above which is unpronounceable so its called One God) awoke to sentience, becoming the 12 God Sons and in the process killing One God. God Sons worship in temples and have a large cannon of myths.

Javen, The King, first son, lord of order: Javen was (supposedly) the first of the Aspects of One God to realise his own sentience. He takes the role of a celestial king (not to be confused with the Golden King who is a completely different God). Javen is worshipped to maintain order and balance in the universe. He is worshipped by the Church of Alaric. Priests of Javen are all male and are expected to grow full beards.

Lance, The Thunder maker, sky shaker, cloud born: Lance is often depicted as a figure hidden inside the clouds, of sometimes as the sky itself. Lance is one of the lesser worshipped gods. He’s often seen as a representative of natural forces good and bad. Lance is not worshipped by the Church of Alaric. Priests of Lance, sometimes called cloudbearers, are known for their loud displays of worship frequently ringing huge bells and performing loud public hymns. As a result of this temples to Lance are not often placed in cities.

Sulgan, the eternal mother, the lady of life: Sulgan is often shown as Javen’s wife and/or sister it depends on the church. She is a preserver who is prayed to for goodness in life. (She was also the actual first aspect to be aware but that not spoken about). Sulgan is worshipped by the church of Alaric and is seen as Alaric’s spiritual mother. Sulgan’s Priests are both male and female however male priests are explicitly seen as less close to Sulgan, instead leading public prayer as well as performing labour and scribing work in temples of Sulgan.

Adwe, the stalwart, the knight of the gods, the armoured: Adwe is often depicted as an armoured figure wielding a large sword and a smaller dagger. Adwe is viewed as both a god of war but also a general symbol of defence and protection. He is one of the two God Sons associated with childbirth (the other being Sulgan). Priests of Sulgan are female, due to a story where Sulgan hands his dagger to the daughter of a king seeing her potential as a warrior, and are expected to carry a pair of bronze swords and a dagger. The dagger is never meant to be taken off unless it is needed to fight, however it must not leave the priest’s hand. Worshipped by the church of Alaric

Marthem, the martyred sky, the twice dead: Marthem is often depicted as a tall man with black hair, his arms spread out on a horizontal pole (similar to an image of a crucification). Marthem is referred to as ‘twice dead’ due to his first death at the hands of Lance creating the sky itself. His second death was the darkening which is where the idea of him being ‘martyred’. Marthem is not worshipped directly, he instead is often combined in worship with other God Sons (usually Lance) however in these instances of combined worship Marthem usually appears in different aspects. Worshipped by the church of alaric

Osgrey, the many faced, the schemer, thousand voices: Osgrey is often depicted as a figure in a cape and hood with an obscured face. Osgrey is depicted as a trickster god who has a thousand different identities. Osgrey is less publicly worshipped due to their lack of direct influence (except maybe knowledge and trickery). However priests of Osgrey do exist. Colloquially called faceless, priests of Osgrey are raised from young ages as a type of third gender and as adults wear grey face masks and large flowing cloaks. Faceless usually refer to themselves using ‘we’ and other faceless as a plural ‘they’.

Maela, the wise, the joybringer, the patient: Maela is often depicted as a tall woman wielding a baton. Maela is a goddess of plenty as well as craftsmanship, often being depicted as carrying crops. Maela does not tend to have temples or priests however she is one of the most commonly worshipped god sons by regular people as she is associated with manual labour and a lot of work.

Ael and Rel, the giver and taker, the child of life and the lady of death, plenty and few: Ael and Rel are depicted as siblings, with Ael (the brother) being depicted as far physically younger than Rel (the sister). Ael is often depicted a young child with long hair wearing a flowing toga like robe riding on the back or shoulders of his sister Rel, a long haired girl in a leather tunic. Ael and Rel are seen as representations of plenty and few. Despite the negative connotations of the things Rel represents, she is seen as a positive figure as God Sons followers recognise the importance of death in the cycle of life and maintaining of balance. Priests of Ael and Rel fit the gender of their respective God Son, however due to Ael’s depiction as an eternal youth, young men who become priests to him are ritually castrated.

Lemea, the worship taker, the priestess of priests: Lemea is often depicted as a woman dressed the outfit of a priest, with the symbol of One God. Lemea is kind of hard to understand, as she is a god of worship. In God Sons theology, Lemea is responsible for relaying the worship of mortals to the God Sons. As such she is also seen as a messenger god, and is sometimes seen with a courier’s pack. Traditionally an ordained priest of Lemea is meant to inhabit all temples to the other God Sons in order to assist Lemea is the manifestation and delivery of worship.

The Ile (pronounced like eel), the singer of life, the will of the universe: The Ile is not a God Son in a traditional sense, it is seen as an unknowable force that permeates through all life. The Ile is seen by many God Sons worshippers as manifesting physically in the force of the five flames. The church of Alaric do not see the Ile as a God, instead seeing as a seperate force.

A note on the church of alaric:

The church of Alaric is the largest religion in the main region of the lands of night. They were founded soon after the darkening when the squire of the templar Alaric the Sun Lance declared that Alaric was a saviour sent by the God Sons.

The Alaricians (which is the term for the followers rather than the church) believe in a modified version of God Sons theology. This has caused conflict between the two groups.

The Old Spirits: I cant really go into great detail because the old spirits is an umbrella term for basically any god that is not a part of the major religions. One can not say that the nature loving druidic worshippers of The Deer Emperor are followers of the same religion as the human sacrificing violent followers of Mother and Father Wolf.

The Golden King:

The Golden King is the religion of the cities of the Mercantile confederation. The Golden King is seen as a godly personification of riches and plenty. In cities where his worship is common there is usually a statue to him, these statues are often placed publicly and are the focus of the loud public worship of The Golden King. The Golden King is depicted as a crowned smiling man wearing a long flowing cloak. In his right hand he is always depicted as holding a long axe. The two main things that differ in each depiction are his age (ranging from a young boy to an elderly man but most commonly a jolly fat bearded man) and what he holds in his left hand, which is usually a symbol of plenty in the local area, such as fish, wheat or livestock.

Worship of the Golden King usually involves lots of public performance, feasting, music and displays or worship with most public worship taking place on set feast days. Outside of these days worship often takes place in front of or around a statue of the Golden King.

God Killer Serpent:

The God Killer Serpent is a weird enigma. Its a being worshipped mainly on the foot hills of the spine and some speculate it originates from beyond the mountains. Worshippers of the serpent claim it exists beneath everything and will consume all when the world ends. Much of their worship is very private and worshippers do not often state their beliefs publicly.

The Underweld religion:

Ok so breaking the formal description here. The underweld are a race of subterranean rat people and their religion is too funny to not talk about. The underweld believe that everything and all races on earth were created by a God called MotherFather. MotherFather is destined to destroy everything however they will save whatever race dominates the earth when it is time for it to end. As such the underweld believe all races to be involved in an endless world spanning battle royale called the struggle.

They further believe that dying in service of the struggle frees your soul from your prison of a body and allows you to go to The Great Haven, basically super valhalla. As such Underweld are not afraid to die in battle and will willingly sacrifice themselves for the sake of the struggle. Even an Alarician First Squire would run if they heard 50 voices calling “for the great haven, today we die!” In unison.

Yes I will answer questions

#196 #196 campfire #worldbuilding #world building #fantasy world building #fantasy religion #fantasy worldbuilding #religion crafting #creative writing #writing #long post #lands of night #limbobilbo worldbuilding

[patternwelded-quill]

Aright, WBW round 2! 👑 What are some religious traditions in your setting?

An ironic topic because I'm an athiest but love discussing religions, especially conreligions from stories. Keep in mind this is broad strokes and doesn't get into divergences, minor local beliefs, etc.

Shegid (dwarven) and Ylfari (elven) are similar monotheistic religions that view each other as kin, fellows of the book as it were. Both have their emissary/saint figures, which are different between the races, but believe there's only one creator. Shegid has churches, but is more focused on the community and the personal relationship with their faith/community, while Ylfari is a highly ritualized amd structured form of worship but also an influential church org.

Dryhtnar believe that all beings have souls and all things have spirits, called te'inir, with souls just being those spirits that incarnated. The Eldest is chief among the spirits, the oldest and most powerful, but not necessarily like a king. They accept that all other religions are just worshipping a powerful spirit that wanted to be the only one for some reason, but give them the respect due a spirit if not worship like those churches.

Siegarans worship Sigr as they all father, but he's not monotheistic. They also believe they're directly descended from him, their first generation being demigods. There's also a lot of overlap in belief and ritual with Dryhtnar because both believe that The Eldest's first incarnate student of battle was the first Siegaran, Helga.

The largest organized human-spawned religion is the Triune which rules the Theocracy of Par'mor. Worship of the Threefold God is legally required in country and as highly ritualized, but far more ornate in ceremony, than Ylfari. (It's also, out of universe knowledge, a complete scam by three human gods to gain more worshippers and power over a fourth, which comes into play in a century with the Gods' War.)

#allenson's asks #writblr #worldbuilding #fantasy religion #fantasy #tag games #worldbuilding wednesday #wbw