Religion and Magik

Religion and Magik Pastebin:
Faiths
Proletate: A splinter sect of the mainstream faiths in Neumunster, they hold a more optimistic view of the celestial’s attempted destruction of the World. They believe it was the inherent goodness in people, not the Dark Father, that ultimately convinced the Gods to let them continue. Members of the Proletate believe that the son was, or even is, part mortal. They believe that only through treating one another as they would wish to be treated will he be revealed to all sentient-kind. The Chevalisse (and many Neumunster) dismiss this ‘cult’ due to its decidedly elven influence.

The Final Prophet: While he officially cast down the idols of the Sun and brought enlightenment to the people, it is arguably that all he did was codify pre-existing desert tribe traditions and implement a more focused form of theocracy that balances religion and governance.

Sun Worship: While merely a fraction of the complex faiths and diverses religious systems in place in the Rakasha Raj and beyond, worship of the Sun does play a significant part of it. Holy prostitution, drug-fuelled feasts that often devolve into orgies and live sacrifice, sentient and otherwise, takes place at the most extravagant of these religious celebrations.

The Dark Father: When the Gods decided to destroy their . It is unclear whether he himself created mankind, or if that was another. All that is clear from mythology is that he was the only God to stand up for them against the others. Some spoke against it, but only He actually fought for it. Ten and Twenty other Gods cast him down, Ten by Action and Twenty by Omission. While most mainstream faiths agree on this, and that he has been driven insane by his millennia long torture, outside of Chevalisse this does not extend to an outright ban of his worship. While not officially the God of War and Death, the Father is so deeply steeped in it that many in that path of life pay their respects to him or wear tokens of his blessings (or so the charm peddlers claim). A select few even swear fealty to him, and vow to join him in the afterlife, to fight his battle against his daemonic tormentors in Below for all eternity… or until they break his chains.

The Holy Mother: The dominant faith in Chevalisse, the Mother stayed behind when the other Gods cast down the Father into torment. She promised to see his efforts would not be in vain, and would protect what he had fought for. It is unclear whether she was one of the Twenty. Worship of her even extends to the East, but many would consider the sultry fertility goddess to be a perversion of the Mother’s image.

The Sacred Son:  While an aspect in all religions, there is no agreement in what form the Sacred Son takes or whether it is even related to the Mother and Father as the name suggests. Prophecies, soothsayers and fateweavers focus on this matter to little avail. The Neumunster believe that Skarling Kingbreaker was one such incarnation of the Sacred Son. The Chevalisse agree, but do not believe that his Imperial descendants command any authority because of it. The Helenwood Republic is constantly trying to get one of their Founding Elders recognised  as a Sacred Son, but her lifespan overlapping with other potential Son’s makes that problematic. Further West, the Warlord has declared himself the latest incarnation of the Sacred Son.



Magik: Form over Feeling
The Isle of Mages has long history of codifying the rules of Magik. There are rules for this kind of Magik. With this type of Magik, Names and Places of Power do not matter too much. With enough preparation and pentagrams, anything can be achieved. It’s effects can be immense, but always calculated. The other kind of magik is much older, and much harder to assess. For example, the magik exuding from the Isabella Clans defies all measurements or efforts to quantify it. The Forbidden Arts of the Necromancer are also similarly unfathomable and powerful beyond measure. The same can be said for much of the ‘Holy’ workings of the Paladins and even those who worship darker Powers.
But for a common mortal man, the effects and appearances of these two strains of Magik are much the same. Terrifying and incomprehensible.