Of the Fi and the Spirits of Things [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

The Fi believe everything has a spirit. Not only do individual "objects" have spirits, but groups of things and types of things and types of actions, etc., have spirits, too. The spirit of each thing (whether what we would understand as an "object," or a group of things, or type thing or action) is intimately connected with the true nature and essence, etc., of the thing. The spirits of groups of things and of types of things and actions are something akin to "spirit-gods" of those things. The spirit of an individual thing or "object," on the other hand, is something akin to its soul or "spirit-soul."

The God of All Things [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

Generations ago, likely on the coast of the Neosho, the Sy went their own way from the Fi, the traditional belief system of the Alithinoi Anthropoi. 

The Sy's trident symbolism suggests the first Sy were likely fishermen and sailors. Maybe, then, they pulled away from the Fi as they felt the influence of the new cultures and religions they found in foreign lands. Or maybe they pulled away yearning for a more satisfying personal spirituality or a sense of the sacred than the Fi allowed. Or maybe -- maybe -- they simply had greater expectations about life -- and hopes beyond death -- than the Fi offered. Regardless, the Sy movement spread, and eventually the Sy intermixed throughout Alithinoi Anthropoi society, and then into the world. 

The Sy feel the universe is governed by an all powerful Universal Spirit. This Spirit can be anything or everything it wants at any given moment. Thus, it can also always be whatever people want it to be. This is The God of All Things.

The Rubblemanae [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

Far in the north beyond the rubble of the Slew, near the Big Bend River's headwaters in the Delmar -- the river the Grey Elves in the south call the Flumenmors -- nestled between the rich bogs of the Wydown and the tall trees of the Forsyth, lies the land of the Barbarians known as the Rublemanae. These, the Rubelmanae, huddled in their long living halls they call their "dorums," are a people of fearsome gods and arcane practices, seekers in a world of constant turmoil, a world regularly ending in judgments, then reborn, a world cycling through opportunities and hardships, battles fought in glory and disgrace, loves found and loves lost, dreams made and dreams unfulfilled.

Introduction [from The Codex]

Pursuant to the authority invested by the Superior Council of Pyth, the Office of Cultural and Religious Affairs (ORCA) hereby issues The Codex to provide a complete summary of the officially recognized religions active in Pyth. Each summary has been assiduously prepared by a noted expert in the field of religion, anthropology, philosophy, or linguistics, and that expert has brought their extraordinary perspective and understanding to the discussion, allowing you, dear reader, to have the most profound understanding. 

Of course, discussion of religion is also a discussion of culture. And, indeed, to be certain, some religions are amalgams of many cultures and many peoples. Even some of the world's oldest religious practices, which began as the special faith of a people, duly steeped in their culture, have, over time, opened their doors to what were formerly outsiders. (Why they have done this? It is a matter of debate: some say it is that they view their religious truths as necessarily encompassing all peoples and so the doors must be open; some say expansion increases resources, power, and influence and open doors are a keen strategy; some say it is a necessary tactic in a heated religious environment, a necessary pragmatism to defer irrelevance.) Nonetheless, there are equally as many religions who have refused admission to people they view as physical or cultural outsiders. (Usually the excluding group views themselves as superior.) Mixing and diversity among religions and cultures is particularly apparent in Pyth, of course, as, compared with any other place in the world, Pyth is a haven of openness, a center of wisdom, and a gateway to all the possibilities the world may offer. But as a citizen of Pyth, you, of course, already know this.

Prepared by A. Kircher, DMA, DAA

Director

Office of Religious and Cultural Affairs

The School of the Five Philosophers [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

"The School of the Five Philosophers," sometimes known as "The School of the Five Magicians," is a Pythian academy of magic with pseudo-religious overtones. Though lacking a strict theology and espousing no gods, it propounds specific world views, demanding followers' adherence in thought and deed. Similarly, its pedagogy is premised upon eulogizing its philosophers as "ideational prophets." Thus, it is appropriate to review it within The Codex.

The five philosophers are best understood through their viewpoints rather than biographies. Little is known of them, individually, though speculation sometimes passes as fact. Most of them lived, if at all, hundreds of years ago. Each philosopher has its own House within The School.  Below, therefore, we review each House in turn.

Of The Zetac [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

Of the Zetac, we must begin with what we must understand: that many of their quotidian practices have been banned in Pyth. That is on occasion of those practices’ abominable nature: cannibalism, hominid sacrifice, blood feuds and grotesqueries of violence, arbitrary religious diktats and social commands contravening the very organic laws of Pyth, and, not in any manner least, the keeping of the most vicious and savage animals.

The Zetac remain in Pyth due to the hoary promises made to their ancestors, the Kokokol. They, the people of the Zetac, so long ago saved the Gens Electae from the ravages of the Kromena and were promised within Pyth a permanent home. That promise is honored yet this day. But the Zetec also by promise must abide within Pythian law and custom, and, indeed, their priests, of due course, did this agree.

Hence, to wit, we must herein discuss both the practices of the Zetac duly permitted in Pyth, and, then, their execrable practices, banned as they are. For those practices are yet followed by the Zetac in their distal Northmen homelands and elsewhere the Kokokol are found, and, moreover, such practices seemingly form the scaffolds of Zetac religion and culture, permitted and unpermitted alike. And, moreover and more troubling, many Zetas, it is keenly suspected, continue these self-same practices in secret and with subterfuge within the confines of Pyth, illegal though that is.

Bob's Nondenominational Church of Charisma [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

Bob's Nondenominational Church of Charisma is a really fast growing, "self-styled" "dynamic" congregation that oddly isn't connected with any of the other religions in Pyth. Although it got off to a pretty rocky start when it was founded a few years ago, "Bob's" or "the Church," as everybody calls it now, has gotten a lot of followers and now is even seeking franchisees! Recently it was even completely "accredited" by ORCA despite some seriously harsh objections from typical "mainstream denominations."

Bob's Church was, unfortunately, originally built on some inexpensive land over the City's old sewer outflows, leading to some so-called "wags" calling it "The Temple of Stink." This may be why some people are so negative about it. Bob, anyway, said his decision to found a church was because he had an "ecstatic revelation," but some people made fun of this, too. They said his only "ecstatic revelation" was how to make some quick money. Obviously, people are mean that way.

Ringism [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

It is said that when Pyth's Old Quarter was first built its buildings were constructed upon the archaic remains of older structures. This rumor cannot be confirmed, of course, as long ago the foundations of the Old Quarter's buildings were sealed against flooding, given the Quarter's proximity to the sea. Some claim, though, that they were actually sealed to prevent hoary spirits and miasmas rising from the deep. They say that below the archaic structures are even older ones, and, below that, even older, and that people have travelled there. Going down, moving through shafts and breaks, tunnels and drops, level after level, older and older the building gets. The farther one travels in the dark deep the farther one travels into the past. Magic and meta-magic fade underground, of course, eventually ceasing to work at all. Yet, far down, it is said, ancient magics arise. The deeper one goes, the stronger these grow. Deepest down lie mystical wonders and things of enormous power. Here there are still creatures living, it is claimed, some who make their own light, and some who live and hunt in the darkness.

Ringism is supposedly based on the beliefs of the survivors of this journey, but "supposedly" only, for there are no known survivors. Still the rumors persist in Pyth, and they have developed a devout following, dedicated to what they believe are the rumors' truths. These, they say, show a true religion, a religion of a Ring God, and supposedly show how to connect with the god and how the god, when understood, empowers followers. But what truths they have, if any, are fragmentary: bits and pieces of lore, conjecture, and fantasy. 

Llamdianism [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

The Llamda, we understand, believe that a God, or the Gods, or, collectively, a "Godhead," created the Universe, but that life on our planet, Arret, at least sentient life, as it is, was inadvertent, a, shall we say, divine accident. The Llamda believe this, because, they think living things on Arret have so many flaws, and shortcomings, and life and death are so arbitrary, that they could not have been intended, or purposefully created ... ! So, too, they believe that the thought processes of sentient beings on Arret contain so many inconsistencies, uncertainties, and lapses, that people’s “thinking,” as such, is plainly imperfect, and not possibly an intentionally created thing. A Godhead with the power to create an entire Universe would not purposefully have made such badly designed beings or processes. So, life, at least sentient life on Arret, in their view, was an accidental outcome of the Godhead’s enormous endeavor of Universal creation.

Astellism (and the Alpha Astari) [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

The World is but so large, yet the Astelli imagine infinities.

To the Astelli our world is but one of an endless number, one for each star in the sky. Each person follows a path among worlds. After death each of us is reborn into a new world. We begin again as infants.

The path we trace is our family path. It is the path of our ancestors and our descendants. Not all lives are equally long. On rebirth, then, we may rejoin some of our ancestors and descendants as well as close family members. Here we have a chance to talk, to love, to look after each other again. Or to revisit old hates and resentments.

We do this although we are not conscious of our prior lives. We know their feeling although we do not know why. Their knowledge lies deep in our subconscious.