Religions on both continents [WIP, beware of loose ends]

"Several months ago, I received a detailed report on the wilder savages of the Dimberg peninsula, between Ivellea and Adrila. My slaves had been caught by the barbarians, discovered in one of their crude tombs like the fools they are, but they were only captured, thankfully. During their capture, they were given good opportunity to observe and study their captors' habits.

The report I received gave excellent insight into their beliefs and their history. These barbarians, even uncivilized as they are, carry similar amulets and idols to what they have formerly found in ancient ruins dating back to long before we lost contact with the north. It appears that these savages have retained ancient beliefs we knew little of, before I received this report. Going with this, and facts I have uncovered from studies later, I can confirm that these gods are based upon animals, and representing different aspects of the human spirit, such as their Bear God being beseeched to bestow strength and stamina, and their Wolf God prayed to to receive cunning and swiftness. There are several gods like these, but I will not go into detail with this report.

I will rather ask if you, in the Sapphire Order, can write off their existence as fictional. There are many pieces of evidence that they do in fact exist, such as the tribes' "shaman", as they are called, capability of wielding magic of an entirely different form than our own mages. Additionally, the barbarians dwell near natural focus points in the mountains, ones that have been in far too harsh regions to construct anything beyond a simple wooden hut. I will not speculate, but my logical impression is that these gods do in fact provide their followers with certain boons, as well as safety from the energies ravaging normally wild regions. I will deliver a new report on the matter once I receive more information from my slaves."

The first of the Guardians was Aeras, the Stalwart. He came across an abandoned world, left by another god halfway through its formation, and he saw that it held promise, and adopted it as his own. He wished for a world where knightly ideals were held in high regard, and set about creating it. For months he toiled, reforming the lands, reshaping the seas, and sculpting the various creatures found in the Wilds, that his knights could test their mettle against. He formed iron and steel, so swords and armour could be forged. He created fertile lands, and he formed the peasants, so that his favoured knights could eat and drink. He put ambition and hope into the hearts of men, so some among them would become leaders and there would be order. As he gazed upon his work, however, he realised there was room for more in his world. He asked other gods to aid him in completing it.

The first who answered his request was Iryan, the Eternal. She helped Aeras, causing time's effects upon all in his world; knights and peasants would age and die if not falling in battle, crops would grow and provide the food they were meant to, creatures of the wild would grow in size and might. She added genders to his people, separating them as man and woman, so their race would still persist despite the passing of time, and added love and loyalty to their hearts, for those feelings were beautiful to her, as were all they brought with them.

Still, Aeras was not content, even though he and Iryan worked tirelessly. There was still room for more, so he called upon another god to aid him. Casun of the Many Minds, answered, and to Aeras' world, he used his imagination to add many forms of creatures to the world, and adding many ideas. In tribute to his own, he added creativity to Aeras' people, teaching them to combine the practical with the aesthetic, and to always improve upon their works, for he was as pleased in seeing others' works as in working his own.

Aeras' knights now held ambition, hope, love, loyalty and creativity, but he saw that not all would follow their ambition. He called upon a fourth god, Turas, the Clever, to give him more assistance. Turas looked upon the people of the young world, and discovered that they lacked pleasure in what they were doing, as though all they did were merely because they were made to do so. Turas and Aeras argued for seven days and six nights about whether or not that should truly be the driving force of the people, but finally Aeras grudgingly let Turas fill his people with a desire for pleasure, be it through ambition, love or creativity. Aeras never fully accepted this, but his people now had a reason of their own to do what they did.

As Aeras looked into the minds of his people, he could find pleasure being a considerable goal in many, but that something still was missing in those unable to find pleasure by themselves, and that some had nothing to place their hopes in. He called for a final god; Nirae, the Faithful. She saw the people's needs, and filled them with faith in themselves and their Guardians, so their minds would rest easy, confident in knowing their only dangers were ones they found in their lands, never from outside. As she worked for the people's enlightenment, she also determined they would need trials of faith, and spread doubt into the world, to test the hearts of men and see whether their spirits were strong or weak. The truly weak, Nirae said, could not be helped with faith.

Thus the Guardians ended their work, and sat back to watch the world they had made unfold. To this day, the Guardians are still watching, and their ways, while hidden to the people they watch, always serve a greater purpose. It is thanks to them that the people of our world have prospered and grown."

"Grand Bishop,
I bring you this report after rooting out the Cults residing within Fort Rockden of the Kingdom Adrila. Their beliefs were gaining support among the general populace, and their battle-ready forces had drawn with them several units of the province's soldiery. By the time we arrived in the city, it was in turmoil, and our knights were severely outnumbered. In response, we conscripted several units from Adrila's military, choosing to gain a foothold in the city's outer quarters. For two weeks, our priests preached to the general populace as we waited for reinforcements. Eventually, these troops arrived, and our cleansing of the cult scum could begin. The cultists, cowardly as they were, did not strike at us while we had the chance; surely it must be our priests' mastery over magic, rather than their foolish spellcasters who are only mastered by it, who kept them in check. As the great search started, our men searched every nook and cranny of the city, eventually uncovering the cultists, who had dared to use the very fortress' basement as their lair! None could tell how long this cult had existed, but we spared none of them, no matter their cries for mercy. In this moment, the Adrilan soldiers are on the march back to the capital, while our knights and priests are tending to the general populace. Our mastery and strength must have appealed to them, for they seem grateful that we have cleansed the city.

Faithfully yours"

"It was an interesting wander through those streets, seeing other people like me and buggers getting on so naturally. I have to say, buggers really grew on me during my time here; they're just like us, really. But, if I may add, their system is still a tad suspicious if you ask me. They are all friendly folk they are, but their leaders seem to be quite commanding in appearance. From what I heard, they are members of the Imperial Church. I was told to lay low since they had a tendency to dislike humans, what arrogant bastards...Regardless, everyone made their way for them, and often asked if they needed anything. Some poor sod got in the way of them and he was arrested right there on the spot, for no reason. I don't get it.

When they left, I asked the shopkeeper about it. He just responded with a sigh and told me the full story. From what he said, it sounds like this Empire is partially ruled by what they call the Imperial Church. They seem to believe that their leader is the 'Great Mother' or something cheesy like that, and that their leader was the source of all creation in the world. That's fair for them to believe in and all, but this guy also said that the Church was very strict with its policies, and often they carry out punishments against foreigners and natives alike who do not follow their ways. Though, most buggers don't seem like religious twats at all. Confusing stuff, really.

So basically, this Imperial Church rules the industrial, political and military sides of the Empire....Isn't that like, all the sides though? I don't know, but I could feel it when those priests wandered the streets. They have power, and they're using it."

"...Moving into more affairs of the Xillidan government, I strongly believe that their system ties in heavily with their religious beliefs. I interviewed my acquaintance Teshurr on the matter, and actually discovered some interesting things. Though not common public knowledge outside of the Xillidan provinces, a lot of commoners do hear rumors that go around about the true header of the Xillidan political system. As we all know, the High Priests and Sages are the ones who manage the system on the outside, but Teshurr did speak of a supposed 'greater' influence lying deep within the core.

I travelled to the Xillidan province Asc'Rular to find out more from a series of ruins he directed me too. Teshurr led me into the quaint ruins and showed me what he explained was the ancient dialect of the Xillidan ancestors. Unknown in form and in intentions, he explained how their ancestors believed in the world being formed by a giant web woven by a deity-like being that they worshipped. However, the name of such a being has been long-forgotten in the passages of time, yet he has a minor deduction that in fact the core of the Xillidan government has, this entire time, been the aforementioned ancestors.

With more research into the matter from data collected by myself and Teshurr, we can also confirm the existence of another caste in the Xillidan society. Sealed off to all, even their own people, we designate them as the Ascetic Caste. They are apparently the Royal Guard of the Xillidi Empire. Now, what they are the Royal Guard of isn't explained in any text I can find, but Teshurr assumes that they are in fact the Royal Guard of the Empress. Not much is known about the Empress herself either, except that she supposedly gives the orders to the High Priests. Accounts on the identity of the Empress are virtually non-existent. Only the elusive Ascetics have access to the Empress, and Ascetics themselves are questionable in existence themselves.

I concluded my research into the matter since it seemed like a pointless endeavor upon realizing we'd be searching for data that could potentially not exist at all. I will leave this mystery up to those who devote to it, for my primary purpose is political research, not solving religious mysteries."

"With a religious government comes those who will not follow its ways. It goes without saying that even the Xillidi Empire falls under this premise. While the topic is kept quiet and considered offensive to speak of, heretics of the Xillidi Empire do in fact exist. As many know, the core of Xillidan belief is that the world is created from a giant woven web, and those who are created within the pure threads are destined for greatness, while those in weak threads are condemned to damnation. A deeper belief held by the much more zealous believers is that the 'mother' of this giant web will one day return and reclaim the world as her own. Now, heretics are not common in the Empire because it is often the zealots that become the heretics.

Many Xillidi are generally passive and complacent about their religious matters, and often accept opinions of others. Zealots are devoted towards the beliefs and choose to uphold them as well. However, the zeal that is born within zealots can easily become doubt if they start to question the things they do. Because normal Xillidi do not think about it much, they do not have reason to resist against it, while zealots have much more fanaticism and therefore will resist in an equally radical way. This gives birth to a small but devoted caste of heretics that defy the beliefs of the Imperial Church and actively fight against it.

From one perspective, this could be seen as a Civil War. However, a lot of the battles of this so-called war are fought in streets as protests or in courtrooms as debates. The heretics are a very small body compared to the Xillidi Empire and therefore cannot put up any military resistance. Regardless, heretics are a problem for us as well as them. Heretics are deemed unworthy to reside in Xillidi territory and are shunned into foreign areas. Because they are zealous, they often cause unrest where they go, so they are often classed on a similar level as bandits in other parts of the world. They should not be taken as lightly as bandits though, however, for some zealots are known to be well-trained warriors from the Xillidi military."