In Chanmyr, there are various religions that have evolved over time. Most of them are based on either the planets, who are their gods. This is similar to Greek and Roman mythology in a lot of ways. Mars was the god of war, Venus was love, mercury (year- we don’t talk about mercury.. that pesky retrograding little rat:)…
In Chanmyr, they worship the four known planets in a similar fashion to our ancient worlds. They entreat them for help, make offerings etc. There are priests who are devotees of particular deities. Some of these priests even attain a significant amount of political power, if they secure a position in one of the so’har temples. But priests don’t hold the power of life-death, damnation and forgiveness over people the way modern religions do.
On the other end, especially in the western provinces, there is a lot of emphasis on nature spirits and deities. Some of this is from Faenyr influence, who have a strong magical connection to nature and elements.
The Beddo worship Chayan, seeing the other four deities as lesser than the singular creator/father. To them, Chayan is closer to Odin, or Zeus- the parent. They don’t feel a need to rely on the lesser deities, as their covenant was through the ancient Tarish in the name of Chayan.
Which brings up the Tarish. They don’t quite fit into any existing mythology or construct. They are a bit like the Titans, who were once deemed greater than the gods. They are an ancient and magical race of beings: part deity and part nature spirit. They are bound to the land or a region and will often be in a “dormant” state, as part of the earth, a rock, tree, or even an entire mountain. They will do that when they need to replenish themselves and the land. In this way, they can seem to be dead, if they are dormant for an extremely long period of time.
The Tarish once shared Chanmyr with the Faenyr, where they created majestic cities and built art and structures by sculpting the earth and stone with magic. Sometimes they literally grew buildings or spires, or whatever struck their imagination.
There are some places where the ancient sites can still be found. Stone faces and beings embedded into the hillsides, as through they were trying to escape from the earth. Massive and imposing figures engaged in hunting, playing musical instruments, dancing. are rumoured to be the Tarish themselves. Around many of the forms, there are runes and glyphs carved into the stone, that humans haven’t been able to decipher.
The Chanmyans believe the inscriptions tell the story of what happened to them, and foretell the time of their return. Connected to that is the question of what will happen if the sleeping giants awaken? The ancient stories tell of the time when the gods fought against the Tarish and the Faenyr, creating much of what is now Chanmyr. The myth of Takkara fighting Yttuva tells one such tale, that resulted in the loss of a great Faenyr city and the creation of the land where Tatak Rhe now stands.
As the prophets spoke, the old gods are stirring. And the planets are shifting… maybe people like Hak’kar are right, and they should be worried…
What do you think it means? Any ideas what might happen? Share your predictions in the comments:)
