Mason Wrote:EDIT: I've only read the tiny bit of lore they have out once, but I don't remember them mentioning specific gods. Is that where it's mentioned? Can someone post whatever info there is here so that I and others who don't know the specifics can read about it? Might as well start a hub of info available about religion here. ^_^

Verence Wrote:FFXI religion was deceptively varied, really. Granted nearly everyone worshiped Altana, but each nation had a rather unique take. The San d'Orian Cathedral was sort of Roman Catholic Church and the 'standard' but there were hints of interesting doctrinal differences between that and the Church of Tavnazia. Then we had Bastok, which was sort of post-religious. The only nod they had to religion was a small forgotten shrine with a cracked and peeling statue. Windurst had an odd take in that they seemed to believe that the Sibyl was an avatar of the Goddess and the medium through which the prayers of the people were conveyed to the stars in the heavens. In a sense, they almost worshiped the moon and stars more than the Goddess. Then we had the Mithra, who worshiped the spirit of the land... Whether they equated Altana with the land was entirely debatable. Then of course we had the divine serpents in the East and the Walahran philosophy but they never really got into that. There are the barest hints of other gods, most notably in the Memoria de la S'tona, but keep in mind that to the Eastern mindset, 'god' means something fairly different. All of the avatars, terrestrial and celestial, are "gods" in the Eastern sense.

I don't really think FFXI suffered from a lack of variety on the religion front, but we only really got any in-depth information on the San d'Orian and Tavnazian church beliefs due to the Chains of Promathia plot. I'm hoping there will be a lot more religious lore in this setting, and the idea of polytheism interests me greatly. I've only ever had the chance to RP a polytheistic character once, in a tabletop chronicle, and it was a fairly interesting experience. He was technically a warrior-priest of the greatest of the gods, but encouraged people to pay reverences to all of them. It sparked an interesting in-character discussion or two.

Quote:EDIT: Sorry, you're all going to hate me for this, but after brief discussion with friends I have resolved to make a comic relief mule who is a filthy, raving old nutter who spends his days ranting about the buttermilk divinity of Jeff, god of biscuits.

Quote:I've had fun having a mithra with traditional beliefs and a Galka from the East that had been trained as a monk from a shrine devoted to the Pheonix before he became a showman. It just took making up a little bit and I never created an entire system, but it is possible within reason.

Quote:Everyone in ancient Greece defined their lives in relation to the sacred realm and in relation to the political organization of their city-state. In this way religion and politics were deeply intertwined - arguably, there was no obvious separation between the two.

The transmission of Greek legends generally occurred in the public realm. Dramas, readings, and other performances were integral to the rhythm of public life. Such poetic activity provided shape and cohesiveness to the political community, defining its internal structure as well as its face to outsiders. It was also standard that such performances involve the myths and rituals of Greek religion - completely secular drama that was divorced from religion was not normal, if it even existed.

The role of the city-state in the development and form of Greek religion could easily be overlooked, but it is vitally important. The social revolution which led to the formation of the Greek city-states occurred in parallel with the formation of the Greek pantheon, indicating a simultaneous reorganization of political, social, and religious life.


Furthermore, it must be remembered that each city-state had it's own patron deity, a relationship which played a decisive role not only in the character of local politics and community feelings, but also in the nature of the myths recounted in that region. The stories about Athena could be told one way in Athens where she was the patron goddess, another way in Sparta where she was not. Patron deities had a special kinship with their cities, playing a role in how local citizens saw themselves and understood their relationship to outsiders.

Much of this changed during the Hellenistic Age, usually marked by the conquests of Alexander the Great after 334 BCE. Under the rule of Macedonian lords, various Greek communities began to take a different perspective on religion which moved them away from community-oriented practices and more towards individualistic religious beliefs

Private associations were formed and interest in things like astrology bloomed. At the same time, politically-enforced veneration of divine rulers like Alexander himself began to develop. Such veneration was used to gauge one's adherence to social and political norms in a conscious, overt manner that contrasts sharply to more unconscious used of Greek rituals to do the same thing in prior ages. This probably helped drive people to the individualistic practices as more "authentically" religious.

ramdragn Wrote:Taking from the comment from the post, if they are Greek based (speculatively) There could be not only temples but shrines. Small villages (maybe nomads Elveens) with portable shrines or set stones where rituals and such can be made. Probably seasonal routes leading to shrines where events will be placed. . . pretty much like FFX where some temples were elaborated and others were even forgotten yet everyone recognized the "all summons" but not everyone prayed to all or the same one.