Lemirian Religion
And from this union came forth all peoples, and the children of their children...
3rd Book of Igna
Part I - The Planetarii and the Myth of the World
From the 1st Book of Terra;
In the depths of the unending void lay Seannesha, mother and father of all that breathes. For eons, Seannesha looked after the void, and soon it felt lonely. Then Seannesha, who is master of all spirits and all souls, began experimenting with matter, it bended matter to its will transformed it, and poured into it its power, with a word, it gave them souls. And then, matter was alive. Terra was the first to come, as it was the matter that existed already the one with which Seannesha built its first son. With Terra's aid, Seannesha learned to transform matter, after Terra, came Hydra, the eldest sister of the four. And since then, Terra and Hydra have always been joined, embracing one another in the shores of Lemire. Then, came the youngest children of Seannesha, the twins, Igna and Eola, swift and powerful they are, impatient, unlike their older siblings, they move quickly and have an appetite for destruction, though not needless one. Soon, the four began shaping matter of their own accord, supervised by Seannesha. But the siblings cared for each other, and did not want to be separated, hence they had the worlds they created meet, that frontier became a melding point for all kinds of matter, and it was called Lemire.
Eons more passed until the siblings, like Seannesha before them, felt the need to care for something. Then, each of them built peoples, made mostly of their element, and asked their parent to grant them a soul. Seannesha fulfilled their wishes, but decreed that since these creatures were not directly its children, it would eventually take back the life it had given to them. The siblings, terrified, plead their parent not to kill their creations, but Seannesha kindly explained that Life and Death must always work together in a cycle, and hence, whenever it took the life of one of their creations, it would replace it with another life, so they could reproduce and grow powerful. And so were born the Nai'ithar, and the winds of Seannesha's life giving word flew all over the elemental planes, animating flame, earth, water and wind, and creating more Nai'ithar as they blowed. Finally, the final wisp of the life giving breath came to Lemire, and small, insignificant beings made out of all the elements came to be, very short lived, as they had received but a whisper from Seannesha's lips.
Part II - The Spire Church
Since we were given so little, we will pry Seannesha's voice from the bodies of those who were given so much, processed, altered, it will become out voice, a thunderous voice that will shake the foundations of the Earth!
The Dah'kin Spire Coda
The Spire Church is the prominent religious movement in both the world and Dah'kin culture. Its adepts, mostly human and Dah'kin are borderline fanatics. This is mostly because the Spire Church relies on a living god, the Spire King Nim'ael, the Dah'kin king who absorbed the Spire. The Spire Church has slightly changed in the past few months, their doctrine of revenge has not changed, but it has been decided that since humans were betrayed too by Thadre, back when they were Nai'ithar, they do not hold as much blame for the birth of the Dah'kin as planetarii do. The Spire Church is run by Spire Priestesses and Spire Mages, who follow Nim'ael's command. And it is the center of the whole administration
, religion and army in Skarrad, hence that Nim'ael holds such amazing power in the absolutist regime.
People who are allegiant to the Spire Church are known as Spirelings, and may be asked to go to war or to donate money for the Spire at any time. Nevertheless, the Spire usually only requires its followers not to mingle with the betrayers, and read some parts from the Spire Coda (their holy book) once every 4 days. In death, however, one must serve the Spire in body and soul, as once life force is used as energy, whereas one's body becomes an undead soldier. Humans, in their foolishness, are drawn to this philosophy that does not require them to do much in life. The original copy in the Spire Coda lies deep within the Spire King's chambers in Daerah. It was written with Planetarii blood by the first Spire Queen, under the direct guidance of the Spire itself.
Part III - The Church of Nesha and the Church of Sean
May the holy mother bless us all in these dire times, as we face Sean, let her vanquish darkness and fear from our hearts and give us the light of a thousand suns.
Tycho Orator, Battle of Blackhill, The War of the Claw.
The church of Nesha was the most powerful and influential church in human lands for several hundred years. However, recently it has divided into two, the Nervan Church (Bearing a Red Cross) and the actual church of Nesha (bearing the traditional blue and golden cross of Orator). As said before, this religious movement was a human creation, detaching completely the life-giving part of Seannesha, the female, Nesha. The church of Nesha is based upon the following principles, holy war against those who follow Sean, giving to the poor, protecting the helpless, sharing with your neighbours and relatives, aiding those in need and worshiping the holy mother.
It is basically a Church inclined towards good, they are well known for their charitable actions and solidarity. Lately, however, it has become more bureaucratic and involved with matters of state. Though mostly tolerant, the church of Nesha can become enraged if someone goes directly against their beliefs. In that case they have what they call the "Armored Hand" (as opposed to the "Healing Hands", another common name for the priests and acolytes of Nesha) composed of the 9 Paladinic orders and all of their Paladins and Crusaders.
The church of Sean, on the other hand, is an obscure movement that started 400 years after the creation of Ravilla. People who felt constrained by the church of Nesha and wanted to experiment with dark magic. The Seanites have always been persecuted by followers of Nesha and never had much prominence. Hence they became secretive and dark, developing a true hatred that replaced their original curiosity. Seanites mostly live around the west of Lemire, remaining hidden. In the last few years, however, many Dah'kin and even Catfolk, enticed by the dark arts, have joined the Church of Sean. And a prominent Necromancer group, the Caryathid Circle, has emerged to unify the dark church.
Part IV - Sei'anna
The Evil one has come forth, the corrupter of our lands and exiler of our lady. Let us thank Sei'anna, she had given us a chance to kick his ass!
Warchief Claadar, Battle of the Ford of Decima.
The church of Sei'anna is also known as the Druidic religion, basically means adoring and worshiping nature and the wild. Followers of Sei'anna have many names and customs, and mostly Catfolk and some humans identify themselves as followers of Sei'anna. However, anyone who worships mother nature, be it or not in the form of the Cat goddess, worships Sei'anna in the end.
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