The Campaign Builder's Guild

While I hate to have 6 Arga threads going, I figure once I try to compile everything, it will be easier if all the information is at least somewhat organized by topic. Anyhow, as is obvious, this thread deals with the issue of religion in Arga, something I want to get finished so I can move on to other things. Here are key points to keep in mind when reading this, hopefully making things easier to understand.

• This deals only with the religion of the Anthos, and primarily of the "civilized" Anthos: The Narrow Sea cities, the Pellanosi, Mirminas, Mirminox, Oedica, Narae, and the Ullynosi.
• Whether the gods are real or not is unknown in the world, and that's all I'm going to say.
• Religions in Arga are not exclusive.
• There are no "clerics" in Arga.
• Religion has spread and changed in a fairly natural, historical manner. Without meddling gods, things have taken their own course.

That being said, I've superficially divided religions in Arga in three groups.

The first would be the Ancients (still looking for a better name): These are primeval, primordial deities of nature and concepts, abstract and old. Sea gods, sun gods, harvest gods, and death gods would be here. While there is a general "pantheon", it is so varied and different from place to place that it is anything from a unified pantheon of gods. Names are changed, portfolios different, gods forgotten or replaced by something local, etc. These were with the Anthos when they first came from the Unknown East and have spread to most of the current land in one form or another.

The second would be the Mysteries: Adopted religions and cults from other races or evolved lines of the Ancients. For the most part, they are more localized than the Ancients, but some Mysteries are almost universally acknowledged, especially the Tellae Mysteries. The domains of the Mysteries are much more specific than that of the Ancients, usually dealing with a single aspect of civilization, philosophy, warfare, travel, etc. Where the religions of the Ancients are far-flung and open-ended, the Mysteries are strict and private, full of secret rites and initiations, straddling the line between faith and secret society. Mysteries are particulary popular in the Narrow Sea, where East meets West, North meets South, and all manner of creeds and beliefs mix.

The third and last would by the Hero-Cults: Even more localized than the Mysteries, the Hero-Cults would be the unplanned faiths that sprouted up in the wake of the deeds of Heroes. Sometimes they are secret and private like the Mysteries, other times they are open and public. Hero-Cults are especially popular in the Pellanosi.

I'll work on writing a list of a few examples of each soon.

There are no clerics? Then who's in charge of mysteries? There's ought to be some "caste" who got to the highest level and are guiding the freshly initiated people - which would make them technically clerics.

Quote from: Kalontas
There are no clerics? Then who's in charge of mysteries? There's ought to be some "caste" who got to the highest level and are guiding the freshly initiated people - which would make them technically clerics.

haha, well right, that's why I wrote "clerics", in reference to a class that casts spells. But yes, of course there are priests and oracles and clerics, but none of them have any more divine power than a farmer. Does the lay-out make sense?

Couldn't just them knowing special spells taught only on certain level of rites make them clerics mechanics-wise? As in, on higher levels of the mysteries, they're taught spells that for all intents and purposes work like cleric spells.
Of course, if that's your intention to specifically not have any clerics, that's fine.

Quote from: Kalontas
Couldn't just them knowing special spells taught only on certain level of rites make them clerics mechanics-wise? As in, on higher levels of the mysteries, they're taught spells that for all intents and purposes work like cleric spells.
Of course, if that's your intention to specifically not have any clerics, that's fine.

I'm avoiding clerics if I can - I want Arga to be a setting detached from any system of rules. Despite the heavy Greek influences, walking, meddling gods is something I want to avoid. And there are the occasional prophets and holy-men, except where the get their powers is anyone's guess.

I see you and I have a similar direction we want to take religion in our respective settings (ME also doesn't have provable gods though it has many religions). I really liked the more real to life approach of doing that. I feel that it leaves religion as something that is more about defining characters than defining meta character abilities. I can't wait to hear more specifics about the religions and gods. I think probably my favorite would be the hero-gods. In part because it means that the PCs who save an area from annihilation might come back several campaigns (and many game years) later as new characters and discover that this village has shrines to their old characters.

Question. How do people on average view the mysteries and their followers? I'd think that something almost secret cult in style would evoke alot of suspicion and distrust in those who weren't a part of it. Perhaps even the unknown factor eliciting rumors that they sacrifice women and children, drink blood, and perform other unnatural rites. I could see certain areas where their members are actively hunted and driven out/killed while other areas are more open to them (perhaps because they are less secretive/more common).

As an aside I really like the name Pellanosi. Don't know why or what it is, but I like the sound of it. :)

Quote from: Nomadic
Question. How do people on average view the mysteries and their followers? I'd think that something almost secret cult in style would evoke alot of suspicion and distrust in those who weren't a part of it. Perhaps even the unknown factor eliciting rumors that they sacrifice women and children, drink blood, and perform other unnatural rites. I could see certain areas where their members are actively hunted and driven out/killed while other areas are more open to them (perhaps because they are less secretive/more common).

Answer. I should have written it slightly different, but, like ancient mystery religions - like the Mitharic Cult - it really isn't secret in the fact that it exists, but it's practices and rites are secret. I suppose the best example would be like a college fraternity. Everyone knows they exists and kinda what they're about, but only the members really know what's going on.

I suppose the Mysteries would be temples that you have to join as opposed to attend. Like a club.

Quote from: Señor Leetz

Quote from: Nomadic
Question. How do people on average view the mysteries and their followers? I'd think that something almost secret cult in style would evoke alot of suspicion and distrust in those who weren't a part of it. Perhaps even the unknown factor eliciting rumors that they sacrifice women and children, drink blood, and perform other unnatural rites. I could see certain areas where their members are actively hunted and driven out/killed while other areas are more open to them (perhaps because they are less secretive/more common).

Answer. I should have written it slightly different, but, like ancient mystery religions - like the Mitharic Cult - it really isn't secret in the fact that it exists, but it's practices and rites are secret. I suppose the best example would be like a college fraternity. Everyone knows they exists and kinda what they're about, but only the members really know what's going on.

I suppose the Mysteries would be temples that you have to join as opposed to attend. Like a club.

Sounds a little bit freemason, I like it. So have you thought of any cool traditions or customs that they (or the other religions) might practice?

Hmmm, not really, I've been reading into them though, though it really shouldn't be too hard to think of some cool things. However, I'm not sure if I want to write out each and every religion in Arga, and might just write them up when I write about a certain area.

I do know that there will be Mysteries surrounding two of the four extinct races of Arga: Tellae and Nane. As well as having a few strange, obscure gods from the hinterlands and very ends of the earth that have some how made it to the more civilized lands - I want one to be a winged-bull, maybe called Solga, that warriors tend to follow (like Mithras in Rome) and a Mystery for navigators with lots of things to do with stars and constellations.

Quote from: NomadicSounds a little bit freemason, I like it. So have you thought of any cool traditions or customs that they (or the other religions) might practice?

The ancient Greek mysteries are where the basic practices of freemasonry started.

Right...and it is always cool when no one outside the crew really knows who belongs and who does not...

Quote from: Señor Leetz

Quote from: Kalontas
There are no clerics? Then who's in charge of mysteries? There's ought to be some "caste" who got to the highest level and are guiding the freshly initiated people - which would make them technically clerics.

haha, well right, that's why I wrote "clerics", in reference to a class that casts spells. But yes, of course there are priests and oracles and clerics, but none of them have any more divine power than a farmer. Does the lay-out make sense?

Alright, so the populations of the world are not for sure that gods exist as you stated in the first post. With no clerics wielding 'for-real' divine power, what sort of events make people believe in gods? Where/why do they get their faith? What artifacts do they hold sacred? What sorts of legends surround said relics?
I think you mentioned that religions are not exclusive. Does this mean that the wealthy sit through services/rituals  right next to the poor? The sick? Are any religions feared/hated/tolerated by the others? Can people revere the Ancients and be a part of a hero-cult without being persecuted ?

Just trying to throw stuff out in the air to get you thinking. I must be honest I'm not to well read on Arga but I hope these Q's help!

Quote from: Sarisa
Alright, so the populations of the world are not for sure that gods exist as you stated in the first post. With no clerics wielding 'for-real' divine power, what sort of events make people believe in gods? Where/why do they get their faith? What artifacts do they hold sacred? What sorts of legends surround said relics?
I think you mentioned that religions are not exclusive. Does this mean that the wealthy sit through services/rituals  right next to the poor? The sick? Are any religions feared/hated/tolerated by the others? Can people revere the Ancients and be a part of a hero-cult without being persecuted ?

Just trying to throw stuff out in the air to get you thinking. I must be honest I'm not to well read on Arga but I hope these Q's help!

Just like in the real world, there are plenty of myths and legends in Arga about Heroes and meddling gods in the past-- which may or may not have happened - to make people believe in them, but as for the present, there is nothing like that (but that could change). However, there do exists a small amount of relics and artifacts with actual powers, but whether they infact came from the gods or not is unknown.

For the most part though, religion is fairly unorganized. Individual temples, even to the same god or goddess, usually keeps to its own affairs and really does not have much to do with other temples of a similair faith. Temples, in fact, are very rare, with the most important gods having only a handful, and uncommon gods are lucky if they have one indeed. Shrines are common, but great church-like halls for services are next to non-existant.

I think I may have misused the word exclusive. Religions in Arga exist amonst one another without many problems, for the most part. The worship of gods exists more to assure a good outcome or avoid a poor one in a certain endeavour than to follow a set of rules for life. Worshiping the sea-god only when sailing, the war-god only when fighting, and practicing the Tellaen Mysteries only during the Soltices are not counter to each other, and is acutally very common.

When different religions come into conflict, its usually more along the lines of "My god is stronger than yours!" as opposed to "My god is the only one and your's is just a bunch of hocus pocus!"

The Hero-Cults

History: From the earliest Anthos records, most commonly stories and epic poems, Heroes and Heroines have formed a key part of the Anthos' culture and faith. Where the Primals are abstract, alien, and unknowable, the Hero-Cults in their many forms forge a link between the mortal and divine. The oldest of the Hero-Cults date to the times when the Anthos called the Unknown East home. Many of these Heroes in fact have no name, and are refered to by their deeds or stories - the Black Spear of Niv or the Iron King. As the Anthos began their Wandering into the West, more and more Heroes and Heroines arose as they faced the dangers of Arga. But not all of these Heroes are remembered, many have been forgotten and lost, patrons to a fallen city or dead tribe, their heroons - their temple-tombs - hidden, holding unknown treasures in the wild corners of Arga.

As the Anthos progressed West and began to settle, local Heroes began to arise along side the older, pan-Anthos Heroes of earlier times. While most Heroes are worshipped singularly, there are a few cases where a particular party of Heroes is worshipped as a whole. The Pellanosi in particular have a strong Hero-Cult culture, rarely dabbling in the Mysteries and only paying reverance to a few of the Primals.