Post by Kri on Jul 10, 2013 19:26:54 GMT
As with any advanced state and world, I-Megáli has a number of different religions that span, evolve and change with both their geographical positioning, and as time moves on. In this day and age, one particular religion has stepped up to the forefront, the Religion of The Eight.
Religion of The Eight
The religion of Theiotia is named ‘The Religion of the Eight’. They have eight separate gods who each govern their own personal realm and attributes. Each of these gods has their own separate worshippers and temples and every few years an ‘Óla Theós’ is elected from one of the Eight. The head priest of each god convene at the Temple of the Earth in Theiotia where they each make a short presentation stating why their god should be the Óla Theós and what their will shall bring. Once all eight have made their presentation, every priest votes for one god which is not their own, if there is a tie, they vote again and continuously do so until they have a clear winner. The process can last minutes, hours or even days until a new Óla Theós is chosen, upon a clear winner, the new Óla Theós’ priest prepares a festival to celebrate their victory.
The Eight Deities
Agápi Mou – God of Love
Tofos Mou – Goddess of Light
Toskotádi Mou – God of Darkness
Thymós Mou – Goddess of Anger
Ploúto Mou – God of Wealth
Idouleiá Mou – God of Work
Ílios Mou – Goddess of The Sun
Astéria Mou – Goddess of The Stars
The Eight Realms
Each deity is rumored to have their own plane of existence which they rule as their own small kingdom. Here, they have absolute power, and cannot be challenged. Each realm is connected to the sphere of influence that the deity controls. (Note, these are listed in the same order as the deities)
Kardiagi – The Heartland
Vasíleofos – The Lightrealm
Skiáfos – The Shadowrealm
Pólemos Édafos – The War Ground
Chrysós Koiláda – The Gold Valley
Omýlos – The Mill
Iliakí Kilída – Sunspot
Olamperí Ákyro – The Glittering Void
The Stoneheart
The religion of the Dwarven masses within I-Megália, it mostly promotes the idolization and worship of the stone foundations of the world, and in turn reflects upon the Dwarves and their stout nature, refusing to be influenced by the material and cosmetic appearance of the upper layers of the world, and instead remaining steady like the rocks below. They do not have any deities specifically, instead literally worshiping the planet's core as a resolute power which must be respected by all.
Thanks to the massive empire that the Dwarves once controlled, it is not unusual to find worshipers of The Stoneheart outside of Dwarven culture. Former hotspots of Dwarven control have numerous Human and, on rare occasion, Elven followers. This large diversity in its follower base makes it difficult for The Stoneheart religion to have a true leader, thus, most people usually explore The Stoneheart religion in private, away from the prying eyes of others.
The Apófasi̱ Faith
Upon forming the Empire of Ellusia, a task that was deemed impossible, the family of El-Elron declared that their victory was due to their divine intervention, they declared themselves gods among men. When the El-Elron family seized control of the Empire the people in the immediate area of Ellusia bowed to what they believed were gods, however many leaders of different religions in the outer areas did not believe their claim to be true. The Empire signed into law that there was only one true religion and all other religions were immediately declared illegal - causing a rather violent conflict which lasted for about a decade. Their claims as gods are no longer questioned, as the heir to the throne is set through a number of tests that would kill a 'normal' human; including bathing in mana, such thing would normally overwhelm a person. In the current days the Imperial family are more relaxed on opposing religions, governing over a large population that follows both the Stoneheart and the Religion of the Eight.
Their religion states that the great 'Kyríou' descended upon the world to watch over its creations, after centuries of watching countless violent conflicts and false religions grow Kyríou grew very angry. His previous attempts to create a loyal, strong race had failed - the Dragons were his first attempt, he rid the world of them and gave growth to the Humans, Dwarves and Elves. The Dwarves were his second attempt but they begin to follow a false religion, enslaving much of his Human creations. Kyríou became disgusted by the fact Humans began to follow eight false gods, so he sent his agents out to search the land for a host to embody his spirit. One of his agents found a human within Ellusia, a man 'so strong, ambitious but kind as well', they tested him for a great deal of time before Kyríou met him. He was impressed by the man, after finishing his conversation he took off his own left hand - an action that shocked the man - before suddenly limb turned into a beautiful young woman.
'Lay with this woman, protect her and have many children. I will inhabit the strongest of your kin and we will transform this world.' Before vanishing off he demanded that the children's last name must be called El-Elron, that the name will forever become known throughout the world.
It's the El-Elron's destiny to rule over the planet and guide its people to the 'one true faith'.
The biggest religious celebrations is the birthday of the first Emperor, the birthday of the current Emperor/Empress and the fifth of every month it is traditional for somebody to offer a tribute to the local church in honor of the Imperial family.
The Burning Faith
Among the many religions held by the old Zoi Tribes the Burning Faith was one of the largest. They follow one god and recognize two prophets.
The God of Fire - Bāninguman, brought fire to the world, burning away the vile and keeping the good warm during the winters. In their belief, Dragons did not have fire until Bāninguman gifted it to them. To them, Dragons are the holiest of agents, sent to burn away all those deemed vile.
Prophets - Moeru and On'na. Daughters of the fire god, they came in human form to protect the people of Zoi. On'na was killed by her brother, the dark prophet Hualko while Moeru established the first written words of her father to be followed.
Dark Prophet: Hualko, he came to the world with his two sisters but soon became jealous by his sister's powers. He opened the gate to the community they lived in and allowed dark forces to enter in and kill their subjects. He killed On'na before being chased off by Moeru into the Deep Mountains.
The structure of the Burning Faith is no longer centralized since the fall of the T'elva Tribe. It used to have a very structured form with temples all across Zoi. Men are not allowed to serve within the temples, as men - because of Hualko - were deemed untrustworthy to care for the sacred words of Bāninguman. The Maidens of Fire are trained from a young age in the temples, not just to preach the words of their god but to defend it as well. As the T'elva Tribe became the dominant fire tribe across Zoi it became a tradition to take many Maidens of Fire along with their armies for blessings.
T'elva Tribe - As the T'elva Tribe became the most powerful tribe in Zoi, the Burning Faith declared the tribe to be the true protectors of faith. Since then, the Elder of the T'elva Tribe has been granted the title 'Protect of Faith' and it became tradition for the tribal leader to marry a Maiden of Fire.
The Shadow Faith
For centuries have the Skotadian warred against those who believed in the Burning Faith and the primary drive of that is a religious one. The religion goes that Hualko - the 'dark' prophet - came to this world with his sisters to drive the darkness out of Zoi. But what Hualko found was that they were burning and killing one people for the gain of another that was not riotously different. Conflicted by these emotions Hualko begged word with his father, questioning why they pursue this purge so brutally but when he questioned Bāninguman the angry fire god cursed his son and ordered his sisters to kill him.
Hualko gathered up the people who were deemed 'evil' by Bāninguman and fled north into Northern Zoi. The Shadow Faith claim Hualko to be their god, a man caught in eternal war with his father and sisters. His battle rages on between the Skotadians and the believers in the Burning Faith (T'elvians, notably) and that once they are victorious Hualko will return to this world and lead the people into a golden age of prosperity.
The Many Deities
The Bol'shoy have a God or Goddess for everything in existence. There is a God for the sky, a God for the sea, a God for the rocks they walk on and even a God for the Dwarves and Humans.
Generally speaking, there two different categories of gods.
The Environmental Gods
The Sky God – Nebo
The Ground Goddess – Zemlya
The Water Goddess – Voda
These are considered Great Gods. Below are Minor Gods for everything in existence, generally speaking the deity belonging to rocks would be a Goddess because the Great God is a Goddess while the deity of the Falcon would be God because the Great God of sky is a God.
The Ruling Gods
The Bol'shoy uniquely recognize many other gods in the world and assign them to their own religion. For instance because the Stoneheart religion is considered Dwarven the Bol'shoy recognize Zemlya as Goddess of the Dwarves (followers in the Stoneheart religion might find this insulting as it puts a name to their nameless god).
Dwarven Goddess – Zemlya
Human Goddess – Venita El-Elron
Elven Goddesses - Zemlya and Voda
Bol'shoy Goddess – Slavnyy
It's to be noted that the Human Goddess is the only one recognized that's not strictly written about in their religious book and the Bol'shoy detest the fact the Human Goddess walks the world. They believe that if a divine power shows its face among people than they have been cast out of the heavens. Thus, the El-Elrons are not prayed to as Ellusian might do and instead they're looked as a lesser god.
The most important divine power in their religion is the Goddess of the Bol'shoy, Slavnyy. She is honored in a very centralized church that remains highly respected in the region. The High Priest (Pervosvyashchennik) speaks for Slavnyy and – historically speaking – has the power to declare Great Holy Wars. Periodically war in name of the Goddess Slavnyy has plunged the world into violent conflict.
The Elven Religion
(Note: the two names are of the two ruling languages in the Elven islands)
Woda (Víz) – The god of water
Ziema (Föld) - The god of land and sun
Once the two gods of life fought in an eternal war over who would hold the fate of Szulfurld. One day, disgusted by the amount of foreign creatures on the holy land Woda sank the continent below the waters in a fit of rage. However, after doing so, Woda felt so terrible for causing such harm to their people that the two gods met on even terms to discuss the fate of their holy lands. To cease the fighting they established that the lands would be ruled by someone of great intelligence, strength and a just view. They gifted this Szulfurlian the power to channel their abilities of life and made them vow to uphold the integrity of their holy land.
Religion of The Eight
The religion of Theiotia is named ‘The Religion of the Eight’. They have eight separate gods who each govern their own personal realm and attributes. Each of these gods has their own separate worshippers and temples and every few years an ‘Óla Theós’ is elected from one of the Eight. The head priest of each god convene at the Temple of the Earth in Theiotia where they each make a short presentation stating why their god should be the Óla Theós and what their will shall bring. Once all eight have made their presentation, every priest votes for one god which is not their own, if there is a tie, they vote again and continuously do so until they have a clear winner. The process can last minutes, hours or even days until a new Óla Theós is chosen, upon a clear winner, the new Óla Theós’ priest prepares a festival to celebrate their victory.
The Eight Deities
Agápi Mou – God of Love
Tofos Mou – Goddess of Light
Toskotádi Mou – God of Darkness
Thymós Mou – Goddess of Anger
Ploúto Mou – God of Wealth
Idouleiá Mou – God of Work
Ílios Mou – Goddess of The Sun
Astéria Mou – Goddess of The Stars
The Eight Realms
Each deity is rumored to have their own plane of existence which they rule as their own small kingdom. Here, they have absolute power, and cannot be challenged. Each realm is connected to the sphere of influence that the deity controls. (Note, these are listed in the same order as the deities)
Kardiagi – The Heartland
Vasíleofos – The Lightrealm
Skiáfos – The Shadowrealm
Pólemos Édafos – The War Ground
Chrysós Koiláda – The Gold Valley
Omýlos – The Mill
Iliakí Kilída – Sunspot
Olamperí Ákyro – The Glittering Void
The Stoneheart
The religion of the Dwarven masses within I-Megália, it mostly promotes the idolization and worship of the stone foundations of the world, and in turn reflects upon the Dwarves and their stout nature, refusing to be influenced by the material and cosmetic appearance of the upper layers of the world, and instead remaining steady like the rocks below. They do not have any deities specifically, instead literally worshiping the planet's core as a resolute power which must be respected by all.
Thanks to the massive empire that the Dwarves once controlled, it is not unusual to find worshipers of The Stoneheart outside of Dwarven culture. Former hotspots of Dwarven control have numerous Human and, on rare occasion, Elven followers. This large diversity in its follower base makes it difficult for The Stoneheart religion to have a true leader, thus, most people usually explore The Stoneheart religion in private, away from the prying eyes of others.
The Apófasi̱ Faith
Upon forming the Empire of Ellusia, a task that was deemed impossible, the family of El-Elron declared that their victory was due to their divine intervention, they declared themselves gods among men. When the El-Elron family seized control of the Empire the people in the immediate area of Ellusia bowed to what they believed were gods, however many leaders of different religions in the outer areas did not believe their claim to be true. The Empire signed into law that there was only one true religion and all other religions were immediately declared illegal - causing a rather violent conflict which lasted for about a decade. Their claims as gods are no longer questioned, as the heir to the throne is set through a number of tests that would kill a 'normal' human; including bathing in mana, such thing would normally overwhelm a person. In the current days the Imperial family are more relaxed on opposing religions, governing over a large population that follows both the Stoneheart and the Religion of the Eight.
Their religion states that the great 'Kyríou' descended upon the world to watch over its creations, after centuries of watching countless violent conflicts and false religions grow Kyríou grew very angry. His previous attempts to create a loyal, strong race had failed - the Dragons were his first attempt, he rid the world of them and gave growth to the Humans, Dwarves and Elves. The Dwarves were his second attempt but they begin to follow a false religion, enslaving much of his Human creations. Kyríou became disgusted by the fact Humans began to follow eight false gods, so he sent his agents out to search the land for a host to embody his spirit. One of his agents found a human within Ellusia, a man 'so strong, ambitious but kind as well', they tested him for a great deal of time before Kyríou met him. He was impressed by the man, after finishing his conversation he took off his own left hand - an action that shocked the man - before suddenly limb turned into a beautiful young woman.
'Lay with this woman, protect her and have many children. I will inhabit the strongest of your kin and we will transform this world.' Before vanishing off he demanded that the children's last name must be called El-Elron, that the name will forever become known throughout the world.
It's the El-Elron's destiny to rule over the planet and guide its people to the 'one true faith'.
The biggest religious celebrations is the birthday of the first Emperor, the birthday of the current Emperor/Empress and the fifth of every month it is traditional for somebody to offer a tribute to the local church in honor of the Imperial family.
The Burning Faith
Among the many religions held by the old Zoi Tribes the Burning Faith was one of the largest. They follow one god and recognize two prophets.
The God of Fire - Bāninguman, brought fire to the world, burning away the vile and keeping the good warm during the winters. In their belief, Dragons did not have fire until Bāninguman gifted it to them. To them, Dragons are the holiest of agents, sent to burn away all those deemed vile.
Prophets - Moeru and On'na. Daughters of the fire god, they came in human form to protect the people of Zoi. On'na was killed by her brother, the dark prophet Hualko while Moeru established the first written words of her father to be followed.
Dark Prophet: Hualko, he came to the world with his two sisters but soon became jealous by his sister's powers. He opened the gate to the community they lived in and allowed dark forces to enter in and kill their subjects. He killed On'na before being chased off by Moeru into the Deep Mountains.
The structure of the Burning Faith is no longer centralized since the fall of the T'elva Tribe. It used to have a very structured form with temples all across Zoi. Men are not allowed to serve within the temples, as men - because of Hualko - were deemed untrustworthy to care for the sacred words of Bāninguman. The Maidens of Fire are trained from a young age in the temples, not just to preach the words of their god but to defend it as well. As the T'elva Tribe became the dominant fire tribe across Zoi it became a tradition to take many Maidens of Fire along with their armies for blessings.
T'elva Tribe - As the T'elva Tribe became the most powerful tribe in Zoi, the Burning Faith declared the tribe to be the true protectors of faith. Since then, the Elder of the T'elva Tribe has been granted the title 'Protect of Faith' and it became tradition for the tribal leader to marry a Maiden of Fire.
The Shadow Faith
For centuries have the Skotadian warred against those who believed in the Burning Faith and the primary drive of that is a religious one. The religion goes that Hualko - the 'dark' prophet - came to this world with his sisters to drive the darkness out of Zoi. But what Hualko found was that they were burning and killing one people for the gain of another that was not riotously different. Conflicted by these emotions Hualko begged word with his father, questioning why they pursue this purge so brutally but when he questioned Bāninguman the angry fire god cursed his son and ordered his sisters to kill him.
Hualko gathered up the people who were deemed 'evil' by Bāninguman and fled north into Northern Zoi. The Shadow Faith claim Hualko to be their god, a man caught in eternal war with his father and sisters. His battle rages on between the Skotadians and the believers in the Burning Faith (T'elvians, notably) and that once they are victorious Hualko will return to this world and lead the people into a golden age of prosperity.
The Many Deities
The Bol'shoy have a God or Goddess for everything in existence. There is a God for the sky, a God for the sea, a God for the rocks they walk on and even a God for the Dwarves and Humans.
Generally speaking, there two different categories of gods.
The Environmental Gods
The Sky God – Nebo
The Ground Goddess – Zemlya
The Water Goddess – Voda
These are considered Great Gods. Below are Minor Gods for everything in existence, generally speaking the deity belonging to rocks would be a Goddess because the Great God is a Goddess while the deity of the Falcon would be God because the Great God of sky is a God.
The Ruling Gods
The Bol'shoy uniquely recognize many other gods in the world and assign them to their own religion. For instance because the Stoneheart religion is considered Dwarven the Bol'shoy recognize Zemlya as Goddess of the Dwarves (followers in the Stoneheart religion might find this insulting as it puts a name to their nameless god).
Dwarven Goddess – Zemlya
Human Goddess – Venita El-Elron
Elven Goddesses - Zemlya and Voda
Bol'shoy Goddess – Slavnyy
It's to be noted that the Human Goddess is the only one recognized that's not strictly written about in their religious book and the Bol'shoy detest the fact the Human Goddess walks the world. They believe that if a divine power shows its face among people than they have been cast out of the heavens. Thus, the El-Elrons are not prayed to as Ellusian might do and instead they're looked as a lesser god.
The most important divine power in their religion is the Goddess of the Bol'shoy, Slavnyy. She is honored in a very centralized church that remains highly respected in the region. The High Priest (Pervosvyashchennik) speaks for Slavnyy and – historically speaking – has the power to declare Great Holy Wars. Periodically war in name of the Goddess Slavnyy has plunged the world into violent conflict.
The Elven Religion
(Note: the two names are of the two ruling languages in the Elven islands)
Woda (Víz) – The god of water
Ziema (Föld) - The god of land and sun
Once the two gods of life fought in an eternal war over who would hold the fate of Szulfurld. One day, disgusted by the amount of foreign creatures on the holy land Woda sank the continent below the waters in a fit of rage. However, after doing so, Woda felt so terrible for causing such harm to their people that the two gods met on even terms to discuss the fate of their holy lands. To cease the fighting they established that the lands would be ruled by someone of great intelligence, strength and a just view. They gifted this Szulfurlian the power to channel their abilities of life and made them vow to uphold the integrity of their holy land.