Authoring Hymns

Where do the hymns of Theoma come from?

While some of the hymns of Theoma are spontaneous outpourings of gratitude and/or devotion, one factor that has tended to absolutely fill the hymnals of Theoma is that the land gods reward hymns that are sung many times and/or by many people. As such, one of the more generic kinds of geomantic activity is to write and perform hymns.

Most (though not all) of the land gods reject hymns that are authored to them specifically, but most (though not all) of the land gods reward hymns that are more general. This includes hymns to the meta-faiths, as well as hymns to the supernal aspects of Theoma (the magics and fate), and even songs about the natural world of Theoma. That last category is not necessarily considered a hymn by the public, but the land gods (being the literal constituency of the natural world of Theoma) rate them highly as hymns. If one wishes to heap praise on a specific land god, it is better to sing about the landscape of that land god than the deeds of that land god's avatar!

What kind of rewards arise from authoring and performing hymns?

Many of the petty blessings of prosperity that empower the civilian economy in Theoma originate from and are strengthened by the singing of seemingly unrelated hymns. Evermines and everquarries run dry if the people forget the songs of praise and devotion. The weather can grow rough and inconvenient, causing droughts and downpours. The soil can become unyielding and sour. While the people praise the land, the magic, and the major organizations of faith, these things are held back.

Specific geomancers also seek specific favors of the land gods by authoring hymns. Thus, geomancers may do this in attempt to gain their requests, in which case it takes the place of a quest. It works best if other people love the song and begin performing it to each other unbidden. Occasionally, land gods will demand the authoring of a hymn as a quest, which puts the job of authoring it as something of a commission.

Are people fated to sing hymns?

This varies by theome, and often by individual. Some people carry fate charms that specifically tilt their fate towards hearing and singing hymns, in which case the answer is very much yes! Some people carry fate charms that deflect and reject hymn-singing, in which case the answer is almost certainly not. Beyond this, some land gods consider fating hymns to be a form of promoting the happiness and prosperity of the public in a great synergistic system of glory and beauty, while other land gods consider fating hymns to be narcissistic or otherwise improper. Some of the land gods very much adore hymns and want to see whether people will perform them (and which ones people will perform), in which case fate will push people towards opportunities to sing hymns 'without forcing them'. The answer to this question can get hard to judge.

The existence of formal churches unique to a particular theome is an indicator that the singing of hymns is fated in a particular theome, but such things can also form when hymn-song fate charms proliferate in a theome where the land god would consider fating the hymn improper. Fate gets a bit tangled when the land god does not want to press people to sing hymns, but the people want to do it anyways; this is the best case scenario for the land to be blessed with great prosperity, but land gods pushed to that position will start tilting fate against the specific organizations that promote hymns, just to make sure that people really are putting their will towards it.

An example of the difficulty in answering this question can be illustrated by Akilno and Mosdenechrak. Akilno is ostensibly very proud to defend the free will of the people, via a Fate Beacon of Willpower. At the same time, Mosdenechrak is known for its sprawling temple district and very faithful people. What's going on? The existence of so much religiosity is tangling Fate in the theome, so that geomancers are hard-pressed to say whether people are or are not fated to sing hymns. In the case of Mosdenechrak, the fact that the strongest local faith is Uttermost Dark helps Akilno to argue that they are not: hymns to silence are hardly impossible, but they are quite strange and quite rare.