Syncretism

Syncretism is not a Religion in and of itself, but more a process by which multiple Religions can be combined, or aspects of Religions can be absorbed into other Religions. Most of Aloria's Religions are polytheistic, and Gods are generally also fairly flexible in terms of their pantheon membership. One God's divine lessons can be applied to believers from another Religion, for example. In technical canon interpretations, Syncretism is heresy. However, Religious Roleplay already happens rarely on the server, and we do not want to limit the reach of this type of Roleplay by putting hard limitations on interactivity. Syncretism is meant to be optional, we only recommend experienced players experiment with Syncretism because it comes with its own problems.

Syncretism Rules

Syncretism as a concept follows several rules. These rules are hard set in stone, and going beyond the limitations set out means your Character is a Heretic to all faiths involved. If a Religion is not mentioned here, assume that it cannot be Syncretized.

• Your Character must always have a dominant Religion and a sub-dominant Religion. The dominant Religion (main Religion) will define your Character's Religious Mechanics, Afterlife, etc.
• Your Character may choose 1 or 2 Gods of the sub-dominant Religion (secondary Religion) only to worship. It is not possible to worship a whole pantheon for the sub-dominant Religion.
• Your Character does not receive the Religious Mechanic from the sub-dominant Religion, nor access to the Afterlife. Its Gods however do treat your Character as a worshiper, for example in summoning.
• Ailor cannot Syncretize Religions, because they already have a Mechanic that allows Dual-Religions. Minor Faiths cannot be Syncretized at all, because they are not full organized Religions.
• Player Characters both as worshipers of your dominant and sub-dominant Religion, may reject your Character as a heretic, particularly if your Character chose a problematic Syncretism.

At the end of the day, Syncretism is meant to give your Character validation in their belief and access to other Religious communities, but still allow other Players to reject the combination you have chosen, if they think it is not something their Character would support. At a baseline, the Gods will always support your Character's choices, but you can never force other Players to include your Character if they do not want to. While for example, it is possible to play a Baskarr worshiper who Syncretizes with Estelley Gods, those Gods were involved in historical crimes against the Asha. We leave room for the Players to examine these combinations and reserve the right to their own to reject your Character if the combination you have chosen is deemed unacceptable to their OC, but the Gods won't ever reject these combinations, because they benefit from the power of worship, and the more worshipers they have on an individual basis the more powerful they are.

• Unionism can be Syncretized (and works well with Draconism or Estelley).
• Draconism can be Syncretized (and works well with Unionism or Fornoss).
• Fornoss can be Syncretized (and works well with Draconism or Evolism).
• Evolism can be Syncretized (and works well with Fornoss or Baskarr).
• Baskarr can be Syncretized (and works well with Evolism).
• Nilthism cannot be Syncretized.
• Minor Faiths cannot be Syncretized.

Syncretic Beliefs

When Syncretizing, a believer does not copy the whole Religion including its vices and virtues and tenets from the sub-dominant Religion to the dominant Religion. Rather, when a faith is chosen in Syncretism, they adopt a singular religious concept called the Syncretic Belief. This Syncretic Belief is like an add-on core concept for the dominant Religion, and the Gods that were chosen from that faith reinforce it. For example, if Fornoss is chosen for a dominant Unionist, then they would gain the Fornoss Ancestral Nature core belief, and choose one or two Gods to add to their personal Unionist Pantheon. The exact Syncretic Beliefs are listed below, and they remain consistent no matter what dominant Religion they are added to (even if the concept may clash with the dogma of specific Gods). Please choose your Character's Syncretism carefully. While you can swap once or so, frequent swapping Syncretism will be seen as lore incompliance.

• Unionism: The Unionist Syncretic Belief is called Manifest Unity in which the believers profess that the Regalian Empire is the world's best shot at world peace and a stable world order that is not outright perfect, but closer to the concept of paradise than any other, and that they should work towards increasing the geo-political power of the Regalian Empire, or help lands as of yet not ruled by the Regalian Emperor to join the fold. The central belief is that the Regalian Empire brings enlightened ideas of commerce, social welfare, freedom of religion thought security and protection, and general welfare, and that the further it reaches, the safer the people within it are.
• Draconism: The Draconism Syncretic Belief is called Immortal Stewardship in which the believers profess that creation has an obligation to the Dragons (creators) to assist in the preservation of the world in its Dragon-intended state as a realm of life. That can include but does not require joining up with the Archon when they combat the forces that would cause mass death and use Dark Magic on Aloria, or generally getting involved in the work that the Dragon Cults engage in to ensure the survival of Dragon Sites, world functioning, and the general work of creationism. Draconism's Syncretic Belief in essence conscripts outsiders to join in the defense of the world and the living as world protectors.
• Fornoss: The Fornoss Syncretic Belief is called Ancestral Grounds in which the believers profess a heightened respect for ancestry, their forebearers, ancestor spirits, and the power of elements in the environment. Syncretic believers show greater respect for the pristineness of nature, and profess a connection with the gods in the elements of fire, air, water and earth. But most importantly of all, it adds the concept of high-held honor and the different ways honor expresses itself in Fornoss. With the Fornoss Syncretic Belief, Syncretic believers gain access to Soldi and Svaldi, and are judged by the Fornoss Gods for how much honor they have, even if it can never used to enter the Fornoss afterlife.
• Evolism: The Evolism Syncretic Belief is called Evolution Progress in which the believers profess the necessity for evolution and self-improvement in a biological, mental, and spiritual way. Under Evolution Progress, the faithful must seek out ways to advance themselves or their people or be left in the dust by the march of time. Fornoss Syncretic Beliefs work slightly differently. While normally sub-dominant Religions do not give Mechanics, Fornoss does grant Mechanics, but only the Mechanics associated with the 1 or 2 Gods that are chosen from the Evolist Pantheon to be added to the dominant Religion. This only applies to Evolism as sub-dominant Religion.
• Baskarr: The Baskarr Syncretic Belief is called Sacred Place in which the believers profess the necessity for every culture, people, belief, religion, society, country and historical grievance to be respected, and have its place to flourish in the world in harmony with other elements. Simply put, the Baskarr Syncretic Belief stands for the idea that no single thing can replace or remove from the world any other thing, and that the people in the world must seek a way to make the world work where everyone has a place for themselves and their ideas and beliefs to exist without harming others. This Syncretic Belief is a form of cultural preservation, and seeking karmic balance in the world.