Draconism

Not to be confused with Twin Dragon.

Draconism is the national religion of the Kingdom of Daelyria. It is a polytheistic religion with fourteen main gods in the pantheon. It is native to the region of Daelyria, and has no reach beyond it as of the writing of this article. Worship is done at home or in temples, and sacrifice is done by burning objects. It has a long written and oral tradition of myths, stories and rites. It concerns itself with the question of the world's birth, its destruction, and man's meaning. Fire is holy. It is seen as important to Draconists that people acquire balance with their sins and virtues. They are also usually religiously tolerant, saying that all gods or stories are simply reflections of the Fourteen in the eyes of other peoples with other beliefs.

(NB! note that this is a religion in a block game, and the views expressed in this article are to be expressed in RP, not necessarily by the authors)

Prayer
Worship and prayer in Draconism is done either at a temple or at home. It is not uncommon for priests to use a psychedelic substance known as Shade of the Evening or Shade of the Morning, one of which grants visions of the future (Shade of the Morning), and the other of the future of present (Shade of the Evening), similar to Dragon Dreams, and often concerned with the fate of the world. It is common also to look into fires while praying, to see glimpses of the future of past, granted by the goddess Tessarion.

Sacrifice
Sacrifice is not uncommon in Draconism. Traitors or criminals are often burned alive so that their souls can be cleansed by the holy fires. It is commonplace to burn items like food or coal for the pleasure of the gods. Burning animals can also be seen upon as a good way to please the god after a bad harvest, a wave of banditry or a lost war. All temples have pits in their middles where sacrificed people, animals or items can be burned.

Vice and Virtue
In Draconism, it is seen as incredibly important to find a balance between your sins. Sins exist on a spectrum, with the middle of the spectrum being the virtue. One who is greedy, therefore, should try to weigh up for it with kindness or with restraint. Each side of the spectrum is believed to be as bad. Everything fits on this spectrum according to Draconists, even murder, as it is seen as just to murder the cruel. They believe also that what man strives to become is the centre of the spectrums of sin and virtue, as portrayed in the Book of Blood, a primary Draconistic text:

''He who is made of naught but truth will hurt those around him and himself, but he who speaks naught but lies will have the same effects. One must strive for balance, to speak truth when one can, and lie when one must. The same can be said for courage: one who rushes straight into battle at every chance will most surely die, but he who is a coward and avoids confrontation may be hated or delay something to the point which it can become hurtful. Such is the way with all things.''

-the Book of Blood, verse thirty-six

(note here that the ancient Daelyrian word for battle and confrontation can be used interchangeably, and so this may refer to someone who is brash)

The fourteen vices are:

self-superiority, self-loathing.

Wrath, complicity.

Greed, wastefulness.

Lust, seclusion.

Sloth, recklessness.

Gluttony, self-neglect.

Envy, apathy.

In between these you have the seven virtues:

Confidence.

Righteousness.

Generosity.

Chastity.

Consideration.

Health.

Trust.

A recurring theme between the virtues is that they are they are all tempered by reason and logic, the highest of qualities in Draconism. In addition to the vices and virtues, there are also Divine Qualities. These are things on which a good Draconist should focus and try to emulate. These are:

Determination.

Kindness.

Cunning.

Valor.

Patience.

One is to be selected at the process where you transform from a child into a man or woman.

Ceremonies relating to death, birth and marriage.
In Draconism, it is commonplace to burn the dead, as soon as possible after death. The soul can then be separated more cleanly from the body, and the quicker after death the burial is done, the less corrupted by rot the soul will be, and therefore cleaner. The remaining bones are then turned into bonemeal to plant a tree, the wood from which his or her descendants will be burned on. This creates a much stronger link between the family in the eternal halls of the gods. Afterwards, it is customary to party, and a child conceived on the night of a burning is said to be blessed with the knowledge of the deceased. In Illeryon, a small sect or subgroup would mix the blood and the ashes of the deceased and drink it to gain the power of their predecessors.

Weddings are performed by a priest, and can be held with family and friends, or as a public event. The newlyweds will then be locked into their houses for a week, food supplied from their families and given into the building. This is not as common in working families, since the family has to work, and is more a feature of more high class families where heirs to the house are more important and need to be procured to seal the alliance. The weddings oaths are:

"Will you, (groom) of house (house of groom) take to wife (bride) of house (house of bride) till blood or fire parts ye?"

It is the same but with the genders swapped afterwards, and they will both cut their palms and mix their blood before it can be burned, to purify their union.

Ceremonies of birth are held a few days after the actual birth of the child, where they are named. An exchange of gifts is customary at this event or gathering.

Values and focuses
Draconism has many values and focuses that can be observed throughout the various scriptures of the religion. I will have a segment which details what an average Draconist might have as values based on John Haidt's excellent system dividing it into six and a few things that are valued in Draconism.

Harm:
Draconists don't care that much about physical harm, though they do try to prevent it. It is seen as weakness to express pain when not neccesary, but also to not show pain when injured. It is also thought that to become a moral and good person, one must experience pain. There is a quote in the holy text Fires of the Future where a man sees a vision of paradise, and every man there bears scars. Further still, there is a quote in the Book of Blood that states "no unscarred man may enter the Plains of Paradise".

Liberty:
In Draconism, liberty and freedom are very important. Draconist peoples such as the Daelyrians have a spirit of freedom and of building. This manifests itself in that it is stated several places that the people should overthrow authoritarian leaders, as well as striving for freedom.

Loyalty:
In Draconism, it's very important to be loyal to religious officials and leaders of nations, if it is earned. Loyalty to the nation you are in, if it's made by your people, is very important. This sort of ties into the last point, where tyrants should be overthrown. Loyalty to your leaders is very important, though the people are expected to swear loyalty to the king, then the high princes, then the aristocracy.

Authority:
Listening to authority, while important, is not the highest of values in Draconism. You are to respect the wishes of your superiors, but never to blindly follow authority.

Reason:
Reason and knowledge are seen as the highest value. Anything and everything should be analyzed with reason. There is a quote in the Sikagloth, stating that man's steel was his senses, but that for man to grow strong, his senses would need to be tempered with reason. Every teaching, every command, everything should be seen through the lense of critical thinking. The only exception may be battle, in which a man must forego reason and fight with the animal inside him.

Individualism:
Draconist society is very individualist. It is important to do what's right no matter what, to listen to your mind instead of mindlessly following a mob mentality. This derives from the belief that each man and woman has a soul, and will be judged by Arrax on the basis of their character not any generalised trait. This might also be the reason why Draconist militaries like the Hand of Vhagar or the Daelyrian military focus heavily on training each soldier individually as well as in drill.

Valour and bravery
In Draconism, valour and bravery are seen as very important. Valour because a man must be fearless in battle, and battle is seen as the highest form of worship in Draconism, along with, of course, a job done well. Bravery because you must be brave enough to stand up against authority and the majority. Staying by your principles is very important.

Pantheon.
There are fourteen main gods in the Draconistic pantheon. Other smaller and/or regional gods and spirits also exist, but these are the most widely worshipped.

Arrax - Ruler of Gods, law, order, justice, governance and strength.

Aegarax - God of all creatures that walk, run, swim or fly. Creator of the first dragon.

Balerion - God of death and the Underworld.

Caraxes - God of the sea, twin of Meraxes.

Gaelithox - God of fire, stars, moon, sun and the dawn, rival of Meraxes.

Meleys - Goddess of love and fertility.

Meraxes - Goddess of the sky, twin of Caraxes.

Shrykos - Goddess of beginnings, endings, transitions and doorways.

Syrax - Goddess of wine, fruitfulness, parties, festivals, madness, chaos, drunkenness, vegetation, and ecstasy.

Tessarion - Goddess of music, arts, knowledge, healing, plague, prophecy, poetry, beauty, and archery.

Tyraxes - Goddess of reason, wisdom, intelligence, skill, peace, warfare and battle strategy.

Vermax - God of boundaries, travel, communication, trade, language, and writing. A psychopomp who escorts dead souls to the Underworld or to the Eternal Halls.

Vermithor - God of smiths, crafts and artisans.

Vhagar - God of war.

The pantheon of Draconism (sometimes referred to as the Fourteen) all live in either Eternal Halls, or in volcanoes when they bless the mortal realm of Rathnir with their presence. When assuming avatars, they go into the forms of dragons. There was a war between the Fourteen and the Voidborn, a race of demigods spawned of Balerion, god of death. The seal between the worlds was then created, making the overworld, then the nether, which served as a buffer realm, and also the residence of Balerion, who was punished for the behaviour of his children to guard the pass and the dead souls cursed to hell. With magical powers bestowed by Vermax, you can create passages between them. This is called inter-dimensional fire magic.

Myths.
The Draconistic pantheon is riddled with myths and stories of ages long ago. They will be listed here.

The Creation War
In the beginning, there was nothing but the Eternal Halls, where the gods had slumbered from before the beginning of time. Outside it there was only chaos, a vast madness of destruction and the random creation and destruction of matter and energy. One faithful day, the greatest of the Fourteen, Arrax, awoke. He saw the chaos outside his home and, with his limitless power and vision, began to draw. He pulled the different shades of creation into lines and boundaries, and formed order. The world became itself, formed from the primordial storm, the gasses pulled into oceans and land. He painted one world first, but though his power was endless, his skill was not as of yet. The world could barely harbour life, and it quickly was consumed by the power of chaos outside the world. Then great Arrax created a new world. This one lasted longer, and was indeed prospering for long ages. Then the Voidborn came. In the Underworld, Balerion, second only to Arrax himself in might, had been mating with the dead he found most lovely, for he was lonely in his halls far beneath the earth. From this union spawned a race known only as the Voidborn, powerful demigods. Balerion, lonely as he was, loved this most of all, and doted on them with powerful gifts. His children soon fell victim to pride, and took up arms against their father and the other gods. The world shook with the chaos and corruption they brought forth. Though they were killed by the Fourteen, their corruption settled in the world. Mighty Arrax along with Vhagar and Shrykos destroyed the world, fearing that the men upon it would be corrupted by the Voidborn. They created a third world, and made a buffer between the realm of madness and chaos that lay beyond the world, taking the place of the Underworld. It was called the Nether. Balerion was set to rule it as punishment for the gifts he had given his children in the war against the gods.

The Birth of Man
One day, Aegerax looked out at the world, melancholy. The world was filled with plants and vegetation, a courtesy of the power of Syrax's coupling with the Gaelithox. But Aegerax looked out at it and thought it too inanimate. He decided to fill the world with curious beasts, and created thirty-two spirits to help him. He shaped them out of the primordial clay that formed most of the world at this point, and imbued them with the breath of life. At last he created a being in his own image, and named him Styveryles, a being who could think in the same fashion the gods did. The gods were very smitten with this creature of Aegerax, and gave him gifts: Arrax gave him the ability to be just, and to be fair. Caraxes gave him the knowledge of how to craft boats and ships. Gaeltithox gifted him fire, and painted the sunsets beautiful for his pleasure. Melys gave him a passion for love and all that was beautiful. Meraxes gave him the swiftness of the flying bird. Shrykos gifted him with the power of changing to his environment. Syrax learned him to harvest plants from nature. Tessarion gave him the power of music and art, and Tyraxes gave him reason and logic. Vermax gave him the gift of writing and language, while Vermithor gave him the power to shape metals. Vhagar gave him the power to destroy his enemies and foes. Only Balerion gave him no gifts as of first. He lived far beneath the Eternal Halls, as well as the overworld, but far down in the dark Underworld, where news did not reach him. Styveryles was lonely, still. All his joys like smithing and hunting were fine on their own, but he craved a companion. So Aegerax made a new being, shaped after the form of one of the female gods. Aelyx was born of the same stuff as Sryveryles, but was fundementally different. She was the daughter of Meleys as much as of Aegerax. They were made for each other, and soon, with the passion of Meleys, they brought forth forty sons and forty daughters. Fearing incest, which was not for common men to do, Aegerax, who had become confident in his abilities, created more men out of the primordial clay of the world. But sometimes he went with too much haste, and there came cracks in the men and women he created, and so they became cruel. And so, man was brought forth upon the world.

Daelos Ashborn
In the days when the third world was still young, and the men upon them had not yet created their great empires, there was a man called Daelos Ashborn. The son of Meleys and Balerion, and should therefore have been a god by birth. But since he was a bastard of the two, he was born a demigod, since Meleys was married to Gaelithox. His fury was said to have caused a great drought, and Daelos is called the Ashborn because he was born in the ash of this drought. Galithox's fury was not yet calmed, and he wanted to give Daelos an impossible task: traveling to every nation in the world of Rathnir. Daelos was, however, of unparalleled strength and determination. He became a champion of wrestling and partook in many wars of the early age. He visited every land and impregnated a woman in each one. Having finished Gaelithox's task, the god of fire was content, if still sulky. The myth at this point deviates. Daelos had a hundred children with a hundred different women, and in all the stories all the children but one die before getting further heirs. In one of the myths, the remaining child, Illyax, killed all of his half-siblings, crowning himself the heir to Daelos's legacy. In other tellings of the tale, Gaelithox is angry that Daelos finnished his tasks, and so killed all his offspring but Illyax, who doused himself in water to be resistant to Gaelithox's fire. The third and most popular of the tellings is that the sons all died by their own foolishness (sometimes a deliberate effort by Balerion, god of death and fait, who wished to see his grand-children), all but Illyax, who was too clever to die. Illyax went on to have three sons, Maekar, Aelys and Jaehaerys, and a daughter, Daella, the daughter the eldest and therefore inheriting his legacy. Daella was said to be the very picture of Meleys, her great-grandmother, and the most lovely person in all the world, and took the name Synderys, meaning shadow lord. She was, in fact, so beautiful that she enticed the heart of Caraxes, god of the seas. She had another demi-god son, Theon, who had a son, Vyserys, who had a daughter, Nyfera, who was impregnated by Vhagar, and the passion of their love was said to be what painted the dusk beautiful. The brief union brought forth Dusk Synderys, co-founder of the kingdom of Daelyria.

Holy texts
There are a few holy texts in Draconism, many of them in the great book called the Drackara, which is comprised of many books. There are also the Dialogues of Prophets, and the Philosophys, comprising philosophy and ethics, while the Drackara is comprised of stories and teachings. These texts can be interpreted in many ways, and one of these interpretations almost caused a schism within the Draconistic community.

The Drackara
The Drackara is a religious book comprised of many shorter books, letters, hymns and songs. They are framed as a cohesive narrative, and are all set in chronological order(though interpretations vary as to the true canon). The longest texts are The Book of Blood, divided into chapters, the Book of Fire, divided into verses, and the History of Heroes, which is a compilation of shorter historical events written down by a family of priests who sought out Daelyrian heroes and recorded their deeds. The complete list of texts:

-the Book of Blood

-the Book of Fire

-Fires of the Future

-the revelations of the 31st winged serpent

-the Sikagoloth

-the History of Heroes

All of these include stories and teachings.

Dialogues of Prophets
The Dialogues of Prophets is a text comprised of many dialogues between prophets and people around them, explaining the gods, how best to live and prayer. It elaborates on something brought up in the Book of Fire, saying that the best way to know the gods is to study what they made. It is often read along with the Drackara as a companion text meant to clarify and elaborate on things said in that first great book.

Philosophys
The last of the great Daelyrian texts is the Philosophys. It is comprised of many stories, though all these are meant only to be used as examples, and are not actual events. In it one can find reflections on religious duty and a myriad of other subjects. It is the shortest of the holy texts.

Temples, shrines and churches
Draconist temples exist in three main styles, though there are similarites between them. All of them have a central fire in the middle, along with a holy book on a a lectern, all have fourteen columns or pillars, one for each god, and they all have quite open interiors. The three main forms are:

Illeryan
The Illeryan style has, as all draconist temples, fourteen columns, but in contract to the other two, they are arrayed in a rectangle, usually in a pattern with five on each long side and two additional on the short sides. They can also have more than 14 columns, as there are many local gods and spirits in the Illerya region, hiding within the potential of fire that the trees there bring. The roof slants upwards towards a central line, and there are often spires or cornices on the corners. The holy flame is placed upon a pedestal towards the back of the temple. The lectern is to be placed in front. The temple in Duskopion can also be seen as a showcase of this style.

Daelyrian classic
Daelyrian classic temple style traditionally has 14 columns, though there is often fifteen, the last being to the king. They are circular, with a flat, conical roof and battlements outside each column. Their holy flame is set into the floor, with a lectern outside.

Neo-Illeryan
Neo Illeryan is a style shown in the Eldham colony of new Illerya, with elements from both Illeryan and Daelyrian architecture. It has a central round section with twelve columns and a rectangular entrance area with two additional columns and a lowered fire pit.

High Priest
The High Priest heads the entire religion of Draconism. He has ultimate authority over all religious matters. He is elected by the council of Aenyn, and serves for life. He only dies when his Holy Purpose has been fullfilled, and before then, he will live forever, all sickness cleansed from him with the holy fires of Arrax the Alfather.

Aenyn
The Aenyn serve as the supreme priests of a single diety. The Aenyn are elected directly by the gods, and are shown in Dragon Dreams the place they need to be and the time. If they answer the god's summon, then they will be given an ingot of black Daelyrian steel, commonly known as Netherite, which will serve as their key to the holy council of Aenyn. Upon the Ascension of a High Priest, the Aenyn of the time elect a new one through voting. Since the gods are competitive in nature, it is not uncommon for Aenyn to make power plays against each other, forming coalitions and the like for the election of High Priest. For this reason, the bars of Daelyrian steel given to them gives them protection from divine intervention, making them impervious to all but the most brutal of divine onslaughts. This has the side effet of allowing the Aenyn autonomy from their divine sponsors, which has, in the past, led to the Aenyn becoming corrupt.

Jaeseryn
The Jaeseryn hold religious strongholds and castles throughout the land as well as fortified monastaries. They are technically priests, but are considered to be more closely connected to Vhagar

Priests
The Priests of the Draconist church perform many duties, such as marriages, funerals, sermons and missionaring projects. They are learned in the books of the gods, and reside either in temples, monastaries or in other dwellings. They can dedicate their lives to a specific god or godess, or the whole pantheon.

Daelos Ashborn
Daelos Ashborn is one of the greatest saints in Draconism, and forefather to Illyax Ashborn, Dusk Synderys and many other notable names from the legends. The son of Meleys and Balerion, he walked the world and had a child in every nation in Rathnir. He was a wise and strong man, and is the saint of Determination.

Wheyloffle
The player Wheyloffle is the only Draconist saint who was not enlightened to the gods' glory. This, in the eyes of the gods, made him a greater man yet, as he found his path by only his own morals and goodness. He mediated several conflicts, and is the Saint of mediation and peace.

Dragonblooded
The Dragonblooded are amongst the holiest men and women of the Draconist faith. They typically have pale, almost silvery skin, purple or blue eyes with hair of platinum, white gold or silver. They are said to be immune to fire and to most diseases, leading them to live incredibly long lives. Their blood literally boils, as hot as to kill all infectious diseases. Incest is commonplace in Dragonblood families to keep the bloodlines pure. This is seen prevelantly in the House Blackfyre, and to a lesser extent House Synderys.

Rhys-Aethu
The Rhys-Aethu are prophets of the gods endowed with dragon dreams and shapeshifting abilities, often directly possessed by the gods. They are few in number, but great in power. They build temples, preach the glory of the gods and do their will. They are fire made form, made by Arrax the Almighty himself to guide man when they are lead astray. They are often granted the title of Aenyn when they incarnate, though this has become less and less common in the last few centuries.

Voidborn
The Voidborn are vile, mindless creatures, the sons of Balerion. They are demigods and are terrible in their monotonous mass. They came close to destroying the world, but are now thankfully sealed in the halls of their Father or destroyed.