Religion

Faith. It is a driving force in the world of Ransera. Throughout the history of the world it has helped shaped the lives of mortals for better or worse. But what is Faith?

For the purposes of this article, Faith has multiple definitions. From a mundane standpoint, it is the heartfelt belief in a set of religious principles based on divine doctrine issued by a higher spiritual power or philosophical or spiritual institution. It is also the intangible currency harnessed by the various Endir, Aldir and even Draedan in order to expand their influence through the lens of their aetheric portfolio. In other words, Faith is both an individual’s belief in a codified set of principles and it is also a form of power used by spiritual entities to reaffirm and expand their scope of influence over a particular concept. The more mortals who believe in and affirm that concept, the more powerful the spirit becomes as they serve as an avatar for it.

Religion in Ransera

Matters of Faith in Ransera vary depending on one’s cultural background. In ancient times when the world was very young, there were only the Dragon Gods and the lesser Endir that aided them in the creation of the world. In those early days, the Dragon Gods were the primary recipients of worship and praise for all manner of occurrences in the span of a mortal’s daily life. As various Gritaeri and Moritasi arose however, mortals began to gravitate to these more personable entities. The Dragon Gods have remained very real and powerful figures in Ransera’s history. However, as they generally maintain a hands-off approach except in those areas that personally interest them, they are largely unfathomable to most mortals. It is rare for a Dragon God to appear to mortals and make divine proclamations or edicts. Thus, most mortals are left to ponder the disposition of these gods themselves, with only their actions to serve as lessons. However, with the appearance of such beings as the Eldhan Weald and Draedan, this changed.

While demigod worship has never been prevalent in most elven cultures, it became a driving force in most others. Especially in Human cultures. While the Dragon Gods remained aloof, they were still involved albeit mostly unseen. For whatever reason through whatever means at the time, Draedan began to spring up as the off-spring of a Dragon God and a mortal. They were beings of wonder and brought an element of mortality to otherwise immortal and incomprehensible beings. In the early days of their appearance, these demigods were guided and raised either directly by their parents or by dragons or other entities. Following the Day Without Morning and the death of Arcas, this changed and demigods became far less numerous. Still, those that remained became powerful figures that affixed themselves in many cultures across the various regions.

As a result of the events previously mentioned, religion in Ransera tended to be rather regionally focused. The southeastern part of Turoth might venerate a pantheon comprised of various Draedan, Gritaeri and other lesser spirits. Meanwhile, the far northwest of Karnor might be completely oblivious to the existence of those entities and venerate a pantheon that, while similar in composition, is made up of entirely different individuals. Draedan themselves remained only aware of that which their followers were involved in. Thus their influence extended only as far as the people who worshipped them did. The vast majority of religious conflicts in Ransera’s history have been a result of Draedan, Endir and even Aldir vying for dominance over their various chosen spheres of divine influence. It then goes without saying that pantheons across the world have often shifted depending on which demigod or spirit arose triumphant in those conflicts.

Religion and the Sundering

The Sundering reshaped not just the physical landscape of the mortal planes of existence but its spiritual landscape as well. Demigods, Gritaeri, Moritasi and countless other spirits that had been the focal points of worship for centuries were destroyed, killed or driven mad by the events of the Sundering. Those that survived did so at either great cost to themselves or to their followers. Pantheons across the world collapsed, religious orders found their prayers going unanswered as the Dragon Gods and even some of the Mistlords were forced to intervene to bring the Sundering to a halt. In the years that followed, the prayers of many mortals went unanswered, the gods they knew were dead, gone, or insane.

The spiritual fallout of the Sundering saw the disbanding of religious orders across the world. Institutions that were once powerful, were now powerless. As a result, mortals turned their fury to the only reasonable outlet that could be found: mages. As Kaitos Diraegon, the great Mage-King of the Clockwork Empire was well known to be the most prominent mage to have ever lived, many factions that would have otherwise gone defunct due to the destruction of their gods, turned to persecuting wizards. Compound this outrage with the fact that magic itself began to manifest in unknown and strange ways that had never been seen before. Many mages, those not killed due to the rampant surges of aether brought by the Sundering, found themselves in possession of powers they no longer understood.

This dilemma was only worsened with the advent of the Dread Mists. Things became even more distressing as Aldir and Endir that would have otherwise never risen to prominence, began to fill the void left by the catastrophic event. New ideas began to take shape among the mortal populace and from them, new perspectives both on what it means to be mortal and the responsibilities of the divine.

New Atheism

As a result of the destruction wrought by the Sundering, a philosophical and spiritual movement has taken root in many cultures throughout the world. It is dubbed by scholars as New Atheism. This viewpoint does not espouse the falsehood of gods so much as it refutes their dominion over mortal destinies. New Atheism acknowledges the existence of beings that are not mortal. However, it scorns them and dubs them entities that are selfish and uncaring of mortal plights. By extension, believers in New Atheism often find mages and those who exhibit any form of magic, to be abhorrent. These beliefs have lead to the continued persecution of mages and other magical entities to extremes. The Gelerian Imperium remains the prime example of New Atheism taken as the philosophy of a sovereign nation. The Imperium goes to great lengths to either demonize or eschew any belief that magic and paranormal entities are anything but harmful to mortals. This has lead to the advancement of a great many anti-magic methods across the Imperium, as they turn to science and engineering over the arcane and spiritual.

New Atheism has its varying degrees of nuance. There are those who throw off the worship of gods and spirits in favor of mortal perseverance and ingenuity. This viewpoint welcomes the “responsible” use of magic by those in possession of it. What is defined as “responsible” often shifts depending on the circumstance. Regardless, the ideology of New Atheism has become a permanent fixture in Ransera and one that is likely to remain for Ages to come.

Other Faiths

Aside from the worship of the Dragon Gods, which acts as the standard faith for much of the world, there are several large faiths that tend to dominate particular races and regions. They will be detailed here.

The Omen

Divided between two major sects, Ulendreaism in Daravin and (though it is rarely referred to as this) Blathe-Feiz in Lorien, the Omen is the largest religion in the world outside of the faith of the Dragon Gods. It is also the fastest growing in recent centuries, emerging as a small faith centered in the dilapidated city of Carine and quickly expanding to cover nearly the entire region of Turoth.

The Omen is a monotheistic, apocalyptic religion, one that foretells of the cleansing of the world in an event known as The Return, where the Returning King - or Ulen as he is called in Daravin - will rid the surface of the planet of all maladies and imperfections, rebuke all evil and will create the conditions necessary for true Paradise. The Omen also features ten mythical figures known as the Achra, beings similar to saints but with divine origin, inspired after the imagery and themes of the Dragon Gods and Mist Lords.

Though Ulen's existence is far from confirmed, and is labeled myth by virtually all scholars outside of the religion's strongholds, the Omen continues to grow at a considerable pace and threatens to become the dominant religion of Ransera within the coming centuries. The faith strongly varies between Ulendreaism and Blathe-Feiz, with Ulendreaists being far more pious and following an enshrined doctrine well-defined by the Oaths of Carine.

Eldashan

Eldashan is the name of the faith of the Eldhan Weald, or Elven Gods. Originally one of the world's dominant faiths, Eldashan has since receded greatly in popularity and influence, though it remains the faith of nearly a fifth of Ransera's population. It is the dominant faith of the Kingdom of Auris, is wildly popular in northern Dalquia, is often followed by Elves throughout the world and - accounting for nearly half of its following - is the key faith practiced by most Druskai, though they tend to worship individual Elven Gods such as Veravend and Lotheric. Many practitioners of Summoning also follow the teachings of Eldashan, believing that it brings them closer to their Archetypes and respective Patrons.

The faith of the Elven Gods is one of nature-worship, a focus on personal freedom and self-fulfillment, understanding of the world and the Elven concept of enlightenment gained through experiences and hardships. It is a religion almost entirely focused on personal growth, but one through the lens of coming to terms with the world and becoming a key component of one's community, whatever that group may be. Unfortunately, there are many modern interpretations of Eldashan that are not so benign. Many see the wroth state of the current Elven Gods and believe that the focus of the religion has changed necessarily to one thing: the eradication of humanity, and the restoration of Elven hegemony first in Turoth, and then the continent.

The Old Ones

The Old Ones is the dominant faith of Atinaw, and only Atinaw, but due to the Kingdom's large population it is one of the largest religions on Ransera, roughly matching Eldashan in the size of its following. The Old Ones focuses on the 'mortal spirit' or the 'mortal soul', and the Old Ones themselves are often ascended from great mortals; rulers, paragons of their trade, great warriors and other pioneers of their time. Permanently enshrined as sort of Ancestor-Gods to the Kingdom's people, these saintly beings act as the divine inspiration for the generations to come.

The monarch of Atinaw is symbolically wed to one of the Old Ones, and as the Kingdom's monarchs become one in death, they join their symbolic spouses as beloveds in death. Scholars say the mortal-focused religion may have formed due to human discontent with the Dragon Gods, though with the addition of Rathari into the faith, symbolic representatives of the Dragon Gods have been added to the religion's canon in recent centuries.