Religion

Religion, as it is in Trinity.

History of Religion

In the beginning of the world, there were no individual deities, nor servants of them; there was only the Divine itself, to which the universe - that is, Nature itself - sealed off into what is known as the Metaphysic.

Over time, the Divine gradually worked itself into the fabric of reality, able to exert its will upon the happenings therein, albeit slowly and indirectly. The first and foremost of these channels were what are known as the True Gods - beings that were directly tied to the Divine itself, channeling the power of the Divine in an overwhelming manner.

The True Gods, however, were not limitless in power, and - in order to hide their activites from the gaze of Nature - so created minions to do their bidding throughout the world. These are collectively known as the Scions, children of the True Gods, and they came in two forms: Saints and Lucavi, terms that are recognized even today. Unable to directly gift their creations with the power of the Divine, the True Gods forged a bridge between their essences and the Metaphysic: only through faith, and faith alone, could these beings attain a semblance of the Divine power wielded by the True Gods.

However, reality did eventually turn its eye to the machinations of the Divine and its direct servitors. In the Fourth Age of the Second Epoch, known simply as The Fracture, a massive cataclysm arose that resulted in the utter and irreversible destruction of the True Gods. Only their "children," the Scions, were spared.

Unlike their masters, the Saints and the Lucavi were not disrupted by this event; however, their power was directly tied to worship. Seeking a means to prevent the power of the Divine from waning utterly from reality, they took the ashes, shards, and splinters of the True Gods, and fashioned each fraction into a being unto itself: thus were born Angels and Daemons. These creatures retained a semblance of the power wielded by the True Gods, but it was fractional and incomplete; in the deaths of the True Gods, the sentience and free-will of the Gods had been lost. However, with these servants, the Saints and Lucavi could retain some amount of Divine power in the face of waning faith.

The Divine and Atheism

Atheism in Trinity is not quite the same as it is in the real world. Divine miracles are not an uncommon occurrence, and there is a wide range of empirical evidence that suggests that the Divine can and does have a real effect on the world.

In such a world, one can reasonably ask the question: how do atheists exist? To this question, the Trinity atheist points out that there is a world of difference between acknowledging something's existence, and deciding to believe in it. It is one thing to say that a man is a Saint; it is entirely another to put one's faith in that Saint, and to worship such a being. Trinity atheists no more deny that the Divine exists than they deny that gravity is real; they choose, however, to not put their faith in such things, relying instead upon themselves and their own abilities.

Divine Beings: The True Gods

It is not known how many True Gods there were; even if it were, their names and natures have been lost to the ages. The lore and ecclesiastical texts regarding the origins of some of the more powerful remaining Divine beings make vague references to these beings, but only in one - the origin of the Lucavi Ajora - is a name directly given, that of the True Goddess Kolaita.

Unlike the Scions, whose power waxes and wanes with the strength of faith placed in them, for whom it is possible to lose and re-attain Divine status, a True God's power is not dependent upon faith; their existence is a fact, made possible by metaphysical links forged between reality and the Divine. If this link is severed, the True God dies - and once such a link is severed, it cannot be reforged. In the event known as the Fracture, the links between the Metaphysic and all of the True Gods were cut; no amount of faith and no mortal attempt can bring these beings back from the dead.

It is known, however, that the power the True Gods held is present in the form of the divine beings known collectively as the Shards, the Angels and Daemons of the world.

True Gods

• Kolaita
• Tethys

Divine Beings: The Scions

The Scions were the direct servants of the True Gods, in the time before the Fracture. After that time, they exist as the highest source of Divine power in the world, and it is from them that paladins, priests, and their ilk draw power.

When the True Gods shaped the Scions, they created two distinct groups - the Saints, and the Lucavi. The Saints were mortals, drawn from their ranks because they received great praise from their peoples, which the True Gods saw as a form of worship. The Lucavi were crafted to seek out power by offering things in exchange for worship, such as goods or favors. In this manner, the True Gods believed that the Divine presence in reality would not die out, as at least one of the two sets of Scions would prevail in the face of adversity.

Scions require faith to continue their Divine existence; without it, a Saint or Lucavi reverts to its natural form. Even so much as a single person with true faith in an individual Scion is sufficient to grant the being Divine power, thanks to the bridge formed between that individual and the Metaphysic itself.

In the absence of the True Gods, the two groups of Scions eventually set to feuding with one another; while the presence of the True Gods managed to give them a shared sense of purpose, the collapse of an overarching Divine hierarchy has left them to their own devices, and no longer do the two groups work at least in tandem. Since the Fracture, the two groups have vied nearly constantly, though their very natures prevent either group from winning entirely.

The Saints

Throughout the whole of history, there have been individuals who rose above their peers, performing deeds thought impossible or performed against overwhelming odds. The "hero worship" these people were given, especially after their deaths, paved the way for the True Gods' creation of one of the two groups of Scions - the Saints.

Unlike their peers, the Lucavi, the Saints are not simply made; instead, Saints are drawn up from the ranks of mortals, their peoples' belief and faith in them rising to the level of true faith, in a Divine sense. When a soul attains its first true believer, the soul rises from the rank and file of the afterlife and becomes a Saint, their essence becoming metaphysically linked to the Metaphysic itself. So long as the Saint has at least one true believer, that link cannot be severed, and the Saint can utilize the power of the Divine.

Saints

• Tracy Vannieu, of the Gun
• Konoe Ishikaru, of the Blade
• Arcostes Germonik, of the Book
• Samahtar, of the Mind
• Saiwin Aiwe, of the Wind
• Luna Lorne, of the Night
• Sardon, of the Lightning
• Fortang Diaclo, of the Forge
• Calixte, of the Muse
• Jareth Larin, of the Labyrinth
• Rashida, of the Moons
• Uriah Morodov, of the Road

Old Stuff

Religions are not a well-explored aspect of the world. While religions are present, they tend to take a backseat to the ever-present enmity between the forces of the Trinity of Reality.

• Active Religions
  • The Order
  • Elendism
• Dead Religions
  • Elementalism
    • Orthodox
    • Reformed
  • Fundamentalism
  • Philosophialism
• Other
  • Atheism