Druidic Faiths of the Orient
- YOU! You Horse-faced lady o' pain! What ha'ye done with our grove?!
The druid was red with either anger, or drink, or both. He came talsin' with his frostbiters with a fierce thumbing. Lady Khaerlemmen had her security, who straightened and reached for their swords, and then their clubs upon seeing the thinker. The entire office of Botanists watched the shouting man, and ceased working. Some had been cataloguing the endless number of boxes with samples inside, or the Coalition command reports on needed gear, gunpowder, medical supplies, food preservatives, lye to wash cloth-- Others had been writing on the the post office, to see to the dispatches being sent ot either the university, or some other depot.The lady had come to inspect the work. Khaerlemmen looked down, sighed, and looked up.
Swok T'ztam! The grove is destroyed! Why!
T'ztam. All the way from Tvbéra?
Khaerlemmen sought a respectful note. - This is hardly my jurisdiction, sir, but please. What would seem to--
- Mister...?
Structure
Virtually with no central organisation, Druidic faith was a laissez faire religion of a hundred different groves and holy places, which all had their taboos and rules.
Public Agenda
Soul of the People, and the maintaining of which. Druidic influence was deemed critical in decision-making, as the priests were seen as those to see children born, and eventually people die, and handle the burial. As the Faith of Sleep was mainly concerned in preparing for the coming apocalypse, in form the a Flood, the faith and tradition had an important role in discussion on the Dogma of the Soil, which in fact originated from 'thinkers', or scientifically minded druids, a type of philosopher-pellar.
Assets
Virtually no central organisation. Druids were deemed untouchable, as long as they remained in the deep countryside, and mainly owned animals and minor land holdings to remain self-sufficient.
History
Druidic faith is far older than Harnoth, or even the Luwa-aran culture. At least 4 000 years of tradition, only little of which was written down, and even then by foreign agents.
Mythology & Lore
The roots of yon druidic faiths are scattered wide and far, long since lost whence it comes to lore and tomes, which never existed in these pagan vastlands of yore-- Theories abound, that the faith is the oldest one to hold sway over men in the world, as cultures to adopt ceremonies and rites are far and wide, and all of them can be traced back to what is now Slëmonoch, and Monoech Iss, the two major hubs in the Kiri Empire of 8-00s.
Myth for the Kiri, whence it comes to describing the origin of the world, was that the world began a raging sea, with the force of order creating land, unto which the first men of ancient days crawled, being drawn to conflict, as moths to flame. These first men, devoid of fear and utterly consumed in their desire to colonize and spread their seed, were neither gentle, nor civilized. They were, even in the Luwa-aran Orient of Old, referred to bear-hides, men who were tough and ready to wrestle both enemies, and the elements.
At this point, one would notice notice the lack of ponderings on the origin of the Sun, the Stars, the Rings, or the Moon. Why? Because even in those brutal times, the barbarian tribes realized much of how their world worked; that they live upon a sphere, and this sphere is travelled around by one other sphere, as well as a ring of-- what? Star material? Where did these come from? They knew not, and pondered in their wild stories, that these ancient bear-hides had long since become giants with their magic, sought to climb the Pillar of the World unto where the Creator, or the First Mover lived, and with their hubris and ambition, topple the Pillar, forged of everlasting ice and stone. These are far later stories-- the very first precursors to Luwa-ara, or First-kingdom, pondered not these matters. They shared the time of the very first written materials in existance, likely saw advanced civilizations in their travels, and came to realize - their myths were false. Not only in truth, but also in practice. They must have seen tombs in the far West, and the cities of the Precursors, of whom only deep tombs and scattered temples remain. They both absorbed of the belief, that the dead do not truly die, that what moved the ancient move the living as well, and all living things, and likely even after the fall of the archaic ones, their beliefs remained, in part, in the barbaric east and the nations to rise thither--
Divine Origins
Luwa-ara did not truly rise, nor build up upon the ruins of a single nation, kingdom or people, rather, these men were organized, settled and thought in the manner of town-dwellers, and builders of fort. They needed, as apparently did the ancient bear-hides, a mythology and a central pillar upon which to build the continuity of their existance. Thus, they took in and fed the scattered bear-hides, and the wiser, more civilized amongst them, whence it came to ability to compromise and not devour raw meat and prefer to live in 'fvavu' huts, came to be part of the new kingdom - the first organized Druids. Indeed, this was not a culture, rather a economic region centered around the Ancient Seat, and the Fringe, which was seen a sacred place even then.
Eventually, burials needed to be seen to in an organized manner. This created the ancient masters of the woods and bogs to see to the dead, and become experts in their lives and deeds. As there was no writing, nor desire to mark down ought due to anything being writ or painted becoming alive, and affecting all and everyone through spirits and animistic entities seeing them, and likely being angered, any continuity of a kingdom was in the hands of a druid, a master of the alden days. This was the glue to tie together the Orient at the time, the presence of a Druid. Again, they were not only loremasters, or priests, so to speak, they were judges and advisors. They were seen both worldly, and divine, some of them more their either than the other. Their lore is part sacred, part common, un-clad. Somnist philosophy is based in the acceptance, that all men die, and would do well to be shed of excess and to work for that which is to come; heaven for them and their people should they be present in a positive manner, or ruin for both, should they fail to live as paragons of their people.
Cosmological Views
Cosmology is stirkingly modern, thinking developed well into the Terran 1850s. Outside planets have been found-- archaic knowledge from aeons ago are treated as myths, and mainly dictate aesthetic and ritual matters. Planet Qara is seen to revolve around the Sun, which is seen the giver of all life and warmth - the mother in Light. Moon, the pale one, who is seen to observe humanity and eventually wash the weak in a literal tide - many scientific concepts have snonk their way unto yon tomes of yore, and find them a comfy enough a home.
Time is seen cyclical, as is existance, and the Land. Cosmology, and Founding myths abound in the Orient, and some say creation is in fact in the future. This is in line with Orthodox faith, who see Recluse mystics ponder on Time, and if a cyclical time would indeed see destruction and followed by man-made creations becoming the new world. Kiri, Mihurite and Orthodox alike see talks of Humans becoming God either questionable, or outright heretical.
Tenets of Faith
Climb not the Pillar, suffer noman to dishonor your fathers or their Fathers; honour the Land, and know that all us chessmen are men and women of clay and all return to the same box. The Sea is for those passed, and the Sky is for those who yet not live; venture unto neither, lest thee burn, drown and yon legacy be devourn.
Variations exist, but this is what most Kiri will reply if asked about the Druidic faith. Lord Harkgan subscribed to the Issqaran Fringian school, the one which was very strict in creating a just relation between the ruler and the ruled, and was utterly in favour of the patriarch, in favour of a King or Queen. Above as recited by the Fringian school, which was by 7-600 the most wide-spread, if yet very divided.
Ethics
Weakness is punished. Either by nature, or man. This is no central tenet, but rules most of the Kiri-cultural justice and ethics. To kill a man who is able to defend himself is seen virtually fair game; his clan and family will decide if the victor would be challenged again. Druidic champions in the past eras have walked the land, and threatned those to engage in excess violence with swift death by mallet, arrow and sword.
Stabbing a known enemy in the back, fair game - he knows he is on hostile ground, or has enemies. Druids keep all known declared wars and keep tabs on families with rivals and blood feuds, and use these to decide if their deeds were just.
Either interefering with nature, or using excess force is seen as punishable. Killing those pregnant, children or using disease as weapon are known to cause ejection by the druids, who would convene and strike the ruling Lord, or House from the list of Houseland retainers, meaning they are seen as fair game for other lords and houses, to conquer or enslave.
Worship
No worship, per ce - rather, seeking to understand the culture and method with which the land has been ruled, and will be ruled in the future. Druids are seen as keepers for the past Empire, whose emperors and empresses are seen often as the highest paragons of the Kiri. All Harnothi-speakers are expected to understand the basic Tuarkiri expressions and phraes, which are used as greetings, and university students are expected to see to lore and complete several academic trials on old history. Most of which is boring, and is seen as tedious. However, the Somnist way is respected greatly, and few would openly challenge the readings and study of Tuarkiri, which is, as a tongue, either way useful for practice of law, trade and science.
Priesthood
Druidic priests are seen as the ones to maintain the dead - these are priests in the traditional sense. They offer prayers and rites to see to the passed spirit flying, walking and swimming into the Abyss, where a great city of the dead is to welcome all, with position in life being secondary to merit. Question of the Kiri is of how well a worthy person's life is chronicled truthfully, and not per se the deeds themselves. This is business for the librarians of the Druids, who are akin to thinkers, who are to evaluate new knowledge, and see to the intergration of which.
Political Influence & Intrigue
Druids must be referred to in decisions of any greater then moderate impact on national scale, and any great ones dealing with nations - going to war e.g. - and always whence it comes to working the enviroment. They are the voice of the wild in the newer days, railways being terror to them, and the stalen horses of these mechanical minds being to them part of hubris, which felled the Pillars and made the stars ever out of reach for those living on the face of the planet--
Sects
Hundreds, none of them heretical or pagan. Druidic faith, Somnolists of the Orient absorb all observation and worship. One might be militant, decided upon that killing a weaker man and ensvlaving his children is to stop a weaker man from breeding, and thus strengthen the land as a whole-- he could well be in favor of an ambiitous war. Other might be pacifist, seeing that no human ought to strike at another due to absolutes in ethics; one may not kill a hare out of spite or excess, why would one kill a man? Absolute being, 'You may not elect before the Land does!' one may not interfere with Gravity, nor climb the pillar, even to see what it is made of, as one would have to climb it in order to see, and suddenly find himself level with mountains, and a long, long drop way down, and a sudden top below...
There are hundreds of schools for thought in the Kiri faith.
Until the Sea takes us
Founding Date
n.a.
Type
Religious, Temple
Alternative Names
Faith of Sleep, Somnolent Temple
Demonym
Chessman, Chesswoman
Permeated Organizations
Related Ranks & Titles
Related Ethnicities
Related Myths
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