Savage Age Religions

[Ghostman]

I have finally detailed one of the religions of Savage Age. This one is part of the culture of Argyrians, a people that isn't ready to be posted but will be one of those those cultures that'll actually be given a good amount of detail. Suffice it to say for now that they are heavily inspired by Mediterranean and Black Sea civilizations. I'm also making references to a race I haven't talked about.

[size=30]

ARGYRIAN RELIGION

[/u][/b][/size]
This is the native and popular religion of the Argyrian people. It is a complex belief system incorporating theology, philosophy, art, ritual, worship and mysticism. It is made up of components known as cults.

Important Concepts
[spoiler]

Soul
Argyrians believe that all Men, and indeed other living things, are possessed of composite souls made of three parts. These parts are the Ghost (personality, individuality), the Shadow (attachment, identity, experience) and the Breath (will, emotion, life force).

The Ghost is what makes a Man who he is. After death the Ghost will break away and go either to the Gate of Destiny (according to the Cycle of Life cult) or to the Island of the Dead (according to that cult).

The Shadow is what connects a man to the world he lives in. Bestowed upon a being by the Fates at the time of birth, it is like an uncut gem, ready to be shaped over the course of life. And it is what will be left of a man after death. The Shadow will not fade away but lingers on, silently watching over the progeny of the deceaced being, as long as it is not forgotten. It is the ancestral spirit venerated by people.

The Breath is the vital animating force that flows through all living things, the key that sets the difference between life and death. It is the spirit and passion that drives Men to achieve greatness, and the strength of character that leaves it's imprint in the memories of their peers. Death occurs when the Breath dissipates or becomes detached from the body. It is a sparkle ignited at birth, and like all sparkles it is destined to burn out and fade to nothingness when the time of it's brief existence has passed.

Living Dead are explained as Ghosts that have, for some reason, been unable to separate from their Shadows after death. Being thus tied to the mortal world, they cannot reach the Gate of Destiny/Island of the Dead. Such lost spirits may manifest as phantoms, haunting people or places they were associated with in life. They are known to hunger for the flesh of the living, and thus those who encounter a phantom should watch out for trickery lest they be caught off guard and devoured.

Eternity
Argyrians believe that the world is eternal, having neither a beginning nor an end. Time is like a wheel turning forever around it's axis, causing the natural cycles that repeat across countless aeons. Neither Gods nor Spirits are truly eternal, though the former may only die from being slain by another, while the latter enjoy lifespans that can exceed many mortal generations. The Fates, on the other hand, are considered eternal.
[/spoiler]

The Cults
[spoiler]
In most cults the practices of worship and veneration veer toward public or communal form rather than individualistic form. Certainly Gods, Spirits and deified heroes are more likely to notice and care for the pleas of a family, a community or an entire people, than for those of an individual. Larger groups also have the advantage of affording greater sacraficial offerings.

Almost every cult involves the offering of sacrafice, the quality of which depends on the believed preferences of deities and the wealth of the ones making the sacrafice. Very common choises for sacraficial offerings include grain, wine, honey, musk, frankincense, livestock (especially geese, pigs, goats and sheep; bulls and horses are powerful, expensive offerings made by the wealthy), olive oil and weapons and armanents. Sacrafice may be performed by a layman, but when possible it's preferred to be performed by a priest. It is usually performed right outside a temple or on the sacred grounds of a shrine, but almost any place will suffice for ordinary sacrafices when going to a holy place isn't feasible.

Many cults feature annual festivals.
[/spoiler]

Cult of the Fates
[spoiler]
The Fates are incorporeal beings with power and interest to influence the destiny of mortals: it is believed that one third of a Man's destiny is his own making, another third is the meddling of the Fates, and the rest is random chance. The Fates are the watchers and guides of Mankind, neither strictly benevolent nor malevolent. They are passionate beings given in to whims and fancies. The Fates are uncountable, they are everywhere, always watching and meddling. In art they are represented in many forms, ranging from plain humans to animal-human hybrids - but always clearly feminine in form, for it is agreed by every believer that all the Fates are, in a spiritual sense, female. They are much revered and sacrifice is offered to them, to entice them for their favor as well as to ward off their wrath. Among the many divinities of Argyrian religion, the Fates are considered supreme over all, for even the Gods and the Spirits are thought to be subject to their whims, and believed to be offering sacrafice in their honour.

The Cult of the Fates is far better organized and universal than any other part of Argyrian religion. An Argyrian may or may not revere any particular divinity and may or may not partake in the rites of a mystery cult, but he will - almost without exception - acknowledge the primacy of the Fates. Where most other cults are loosely organized and locality-oriented, the Cult of the Fates has a centralized hierarchy, a well-established set of tenets (as penned down in the Thirteen Scrolls of the Fates'') and a uniform theological education.
[/spoiler]

Deity Cults
(Warning: Big giant wall of text!)
[spoiler]
The veneration and worship of various Gods and Spirits. There exists a group of 'greater' Gods that are universally revered by most Argyrians. Most, however, are focused on *local* divinities: towns and cities can have specific benefactor- and protector-Gods that are not venerated anywhere else. Natural places such as mountains, rivers, lakes and especially warm springs are often associated with specific Spirits that may have shrines dedicated to them. Their worship is tied to their locations: when people move away they cease to honor the divinity - for what sense is there in offering sacrifice to a lake-Spirit if you no longer dwell anywhere near it's home lake? Likewise, travelers tend to observe the local customs of religion where ever they go, thus ensuring that they do not offend the Spirits and Gods of those areas. By the Argyrian way of thinking this is a perfectly logical thing to do.

While almost every God has it's own cult (some Gods may be so closely associated as to share a cult), it does not follow that the veneration of a deity should be done in an exclusive manner. Addressing multiple Gods (and Spirits) in a single prayer, ceremony, or sacrafice, is more common than not. While nothing prevents a person from developing a greater dedication to a particular deity, it is something that rarely happens - after all, few are such matters wherein Man wouldn't do wisely to pay respects to several deities, just to cover all his bases. Even the dedicated priests of a deity are expected to observe and honour rites to other deities, to the Fates and of other cults.

Most deity cults follow a common pattern in their organization. Priests and priestesses are known as Hierophants. Each cult has it's own independent clergy, though close ties between cults are common, as it is a wide-spread practice to hold joint services for multiple deities - the ultimate form of this is the Pantheic Festival, where Argyrians gather to celebrate and offer communal sacrafice to ALL the Gods and Spirits that hold influence in their locality. In the case of a universal or far-ranging cult, the clergy is divided into highly autonomous local hierarchies that maintain only loose connections between each other, calling up conventions of the highest-ranking Hierophants every few decades. Deity cult activities center around temples and shrines, the latter being divided into public shrines tended to by local Hierophants, and household shrines set up within the homes of Argyrians. Unlike public shrines, household shrines are never deity-specific but hold small idols for several Gods and Spirits. Few Spirits are so powerful as to warrant the construction of a proper temple; they generally have only shrines dedicated to them.

The primary Gods

THALAS, The Sea-King. The wrathful, terrible God of the seas, of the past and of secrets. He blesses the people with a plentiful bounty of fish, oysters and purple-bearing molluscs, and curses them by wrecking their ships, drowning the sailors and raising gigantic waves to thrash the coasts. He jealously guards secrets and forbidden knowledge, hiding them in the murky depths of the sea. He commands the vassalage of myriad oceanic Spirits and sea-monsters. Fishermen and mariners never leave port without paying their service to Thalas - to do otherwise would be utter madness and inviting a doom upon oneself.

Thalas is depicted in art as a legless, muscular Man, his body turning into a mass of octopid tentacles from the waist down. His face is twisted into a grotesque grimace with a forked tongue sticking out between protruding tusks, while his gigantic mane of hair and his voluminous beard are made of rattling chains of iron.

Cult of the Sea-King: Temples have been erected in honour of Thalas in practically all coastal cities and most coastal towns. Even many inland cities host smaller temples. Shrines are found everywhere within the Argyrian world, though they are most common near the coasts. Each temple and shrine keeps a bowl of sea water, which is used as a focus in rites. Thalas is especially honoured on the three-day Sea Festival, held each spring to celebrate the passing of the winter storms and the beginning of the next sailing season. The time of high tide is regarded as the most auspicious moment for performing rites.


AERON, The Wind God. The all-knowing God of the Eight Winds (and therefore of the Eight Directions); of the future and of navigation. Brother (and occationally lover) of Aeatis. He brings the raining clouds that precipitate the fields and blows motion into ships' sails, yet he also sends destructive storms or stills the air so that drought torments the land and ships are stuck in a calm. Mariners pray to Aeron and offer sacrafice for favourable winds for their sails, farmers beg for the moist winds that bring the rain-bearing clouds, and travelers ask to be blessed with the right directions. Cartographers and navigators revere him as the patron of their arts.

He has 8 different aspects: Aeron-Boreas (North), Aeron-Kaikias (Northeast), Aeron-Euros (East), Aeron-Apeliotes (Southeast), Aeron-Notos (South), Aeron-Livas (Southwest), Aeron-Zephyros (West), and Aeron-Skeiron (Northwest). Each aspect corresponds to one of the winds; therefore the observed direction of wind at any time reveals the aspect currently embodied by Aeron. When the winds calm, Aeron's chosen aspect becomes concealed. Service, prayer and sacrafice are usually directed specifically to one of Aeron's aspects, as this is believed to better focus the God's attention.

In art he is depicted as a naked, athletic, beardless youth with massive feathered wings of an eagle on his back. Aeron is a renowned musician, possessed of a legendary instrument: The Golden Horn of Wind. He controls the winds by blowing this horn.

Cult of the Eight Winds: Temples are found in all major settlements throughout the Argyrian world. Particularly sacred temples have been built on mountains considered to be homes of Aeron or his aspects; these are popular destinations for pilgrimage. Shrines are extremely common and wide-spread. All temples feature a central tower built in the shape of an octagonal cylinder. Each of the tower's eight walls is punctured by large, open-arched windows that allow wind to blow through freely. On top of this tower is an observatory platform on which are erected idols for each of Aeron's aspects, and where the high Hierophant performs the most sacred rites. Shrines are always open-air installments on public squares (in towns) or hilltops (in the countryside) or on the yards or courts of aristocratic villas. The Aerotic shrine is an octagonal enclosure with a great stone column in the center, on top of which stands the idol of Aeron (commonly one of his aspects). An important item that is featured in all rites overseen by Hierophants is a windsock mounted on a tall pole. It acts as the focus of the rites.


AEATIS, the Swift Gymnast, the Virtuous One. The vigorous Goddess of athletics, music and socialization. Sister (and occationally lover) of Aeron. She taught Argyrians the virtues of body and mind: the ways to improve and express themselves through athletics and music, and the ways to find their place amongst each other. When ever athletes gather to contest for glory and push themselves further, they do service to Aeatis and gain her attention. Those who engage in the act of song, dance or playing of instruments, are likewise honouring the goddess. Some people are born with natural talents, gifts bestowed upon them by Aeatis. To use these gifts will garner her favour, while to let them go to waste will surely invoke her wrath.

In art Aeatis is depicted as a lithe and agile young woman, carrying a discus (sometimes in the act of throwing it) and a lyre (sometimes playing it). Her hair is flaming with perpetual fire. She is always naked save for a golden belt that girdles her waist.

Cult of the Virtuous One: Aeatis is a very popular deity, known and woshipped in every corner of the Argyrian world. One can hardly find a town or village that lacks even a modest shrine. The shrines are simple circular outdoors enclosures, where a fire is kept burning in a brazier shielded under a roofed frame. Similar but larger braziers are found within temples, beneath a central dome that has a hole on the top to let the smoke out. Acts of worship always involve playing of music, dancing and acrobatics. Hierophants of Aeatis are trained in all these performances as part of their education. The cult celebrates several festivals, based on a lunar calendar. Such festivals feature athletic competitions, wherein the prize of victory is not mere glory, but holds religious significance, as the winner is considered to become an avatar of Aeatis - a mortal vessel through which the goddess manifests to join her followers in the joyous feasting and drinking that ensues.


ALPHAIA, the Golden Goddess. The many-faced Goddess of trade and prosperity, the fickle bringer and taker-away of earthly fortunes. She knows all the secrets of finance and holds sway over the flow of gold. If displeased with her subjects, she lets the mines and mineral deposits dry up, trade-routes become overrun by bandits and markets and bazaars quiet down. During her benevolent moods trade flourishes, new mines are opened and routes discovered, prosperity spreads and markets are filled with the bustle of vendors from near and afar. She is the protector of merchants and caravaneers, but venerated by everyone - save those who have embraced ascetism.

In art she is depicted as a fat woman with many faces that she can swap like theatrical masks. She is richly adorned with garments of finest silk and expensive jewelry. Her hands are made of gold, her fingernails of rubies. Her tongue is long and silverly and sticks out of her mouth. She is usually sitting on a dais, surrounded by items of trade such as rolls of silk, vats of myrrh, spices and frankincense, purple and amber. On her hands she holds the Bottomless Purse, from which cascades an endless stream of gold and silver.

Cult of Prosperity: Where there is a marketplace, there is at least a shrine to Alphaia. Any noteworthy commercial center will have a proper temple, and important nodes along the major trade-routes tend to have several temples. All such shrines and temples tend to be heavily guarded, for the richness of their treasuries is legendary. Idols of Alphaia are very numerous, both in temples and shrines and in general decoration, and they also act as the ritual focus.


HEGEMACHOS, the Master of War. The ruthless, determined, methodical God of power through violence; of warfare, strategy, planning, deception, organization, domination and conquest. Consort of Tatiane. His is the most terrible curse of strife and violence that forever plagues mortal Men, dooming them to clash time after time on bloodied fields and descend upon one another's farmlands and cities with fire and steel. But while he wills that Men must fight and die, so does he also bestow upon them the tools with which to prevail: the keen mind to plan, deceive and organize, the inspiring aura to lead, encourage and command, and the rugged determination to undertake any means and withstand all hardships to achieve victory. Those who make best use of these gifts will receive the blessing and glory of Hegemachos - all others will be erased from the parchment of history, trampled to dust beneath the heels of their betters.

Hegemachos fathered the dead AMAZON, the furious Goddess of skill-at-arms, bravery and tactics, who died fighting by her father's side. She is said to reincarnate at the beginning of every major battle to instill courage and determination in the hearts of the strong, and fear and confusion in the hearts of the weak, only to die again at the battle's end, in a never-ending cycle. Because she only lives during the brief bloody hours when armies clash, Amazon doesn't have a cult of her own, but her followers are incorporated in the cult of her father.

In art Hegemachos is depicted as a gigantic warrior riding a gilded chariot pulled by 100 horses with manes of fire. Always naked save for a helmet, his skin is made of solid steel. His left hand clutches a spear while his right hand holds the fabled Scroll of War which contains all the secrets of strategy. Sometimes he is accompanied by his daughter, who is displayed as a bronze-skinned warrioress bearing a shield and a spear, with a leopard-skin cloak hanging from her shoulders.

Cult of War: Temples are found in most cities, especially in frontier-areas where the threat of war is felt most strongly. Shrines are found near muster fields, fortresses and other such places where warriors are trained and called to duty. Of particular importance are the portable shrines that accompany Argyrian armies whereever they march; in a camp they are set near the general's tent. All the temples house an idol of Hegemachos, but shrines make do with only symbolic consecrated weapons as focus.

Priesthood of War includes Hierophants as with other cults, but also Amazonides, special warrior-priestesses who have forsaken ordinary life to seek glorious death in combat, in emulation of Hegemachos' dead daughter. Their task within the cult hierarchy is to assist the Hierophants and perform a ritualized spear-dance as a part of a consecration ceremony for the blessing of the standards of an army; their real duty though, is to join the fight at the very front ranks, offering the only kind of sacrafice that pleases the furious Goddess. An Amazonid may not marry until she has slain a foe in a fair fight, and may only marry a man who has shown the courage to cross blades with her.


TATIANE, the Judge; the Sovereign. The steadfast, merciless Goddess of law, authority, politics and tradition. The mistress of Hegemachos. It is from her iron grip that all civilization and order springs, for without it's guiding and preserving touch Mankind would degenerate to disunity, lawlessness and barbarism. It is by her mandate that tyrants rule over lesser Men, with her wisdom that judges administer law, according to her designs that states organize society, and under her vigilant gaze that children respect their elders and uphold their ancestral traditions. Tatiane is worshipped by nearly everyone, but her most devout followers are found within the ranks of aristocracy and bureaucracy.

In art she is depicted as a regal, matronly woman seated on a tall golden throne. Her face is painted pale white and her lips black, her long dark hair is assembled into an elaborate knotted arrangement fixed with ivory hairpins and adorned with orchid petals. She is clad in white, purple-trimmed robes of silk. Her head is crowned by a pair of golden, spiral-shaped horns of a goat. On her right hand she holds a decorated scepter, on her left the Scroll of Law which instills obedience into Men. Always she is accompanied by many faceless servant girls waving palm-leaf fans, holding a laurel wreath above her head, playing musical instruments and reading scrolls for her.

Cult of the Judge: Temples and public shrines of Tatiane are extremely common, due largely to the fact that those in power have reason to make sure that the Sovereign is pleased with their work; thus they tend to sponsor this cult more than others. Temples house very large idols. Actual law scrolls are used as the ritual focus.


GENNIA, the Great Mother. The enduring Goddess of fertility and birth, protector of the hearth and home. She blesses the people with strong, healthy offspring and secures the continuity of families from generation to generation. Through her auspices the Argyrians may continue to flourish as a people, grow ever more numerous and colonize the world. Though generous and caring, she is also determined to separate the fit from the unfit, allowing only the former to reach adulthood and taking lives of the latter during their infancy. She guards the safety of people's homes by sending a plethora of household-Spirits to watch after them.

In art Gennia is depicted as a pregnant woman sitting cross-legged on a rug, tending to a fireplace. She is surrounded by a pack of lionesses, leashed on bronze chains held in her hands. These spirit-lions represent primal maternal instinct to protect the offspring.

Cult of the Great Mother: Temples are somewhat rare while shrines are found in great numbers. Household shrines of Argyrians always include an idol of Gennia. Festivals to the honour of the Great Mother are held twice per year, at the spring and autumn equinoxes. They feature great feasts sponsored by wealthy patrons, tables set with an abundance of food so that even the poorest of families may eat to their hearts' content. Relatives gather together at these festivals to strenghten falimial ties, and children are treated with gifts and entertainment. In addition to the communal festivals, each family has it's own day of annual celebration: the day of the founding of their household - which in case of long-standing homes can go back countless generations. The clergy of the cult consists entirely of female Hierophants, who are all trained to provide service as midwives.


AKETOS, the Healer. The wise, benevolent god of the healing arts, hygiene and longevity. Aketos taught the Argyrians how to treat illnesses and injuries, and how to protect themselves against the terrible plagues that frequently sweep across kingdoms in the Savage Age. He taught the art of chirurgery and herbal treatments, proper sanitation and controlling contact between the diseased and the healthy. Physicians and herbalists alike acknowledge him as their divine patron, and all others revere him for his wisdom and kindness, turning to him for protection when epidemics ravage the lands.

In art he is depicted as an elderly, white-bearded Cecropian (part Man, part snake), suggesting that his cult probably originates from Cecropia (where a similar deity is worshipped by the snake-tailed people). On his right hand he holds a physician's scalpel, on his left hand a horn container filled with grinded medicinal herbs. Many small serpents crawl in a circle around him.

Cult of the Healer: Aketos has been worshipped by Argyrians for a very long time. His temples are commonplace in most sizeable settlements, and also act as places where the mad and the ill can be housed to keep them from causing threat to the rest of the population. Shrines are likewise common, taking the form of round-based stone altars surrounded by circles of pillars, with herbal plantations covering much of the sacred grounds. A peculiarity related to the sacraficial rites is the custom of blood libation, wherein the offerer makes a shallow cut on his hand and allows his blood to drip on the altar; such form of sacrafice is unique to Aketos among Argyrian cults. The Hierophants of Aketos tend to be educated in medicinal matters, though rarely to the skill level of actual physicians. They are also known as serpent-priests, for their custom of raising and keeping live snakes as part of their service to the Healer God.

Some of the Lesser Gods
* Graphis, goddess of the art of writing
* Echo, goddess of language and poetry
* Theramenes, god of the hunt
* Tarasius, god of disruption and disaster
* Teiso, goddess of vengeance
* Tereus, the guardian god
* Psolon, god of the erect penis
* Agrias, god of the harvest
* Eironia, goddess of lies, trickery and irony
* Sophia, goddess of wisdom
* Clea, goddess of fame, glory and success
* Hedomus, god of intoxication
* Pyrrhia, goddess of the color purple
* Theseia, goddess of names
* Aesius, god of gambling
* Opas, god of locating lost livestock
* Gelos, god of comedy
* Geodora, goddess of olive oil
* Lachtaros, god of unfulfilled desires
* Anaxippos, god of equestrianism
* Tlesias, god of patience
* Xanthe, goddess of youth
* Amphion, god of symmetry
* Acrypta, goddess of truth, honesty and oaths
* Acus, god of spears, javelins and arrows
* Galatea, goddess of bathing and purity
[/spoiler]

Hero Cults and the Veneration of Ancestors
[spoiler]
While death leads to a new life or an afterlife, Argyrian religion states that a part of the soul stays behind to watch over it's living descendants. Argyrians venerate these ancestral spirits, in thanks to the protection they are believed to offer, as well as out of respect to their forefathers. This is a very old tradition, and is more likely to be observed by the upper social classes. The paying of respects is entirely limited to ancestors of one's own family's lineage. There is no priesthood of any kind, and the only shrines are the household shrines that are also used for veneration of Gods and Spirits. As such it is the most intimate component of Argyrian religion.

An offshoot of this tradition has manifested in a more public form: cults of celebrated heroes. Certain characters of myth and history have attained such status that it is seen fit for everyone - not just their descendants - to honour their spirits. Great and fabled heroes have shrines, temples and loosely organized priesthoods dedicated to them. Such cults are not as universal as those of the common Gods, but typically more widespread than those of local deities.
[/spoiler]

Mystery Cults
[spoiler]
These cults operate as semisecret societies, with membership granted to those who undergo an initiation ceremony. Details regarding their teachings and rites are kept concealed from the eyes of the public, which arouses much speculation about their practices. Their nature varies from purely philosophical, to the worship of strange divinities, to esoteric practices of 'magic', and wild rituals that bring the participants into a trance-like state. A great many such cults exist, some of them having gained quite a bit of popularity and influence. In some cases, the entirety of a town's citizenry may be initiated into a mystery cult. It is not uncommon for holy men of other cults to also become initiates in one of these mysteries.
[/spoiler]

Cults of Death
[spoiler]
Neither the Fates nor the deities provide any answers regarding the nature of death. Specific cults exist to address this subject, and form the most obvious internal conflicts within Argyrian religion. In ancient times most Argyrians used to believe in the Island of the Dead, but this older cult has since those days been diminished in status, giving way to the Cycle of Life, which was taught to Argyrians by the Cecropians. There are also some minor death-cults besides these two, but they are a small-scale phenomenon and not significant in the big picture.

Cycle of Life
Adherents of this cult believe in Transmigration of Souls - that death is simply a passage to a next life, all part of an endless, eternal cosmic cycle that encompasses all existence.

When a Man dies, a part of his soul will transcend to a metaphysical state known as the Gate of Destiny - a passage leading to the next life. Here it will be put to a trial by the Guardian, a being depicted in art as an obelisk. The trial is different for everyone that faces it, and will reflect the successes and mistakes, the glories and shames, of the person's past life. The less virtuous a life one had lived, the more difficult will the trial be. How well one is able to pass it will determine how much freedom he is afforded in choosing his lot in the next life ahead.

It is believed that proper treatment of the corpse - cremating it alongside sacraficial offerings - will hasten the deceaced one's passage to the Gate and grant him wisdom and strength of mind when facing the tests of the Guardian.

The concept of Transmigration of Souls is represented by the symbol known as Ouroboros. It is a serpent with red scales that is devouring it's own tail, thus being symbolic of the eternal cycle of life and death.

Island of the Dead
This cult teaches that a common afterlife awaits everyone, regardless of what they believe in. As the soul divides into it's components at death, the Ghost will head to the sea and, guided by a strange calling, swim across countless leagues to a great island hidden from the living. This is the Island of the Dead, the final resting place of bleak, barren rocks and cliffs, where the Ghosts of all mortals gather to dwell, lingering on for all eternity as impassionate shades. In the center of the island rises a gray mountain, on top of which stands a bone beacon that ceaselessly calls for the departed Ghosts of the dead. It is believed that the island can actually be reached by living Men, if their ship is blown off course and lost at sea. Any crew foolish enough to make a landing will be attacked and devoured by the countless Ghosts of that place.
[/spoiler]

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Ooh!  Lots of juiciness, it looks like.  I'm going to have to hold off posting anything until after I can grok it all.

[LordVreeg]

realoly happy with this.  Especially the transmigration of souls.
ANything betweent e fates and their affect on magic?

More later.  Still absorbing

[Ghostman]

Thanks for the replies, guys. The Fates don't have anything directly to do with magic, but it's believed that they can influence the practice of magic just like they can influence anything else that mortals do. Their meddling is never obvious, but very subtle - it's indistinguishable from luck.

The most important thing about the Transmigration of Souls is that how you live your life doesn't actually control what next life you'll be born into. It simply determines how difficult the trials you'll face will be. Another important thing is that there is no fixed universal standard for a 'good life' as far as the trials are concerned. It's different for each individual, just like the trials themselves. The big dilemma is to figure out what the right path for oneself is. The cult's teachings provide some assistance in this discovery, but no ready answers.

In short, they don't tell you what to do and not do, they tell you how you can find the answers on your own. It's very individualistic, and at a contrast with the community-oriented nature of most other cults.

[Steerpike]

[blockquote=Ghostman]The Fates are incorporeal beings with power and interest to influence the destiny of mortals: it is believed that one third of a Man's destiny is his own making, another third is the meddling of the Fates, and the rest is random chance. [/blockquote]This is such a cool idea.  It's an approach to metaphysics/free will/determinism that I've never seen suggested before, and I'm kind of in love with it now... the idea that there are these three contradictory forces acting on people, and that out of that tension comes a person's life and identity.  Usually you have people arguing only for one or the other, insisting either that we have complete free will or non at all.  Then again I'm not all that well versed on philosophy so maybe the idea of a compromise between chance, fate, and freedom is more common than I'm aware.  But whatever the case, I really like that idea.

I like the deities, too, particularly Aeron, who feels very real.  You clearly know more about mythology than most.  Are the deities intended to have an essentially Olympian kind of feel?  They feel very Greco-Roman to me.

[Ghostman]

I want to invoke the feel of classical myths but at the same time I'm trying to avoid following the mainstream route in implementation. Greco-Roman polytheism is a pretty heavily used source in fantasy worldbuilding, so I'm trying to put some weight on less well-known stuff. Transmigration of Souls, for example, was apparently a belief of some greek religious groups such as Orphism and Pythagoreanism. The Fates are inspired by the Moirae of Greek myth. The idea of a composite soul comes from Egyptian mythology.

The Argyrian Gods are admittedly inspired by Greek, Roman and other deities, but not really modeled after them. They do not form an organized pantheon, and the distinction between primary Gods, lesser Gods, and Spirits is blurry, being mostly based on how powerful the deity is perceived to be and how far-spread it's worship has become.