Clebveth Pantheon

"Funny little creatures, the Clebveth, with a rather strange belief system. I don't try to understand it."

— Extract from Travelling To Victory: An Exploration of Victalis System
by Peacekeeper V'Kly

Spiritualists

The Clebveth are quite a spiritual group by nature. Even those who aren't part of one of the sects or monasteries will follow one or more of the five major Clebveth religious orders. They have a tendency to be overwhelmed and find things extremely stressful, which impacts their body quickly and can cause death. They find solace in religion as a way of dealing with those anxieties.

Monno O Kalla

Monno O Kalla translates roughly as "Together and Apart", and is simultaneously the name of the religion, the motto for that religion and a recognised greeting in parts of Celebrate. Most Clebveth are born with an innate existential dread and are naturally anxious. They rely on Monno O Kalla to hold themselves together when they feel they are falling apart.

History

Within Monno O Kalla they have "spirits", which differ from "gods" in that they are concepts and have no genders nor any of the other trappings which come a persona. It is thought that this is one of the reasons that it was not targetted so strongly by the Peacekeepers after the Clebveth joined the Peacekeeper Alliance.
The Peacekeepers are notoriously anti-religion, and it is standard practice when initiating a new planet to encourage distrust and disinterest in such organisations in order to ensure nothing interferes with the inhabitants' commitment to the Alliance. During the initial analysis of Celebrate, the Clebveth Pantheon was flagged for this same treatment. However, when it was explained to the Peacekeepers as a collection of ideas which the Clebveth used as a coping mechanism, rather than as a religion with a deity or deities, it was officially categorised as harmless.
Over time the Peacekeepers realised their mistake, and the process was started to remove it from the culture. Unfortunately (or fortunately for Monno O Kalla), there was something of an incident with Neurotheris, a drug which was introduced to the planet by the Peacekeepers which the Clebveth were particularly likely to become addicted to. This incident was undoubtedly the fault of the Peacekeepers and left them on the back foot during negotiations. They were no longer in the same position of control they once were and decided to let the Clebveth Pantheon slide, with a flag to return to the conversation should it become a problem. So far, this has not been necessary.

The Spirits

There are five spirits, each of which represents a pair of contrasting and/or complimentary ideas. They each represent a different domain and have their own faction of people who follow them. They also have a connection, something which people can do in order to connect with these ideas.

Bvela

Spirit of Planting and Eating

Domain

Nature

Symbol

Flowering Plant

Followers

Babvel

Connection

Walks

Popularity

23.71%

Bvela is thoroughly integrated with ideas of plants and nature and food and health. Followers of this Spirit call themselves Babvel and often take long walks in the rainforests and through the wilderness in order to connnect with these ideas and open their minds to it.
Babvel find comfort from their existential dread in the cyclical nature of plants and food, using this as a way of calming their fears. Many choose to work with nature as a way of staying more closely connected to this Spirit.

Hebvo

Spirit of Living and Dying

Domain

Life

Symbol

Wings and blades

Followers

Vohebv

Connection

Prayer

Popularity

9.73%

Hebvo is built on ideas of life and death and the ageing process. This is particularly difficult for the Clebveth as they, more than most, know that life can end in an instant. Followers of this Spirit are called Vohebv and use a version of prayer to connect to these ideas.
The comfort Vohebv find in this idea comes from the knowledge that everyone dies and everything ends. Rather than being morbid, this is an attempt to accept life as it is which, being so difficult for Clebveth, makes this the least popular of Spirits.

Hvyra

Spirit of Joy and Pain

Domain

Light

Symbol

Infinite Loop

Followers

Rahvy

Connection

Binding

Popularity

31.88%

Hvyra is based on ideas of joy and pain, light and dark. These concepts are based on experiencing the contrasts in life while you still can. Followers of the Spirit are called Rahvy and can be recognised by the bindings they wear.
Rahvy find the support they need by using these contrasts to tie themselves to the here and now. It stops them from focusing on the inevitable death of themselves and everyone they know.

Karav

Spirit of Building and Rebuilding

Domain

Creativity

Symbol

Sun Behind Mountain

Followers

Ravak

Connection

Body Piercing

Popularity

20.31%

Karav is focused on ideas of creating, building and rebuilding. This directs thoughts towards the legacy that someone might leave behind rather than their imminent demise. Followers of this Spirit are called Ravak and can be easily identified by their extensive body piercing which remind them how they can make their body into something new.
Ravak find comfort in the thoughts of making the world better in the here and now but also leaving a legacy. There are things which last longer than life, and they hold them dear.

Tafri

Spirit of Learning and Remembering

Domain

Knowledge

Symbol

Book with Leaves

Followers

Ritaf

Connection

Meditation

Popularity

14.37%

Tafri is tied up with ideas of learning, knowledge and remembering. These ideas are focused both on the remembering of those who came before and what they did, in the hope that others may do the same for them, as well as around an ongoing search for longer life. Followers of this Spirit are called Ritaf and use meditation in various forms to connect to these concepts.
Ritaf hope that in learning they may be able to improve themselves, extend their life and find ways to help others. They also hope to be remembered in the same way they remember others. This brings them comfort.

Worship

While Clebveth identify with a single Spirit and each spirit has a different method of connection that they prefer, these forms of worship are used in a more universal way depending on the needs of the Clebveth at the time. For example, someone may use both piercings and bindings as a way of tying themselves to the here and now, even though piercings are more often connected to Karav, the Spirit of Building and Rebuilding.

Body Piercing

Piercing their body allows them to attach mementoes of the gods and beliefs which bring them comfort. A Clebveth may, for example, pierce some skin around one of their limbs and put a piece of ceramic which gives them comfort, or a piece of metal which has the symbol for one of the religious orders.

Meditation

Meditation allows a Clebveth to recenter themselves and take a break from whatever is causing them stress and anxiety. During this meditation, they focus on the deity, religious order, or religious belief that brings them comfort or is most likely to restore a sense of peace against whatever is causing them anxiety.

Prayer

Prayer is different to meditation because it is directing requests and desires directly to a specific deity. Prayer is less common than meditation, because if they pray and it doesn't come to pass this can make the anxiety worse, and they are aware that their deities are busy.

Binding

Binding involves wrapping strips of material around themselves or parts of their body marginally tighter than is comfortable. This is designed to help them tie themselves to the here and now and to stop them from worrying about the future.

Rainforest Walks

For those living in the city, it is not uncommon to take 4 - 8 days to travel to the Rainforests of the South and to spend the time walking through the rainforests and getting back to nature. This includes sleeping in the trees and returning to some of their ancestral behaviour.

Artifact of Worship

There are a lot of artifacts which are unique to the Clebveth which originate from their worship of the Monno o Kalla.
These items have since transcended both the religion and the Clebveth and can be found more widely across the Peacekeeper Territories, however, they still hold significance to the Clebveth.

Items such as the Blessed Nipple Ring come from Karav, the Spirit of Building and Rebuilding, whereas the Temporal Bindings come from Hvyra, the Spirit of Joy and Pain.
There was a point when items such as these were attempted to be outlawed by the Peacekeepers, but after a severe case of Neurotheris Addiction which wiped out 17.84% of the Clebveth population, the Peacekeepers backed down.

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Related Articles

Species	Clebveth
Ethnicities	Hugless
Items	Blessed Nipple Ring, Temporal Bindings
Organisations	Peacekeeper Alliance, Victalis Command
Locations	Peacekeeper Territories, The Victalis System, Celebrate

Monno o Kalla - Together and Apart

Type

Religious, Pantheon

Alternative Names

Monno o Kalla

Location

Celebrate

Related Species

• Clebveth

Related Ethnicities

• Hugless

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