First off, apologies for this week's post being a day late. Was too busy to get it done on time, though keep an eye on the Facebook page for PSA updates if the blog post is going to be late. To sort of make up for it I've done a Patrons Only post over on the Patreon page showing a new finished piece of artwork for Frozen Skies.
Secondly, this week's blog post!
I've only talked a little about religion in Darmonica, think thus far I've only mentioned that there are a number of deities that people pay homage to. Likewise I believe that only two major religions have been stated, the Cult of the Great Maker and the Order of the Great Machine. Taran and Ares are two other deities that have been stated and given some basic details, though a full list of deities will be done at a later date.
Creed
Religion in Darmonica tends to be more important in certain areas and to certain people than others, society and the environment are typically the major factors in determining this. The Order of the Great Machine is the dominant religion in the Iron Collective since its the only religion that is allowed by the State, those that practice other religions in the Collective tend to keep a low profile. Elsewhere the Order is simply tolerated but tends to be a minor player in local affairs, it is also far less militant outside of its bastion in the Collective.
Ares, the Darmonican God of Warfare, has his largest following in the Artian Confederation with smaller followings in the armies of the various countries that make up Darmonica. Though in contrast to the Collective, practice of other religions in the Confederation is freely allowed. Tyland was a devout follower of the Great Maker, other religions were tolerated though in some cases openly practising another religion could've disadvantaged you in Tylander society. A broad selection of religions are practised in the Commonwealth, though not a single one of them is promoted more heavily than any of the others. Though nobody is quite sure who or what is worshipped in the Sultanate of Taramate...
Cults
Every religion is divided into different sects with some more radical than others, each with their own different goals and methods. The Order of the Great Machine is the prime example as being a more radical religion, having seized control of an entire country and completely rebuilt it to achieve their goals. On the flip side the Order's sects located outside of the Collective are considerably less extreme and seek to promote their religion via more peaceful means, these sects typically count academics and engineers amongst their members. As a whole the Order is closely associated with the Iron Collective which tends to colour people's view of the Order.
A more Alyeska centric cult is the Wulfen Brethren, a cult who whorship the Wulvers and whose activities has led to it being largely outlawed. The Brethren view Wulvers as being nature's ultimate form and the world's true masters, it is suspected that they may had a hand in helping the Wulver War happen but it is known that they have actively sought to sabotage the Commonwealth's war effort. Arson, industrial sabotage and occasionally assassination all over Alyeska has been linked to the Brethren as well as Wulvers being turned loose in many Commonwealth cities. Though no concrete evidence exists but it is also believed that the Brethren have been kidnapping pregnant women, something that is raising concerns for alot of different reasons.
There are other more minor cults that exists, including one that whorships the Ancient Terrans, who vary in ideals and goals.
The Occult
Talking about cults I feel some mention of the occult in Darmonica should be made.
Darmonica is a very low to virtually non-existent magic setting, it exists in a fashion but is extremely rare and one is more likely to encounter a stage magician rather than a true mage. The Windryders have what they call Weavers, but there is little knowledge about them and they are poorly understood. There are cults that claim to practice magic, most of the time this only seems involve the chanting of words with no visible effect but occasionally there is something else. Most of these so-called 'magic cults' claim to derive their power from somewhere beyond the mortal realm, though as of yet no attempt has been made to prove how true or not this is.
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