Religions

[Thoros Mir]

Hi there! I'm pretty new to Althanas and am working on my first character. I'm planning on making him a Cleric themed character but am having some difficulties finding information regarding popular religions around Althanas. It could just be I'm not looking in the right places! Could anyone point me towards more info to help me flesh my character out a bit more? Thanks for any help in advanced!

[Krausus]

The only formal "Religion" i can think of is the Church of the Ethereal Sway

At that theres a TON of informal ones, such as the one in Fallien. But, for more info, have a chat with Christoph (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?2221-Christoph)


EDIT-Refer to the post below.

[Zook Murnig]

There's the previously mentioned Church of the Ethereal Sway, which, unless I'm mistaken, has lost a lot of power since the events of the Featured Quest, when St. Denebriel was revealed to be one of the ancient Forgotten Ones and defeated. The Church of Suravani, in Fallien, is very much an official state religion there, and the Jya (pope) of that religion is also the political leader of Fallien. As well, in Raiaera, there is a more deist approach to religion, with a pantheon of gods and goddesses who created the universe, but don't take active roles in it anymore.

As for "unofficial" religions, there are several player-developed examples. The main one is the worship of the Thayne, a group of individual godlike entities who are neither good nor evil, but kind of operate on a completely amoral set of standards. As well, there is the Sinai people, both the Aminim of Fallien, and the Naurim of the rest of the world, who worship their own monotheistic religion. I'll be posting a wiki article on that religion soon, but there's already an article on their culture and a little of the religion, and you're welcome to extrapolate from that.

[Christoph]

Hey there, Mir. I like the Game of Thrones reference. I'm actually working on some religion-related material on and off, alongside a more detailed history for the world of Althanas. Hopefully we'll soon have more comprehensive official information on different religious organizations, deities, and hopefully some hints regarding how divinity works in this setting. Stay tuned for that in the coming months.

As for your character, in my estimation, Salvar, along with Fallien, have the cultures most heavily influenced by religion. Wandering clerics could probably work for both, so it might just come down to whether you like snow or sand the best. XD Salvar has a couple excellent paths for the itinerant man of faith, depending on your style. The Ethereal Sway employs three main types of agents that fill different traditional fantasy cleric type roles. Witch hunters act subtly (usually) to root out warlocks, cults, and other sinister forces from the shadows, paladins fight on the front lines, smiting the church's enemies (and sometimes wander alone on missions or patrols, or guarding higher ranking agents), and Empowered Priests are officially sanctioned to wield magic, and use a variety of powers ranging from wind and ice to healing and empathy to serve the Ethereal Sway.

I got your PM. Feel free to message me again if you would like to ask more questions or just want more details.

EDIT: And welcome to the site!

[Thoros Mir]

Thank you for the information! I will definitely do some reading and learn some more on the established religions already. Would it be seen as bad form to possibly create my own small religion? More for the sake of fleshing out my characters history than anything, and it obviously wouldn't be world impacting (for example a small missionary in a main city or region that has faded with lack of interest or followers?)

Edit: I am not set in stone by this, I could also work my history and character around the established religions! Are there any links available to religious information for both Salvar and Fallien I could read up on?

Thanks again for all the help!

[Christoph]

For me personally, I've always enjoyed trying to immerse myself with existing lore, but that's just my preference. You're more than welcome to create something new if you prefer.

[Mordelain]

Just to throw another idea onto the fire.

Salvar's sister country, Berevar, is home to the Old Gods. These are anthropomorphic entities, which take on forms based on people's belief in them (much like Pratchett's gods).

They are currently 'asleep', knocked into obscurity by the Church of the Ethereal Sway's encroachment into the country. With it's fall, certain stronger gods are trying to rouse the belief in the old ways amongst the roaming orc tribes, barbarian clans, and giant citadels.

[Aurelianus Drak'shal]

Are these Old Gods linked to Old Magic, perchance?

[Mordelain]

Old Magic? Clarify, just to make sure we're on the same wavelength.

[Aurelianus Drak'shal]

I think it was Christoph I discussed this with originally;

Basically the form of magic that was around before the Tap, in which someone would muse nothing but willpower to shape reality to their whims - creating fire out of nothing, for example - etc, etc.

Also, welcome Thoros. If I don't see you with a flaming sword, I will be disappointed. :P

[Mordelain]

We are indeed on the same wavelength.

The Old Gods are connected to that essence, a bit like, to use your knowledge of Warhammer, the Warp operates.

[Aurelianus Drak'shal]

Aaaaaaah! Gotcha!

Thank you for that.

[Christoph]

Old Magic is just the act of forcing your will upon creation, the way the gods do (or so some say). It's believing an altered reality so strongly that you make it real. Very few are stubborn and/or insane enough to even know it's possible, let alone try it. The Tap is much more readily available, haha.

[Aurelianus Drak'shal]

:P arrogant, insane, willful...

I wonder who that reminds me of?

I'll maybe need to have a thread where someone worshipping the Old Gods recognises how Aur casts, and starts lauding him as a Prophet of The Old Gods. :P

[Thoros Mir]

Wow just the amount of feedback from this thread has given me tons of ideas. I really like the old gods idea but will have to weave it into my character a bit better. Thanks for all the input from everyone. Lol ah yes Thoros with the flaming sword I didn't realize how much my name was like the character from A Song of Ice and Fire, his name must have been just rolling around in my subconscious. Can anyone give me some insight if a character who performs magic in this way would be considered power gaming at all? Essentially that kind of power could only be limited by the user themself? I was thinking of maybe doing a character linked to an already established religion but I seem to be suffering from some character creation block.

[Aurelianus Drak'shal]

Well, if you want an example of a caster who uses only sheer willpower, then look no further, cutter.

That's how I do it, and the Realm of Greeting staff are there to make sure your character is not overpowered for their level. Honestly, here on Althanas, there is no set way of doing things like magic as such; you could have your character cast through will, chanting, finger-waggling, interpretive dance.. however you damn well please.

But, if you want an idea on how to put a fair limit on your powers (doesn't matter how you cast, there will always be certain limitations in place for the sake of keeping things fair), then feel free to take a look at my character sheet, linked to the left of this post under 'View Profile'.

[Zook Murnig]

To be honest, my character, Cohen, casts largely by his will and channeling energy through his body. He uses short incantations, words of power, and arcane gestures at times, but mostly just to make it a little easier (they act as a mnemonic for the flow of power and force of will and allow him to focus less completely on the spell at hand).