Religions of Mobius
Humans: Church
of Man
Mobians: Source
Worship, Ritual
Church
Echidna: Aurora
Worship, Ancient
Walker Worship
Dingo: Quasi-Stoicism
Wolf
Packs: Nature Spiritualism
Kitsune: Ancestor
Worship & Northern Deism
Others: Mogulian
Cults
Ritual Church (nonexclusive)
- oldest
surviving native religious organization (2nd Mogulian
Republic)
- strong
emphasis on magic, artifacts & miracles
- branched
off to form Source Worship
- strong
network of clerics to run society
- dualism
between existing good and evil, strict moral codes
- 'Devout'
redeem others by association
- mixed
revelation and mystery religion elements
- Character
Examples:
Hershey(doctrinal
adherent)
Bunnie(lay)
Source Worship (non exclusive)
- related to
Ritual Church (formed as state religion by Acorn Dynasty)
- founded by
Xerxes the Golden, son of Alexander (the first real King Acorn)
- less
emphasis on clerics or monasticism, more on kingly figure as a
symbol or link to or with supernatural
- less
pronounced dualism; more interpretation allowed
- mixed
revelation and mystery religion elements
- Character
Examples:
King
Max(true believer)
Sally(openly
heretical)
St.
John(another true believer)
Sir
Charles/Uncle Chuck(moderate/lay)
Aurora Worship(exclusive: echidna)
- worshippers
seek 'ascended state' and enlightenment/purity
- Aurora is
both a Holy Figure and an aspect of non-personified supernatural
forces inherent to the world
- "Avatars"
(maybe Avatara) are the chosen of Aurora (Archie canon added
recently). They are Prophets who lead in times of crisis, similar to
traditional Mitres in Walker Worship
- Churches
are known as Auroriums (Archie canon again)
- "Speakers"
for Aurora serve a ceremonial role as an intermediary
- Female
virginal/monastic tradition
- (mentioned
as a puppet religion set up by "Merlin Prower," who claimed to
have given Aurora her 'ascended' state)
- Character
Examples:
Constable
Remington(lay/critical of institution)
Knuckles(openly
critical of it – Archie canon)
Lara-Le(true
believer)
Locke(openly
opposed)
Tikal(deceased
Priestess/Shrine Maiden)
Ancient Walker Worship (non exclusive)
- Derivative
of Aurora Worship – also seeks 'ascended state'
- Claims
that Aurora was Prophet or Avatar of higher powers: the "Ancient
Walkers" (The Triad, The Trio, The Three, all seen as direct personas or aspects of creation, destruction, and
continuation/existence)
- Belief in
many past Avatars or Prophets, of generally lesser significance, all
'semi divine'
- Strong
connections between religious and practical leadership roles
(Mitres)
- Tutelary:
major and minor Avatara (like Saints) can be adopted by causes,
peoples, organizations, etc…
- Monastic
but not hierarchal (only two classes: Legate and Brother, the former
having authority and seniority)
- (it can be
speculated that this is also a puppet religion, since Athair claims
to speak for and work for the Ancient Walkers, when it seems to be
Merlin directing him in his activities)
- Character
Examples:
Athair(?
– ironically enough, since he is worshipped by them as a Mitre
and Avatar)
Legate
Barak(true believer & fundamentalist)
Sabre(openly
opposed – Archie canon, IIRC)
Nail(former
true believer)
Yanar(true
believer)
Dingoism (generally exclusive)
- mix of
Stoic and Confucian philosophy
- no god or
gods; stresses behaviors of individuals and group dynamics
- emphasis
on morals, but not strong emotions, and submission to institutions
- one's
highest duty is to the public
- nationalistic
and jingoistic
- survival
through racial memory, family and great deeds/good works
- Character
Examples:
General
Viktor von Stryker
Sergeant
Heinrich von Elbe
(pretty
much all dingo are well indoctrinated into this…)
Wolf Packs (generally exclusive)
- evolved
from early Mogulian teachings, most notably the worship of
Rhadamanthus (God of Smiths, Lord of Works, and the First Bright
King), who was the patron of observance, duty, and natural cycles.
While Rhadamanthus is no longer mentioned in name in any of the
ceremonies, they bear distinct anthropological similarities to those
documented in the Early Mogulian Era.
- spirits
exist in all things, and can be communed with
- many
fables, and a strong oral tradition
- strong
emphasis on Pack loyalty and extended family bonds
The Church of Man (exclusive: humans and overlanders)
- created by
(five fingered) "Relic-men," all other human faiths were
exterminated in the nearly thousand year long Wars of Religion- Church of
Man teaching stresses mankind's special and divine nature, and
that humans alone are created in the image of the Great Maker
- human
beings have dominion over the Terra (as they call Mobius), and an
obligation to subjugate it
- Weak
dualism: the Great Maker is neither all good nor all evil, he is all
powerful and above mortal morality
- No saints,
martyrs or lesser deities
- Human
spirits are extensions of the Great Maker himself, and all are equal
in this respect (though those with five fingers have 'divine
favor')
- Existence
is a test of souls and faith
- It not (or
was not) interpreted literally in the modern human era (with the
rise in xenophobia after the evacuation of Station Square, this may
change)
Mogulian Faiths (Cults)(varied)
- this was
the second derivative of the original religion created by Mammoth
Mogul, when he established the first mobian civilization, in the
previous (Third) Age. At the time, after founding the First City of
Enoch, he began to delegate responsibilities to his Acolytes, who
came to be known as the "Bright Kings of Enoch" (while he lost
himself in revelry and debauchery). After several centuries, there
came to be seven (in order of seniority): Rhadamanthus, Ignatius,
Ysbaddaden, Elishiva/Sekhmet, Saffire, Mulciber, and The Devourer.
All were given a Chaos Emerald to provide them with long life and
great power (at the time there were only two sets of Emeralds in all
the world).
- After the
"Days of Fury" (horray for Archie adaptations), in which the
Bright Kings polarized between two camps, Mogul emerged triumphant
due to the intervention of Merlin (who had existed a full Age before
anyone else involved, as the creator of the second set of Emeralds).
However, because of the catastrophe brought to the world, and the
beginning of a Fourth Age, Merlin sealed away many of the Emeralds,
both old and new (as all the Bright Kings were dead by this point
anyway), giving one to Mogul as part of their bargain. The original
Mogulian religion was suppressed (ironically, first by Mogul
himself, and then by those who followed him after his self imposed
Exile)
- What
managed to survive to the present largely takes the form of small
mystery cults (like the only recently deceased Order of Ixus)
- In Cat
Country, and other more primitive and secluded parts of Mobius, many
of the old ways and the 'old gods' survive in a purer form (the
Panther Tribe worshipped Ysbadadden directly, and at least one tribe
in the Ginger Islands still worshipped Mogul himself)
- It is no
longer mainstream…
