Thidal Religion Example

Religion

(Transcript of an Interview with High Priestess Selene Goldmeré conducted by Octavian Lestrange)

Octavian: Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. As you well know, I wish to write a children’s book explaining our religion to them, so let’s start there: How would you describe our believes in a few sentences to a child?

Selene: Well, I would start by explaining our Gods to them, starting with the most important: The Eternal Mother Neva, Goddess of Souls. It is her that grants us life, separates us from the beasts, and guides us through our lives until we return to her in death. She sets most rules and guidelines for us, like any good mother would, so we may live a good life and more importantly a good afterlife.

Octavian: May I interject? Two questions you surely have heard often: Do our pets and other animals join us in the afterlife and how does the afterlife look like?

Selene: Oh, of course not! Only humans have souls. Cats, dogs, pigs, and cattle, same as Elves, Orcs and monsters all do not have souls! I mean, could you imagine how barbaric it otherwise would be to keep them as pets, eat them, have them as slaves or how the crusades would have looked like otherwise?

Octavian: Right...

Selene: As for the afterlife, once we die, our soul leaves our body and ascends to the divine plane where we spent our life in eternal bliss with the Eternal Mother – as well as the other Gods – that is, if we lived our lives according to the rules given to us. If one does not, they will have to atone before ascending, unless they broke one of the Unforgivable Rules, in which case their souls will not ascend and they will be cursed to walk the living realm as Spectres, never experiencing bliss.

Octavian: Right, of course. And, for completeness’ sake, we know this because...?

Selene: Because the Holy Book, written by her children in an epiphany given by her, tells us its true.

Octavian: Of course... Before we go back to the original question, would you mind sharing a prayer to the Goddess Neva?

Selene: It would be a pleasure. The prayer for aid is probably the most known one. “Eternal Mother, light of our lives, I beg of you to hear my voice. Illuminate me so I may save my eternal soul. I request this of you in your eternal light, o most merciful goddess. Absolve me with your gracious love.”

Octavian: Thank you, High Priestess. Shall we return to the rest of our pantheon?

Selene: As you wish. Let us continue with Ether, God of Justice. One might say where Neva is our mother, Ether is our father. And as any good father, he makes sure to enforce the rules given to us. Where Neva judges us at the end of our lives, Ether seeks to immediately correct our path, shall we ever stray from it. He makes sure we follow both the divine rules and the rules set upon us by those that have just authority over us.

Octavian: How does he enforce these rules? Does he smite deviants down?

Selene: Oh, no, not at all, he is more subtle than that. One must truly be beyond salvation that he would smite someone down. A bad illness that requires purity of soul and body to overcome, a bad harvest so one might learn humility, a monster straying from its path and crossing yours, things like that are more likely.

Octavian: But does it ever happen? That he directly smites someone down?

Selene: Yes, sometimes it happens. I am sure you have heard of Baron Lominir that was struck by lightning and was dead on the spot, right?

Octavian: Yes... he was my uncle...

Selene: A prime example of divine punishment, though I am not sure why he was stricken down – but that is none of my concern, the God must have had his reasons.

Octavian: ... Right, lets move on to the next deity, shall we?

Selene: As you wish. While our pantheon contains many other smaller gods and goddesses, like Vustus, God of Agriculture or Arona, Goddess of Tricks there is just one other god that sits on the Golden Tribunal, the governing body of the afterlife: Nizher, God of Duty. He protects those acting for the greater good and grants them entry to the afterlife, even if they violate an Unforgivable Rule.

Octavian: Could you give an example?

Selene: Gladly. He, for example, protects the Templars even though they violated multiple Unforgivable Rules during their battle for Sanctuary Hills.

Octavian: You mean that the Holy Order pillaged and massacred the whole peasant population?

Selene: That they put the heretics to justice, yes.

Octavian: Remind me again: What was it the heretics did?

Selene: They insinuated that Elves had souls and performed interrace marriages in the name of Neva, can you believe someone would strive that far from the righteous path?

Octavian: ... unbelievable, yes ... Speaking of the righteous path, could you provide me with the list of the Unforgivable Rules so can be sure to have them in the right wording?

Selene: Naturally, I shall recite them for you. We would not want anyone to break them after all.

1. “You shall not speak in a god’s place.”
2. “You shall not question the gods or the gods’ word.”
3. “You shall follow only the light: Hold faith in the god’s plans.”
4. “You shall spread the gods’ words.”
5. “You shall not kill any of The Eternal Mother’s children, unless you act in justice or self defence.”
6. “You shall not stray from the true path: Do not make use of dark artefacts.”
7. “You shall not act upon your darkest desires, but instead cleanse them from your being.”
8. “You shall never harm a child, for their innocent soul is holy.”
9. “You shall see justice is done according to the gods’ wills: Uphold order and peace in the gods’ world.”

Octavian: ... I think that will be all for now, thank you for your time, High Priestess ...