Sunwalkers
"Their religion centres on the sun, which is ushered in every morning and wished luck every evening, and whose rays are used to bless children and marriages and usher the dead to the afterlife." - Summary from 'Encyclopedic Guide to Non-Humans for the Confused Terrestrial', pg 124
Structure
There is a High Speaker for each temple, and Sundancers work under them. There are no great leaders of the entire religion.
Divine Origins
The origins of this spirituality are largely unknown, as Vants have been able to roughly communicate between planets for centuries and so it is hard to determine if it originated at any particular planet.
Cosmological Views
The Sun offers life to all It touches with It's generous power. Like the nature It creates, the Sun is impartial to who lives and dies, but free will is the most important factor of life to It, especially those of sentient beings, who are blessed by It. Each Sun with life-sustaining planets is another godly kin to their original.
Tenets of Faith
Ethics
The greatest of sins any Vant can commit is forcefully feeding from sentient beings. Verraten believe, for the most part, that if the Sun sees them It will curse them forever, or burn away their minds. For this reason, Verraten fear the Sun and tend to only act at night. The punishment for those Verraten that are caught is rather vicious.
Worship
The most general prayer is the Rise, often celebrated in groups. As the Sun rises they will kneel and raise their hands towards It, speaking the prayer.
"Thank you Sun for the warmth you spread, and the life you give to us all. Thank you for showing your faith in us as you Rise this day and bless us with your holy Rays. We promise to uphold our laws, and our beliefs, and keep our hearts shining. Svatyin."
Quite a few people also pray at Sunset, willing the sun to return again and not abandon them to the cold of banishment- portrayed by many as resorting to feeding from sentients. However, at any point in the day you can pray to the Sun for anything; you can also pray at night but it's a common belief that it's not as likely to get through.
Priesthood
The equivalent of a priest of a Sundancer, as they are the ones who will lead Rises and preside over spiritual ceremonies. They can be distinguished from your average Vant from a thick gold piece of jewellery they wear, similar to a closed torc.
Political Influence & Intrigue
While no Sundancers or High Speakers are allowed to hold governmental positions, the Vant community is highly spiritual and it tends to leak into their laws and political positions.
Related Ceremonies:
Weddings: The two to be bonded will awake an hour before Rise, and dress each other in loose flowing clothes (often provided) before shadow-walking or being shadow-walked to the ceremonial clearing. This shows preference to the Sun but also that they can still live their own lives. There a Sundancer will bless them both as the Sun Rises and ask for It's blessing. It is usually given, unless one is Verraten or has committed a grave sin. The Sundancer will then tie their wrists together with woven silk and silver, and their families will arrive with gifts for the newly-weds. They have to wear the bond for a day, before they take it to a smith and have him cut it in the shadow of night before he layers it with gold and amber and presents to them two loop earrings, engraved especially for them. Wearing them signifies they are bonded, and that is the end of the ceremony. Christenings: Across all the planets there is a pool on each one- a natural pool- that captures the Sun's Rays at Rise and turns it into a pool of amber and gold water. The newborn Vant is placed in the shallow edge by the Sundancer and the parents each drink a handful of the water to bring the Sun's life back into them that they gave to their child. The child is held in the Rays and given their Sun-name, or middle name, by the Sundancer before being fully dunked in the water and then passed to their parents. That is the end of the official ceremony, but there's generally a party after. Funerals: Our dead have always been burned. They are placed in a pyre built by those close to the deceased, along with something precious to them. A Sundancer lights the pyre with a prayer to the Sun to deliver their soul safely to the angel's realm. This is agreed upon by the relatives and friends (the word Svatyin is used for this) and then they privately pray for the deceased by themselves.
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Alternative Names
Sundancers
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