Religions

Because Felarya is connected to so many dimensions, it quickly became a melting pot of cultures and religions. In no place is this more true than Negav. There, Othemites live next door to followers of Khord, and various smaller cults hide in the shadows, whether they worship a living being on Felarya such as the Seekers of Sineria or the Sleeping Darkness, two groups that want to revive Sineria and Déméchrelle respectively, or the groups that seek infernal power, worshipping and praying to demons for personal power. Although those later cults are illegal in Negav, and most other cities, the Ps'isol magiocrats turn a blind eye to such behavior, reasoning that the more divided their people, the less likely they will revolt against them.

Religions however, do more than just affect politics on Felarya. According to the extremely controversial theories of Archmage Talbeln Veridimus on Hell and Heaven, some angels and demons have modeled their societies upon the religions of the races on Felarya. When a person on Felarya dies, they are taken by an angel or demon to a section of Heaven or Hell that reflects their beliefs in life. Archmage Talbeln Veridimus's theory was further extrapolated by Qwi-te, a neko shaman spiritchaser, and his ‘firsthand’ tale of Heaven and Hell’s ‘grand illusion’. The two have been declared heretics by one hundred and thirty two religions.

Some predators have their own religions as well, although theirs are much less structured than the smaller races. They usually consist of a series of basic guidelines to life in Felarya, passed from parents to children. There are some exceptions, such as the Predator Trinity, which possess a certain amount of organization. There have even been reports of predator priestesses performing strange rituals. Many of these rituals, and in fact entire religions, that the predators follow seem to have an odd focus on eating…

Cult of Minalca

Minalca is the main goddess of luck on Felarya. Her protection is obviously very sought after and her cult is flourishing. Her priests are usually former adventurers who have survived the dangers of Felarya and decided to stop their dangerous profession afterwards, hence the common Felaryan saying: "If I ever get out of this one, I swear I'll become a Minalcan priest!" To spread their faith, Minalcan priests will regale their captivated audiences with tales of their exploits, and how they were (presumably) saved by the goddess. These "story telling sessions" are very popular, and give the cult a reputation for being laid back and easy going. Some of the high priests of Minalca possess a powerfull but dangerous ability: they can force a streak of luck upon themselves. For a period of time they will be extremely lucky in nearly all circumstances: they will trip and dodge an arrow, a predator will miss them, a chest of gold will wash up on the beach next to them, etc. This luck comes at a heavy price however, and eventually, a horrendous chain of unlucky events will befall the priest, balancing out the good luck they just had. Because in Felarya bad luck is often fatal, few priests survive this chain, and if they do, they rarely use the luck streak ever again.

The Cult of Minalca is known to have good relations with Tomthumbs, whose sight is often considered as a good luck sign among humans. Members of the cult are encouraged to help these little beings whenever needed. The cult is based in the Sanctum of the Shining Star in Negav.

Disciples of Kallisti the Dark Goddess

A cult that has only recently arrived on Felarya, the ever expanding followers of Kallisti are well organized and very fervent. Kallisti herself has personally come to Felarya several times, and many have seen the beautiful succubus, which has sure helped her cult to spread. The disciples of Kallisti are under the direct and watchful protection of Saya, a giant naga, and thus *somehow* protected from several other giant predators such as Vivian or the dreaded Crisis as well. The cult is at odd with the worshipers of Oth. This is a bit of a one sided contest though as, unlike Kallisti, Oth has never been seen on Felarya, and thus his faith spreads much more slowly. Compounding matters, countless Othemite zealots have ended up in Saya's stomach. Overall the cult of Kallisti is rather peaceful. The followers seek dark souls to feed to their goddess and practice many rituals, some of them highly sexual, which is to be expected when you worship a succubus! In return, the disciples receive protection, and for the most devout, powers granted by Kallisti.

full description of the cult

Doctrine of the Sun God

The cult worships Oth, the radiant god, king of all suns. The cult is extremely powerful on many worlds, but not so much on Felarya. The Othemites seek to establish the doctrine of Oth, which is the way of absolute order, justice and obedience, the only way, they believe, for humans to defeat the chaos that is Felarya and its predators, in all Felaryan cities.

The Othemites are technologically advanced and have grown so powerful on certain worlds that they tend to take all things for granted and have very little tolerance for any opposition to their plans. They use any and all means that seem necessary to them, including inquisition, torture, and intimidation, and are widely seen on Felarya as a bunch of dangerous, self-righteous fanatics. They declared war on the disciples on Kallisti for befriending a giant naga, whom they considers creatures of the night and of great unholiness (mostly because they tried to convert some giant nagas themselves and got eaten for their trouble !) Their main base of operation is the House of a Thousand Suns in Negav.

"All, in all the universes, was darkness. Except for the Great Source of All Light, Oth. His light was bounded on all sides by the dark of wickedness, a darkness He found repulsive. Within the darkness were the shadows of souls that the dark fed upon. They were withered creatures, blind and cold. Oth shone His light upon them, beckoning them to His source. Many were frightened, their eyes overwhelmed by the brilliance of His light. But a few, a brave few, drew closer. Those that He called, and who heeded His call, were filled to bursting with light, and sent outwards. They traveled far into the darkness, and where they went, they radiated Oth's light. The darkness was pushed back, and those whom once were frightened by the light were awed to see their kin so radiant, and traveled back with them to be filled by this source."
This began on one world, ages upon ages ago. So many have been brought to Oth's light in that time, extending its reach from a tiny corner of a tiny world, across thousands of universes. Though it seems like so much has been done, there are still so many worlds where the darkness remains.
Such as Felarya. The more souls we teach to see this light, the further the darkness will be driven back, until it has been removed from this world entirely."

Martus Kaid, Othemite cleric

Followers of Khord

A discrete but powerful cult that worships Khord, god of the night, thieves, luck, gamblers and adventurers. It's influence is hard to measure as its disciples are masters of deception, and they always hide their connection to the cult. For all you know, a harmless and jolly bartender that you see everyday could be one of its leaders. The cult is mysterious and secretive, with unknown purposes, but it is rather peaceful. Every sane person, however, knows better than to upset the followers of Khord. Even the Othemites decided it was wiser to leave them alone after several of their highest priests vanished in one single night without a trace.

The leaders of the cult are among the rare humans that have contact with nemesises. They sometimes hire their services and some Nemesis are even said to be part of the cult.

Cult of Lataran

Under Construction

Arborian Laborists

Arborian laborists form a small but devout cult. They worship the Giant tree as the creator of all life in Felarya and believe it to be the oldest thing to exist. They even dubbed it "Mother Fel", the Great Barky Creator. They believe it is so sacred, infact, that they theorize that it brought the infamous naga Crisis to life, in order to ensure nobody would cause damage to it. Considering Crisis' enormous appetite, it's not hard to wonder why they believe that. Arborists also believe all of nature to serve the Giant tree one way or another. The trees and forest serve as her heavenly abode while the dryads within the forest are considered her seraphims and angels who've rooted themselves to further help the great tree.

All of the arborists live in Negav because they don't think they are worthy enough to reside near the holy vegetal or its minions. Most people they see wander into the forest are considered heretics to them and deeply frowned upon. Arborists feel no remorse if they don't return, though they will never interpose themselves either. They are a peaceful and rather harmless group in general. High priests in the arborists' organization are the only ones considered worthy enough to head into the forest and leave blessings at the tree's base. Most don't return however, due to naga interference.

When they die, and if they're good, Arborists go to Arbor Heaven, to be welcomed by "Mother Fel" herself, dressed in a garb of leaves and taking the form of a flying dryad. She sits on her knees and mingles with her "subjects" as she pours sap from her hands into an ever flowing lake. If her subjects drink it, it tastes like Cherry Cola ^^

The Law of Klonk

Klonk is the great god of falling objects, rocks, apples, branches, harpies on occasion, etc. He is worshipped by Klonkites, a small but devout cult. They believe Klonk is the force that keep everything moving in a general downward direction, essentially creating the force of gravity. He punishes the wicked by dropping things on their heads, and rewards the faithful by showering them with various objects of wealth. The cult of Klonk began some three thousands years ago when the Great Prophet Isaac was saved from three different predators on the same day, each time by different objects falling on their heads. He went back to his village, and founded the first Church of Klonk, and it is said the first copy of the Book of Klonk fell from the sky, landing directly on his righteous brow. Then Klonk himself spoke words of wisdom to him :

"The bigger thine are, the harder thou shalt fall." and "That which goes up must, in time must also come down."

Klonkites believe that those who follow the teaching of their god most fiercely would be able to walk into the Felaryan forest without any fear, protected by the power of Klonk and his many falling objects. Of course assuming you would be able to do this mean you are too prideful, which explains why everyone who has attempted to prove this has never returned. Klonk takes the appearance of a mass of unending falling objects. Those that make it to his realm will find that all their desires will suddenly fall directly into their hands. Or onto their heads sometimes if Klonk's aim happens to be a little off that day.

Seekers of Sineria

A very small, but quite powerful, group of humans, usually enlisted by dridders, whose role is to seek rumors about, and scan human lore about, the location of the tomb of Sineria the dridder queen. These agents of dridders receive extremely harsh training in stealth and assassination techniques. Few even survive the training process, but those who do are held in high regard among dridders and are completely under their protection. A dridder killing a seeker of Sineria commits an atrocious sin against their own race and better have an excellent reason for doing so.

The predator trinity

Three goddesses worshiped mostly by giant elves, centaurs and some fairies. Little is known about them but they are:

- Calvabrina,represented as a slender and tall dark green centauress. She is the goddess of the hunt and patience.

- Mhorn, represented as a lascivious four-armed naga. She is the goddess of feast.

- Luban, represented as a scarlet elf with a curvaceous body and a bloated belly. She is the goddess of digestion.

“There are three goddesses, in our religion. Calvabrina represents the hunt. Her virtue, what she teaches us, is patience. Patience, skill… What you need to get your reward. The reward is the feast. Mhorn is the goddess of the feast. She represents pleasure, and the bringing together of the community. And then, after the hunt and the eating, you have digestion. That's Luban. Digestion is a force for life. It's what keeps us alive -strong, healthy."

Alitan, Priestess of Luban

• Credits goes to Arconius for the design and idea of the Dark goddess cult, to Silent eric for the introduction, to JohnDoe, for the Klonk cult, to Pendragon for the Arborian Laborists, to Mukatkikaarn for the Martus Kaid citation, to Malahite for the luck streak idea, to French-snack for the Alitan citation, and to Chroias for the idea of Mhorn.