Cultural Religons and Immortals and stuff
Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2015 11:21 am
I've recently taken up the habit of showing more about the different cultural equivalents of common Immortal concepts, rather than assuming all cultures view an Immortal (or their concept at least) the same way. I think it makes the world a lot more real and the cultures more distinct, and you can glean some info about the cultures themselves from information on how they view their Immortals.
Many have probably noticed that I usually give info for four particular cultures: Faewyr, Viali, Nuum, and Huec.
"But Rias, what about the other cultures?"
Giganti: As a culture, they don't really have a consensus about all these other weird beings that other cultures talk about as Immortals. Maybe they're real, maybe they're fake, maybe they're real entities but revered as more than they really are. What's important to the Giganti is, of course, the Mountain Father. Regardless of whether the other Immortals are real or not, the Mountain Father is the one who literally carved the Giganti from stone and gave them life. Everything else is secondary. Giganti can choose to believe in, respect, acknowledge, renounce, or revile the Immortals of other cultures as they see fit. Thinking about it a little more ... the general consensus is probably something like "At least some of those other Immortals are probably real in some sense or another, and we'll respect the ones worth respecting if the situation calls for it or if we feel so inclined, but the Mountain Father is our one Creator, and he is enough for us on his own. He made us, he watches over us, he has provided for us Ven-Helligdom to house our souls after death and has a plan for us in eternity. Any other Immortals are supplementary."
Hillfolk: They're not overly religious, but probably lean toward the Viali religious ways given their history.
Parren: Being an intercontinental trade hub, they've become very melting-pot in many ways, including religion. Foremost Immortals among their religious beliefs are Nereia, Vodr, Verungnr, and to a lessert extent, Naia, all of whom they probably view in a somewhat unique way compared to other cultures.
Grum: They're not into magic, let alone Immortals. They're a very practical "let's do this ourselves, not with any mystical mumbo-jumbo or supposed divine intervention nonsense" people. That said, Grum is also very melting-pot, and there are likely various groups dedicated to Immortals of various depictions and cultural flavors, just nothing prominent.
Rhuidim: Their nation was founded on the concept of "The Old Gods are gone; we are the people who will replace them." As always, individuals and groups may deviate from the cultural norm. I imagine Malfant in particular is a relatively popular Immortal in Tol Rhun. Expectedly, they tend to especially despise the Viali religious ways.
Fasa: I don't actually know a whole lot about them, since I didn't come up with them. I do know they're nature-affine and powerfully druidic as far as religion/spiritualism is concerned. They probably don't have any Immortals to speak of other than the Gaea and various Animal Spirits which they don't view as typical "Immortals". A lot of the prominent Immortals from other cultures probably go unacknowledged by the Fasa. As always: some individuals may deviate from the norm.
Viali Ancestor Continent (that still hasn't been named): Haven't settled on details yet, but they're likely more or less Viali religion, but taken up to 11.
Nilbindu (that continent to the southwest that hasn't really been mentioned much yet): They've got their own thing going on, I'm not sure how deeply I'll delve into it anytime soon.
Many have probably noticed that I usually give info for four particular cultures: Faewyr, Viali, Nuum, and Huec.
"But Rias, what about the other cultures?"
Giganti: As a culture, they don't really have a consensus about all these other weird beings that other cultures talk about as Immortals. Maybe they're real, maybe they're fake, maybe they're real entities but revered as more than they really are. What's important to the Giganti is, of course, the Mountain Father. Regardless of whether the other Immortals are real or not, the Mountain Father is the one who literally carved the Giganti from stone and gave them life. Everything else is secondary. Giganti can choose to believe in, respect, acknowledge, renounce, or revile the Immortals of other cultures as they see fit. Thinking about it a little more ... the general consensus is probably something like "At least some of those other Immortals are probably real in some sense or another, and we'll respect the ones worth respecting if the situation calls for it or if we feel so inclined, but the Mountain Father is our one Creator, and he is enough for us on his own. He made us, he watches over us, he has provided for us Ven-Helligdom to house our souls after death and has a plan for us in eternity. Any other Immortals are supplementary."
Hillfolk: They're not overly religious, but probably lean toward the Viali religious ways given their history.
Parren: Being an intercontinental trade hub, they've become very melting-pot in many ways, including religion. Foremost Immortals among their religious beliefs are Nereia, Vodr, Verungnr, and to a lessert extent, Naia, all of whom they probably view in a somewhat unique way compared to other cultures.
Grum: They're not into magic, let alone Immortals. They're a very practical "let's do this ourselves, not with any mystical mumbo-jumbo or supposed divine intervention nonsense" people. That said, Grum is also very melting-pot, and there are likely various groups dedicated to Immortals of various depictions and cultural flavors, just nothing prominent.
Rhuidim: Their nation was founded on the concept of "The Old Gods are gone; we are the people who will replace them." As always, individuals and groups may deviate from the cultural norm. I imagine Malfant in particular is a relatively popular Immortal in Tol Rhun. Expectedly, they tend to especially despise the Viali religious ways.
Fasa: I don't actually know a whole lot about them, since I didn't come up with them. I do know they're nature-affine and powerfully druidic as far as religion/spiritualism is concerned. They probably don't have any Immortals to speak of other than the Gaea and various Animal Spirits which they don't view as typical "Immortals". A lot of the prominent Immortals from other cultures probably go unacknowledged by the Fasa. As always: some individuals may deviate from the norm.
Viali Ancestor Continent (that still hasn't been named): Haven't settled on details yet, but they're likely more or less Viali religion, but taken up to 11.
Nilbindu (that continent to the southwest that hasn't really been mentioned much yet): They've got their own thing going on, I'm not sure how deeply I'll delve into it anytime soon.