[poll] Religion in Am'yazar

[limetom]

This is what I have decided so far...

Am'yazar will have a single monotheistic religion.  Its patron will be called R'van (Farsi bastardization for "spirit").

Other things:

*Divinity is limited (in this case, R'van possesses all availible divine ranks).
*Divinity is innate (i.e. you cannot acquire, earn, or steal divinity).
*R'van's power is independent of its worshipers (i.e. it does not require worshipers to exist).
*R'van cannot be harmed, becuase it is removed from normal existence.
*R'van is distant from mortals, again because it is removed from normal existence.
*R'van cannot intecess, again because it is removed from normal existence.
*R'van is benevolent.  It truly cares about mortals even though it cannot affect them.
*Mortals worship R'van out of either love or gratitude.
*R'van uses mortals as a form of intercesion.

The poll is the one thing I haven't decided.  Should R'van be the creator or simply a force worshiped by mortals given an abstract existence?

[So-Keher]

i voted creator, because that would best explain why the being does not NEED worshipers ot exist - he made them.

try and keep in mind what effects this would have on your world. a monotheistic religion like yours would weild enormous power - just look at the Cristain Church during the Middle Ages.

[Hibou]

Supreme beings all teh way. I never liked the idea of a creator in fantasy settings. A supreme being lets you have secrets about what came before... :D

[limetom]

This was an idea my friend came up with:

"...I would try and abstract, yet vaguely sentient divine force. Kinda like the Lifestream from FF 7."

[limetom]

"The deity" has been given a name, "R'van."

The above has been upated and given a brief explination.

[Tybalt]

Personally, I like the idea of the deity being an alien being in some fashion like the Great Old Ones for instance. I think that fits in with your ideas of what R'van's powers are supposd to be. The idea of people worshipping beings that are actually largely indifferent to their existence and are in fact not really 'gods' at all is interesting to me.

Have you ever read the story "Bones for Dulath"? In that story the people of a mountain village worship a 'god' called Dulath, who apparently comes and eats their dead. Pits are prepared, and Dulath comes, eats and lays eggs in what remains. The people always come and burn the pits. It is very clear that this minor 'god' is actually just a strange beast of some kind, but in real life people have worshipped crocodiles, snakes and all manner of things.

Since your idea is for a more powerful one I like the notion that it is simply an extra-dimensional being that has some effect upon the world but is actually not even truly present as people might understand it.

[limetom]

Here's another thing I was toying with.  

Even though the deity/divine force will be good aligned and it is a monotheistic religion, I want there to be some division among the faith, much like you'd find in modern monotheistic religions.

The largest sect would be the mainstream one that most people are in, simply because they have no special interest in other areas.

I have some ideas for other areas, but I would like to hear your input.  Again, feel free to give the most off-the-wall ideas, as long as they can either fit into a good religion (or justifiy themselves as being good).

[Hibou]

Hmm... what if it was a monotheism and the deity was evil? How would that turn out? :)

[limetom]

That'd be too cliché for me, personally.