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#Post#: 1165--------------------------------------------------
Religion
By: Duncan Seastove Date: January 14, 2016, 5:32 pm
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Humans:
Many humans in Faerun follow the old ways of the original human
ancestors. In their view, there are three divine entities in
existence: Ymir, the Frozen Father, who presides over death,
winter, fall, and darkness; Meryna, the Smiling Mother, who
presides over Life, Light, Knowledge, Nature, Spring and summer;
and Tygg, the Wicked Child, who presides over war, trickery, and
storms. When someone dies, it is believed they travel to
Volknjar, the realm of the ancestors, which Ymir presides over.
Meryna presides over Einhar, a paradise where souls exist before
they are birthed into the world. Tygg travels between the two
realms, spreading strife and playing tricks. Tygg is not seen as
evil, necessarily, but rather, temperamental.
There are few permanent temples to any of the human deities.
Rather, this belief system often manifests itself in elaborate
burial mounds and barrows, as well as standing stones and henge
monuments.
Feasts and festivals in tandem with celestial occurrences are
common forms of religious expression. These are typically
carried out at henge monuments, or in settlements.
Well-to-do families may have burial crypts under their keeps. In
any case, it is the responsibility of families to care for their
own ancestors burial monuments. This is carried out in a very
ritualistic way by devout humans.
Some humans dedicate their lives to caring for crypts which
belong to an extinct line. This is the closest these people have
to a priesthood.
The Shou also worship their ancestors, but do not believe they
have any significant influence over the material world. Instead
of religious tenets, the Shou follow a strict moral code laid
out by their ancestors. This has manifested itself in Dal Quor
as an idyllic society filled with the rightly behaved ancestors
of the Shou. Personal shrines or small monuments are dedicated
to individual ancestors, and Shou families may make offerings to
their ancestors, or to those dead who they held in high regard
in life. Meditation is common, particularly in a time of great
decision making. However, for the most devout Shou, meditation
is practiced constantly.
Shou monuments are typically limited statues or representations
of famously pious or honorable ancestors.
Celebrations revolve around honoring castes in society which
exemplify tenets of the Shou philosophy.
Honor (Military)
Production (Craftsmen, farmers)
Discovery (Scholars, inventors)
Discipline (Monks)
Compassion (Healers, Mothers)
Duty (Children)
The monks of the porcelain tower are so practiced at meditation
that they are able to slip in and out of Dal Quor, almost at
will. Though they are unable to stay long, due to the exhaustive
nature of travel, they use it to traverse the dreamscape of
humanoids and gain insight into the nature of life.
The Turmish are animists, and see great spirits in all living
things. Though they accept the gods of other peoples, they only
worship the spirits of things of the material plane. This
manifests itself in Dal Quor as powerful, intelligent versions
of creatures from the material plane.
The Turmish may create temples to particularly great individual
creatures, or legendary creatures or plants. Religious
observances typically consist of ritual offerings and sacrifices
to venerated spirits. The sacrifices typically consist of that
foodstuff which the target creature desired in life. These
events may manifest as multiple-day or even multiple week
festivals, typically carried out by a wealthy and well known
patron. Gifts will be given to guests who attend, especially to
those who are poor or needy.
Interestingly, the sacrifices almost always actually are given
to the target deity in Dal Quor— such is the strength of belief
among the participants in these sacrifices.
This emphasis on sacrifice and giving is most apparent in the
clergy, which consists of scattered sages, who have dedicated
their lives to living in nature and austerity, as they see other
creatures doing.
The Druids of Gulthandor follow a belief system similar to that
of the Turmish. However, they all perform the austerities of the
Turmish monks, and eat only nuts and fruit, refusing to harm
living things, plant or animal. Instead of sacrificing to
spirits, they commune with and make offerings to living
creatures.
Elves:
The Elvish pantheon is worshipped not only by the elves in
Faerun, but also by elvish influenced societies, such as Cormyr
and High Imaskar. The pantheon consists of the following
deities:
Sashelas, god of the sea and storms (Tempest)
Corellon, god of art and magic (Light)
Rallathil, god of nature (Nature)
Azuth, god of wizards (Knowledge)
Eldath, goddess of peace (Life)
Bahamut, god of justice (War)
Lolth, goddess of spiders (Trickery)
Talona, goddess of disease and poison (Death)
Some of these deities have fallen out of favor in certain elven
societies: for example, it is rare to find a temple dedicated to
Lolth or Talona among anyone except Drow.
These deities are among the originals, and exist in the
celestial plane. Each has their own domain, relevant to their
areas of influence.
The elves create elaborate temples in honor of their gods, and
have extensive clergy. However, public religious observances are
rare— rather, most elves visit temples individually when they
seek guidance or fortune related to a certain area.
The elves have a limited clergy, consisting of those individuals
most learned in the teachings of a particular deity.
Dwarves:
The Dwarves worship only great landforms, and recognize no
powers higher than those of the world itself. This manifests
itself in Dal Quor as exaggerated, sentient versions of the
natural landscape.
Dwarven worship is very personal, and nothing is seen as more
pious than the creation of great works out of material gathered
from sacred sites. Therefore, most items or buildings are
dedicated to whichever landform(s) the material was taken from.
This is indicated by carving symbolic runes in obvious locations
on construct.
The closest thing to a religious festival the Dwarves have is a
craft moot, in which Dwarves from many regions will meet,
describe the great landforms of their homeland, and then show
off masterwork items crafted from those landforms.
The closest things Dwarves have to a clergy are individuals who
dedicate their lives to specific land forms, striving produce
the most perfect items from whatever resources it has to give.
Halflings:
The halflings revere their ancestors, but not in a worshipful
way. They adapt themselves for the most part to the religious
customs of whichever culture they live in, but they are never
truly concerned with otherworldly powers enough to worship them.
One Halfling in particular was shaken from his earthly cares by
a revelation regarding a mysterious deity known as the Diem. The
Diem exists in a strangely modern section of Dal Quor.
Gnomes follow a similar philosophy, although they have been
known to genuinely worship certain members of the elven
pantheon. They also generally hold great regard for Garl
Glittergold, a legendary gnome who is said to be the progenitor
of all modern gnomes. Garl wanders Dal Quor at will.
Gnomes and Halflings are not known to create structures
celebrating any of their deities. For them, worship is personal
or familial, occurring during times of need or around the table
at supper.
Dragons and Dragonborn:
Dragons and Dragonborn recognize only two gods, Bahamut and
Tiamat, the Father and the Mother, though each individual almost
always worships only one. Bahamut resides in the Celestial
realm, while Tiamat resides in Abyssia. They are viewed as being
in constant battle.
Temples dedicated to Bahamut are typically squat, stone, and
fortress-like. Individuals, families, or close-knit bands of
dragonborn will visit these temples for guidance before
embarking on some great quest, or to meditate on the resolution
to some dispute.
Temples dedicated to Tiamat are rare, but do exist. They are
typically garish and metallic, having all the ornament which the
temples to Bahamut lack. Visitors will offer riches— gold, gems,
etc— to Tiamat, in hopes that Tiamat will grant them some favor
or boon.
Dragonborn do not have a priesthood. Rather, the community and
all visitors care for the temple of Bahamut within their
settlement.
Tieflings:
Tieflings are one of the few humanoid species who openly worship
deities typically considered evil, such as devils and
evil-alignment gods. Tiefling settlements will typically have a
single elaborate temple dedicated to several deities, relevant
to the issues of the local region. These temples will have a
single master, with one or two acolytes if it is large enough.
The master has specific knowledge on the deities associated with
his or her temple, and typically can direct a devotee to the
proper deity for a given need.
Tieflings associate with these deities because they feel they
have been given similar lots in life— forever cursed because of
an ancient deed.
Orcs:
Orcs believe in their own strength, and call upon gods only when
they are absolutely needed. The most famous example of this was
when the orcs summoned Bane in corporeal form in order to beat
back the combined forces of humans and elves which were
attempting to drive them from Faerun.
Though Orcs do not call upon their gods often, they still take
great pride in them— every orc believes that they are the spawn
of Bane, and every Orug believes they are blessed by Oghma. Thus
it was incredibly disheartening for all of the orcs in Faerun
when Bane was killed.
Orcish monuments consist of large, painted wooden or stone
totems which tell pieces of the orc mythology— how they came to
be, how they came to Faerun, and how they were cast down. The
closest thing to an orc priest is a lorekeeper, someone who has
memorized the orc mythological tales and will cite them for
decision making purposes.
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