Religion in Teresis

Hence it comes that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed Prophets have been destroyed.

—Niccolò Machiavelli

Religion in Teresis is quite varied. There is not one, single pantheon; rather, like in the real world, there are a variety of ethnic religions, cults, missionary religions, spiritual paths, and other religious systems among the many peoples who live in Teresis.

This article mostly covers human religion, but the gods of the Himralda and other nonhumans are covered as well.

Overview

I'll start off by saying it's going to be a bit of a doozy giving you an overview, as religion in Teresis is a tad bit complicated.

Short version

A key point to note is that the existence and nature of the gods is not as obvious in Marillia as it is in other settings.

The largest religion in Teresis is the Lucianus, a monotheistic matriarchal religion which was started by the so-called "girl god" Lucia.

There are many "ethnic religions" (religions associated with an ethnocultural group). The most important one in Sins of the Past is Saphorism, the religion of the Phoenics. Their central gods are Ra, Vaisha, Ossur, Mishra, Casir, and Quethe.

There are many religious cults in Teresis, such as the Somnia (whose central god is Zakkadus).

Long version

First things first: as in the rest of Marillia, the existence of the gods is far less obvious in Teresis than it is in other D&D settings, such as Theros or the Forgotten Realms. In the Forgotten Realms, the existence of the gods is scientifically provable. In Teresis, however, the existence of, say, the god Mirzad is not obvious and not easily provable. And even if he does exist, it may be that he's far different than his worshipers believe him to be.

As such, religion in Teresis is messy and complicated, since it's not clear which gods want what, who is correct in their interpretation of scripture, which gods belong to what pantheon, and whether certain gods even exist.

But I'll try to explain things as clearly as possible. Here we go.

One of the most important religions in Teresis is the Lucianus, the state religion of the Alicantian Empire—a theocratic imperial state in the region most important for our purposes, the Aenea. The Lucianus is monotheistic, teaching the worship of a single almighty Goddess. Alicante has been spreading the Lucianus by the sword for centuries now.

Just as in the real world, many cultures have their own ethnic religions. These are oftentimes your classic polytheistic religions with a big pantheon of gods. And just like in the real world, the people in these places often don't see their religion as being distinct from other religions. For example, IRL, the ancient Greeks didn't have a name for their religion; they didn't think that they had one religion and the Romans had another. Similarly, if you go to Phoena or Imray and ask the people there whom they worship, they'd just say "the gods"; and if you ask them what their religion is, they'd find such a question confusing. As such, we have to rely on various neologisms Alicantian imperialists have coined in an explicit attempt to organize these so-called "pagan" religions: the Phoenic religion is Saphorism, the Imrayan religion is the Ithias, etc. This is much easier than referring to Saphorism as "Phoenic pagan religion."

Finally, there are numerous cults all across the world, many of which have very widespread followings. When I say "cult" in this context, I mean it in the classic sense, not the modern sense—a cult is a "a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object". Some of these cults are very widespread, such as Razad, Casabellum, and the Somnia.

There are other religions which don't fit neatly into the categories of "ethnic religion" or "cult." For example, Mazdana and Atalicism are both weird religions. Both are state religions and are quasi-monotheistic.

In addition (because things aren't confusing enough), it's important to take note that many religions (e.g., Saphorism and Shassaii) aren't totally incompatible. For example, the religion of the Himralda is the Dracarys, but there's nothing stopping a human from worshiping the Dracaryn god Raha. Moreover, some of these religions have overlapping gods. There are cultures who have literally stolen other cultures' gods. This is a thing that happens in real life. For instance, (in game) the god Mishra is worshiped in at least three religions listed below: Mazdana, Saphorism, and Mikalicism.

That about covers it. Now onto the specifics.

Religion among humans

Lucianus

Lucianus
Type	Universal monotheistic religion
Location	Aenea Phoena Aluray Imray
Major gods	Goddess

Main article: Lucianus

The Lucianus ("LOO-shee-AH-niss") is a monotheistic matriarchal religion which teaches the worship of a single all-powerful Goddess. It was established approximately 500 years ago by the "girl god," Lucia. Her adherents believe that Lucia sacrificed herself to wash away the sins of humanity: she was killed and crucified around the age of 15, during a dark age of the world when it was ruled by giants. She was resurrected, at which point she slaughtered the giants and expelled all demons from the world.

The Lucianus is the state religion of the Alicantian Empire and one of the fastest-spreading religions in history. There are significant populations of Lucians on every major continent.

Saphorism

Saphorism
Type	Polytheistic ethnic religion
Location	Phoena
Major gods	Vaisha Mishra Ossur Ra Casir Quethe

Main article: Saphorism

Saphorism is the ethnic religion of the Phoenic people and the state religion of Phoena. It is a polytheistic religion centered around the gods of the King's Myth: Ossur (the divine king), Vaisha (Queen of Heaven), Casir (god of the desert), and Mishra (Ossur-reborn).

Saphorism shares many elements with other religions, such as Shassaii. In many ways, Saphorism is in fact a continuation of Shassaii, just as the Phoenic people believe their monarchy is a continuation of the ancient Ogissian divine bloodline.

Saphorists, like Shassaiins, believe man was created by the god Ra, and that Ra's descendants were destined to rule over all the earth. Ra's great-grandson, Ossur, fulfilled this prophecy, and was chosen to be the first divine king of the world—but he was murdered and displaced by his brother, Casir. Ossur was then reborn as his own son Mishra, who took back the throne and established a dynasty that continues to this day.

Somnia

Somnia
Type	Henotheistic religious cult
Location	Imray Aluray Rhys
Major gods	Zakkadus

Main article: Somnia

The Somnia is a religious cult teaching the worship of the "dreaming god" Zakkadus. Zakkadus, Somnians believe, is asleep, and he needs to stay asleep, otherwise he's going to destroy the world. They believe things like the destruction of nature, needless war, widespread violence, and other such violations of the natural order disturb Zakkadus in his sleep—and when the world becomes so chaotic that it awakens him, he will destroy the world so he can create it anew, this time with less rowdy inhabitants.

Razad

Razad
Type	Henotheistic religious cult
Location	Mainly Imray and Aluray
Major gods	Mirzad

Main article: Razad

Razad is a militant religious cult which places the highest value on civilization and order, and openly espouses genocide against those who oppose these values. It centers around the worship of Mirzad, a god of night, fire, and the hunt.

Casabellum

Casabellum
Type	Henotheistic religious cult
Location	Mainly Imray
Major gods	Lehran

Main article: Casabellum

Casabellum is a widespread religious movement, located mainly in Imray. It is an ascetic religion teaching that man in his ancient past was enslaved by the other races, and that it was only through the intervention of the "Lord of Light" Lehran that we were liberated. Now, they believe, we must use the gifts Lehran gave us to dominate the other races, just as they once dominated us.

They're basically Buddhist Nazis.

Casabellum isn't very popular in Phoena for the same reason Razad isn't (i.e., the government doesn't appreciate it when Casabellans kill nonhumans).

Mazdana

Mazdana
Type	Quasi-monotheistic dualistic religion
Location	Rhys
Major gods	Rahuza Umsana Mishra

Main article: Mazdana

Mazdana is an ancient quasi-monotheistic religion, believed to be one of the oldest religions in the world. It is the state religion of Riyan. Mazdana teaches the worship of a great Lord of Light named Rahuza, and postulates a dualistic cosmology in which the cosmos is embroiled in an eternal war between the forces of light (under Rahuza) and dark (under Ahuraiya).

Mazdana propounds the importance of truth and teaches that, ultimately, the forces of light will triumph over the forces of dark through the power of wisdom and truthful speech.

Yatamni

Yatamni
Type	Tritheistic ethnic religion
Location	Aluray
Major gods	Ichunumake Coyone Nihurimacha

Main article: Yatamni

Yatamni is the ethnic religion of the Jihuthi people.

Yatamni used to be polytheistic, but it is now a tritheistic religion. The Jihuthis once worshiped a large pantheon of gods, with Ichunumake as the central divinity. However, they say that several hundred years ago, Ichunu descended to Troyosha and commanded the Jihuthis cease worshiping all but himself, his daughter-wife Coyone, and his brother Nihurimacha.

The Jihuthis haven't been 100% faithful. Many of the "wild" Jihuthis to the west continue to worship the old gods. The Mhawari Empire—the greatest Jihuthi civilization in history—fell when its people started worshiping Nihuri over Ichunu. And nowadays, in Troyosha, it seems Nihuri is taking an increasingly important role in Jihuthi society...

Shassaii

Shassaii
Type	Polytheistic ethnic religion
Location	Ogissia
Major gods	Ra · Ossur · Vaisha · Mishra · Casir

Main article: Shassaii

Shassaii is a old geezer of a religion, originating in ancient Ogissia, one of the oldest civilizations in Marillia. Many of the Shassaiin gods have been adopted by other religious systems, such as Saphorism and Mazdana.

Religion among Himralda

Dracarys
Type	Polytheistic religion
Location	Himralda · Rhys · Aluray
Major gods	Raha/Bahamut · Nyssa/Tiamat Genshi/Io/Asgorath

Main article: Dracarys

The state religion of the Great Empire of the Himralda is the Dracarys. Their two main gods are Raha (order, light, heaven) and Nyssa (chaos, darkness, the underworld). They revere and worship both deities, despite the obvious differences between the two.

Religion among yuan-ti

There are two major religious camps among the yuan-ti: those who worship Iyashkabar, and those who worship Nyssa. The two camps often war, but they have also been known to cooperate to face down common threats, such as those coming from rochnon infestations and drow invasions.

Iyashkabar is a strange and cruel deity who demands bizarre rituals and blood sacrifice. Nyssa, on the other hand, is the Dracaryn goddess of chaos and evil dragons. The yuan-ti worship her as a fertility deity and an all-mother.

Religion among gnomes

Gnomes worship many gods, but they most commonly worship Garlan the Gold, whom they consider their patron deity.

Religion among drow

Dark Seldarine
Type	Quasi-monotheistic religion
Location	Grimdark
Major gods	Lolth · Eilistraee

Main article: Dark Seldarine

Drow in Teresis mainly worship Lolth, though some renegade drow are known to worship other deities, such as Eilistraee, daughter of Lolth.

Religion among lizardfolk

Lizardfolk in Teresis mainly worship Kelesh.

Tables

Lucianus

Name	Alignment	Associations
Goddess	Lawful Good	Creation, order, mercy

Saphorism

Name	Alignment	Associations
Vaisha	Chaotic Good	Heaven, light, magic, mercy, underworld
Mishra	Neutral Good	Heaven, justice, kings, light
Ossur	Lawful Neutral	Law, kings, rebirth
Ra	Lawful Neutral	Creation, order, sun
Casir	Chaotic Evil	Chaos, Darkness, storms, violence
Quethe	Neutral Good	Art, magic, science, technology

Somnia

Name	Alignment	Associations
Zakkadus	Lawful Neutral	Creation, dreams, order, sleep

Razad

Name	Alignment	Associations
Mirzad	Lawful Neutral	Civilization, fire, hunting, night

Casabellum

Name	Alignment	Associations
Lehran	?	Humans, liberation, light