Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

What can you tell me about the religions of: Bilgewater, Freljord, Bandle City, Icathia?

CupcakeTrap·7/25/2016, 6:22:59 PM·2 votes·1,567 views
Part VIII-Divinity

I'd like to ask my Story Board chums for some insights and advice concerning the "religions" of Bandle City, Bilgewater, the Freljord, and Icathia. I'm asking because the current Factions arc, Divinity, centers on this topic. But seeing as this is the Story board, I'm asking about what we have in canon (old or new).

Here's what I have so far.

Bandle City

Praise the Mothership! Gotta get it ready!

This could well all get retconned, but what we have in the still-current lore establishes yordles as adorable cult-hamsters who venerate the Mothership and have a cute-yet-eerie obsession with the concept of "getting it ready".

Icathia

This is a huge question mark, in that we don't really know what Icathia is like (and Jaredan understandably declined to comment when I asked him), but we do know the Void is full of spooky Void demons, and we do have Malzahar as a sort of template for a Void worshipper.

Bilgewater

We actually have a lot of new material here about Nagakabouros, through Illaoi. (And, I guess, Gangplank?) Apparently, Nagakabouros is this tentacled ocean god that "tests" people.

the Freljord

We know that the Frostguard does some spooky stuff with Lissandra and the Watchers, in between their "monster hunting" day job. It seems like the Winter's Claw may have some kind of shamanic religion? As for the Avarosan, well, they seem really into Avarosa, but I'm not sure we have much more than that.

I should really bring this to more of a clear question. So I guess I'd ask this: what's the main "theme" of these factions' religious/spiritual/mystical storylines so far?

But really, I'll accept just about any comments or analysis anyone would like to offer. There's a wealth of knowledge on this Board, and I feel I'd be remiss not to tap into it.

2 Comments

Sharjo7/25/2016, 6:39:04 PM4 votes

I can go in deep on Illaoi's faith, so here goes:

The faith centered around Nagakabouros is nameless, and is focused around the concept of motion in all things. To live is to move and keep moving, while stagnating is wasting that life. Nagakabouros isn't a traditional deity like many would perceive, and is closer to the concept of Brahman from Hinduism; a god who binds together and encompasses all of creation. Nagakabouros is unknowable, and all souls come from her.

The faith itself is very much like a flipped version of hinduism, where the idea of Moksha isn't release from reincarnation, but embracing the cycle and living life to its fullest, entering a new life after your current one has ended with knowledge that you lived your life to the absolute best standard that you could. Nagakabouros doesn't really test people herself, her truth bearer does, that being Illaoi. Her job is to make sure that the flow of the universe isn't blocked, and so she tests people who're stagnating in the flow. Using the Eye of God she rips out people's souls and returns them to the flow, forcing the person to fight for their right to live. The test is about proving that you're worthy of even having the gift of a soul to begin with.

In this faith stagnation takes on many forms, such as obsession, habits and fixations. To move is to just keep moving, challenging yourself and conquering adversity. Do what you want really, as long as you don't just indulge in that thing forever. You can sleep around, fight, get money, whatever, but if that's all you do then that's stagnating. In this faith there's little value in anything of material value; these things have their purpose, and when they break, that's just how it is. Even the Eye of God is like that; it's made to last sure, but if it breaks there's always something else to use as a conduit of power. The important thing isn't the object or the fixation, it's the actions and the power behind it.

An example of someone who was stagnating was Gangplank; he kept to his criminal ways and got fat, lazy and greedy from never being challenged. Alternatively Braum's a man who's as in motion as anyone could ever hope for; he lives life day by day, taking every challenge head on and pushing himself constantly. People are not meant to be bound to rules, laws, nations or anything other than their own desires, and so really as long as you push forward this faith's not gonna hold a grudge or anything.

Things that try and remove themselves from the flow are of great offense to Nagakabouros, and are viewed with great disdain in the faith. The Ascended and the undead/unliving fall in to this category, having stagnated to the utmost degree by effectively damming the flow of their very souls.

That's all that comes to mind at the moment. Might have more to talk on later. if WAAARGHbobo was here he could tell you more, being Illaoi's principle writer and the creator of this faith.

Ebonmaw Dragon7/25/2016, 6:26:01 PM1 votes

Im kinda surprised that you forgot about Targon, since its the most "Religious" faction of all.