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==Origins== | ==Origins== | ||
The origins of the Old Gods [[Religion]] are somewhat murky, because of intensely conflicting versions. Old Gods as a religion has always lacked an organized hierarchy, and so local communities as well as diasporas do not agree on a common origin tale. While many [[Regalians]] consider Old Gods synonymous with the [[Velheim]] [[Culture]], they actually are not, and there are more [[Ceardians]] who worship Old Gods under the Cellik variant than there are Velheim Old Gods worshipers. Old Gods reaches beyond these cultures however, with [[Zvorun]], [[Tarkkin]], and [[Dunbrae]] all having slight variations on the same ideology. All Old Gods worshipers agree that their faith started on the island of [[Yervonth]] (called Jerl in old Velheim) however they all disagree with what happened after. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods however are the two largest denominations controlling around 80% of the total worshiper population, and as such, their version is generally accepted as common dogma. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods doctrine claims that when the menace from the west ([[Nelfin]] slavers) arrived on the shores of Ceardia, that a group of Pagan Gods created a pantheon together and spirited large communities away from the Ceardian continent, harboring them in safety on the Yervonth island. From here, Old Gods would continue to spread over the world with migration waves, however the further they went, the more their doctrine was changed by local variations and changes. Unlike Unionism, Old Gods never underwent any major cataclysmic changes or schisms. As such, this page will treat the average understanding of Old Gods as fact, though minor local variations like changing a God's name or patron identity is permissible. | The origins of the Old Gods [[Religion]] are somewhat murky, because of intensely conflicting versions. Old Gods as a religion has always lacked an organized hierarchy, and so local communities as well as diasporas do not agree on a common origin tale. While many [[Regalians]] consider Old Gods synonymous with the [[Velheim]] [[Culture]], they actually are not, and there are more [[Ceardians]] who worship Old Gods under the Cellik variant than there are Velheim Old Gods worshipers. Old Gods reaches beyond these cultures however, with [[Zvorun]], [[Tarkkin]], and [[Dunbrae]] all having slight variations on the same ideology. All Old Gods worshipers agree that their faith started on the island of [[Yervonth]] (called Jerl in old Velheim) however they all disagree with what happened after. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods however are the two largest denominations controlling around 80% of the total worshiper population, and as such, their version is generally accepted as common dogma. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods doctrine claims that when the menace from the west ([[Nelfin]] slavers) arrived on the shores of [[Ceardia]], that a group of Pagan Gods created a pantheon together and spirited large communities away from the Ceardian continent, harboring them in safety on the Yervonth island. From here, Old Gods would continue to spread over the world with migration waves, however the further they went, the more their doctrine was changed by local variations and changes. Unlike Unionism, Old Gods never underwent any major cataclysmic changes or schisms. As such, this page will treat the average understanding of Old Gods as fact, though minor local variations like changing a God's name or patron identity is permissible. | ||
==Core Identity== | ==Core Identity== | ||
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* '''Canon Evil:''' Canon Evil is extremely difficult to establish in the Old Gods religion, because while Aesir are definitely more violent, treasonous and deceitful, they have also saved the Old Gods people numerous times, while the Vanir chose the evil of inaction equal amounts of times. Old Gods faithful are split among three different views, that of the Vanarik who worship only the Vanir and consider the Aesir evil, the Aesirik who worship only the Aesir and consider the Vanir unworthy and lazy, and the Sammun, who worship both, and consider themselves above the struggle of legitimacy. Priests usually fall in this latter category, because those concerned with religion and the dead are expected to be above the clan-based struggles of who supports which pantheon, though people who are not priests can also be Sammun. | * '''Canon Evil:''' Canon Evil is extremely difficult to establish in the Old Gods religion, because while Aesir are definitely more violent, treasonous and deceitful, they have also saved the Old Gods people numerous times, while the Vanir chose the evil of inaction equal amounts of times. Old Gods faithful are split among three different views, that of the Vanarik who worship only the Vanir and consider the Aesir evil, the Aesirik who worship only the Aesir and consider the Vanir unworthy and lazy, and the Sammun, who worship both, and consider themselves above the struggle of legitimacy. Priests usually fall in this latter category, because those concerned with religion and the dead are expected to be above the clan-based struggles of who supports which pantheon, though people who are not priests can also be Sammun. | ||
* '''Identity:''' Old Gods dogma has no explicit gender, sex, sexual orientation or gender-identity bias, though it has an implicit male-bias. While any Old Gods worshiper will claim that all genders and sexes are equally fair in their religion, traditional male-coded masculinity takes a unique place that discolors a lot of the nuance about gender. Strong, masculine and emotionless are framed as virtues for men living by the examples of their gods, and so Old Gods society can come across as publicly egalitarian, but having hidden masculine preferences under the surface. | * '''Identity:''' Old Gods dogma has no explicit gender, sex, sexual orientation or gender-identity bias, though it has an implicit male-bias. While any Old Gods worshiper will claim that all genders and sexes are equally fair in their religion, traditional male-coded masculinity takes a unique place that discolors a lot of the nuance about gender. Strong, masculine and emotionless are framed as virtues for men living by the examples of their gods, and so Old Gods society can come across as publicly egalitarian, but having hidden masculine preferences under the surface. | ||
* '''Conversion:''' Old Gods as a religion does not require preaching or spreading through missionaries, which is usually a practice reserved for [[Estellon]] and [[Unionism]], though to say it is without violent impression is false. Among Old Gods worshipers, holy wars can rage between two distinct populations over small denominational ideals (some as ridiculous as the believed hair color of a god), but bigger conflicts arise with other religions. Old Gods worshipers in general are | * '''Conversion:''' Old Gods as a religion does not require preaching or spreading through missionaries, which is usually a practice reserved for [[Estellon]] and [[Unionism]], though to say it is without violent impression is false. Among Old Gods worshipers, holy wars can rage between two distinct populations over small denominational ideals (some as ridiculous as the believed hair color of a god), but bigger conflicts arise with other religions' influence on their faithful. While Old Gods worshipers in general are fairly tolerant to other religions, they are extremely intolerant to Old Gods converting to other religions, because disloyalty to the gods (for example by converting from Old Gods to Unionism) means a complete loss of Soldi and thus a soul being condemned to the Mirror world. Whereas a person who has always been a Unionist is not at risk of this. | ||
* '''Sins & Taboo:''' The Old Gods religion does not strictly have a great Sin or Taboo, because life is too complicated for that kind of black and white categorization. Even great acts of evil and good can be explained away or villified, the religion does not assign rules or laws to the daily lifestyle of its worshipers, just general guidelines to live by, and some general behavior to avoid. Even disloyalty, when loyalty is a virtue, is permissable, if it comes through the scope of pride and bravery or revenge, all good things for one's Soldi. The only true arbitrator of these values is the Jovrlov, a greatly respected cross-clan priest. | * '''Sins & Taboo:''' The Old Gods religion does not strictly have a great Sin or Taboo, because life is too complicated for that kind of black and white categorization. Even great acts of evil and good can be explained away or villified, the religion does not assign rules or laws to the daily lifestyle of its worshipers, just general guidelines to live by, and some general behavior to avoid. Even disloyalty, when loyalty is a virtue, is permissable, if it comes through the scope of pride and bravery or revenge, all good things for one's Soldi. The only true arbitrator of these values is the Jovrlov, a greatly respected cross-clan priest. | ||
=Gods and Goddesses= | =Gods and Goddesses= | ||
Old Gods is a unique religion in that it has two distinct pantheons, one larger Vanir, and one smaller Aesir. The Vanir are what is considered "natural", born from Arne, the Tree of Life, from which all Ailorkind was born (in the eyes of the Old Gods believers). There is no origin story for the world, though it is very much implied that Aerne is actually the world, and that the great tree is only a physical representation of the world's spirit. The Aesir are foreign, entities from a hellish place that have become gods by forcing their way into the Old Gods pantheon. Morality between all these gods is never so clearly black and white, some of the Vanir do reprehensible things for good reasons, or show indifference and silence to the suffering of mortals, while the Aesir are cruel and unforgiving, but grant so much more power to their faithful with a bargain of free will. There are parts of Old Gods society that worship one pantheon while reviling the other, and then there are parts that worship all of them, each in their own way. For more information, consult the [[Velheim Culture]] Page. | Old Gods is a unique religion in that it has two distinct pantheons, one larger Vanir, and one smaller Aesir. The Vanir are what is considered "natural", born from Arne, the Tree of Life, from which all Ailorkind was born (in the eyes of the Old Gods believers). There is no origin story for the world, though it is very much implied that Aerne is actually the world, and that the great tree is only a physical representation of the world's spirit. The Aesir are foreign, entities from a hellish place that have become gods by forcing their way into the Old Gods pantheon. Morality between all these gods is never so clearly black and white, some of the Vanir do reprehensible things for good reasons, or show indifference and silence to the suffering of mortals, while the Aesir are cruel and unforgiving, but grant so much more power to their faithful with a bargain of free will. There are parts of Old Gods society that worship one pantheon while reviling the other, and then there are parts that worship all of them, each in their own way. For more information, consult the [[Velheim Culture]] Page. [[Dragon]]s are somewhat acknowledged in Old Gods folklore, remarking that they were "beings before being", and sat at the roots of Arne before the first birth, they are considered ancient and powerful, but not godlike. Arne does not have a distinct identity of its own, it is more a cosmic force, which is why the Tree of Life is seen as a symbol, nothing more, to the religion. Old Gods both has a Velheim and a Cellik (Cearden) Variant, where the identities are the same, but names differ. | ||
==Vanir== | ==Vanir== | ||
The Vanir are created in so called Unions. Nidda and Bev are the Union of Water associated with death, Adal and Dáuw are the Union of | The Vanir are created in so called Unions. Nidda and Bev are the Union of Water associated with death, Adal and Dáuw are the Union of Choice associated with loss, Bard and Njal are the Union of air associated with power, Gro and Jord are the Union of Life associated with time, Halfvel and Asbjørn are the Union of Mind associated with free-will, Frode and Toke are the Union of Seasons associated with change, Leif and Astrid are the Union of Fire associated with passion, and Hagen and Tove are the Union of Earth associated with thought. | ||
===Bev, Mirror of Life=== | ===Bev, Mirror of Life=== | ||
{| | {| | ||
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*'''Themes:''' Bev’s themes are the afterlife, measure of the soul, solitude, serenity, mourning, and the dead. He is also invoked during burials, and when communing with the dead. | *'''Themes:''' Bev’s themes are the afterlife, measure of the soul, solitude, serenity, mourning, and the dead. He is also invoked during burials, and when communing with the dead. | ||
*'''Depictions:''' Bev is depicted as a shrouded figure in a large funeral cloth, with only his pale white hands showing of his body, and always holding the Mirror face out. | *'''Depictions:''' Bev is depicted as a shrouded figure in a large funeral cloth, with only his pale white hands showing of his body, and always holding the Mirror face out. | ||
*'''Worship:''' Bev is worshiped specifically by the | *'''Worship:''' Bev is worshiped specifically by the Valsung, singers of the dead, but also by offering food and candles to Bev shrines in Helbolwen. | ||
*'''Manifestation:''' Bev does not manifest in the living world, only serving to hold the Mirrror and pass souls into the afterlife, which he must do without fail and reprieve. | *'''Manifestation:''' Bev does not manifest in the living world, only serving to hold the Mirrror and pass souls into the afterlife, which he must do without fail and reprieve. | ||
*'''Individual:''' Bev does not manifest to individuals or groups at all, as he is only ‘met’ when someone’s soul is passing on for judgement. He is rumored to have made the Vaarda Gates however. | *'''Individual:''' Bev does not manifest to individuals or groups at all, as he is only ‘met’ when someone’s soul is passing on for judgement. He is rumored to have made the Vaarda Gates however. | ||
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* '''Cellik Variant:''' The Cellik Variant of Tove is called Cihnt (pronounced as see-h't), and she is identical to the Velheim Old Gods variant. | * '''Cellik Variant:''' The Cellik Variant of Tove is called Cihnt (pronounced as see-h't), and she is identical to the Velheim Old Gods variant. | ||
|} | |} | ||
==Aesir== | ==Aesir== | ||
The Aesir are not created in Unions, but rather in opposition to one another. Vaarda, while a realm of infinite pleasures and satisfaction, is also a realm of inherent chaos. Old Cearden culture was not devoid of its extreme expressions of violence and glorification of warfare and killing, and as such, there is a constant "game" happening between the four Princes in Vaarda who battle each other with armies of souls belonging to them, each an immortal warrior who lives and dies over and over again. Odal and Faellan struggle over honesty from west to east, and Dreikar and Eikki struggle over pleasure from north to south. Odal hates everything deceitful while Faellan represents it, and Dreikar loves the violent kind of pleasures which Eikki hates, preferring the fun kind. Rand meanwhile, sits at the center of it all in his great crystal palace, a master over this chaos who makes the lesser Aesir fight among each other so that he becomes the most powerful among them and their All-Father. | The Aesir are not created in Unions, but rather in opposition to one another. Vaarda, while a realm of infinite pleasures and satisfaction, is also a realm of inherent chaos. Old Cearden culture was not devoid of its extreme expressions of violence and glorification of warfare and killing, and as such, there is a constant "game" happening between the four Princes in Vaarda who battle each other with armies of souls belonging to them, each an immortal warrior who lives and dies over and over again. Odal and Faellan struggle over honesty from west to east, and Dreikar and Eikki struggle over pleasure from north to south. Odal hates everything deceitful while Faellan represents it, and Dreikar loves the violent kind of pleasures which Eikki hates, preferring the fun kind. Rand meanwhile, sits at the center of it all in his great crystal palace, a master over this chaos who makes the lesser Aesir fight among each other so that he becomes the most powerful among them and their All-Father. | ||
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===Faellan, Prince of Snakes=== | ===Faellan, Prince of Snakes=== | ||
{| | {| | ||
|[[File: | |[[File:Heitti.png|220px|thumb|left]] | ||
| | | | ||
*'''Identity:''' Faellan is, similar to Dreikar, a Demon entity made by Rand to serve as the Prince of the East, a Prince of Treason and Deception. | *'''Identity:''' Faellan is, similar to Dreikar, a Demon entity made by Rand to serve as the Prince of the East, a Prince of Treason and Deception. | ||
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Before long, a revolt brewed, which the Vanir made use of, thus leading the Old Gods people away from Vaarda and into the open world, while also using the Keystone Artifacts to close Bev's Gates. The legacy of Rand is thus complicated. The Aesir saved the Old Gods people from being annihilated by the Nelfin slave fleets by hiding them, and also gave them the means to become the most populous of Ailor cultures to spread the furthest across the world. But also, many Old Gods faithful souls were condemned to his Hell (or Hel, the spelling differs from place to place). To this day, the Aesir still own countless souls as their slaves either for offending them, or dying an honor-less cur, thus making them entities worth acknowledging, even for those who are die-hard Vanir supporters and hate the Aesir. Religion is complicated in the Old Gods, because it strictly acknowledges from the Vanir perspective what is their canonical evil, but then also finds way to make worshiping that evil permissible and even ethically correct. The Aesir did save the Old Gods people, as have the Vanir, and the Vanir did betray their allies, as did the Aesir. | Before long, a revolt brewed, which the Vanir made use of, thus leading the Old Gods people away from Vaarda and into the open world, while also using the Keystone Artifacts to close Bev's Gates. The legacy of Rand is thus complicated. The Aesir saved the Old Gods people from being annihilated by the Nelfin slave fleets by hiding them, and also gave them the means to become the most populous of Ailor cultures to spread the furthest across the world. But also, many Old Gods faithful souls were condemned to his Hell (or Hel, the spelling differs from place to place). To this day, the Aesir still own countless souls as their slaves either for offending them, or dying an honor-less cur, thus making them entities worth acknowledging, even for those who are die-hard Vanir supporters and hate the Aesir. Religion is complicated in the Old Gods, because it strictly acknowledges from the Vanir perspective what is their canonical evil, but then also finds way to make worshiping that evil permissible and even ethically correct. The Aesir did save the Old Gods people, as have the Vanir, and the Vanir did betray their allies, as did the Aesir. | ||
=Old Gods stance on Magic= | |||
The exact views of Old Gods on Magic are complicated. In general, Magic is considered benign, it is like a sword that is only as evil as the person wielding it, and the skill to master Magic is seen as a blessing of the Vanir (who are powerful in Magic). The Old Gods don't consider Magic evil or bad in any particular way, though there is a varied interpretation on whether it is applied by the Vanir or Aesir. In general, Vanir Magic is considered simpler, more muted and less harming, like healing or light Magic that is aimed to support and soothe and heal. Aesir Magic on the other hand is chaotic and violent, more potent, but by nature of their Demonic masters far more dangerous. Magic granted by the Vanir is thus seen as weak but beneficial, while Magic granted by the Aesir is considered strong but dangerous. Godnectar is considered the holy grail of Old Gods Mages: A substance that like Eikki, makes them both physically and magically more potent, though only rumors have ever existed about it. Finally, the Old Gods faithful do acknowledge the scientific establishments of Void and Exist, but do not acknowledge the dimensional nature as independence forces. That is to say, they do not believe that Magic can simply come by itself, it is being allowed or helped into the world by the Old Gods, and thus always has the touch of the Vanir or Aesir on it. | |||
=Priestly Activities= | =Priestly Activities= | ||
* The clergy in general are all considered Sammun, meaning they should acknowledge the godhood of both Vanir and Aesir, though this does not preclude them from having preferences. A priestess may for example strictly state that while she brings offerings to the Vanir and Aesir alike, that the Aesir are there more to be "feared" while the Vanir are there more to be "loved", but they should never outwardly reject or exclude someone for worshiping the Aesir or the Vanir. Priests, and all religious figures indluding the Skaarda and Velsang, are expected to be above the religious differences. | * The clergy in general are all considered Sammun, meaning they should acknowledge the godhood of both Vanir and Aesir, though this does not preclude them from having preferences. A priestess may for example strictly state that while she brings offerings to the Vanir and Aesir alike, that the Aesir are there more to be "feared" while the Vanir are there more to be "loved", but they should never outwardly reject or exclude someone for worshiping the Aesir or the Vanir. Priests, and all religious figures indluding the Skaarda and Velsang, are expected to be above the religious differences. |
Revision as of 14:11, 27 November 2022
Fornoss | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Pronunciation | Old-Gods |
Origins | Old Ceardia |
Deities | |
Too many to list | |
Subsects | |
Cellik and Velheim variants |
Origins
The origins of the Old Gods Religion are somewhat murky, because of intensely conflicting versions. Old Gods as a religion has always lacked an organized hierarchy, and so local communities as well as diasporas do not agree on a common origin tale. While many Regalians consider Old Gods synonymous with the Velheim Culture, they actually are not, and there are more Ceardians who worship Old Gods under the Cellik variant than there are Velheim Old Gods worshipers. Old Gods reaches beyond these cultures however, with Zvorun, Tarkkin, and Dunbrae all having slight variations on the same ideology. All Old Gods worshipers agree that their faith started on the island of Yervonth (called Jerl in old Velheim) however they all disagree with what happened after. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods however are the two largest denominations controlling around 80% of the total worshiper population, and as such, their version is generally accepted as common dogma. Cellik and Velheim Old Gods doctrine claims that when the menace from the west (Nelfin slavers) arrived on the shores of Ceardia, that a group of Pagan Gods created a pantheon together and spirited large communities away from the Ceardian continent, harboring them in safety on the Yervonth island. From here, Old Gods would continue to spread over the world with migration waves, however the further they went, the more their doctrine was changed by local variations and changes. Unlike Unionism, Old Gods never underwent any major cataclysmic changes or schisms. As such, this page will treat the average understanding of Old Gods as fact, though minor local variations like changing a God's name or patron identity is permissible.
Core Identity
Old Gods is a religion that developed out of the old concept of Ailor Paganism in Ceardia, which was a polytheistic religion with a theoretical infinite amount of gods. Old Gods as a religion reformed this principle, attaching itself to the tangible gods that the people could see and interact with, and then centralized religion to them. Old Gods as a religion is centered around the concepts of Honor of the Soul, which is similar to Asaredu, but not strictly bound to combat honor alone, rather to the purity of one's soul as understood through the lens of behavior, actions, and things said. Old Gods worshipers refer to the Honor of the Soul as Soldi. The Old Gods (both Vanir and Aesir) are referred to as Old Gods even by their own faithful, because they take pride in the ancientness of their faith in comparison to modern Unionism.
Tenets
- Bravery: Soldi is gained by seeking out competition, challenge, and self improvement, by not showing cowardice and hiding away from struggles.
- Wroth: Soldi is lost by letting events simply transpire without having a role in them, making Old Gods faithful rather forceful in their habits.
- Pleasure: Soldi is gained by spreading one's progeny, and expressing the virtues of the Union of Fire and Eikki, to be passionate in life.
- Vengeful: Soldi is gained by settling scores, and particularly by taking vengeance on those who have done wrong to the individual, or society.
- Greed: Soldi is gained by being greedy for power, but by also being merciful with how that power is applied and pressured onto others.
- Honest: Soldi is lost when lying, in the simplest of terms. White-lies exist, but lies for personal gain cause one to lose Soldi.
- Pride: Soldi is gained through fame, and the only way to be famous is to be proud and live as if one is already magnificent.
- Respect: Respect is an immensely important aspect of the Old Gods religion, which abhors irreverence, even of other religions and beliefs.
- Soldi: Soldi is an intangible currency of the soul, the more Soldi someone has, the greater they are considered, and more likely to thrive in the afterlife.
- Hel: Hel is the opposite of Soldi, a realm, where those who die without any Soldi, or those with negative Soldi go. Their souls belong to the Aesir there.
- Loyalty: Loyalty is immensely important, to family, to clan, to liege-lord. Treason is a great way to instantly lose all Soldi gained over one's lifetime.
Beliefs
- Narrative: In Old Gods beliefs, the world is one giant proving grounds for all living things (even wild animals) to prove the value of their soul, and increase the amount of Soldi they have. Those with low Soldi can go into the afterlife, but only the Lower-Realm. Those heroes who achieve high Soldi however, pass on to the High Halls, where they sit at the feet of the Vanir, and have a glorious afterlife of plenty. Those with negative or close to negative Soldi are considered Honorless, condemned to wander a color less happiness-devoid dimension owned by the Aesir as penance for their worthlessness.
- Canon Evil: Canon Evil is extremely difficult to establish in the Old Gods religion, because while Aesir are definitely more violent, treasonous and deceitful, they have also saved the Old Gods people numerous times, while the Vanir chose the evil of inaction equal amounts of times. Old Gods faithful are split among three different views, that of the Vanarik who worship only the Vanir and consider the Aesir evil, the Aesirik who worship only the Aesir and consider the Vanir unworthy and lazy, and the Sammun, who worship both, and consider themselves above the struggle of legitimacy. Priests usually fall in this latter category, because those concerned with religion and the dead are expected to be above the clan-based struggles of who supports which pantheon, though people who are not priests can also be Sammun.
- Identity: Old Gods dogma has no explicit gender, sex, sexual orientation or gender-identity bias, though it has an implicit male-bias. While any Old Gods worshiper will claim that all genders and sexes are equally fair in their religion, traditional male-coded masculinity takes a unique place that discolors a lot of the nuance about gender. Strong, masculine and emotionless are framed as virtues for men living by the examples of their gods, and so Old Gods society can come across as publicly egalitarian, but having hidden masculine preferences under the surface.
- Conversion: Old Gods as a religion does not require preaching or spreading through missionaries, which is usually a practice reserved for Estellon and Unionism, though to say it is without violent impression is false. Among Old Gods worshipers, holy wars can rage between two distinct populations over small denominational ideals (some as ridiculous as the believed hair color of a god), but bigger conflicts arise with other religions' influence on their faithful. While Old Gods worshipers in general are fairly tolerant to other religions, they are extremely intolerant to Old Gods converting to other religions, because disloyalty to the gods (for example by converting from Old Gods to Unionism) means a complete loss of Soldi and thus a soul being condemned to the Mirror world. Whereas a person who has always been a Unionist is not at risk of this.
- Sins & Taboo: The Old Gods religion does not strictly have a great Sin or Taboo, because life is too complicated for that kind of black and white categorization. Even great acts of evil and good can be explained away or villified, the religion does not assign rules or laws to the daily lifestyle of its worshipers, just general guidelines to live by, and some general behavior to avoid. Even disloyalty, when loyalty is a virtue, is permissable, if it comes through the scope of pride and bravery or revenge, all good things for one's Soldi. The only true arbitrator of these values is the Jovrlov, a greatly respected cross-clan priest.
Gods and Goddesses
Old Gods is a unique religion in that it has two distinct pantheons, one larger Vanir, and one smaller Aesir. The Vanir are what is considered "natural", born from Arne, the Tree of Life, from which all Ailorkind was born (in the eyes of the Old Gods believers). There is no origin story for the world, though it is very much implied that Aerne is actually the world, and that the great tree is only a physical representation of the world's spirit. The Aesir are foreign, entities from a hellish place that have become gods by forcing their way into the Old Gods pantheon. Morality between all these gods is never so clearly black and white, some of the Vanir do reprehensible things for good reasons, or show indifference and silence to the suffering of mortals, while the Aesir are cruel and unforgiving, but grant so much more power to their faithful with a bargain of free will. There are parts of Old Gods society that worship one pantheon while reviling the other, and then there are parts that worship all of them, each in their own way. For more information, consult the Velheim Culture Page. Dragons are somewhat acknowledged in Old Gods folklore, remarking that they were "beings before being", and sat at the roots of Arne before the first birth, they are considered ancient and powerful, but not godlike. Arne does not have a distinct identity of its own, it is more a cosmic force, which is why the Tree of Life is seen as a symbol, nothing more, to the religion. Old Gods both has a Velheim and a Cellik (Cearden) Variant, where the identities are the same, but names differ.
Vanir
The Vanir are created in so called Unions. Nidda and Bev are the Union of Water associated with death, Adal and Dáuw are the Union of Choice associated with loss, Bard and Njal are the Union of air associated with power, Gro and Jord are the Union of Life associated with time, Halfvel and Asbjørn are the Union of Mind associated with free-will, Frode and Toke are the Union of Seasons associated with change, Leif and Astrid are the Union of Fire associated with passion, and Hagen and Tove are the Union of Earth associated with thought.
Bev, Mirror of Life
|
Nidda, Dancer of Death
|
Adal, Prince of Forgiving
|
Dáuw, King of Mountains
|
Bard, King of Bears
|
Njal, Prince of Art
|
Gro, Shaper of Flesh
|
Jord, Forger of Metal
|
Halfvel, the Father of Demigods
|
Asbjørn, the Punished Winter
|
Frode, Carer of Spring
|
Toke, Lirh of Autumn
|
Leif, Summer of Passion
|
Estrid, Queen of War
|
Hagen, Crafter of Time
|
Tove, Daughter of Dreams
|
Aesir
The Aesir are not created in Unions, but rather in opposition to one another. Vaarda, while a realm of infinite pleasures and satisfaction, is also a realm of inherent chaos. Old Cearden culture was not devoid of its extreme expressions of violence and glorification of warfare and killing, and as such, there is a constant "game" happening between the four Princes in Vaarda who battle each other with armies of souls belonging to them, each an immortal warrior who lives and dies over and over again. Odal and Faellan struggle over honesty from west to east, and Dreikar and Eikki struggle over pleasure from north to south. Odal hates everything deceitful while Faellan represents it, and Dreikar loves the violent kind of pleasures which Eikki hates, preferring the fun kind. Rand meanwhile, sits at the center of it all in his great crystal palace, a master over this chaos who makes the lesser Aesir fight among each other so that he becomes the most powerful among them and their All-Father.
Rand, The Great Betrayer
|
Odal, Prince of Vengeance
|
Dreikar, Horror of Frost
|
Eikki, Prince of Pleasure
|
Faellan, Prince of Snakes
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The Nuance of Aesir
While Rand is often treated as the devil by the Vanir, and many of the Vanir supporters, morality is not as simple as is implied. When the first Old Gods worshipers appealed to their gods to save them from the constant Nelfin raids and attacks on their fledgling communities, the Vanir were unwilling or incapable of acting to save them. In retrospect, it is likely the case that the Vanir were simply much weaker than the Estellon Gods, which lends credibility to the idea that not all religious gods are born equal. Gro and Jord however, sought out the Aesir who supposed did have the power to save the faithful from the clutches of the Nelfin, and thus struck a bargain, in which the Old Gods faithful would be kept safe and protected from the Allorn prying eyes and slave fleets, while they would also be given a means to grow and prosper, in exchange for certain liberties. The exact details of the bargain are barely understood in the modern day, because Old Gods dogma was never written down and these events occurred thousands of years ago.
Folklore has it that when the deal was accepted, Gro and Jord were immediately expelled, but that the whole of the Old Gods faithful was absorbed into Vaarda, a dimension separate from Aloria in which they lived in extreme undying bliss with never ending supplies of food, medicine, and pleasures. From here, the exact actions of the other Vanir is also quite unclear, though there is some implication that they ended up working with the Aesir, to "make the best out of a bad situation". After all, while the Vanir hated Rand, Bev did make the Vaarda Gates, and supposedly Hagen made the Keystone Artifacts used to open and close the gates. Thus, Old Gods faithful colonization spread across the world like wildfire, because they could travel through Bev's gates in a matter of seconds across vast distances, and had the supplies of Vaarda's orchards and grain fields to support their population boom. At a certain time however, the people realized this was a poisoned fruit, and that there was no way to disagree or criticize Rand or oppose the Aesir, as even though the Vanir had been wary of him, the people saw only his blessings at first but turned on him later. They came to realize, that anyone who offended him, had their souls ripped out, and given to him to own. Furthermore, those who would die without honor would be condemned to the Imellomgård, or the "world in between" the living and the afterlife, where they would equally belong to him.
Before long, a revolt brewed, which the Vanir made use of, thus leading the Old Gods people away from Vaarda and into the open world, while also using the Keystone Artifacts to close Bev's Gates. The legacy of Rand is thus complicated. The Aesir saved the Old Gods people from being annihilated by the Nelfin slave fleets by hiding them, and also gave them the means to become the most populous of Ailor cultures to spread the furthest across the world. But also, many Old Gods faithful souls were condemned to his Hell (or Hel, the spelling differs from place to place). To this day, the Aesir still own countless souls as their slaves either for offending them, or dying an honor-less cur, thus making them entities worth acknowledging, even for those who are die-hard Vanir supporters and hate the Aesir. Religion is complicated in the Old Gods, because it strictly acknowledges from the Vanir perspective what is their canonical evil, but then also finds way to make worshiping that evil permissible and even ethically correct. The Aesir did save the Old Gods people, as have the Vanir, and the Vanir did betray their allies, as did the Aesir.
Old Gods stance on Magic
The exact views of Old Gods on Magic are complicated. In general, Magic is considered benign, it is like a sword that is only as evil as the person wielding it, and the skill to master Magic is seen as a blessing of the Vanir (who are powerful in Magic). The Old Gods don't consider Magic evil or bad in any particular way, though there is a varied interpretation on whether it is applied by the Vanir or Aesir. In general, Vanir Magic is considered simpler, more muted and less harming, like healing or light Magic that is aimed to support and soothe and heal. Aesir Magic on the other hand is chaotic and violent, more potent, but by nature of their Demonic masters far more dangerous. Magic granted by the Vanir is thus seen as weak but beneficial, while Magic granted by the Aesir is considered strong but dangerous. Godnectar is considered the holy grail of Old Gods Mages: A substance that like Eikki, makes them both physically and magically more potent, though only rumors have ever existed about it. Finally, the Old Gods faithful do acknowledge the scientific establishments of Void and Exist, but do not acknowledge the dimensional nature as independence forces. That is to say, they do not believe that Magic can simply come by itself, it is being allowed or helped into the world by the Old Gods, and thus always has the touch of the Vanir or Aesir on it.
Priestly Activities
- The clergy in general are all considered Sammun, meaning they should acknowledge the godhood of both Vanir and Aesir, though this does not preclude them from having preferences. A priestess may for example strictly state that while she brings offerings to the Vanir and Aesir alike, that the Aesir are there more to be "feared" while the Vanir are there more to be "loved", but they should never outwardly reject or exclude someone for worshiping the Aesir or the Vanir. Priests, and all religious figures indluding the Skaarda and Velsang, are expected to be above the religious differences.
- Those that believe only in the Vanir call themselves Vanirik, they depict the Aesir strictly as evil Demons who do not deserve worship, and should be fought against. Those that believe only in the Aesir call themselves Aesirik, they depict the Vanir as weak and undeserving of worship, and should in general be avoided and ignored to wallow in their pitiful existence. It is possible to be Vanirik and still worship Eikki on the side, while rejecting the other Aesir, while it is also possible to be Aesirik and still worship Bard for power while rejecting the other Vanir. Old Gods doctrine in general is complicated and has many shades of gray.
- The Valsung, is a religious figure that "sings to the dead". Valsung are mortuary individuals who both carry the dead to the Helbolwen (an Old Gods crypt), embalm the dead with the song of the dead, and inter their bodies in these crypts. Helbolwen also administer rites to the dead, put them down if they turn into wicked Undead, and perform rites and song rituals for the mourning family members and friends of the dead when they come to visit.
- The Skaarda, is a religious figure that "shields the dead". Skaarda are protectors of the Helbolwen and the Valsung. While Valsung should be able to protect the Helbolwen from inside, Skaarda protect it from the outside. Skaarda are the unofficial answer of the Old Gods people to Viridian Knights, a mirror reflection of them, an order of faith bound warriors who protect the Old Gods religion from outsiders and defilement.
- The Laarna, is a religious figure that "tells the names". Laarna travel the lands to record stories of those who have passed away, with particular care given to recording their name, as the Old Gods faithful believe that the time when someone truly dies, is when their name is whispered or spoken for the last time, and then all memories of them pass into non-existence. Laarna try to preserve their names in recitations at Temples.
- The Synna, is a religious figure that "speaks with gods". Synna is not strictly a job, but can be an addition to either Laarna, Skaarda, or Valsung. Synna is best described as a religious promise to uphold the belief, and share the belief with those who want to hear it, and to provide worship services to a listening audience. To be a Synna can thus best be described as being an unordained priest, but since Old Gods does not have a hierarchical clergy, nobody has to acknowledge a Synna if they do not like what they are preaching.
- Communal worship of Old Gods can occur through so called Messe, an Old Gods version of communal worship among Unionists, where faithful come together to listen to a myth or legend retelling of the Old Gods by a Synna. Because the Old Gods religion has so many local variants and versions of the Gods, you as a roleplayer can reasonably just make up some legendary tale about Bard fighting some entity, or Hagen and Tove defeating some intelligent being at its own game by debating it, and it will all be lore canon, because these stories simply follow the general themes of the Gods, and aren't strictly found in fact. That is in fact the whole point, not to tell a factual story, but to remind the faithful what these gods stood for, and to encourage their inspiration and creativity.
Trivia
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