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…