Bilgewater remains my favorite worldbuilding update, and Illaoi's faith intrigues me most of all. I really want to know more about it, anything at all... because let's say someone wanted to write a character that's the same faith as Illaoi, not just the watered down version that most Bilgewaters follow. What'd be some basic information about their faith, the daily lives of their priests... please, I'm starving.
Here’s some stuff.
Her God is one of many but, as nation of islands, the god of the sea and life is pretty major, major.
Buhru is very advanced in its use of magic, monsters, and magically powered golems.
The religious roles of her faith are divided between the sexes. Some roles only women fill, some roles only men fill (and a fair amount of the lower ranks are unisex).
A lot of the work for the faith relates to two things:
It's Buddhism upside down and backwards with a splash of Epicurean ethics twisted toward selfishness rather than selflessness.
In short, it is a faith that encourages you to follow your heart (if you want something, take it) and all the vileness such advice invariably leads to.
Illaoi's god only demands that life be in motion, as Nagakabouros gives every being their destiny and it would be denying Nagakabouros to deny your destiny. This is shown in Illaoi's color story when she puts Gangplank through his trial. He had been left stagnating as the king of Bilgewater for too long, so he almost didn't make it. His will to rise and become king once more was what put him back in motion to let him pass the trial.
Nagakabouros is all about the flow of life, and life itself is motion, so Nagakabouros can be called a god of life. We see this in Shadow and Fortune when Illaoi straight up annihilates a ton of undead. I would assume that undead are the ultimate form of stagnation.
To help visualize what being in motion is like:
Gangplank was almost stagnating, but he is now in motion.
Miss Fortune is likely in motion, but she might not have had her trial yet. This may become a plot point.
As confirmed by Rioters, Braum would definitely pass a trial, but apparently he would so obviously pass that Illaoi wouldn't bother putting him through a trial.
Jhin would not pass a trial. Someone asked why, as he's pursuing his art and that could be "in motion," to this a Rioter replied:
Is Jhin actually happy? Is he actually chasing what his heart wants him to do? There is a bit of subtext in many, many of his lines, here's one on the nose -- "There is nothing for me... but this." --Jhin
If Illaoi could put him on trial, Galio would pass. Apparently divine magic and arcane magic work with different methods, so Galio might be able to get a trial.
Rakan would pass.
All undead would fail automatically, and that might apply to Ascended beings, as they're "trying to cheat death." Not sure if this applies as much to Renekton tho…
Vi would pass.
Now, quotes
Illaoi's religion is about life serving the universe. But Nagakabouros is see as bigger than that goal. Illaoi knows, she can not comprehend her god or it's plan. So she and her religion are attempting to serve and understand a small portion of that god idea.
Nagakabouros doesn't give out bibles, or hard rules. It demands you to be self aware, emotionally present, and iron willed. Her faith requires you to approach you're own subconcious with simultaneous questioning doubt and total certainty.
Having doubts isn't a "sin" in her religion-- failing to take action is. Arguably having to test Gangplank, a former lover, was an extremely difficult test to give... but she examined her own motives, listened to her gut, and didn't allow herself to hesitate as soon as she realized he needed to be tested.
Almost all of this information came from this, so if you want the full discussion go there.
Sorry but I don't know much about it. But Illaoi is one of my favourite champs both game and lore. I would love for her to have more companions to parrrly about the faith.
I'm not a Rioter, but if you haven't yet read Illaoi's Color Text, I'd highly advise checking it out. (If you have already read it, sorry, the rest of this may be irrelevant.)
https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/illaoi-color-story/
There are some pretty big hints in there about the people of Buhru who worship Nagakaborous, as well as some names of ranks among their clergy.
Truth Bearer (Illaoi) Hierophant: Serpent Caller: Evidently, use some sort of sea-serpents to devour and fight off the Black Mist. Monk
