Boulderism

Boulderism is a polytheistic religion originating from The Kingdom of Boulderov and is the second biggest religion in the Second Empire of Uldarash. Boulderists worship The Boulder who they consider their mysterious and omnipotent creator, along The Four Golems who are lesser deities created by him. Together they are known as The Five Pillars.

It is currently practised in The Kingdom of Boulderov, Sanctuary, and The Nation of Istanboulder, as well as, to a lesser extent, in Montroig, Alfheim, Bardonia and south Tovarisha.

Ancient Boulderism
Ceremonies of The Five Pillars - Describes ancient ceremonies and practices, still sometimes used today. The names of The Four Golems differ from the ones used in modern Boulderism.

Book of Prayers - Describes basic prayers to The Four Golems, and their elements.

Orthodox Boulderism
Full article: Orthodox Boulderism

Boulder Books I to V - Tells us about the origin of early Boulderism, creation of the world and its eventual demise, and the ten commandments.

Modern Boulderism
The Boulder's Whisper - Tells us about the creation of the universe and how The Four Golems interacted with ancient humanity. Lists elements and commandments of each Golem.

Early Boulderism
After the Golden wars between Uldarash and Bardonia, a man named Bolton Yale, a wanderer, ventured around Haven to learn about the land. His companions, Edward Boyle and Schnoz, were far behind  him, and had to catch up on their travels. Bolton eventually went off of the roads and got lost. He made a small shelter in a cave, but he knew it would not save him. Lonely, tired, and hungry, he ventured out of the cave to face his fate. But instead of death, Bolton found guidance, a strange path of stones was presented in front of him. Curious as to what the path would lead to, he followed it, and eventually found the boulder in a clearing of the forest. It beckoned to him, and without hesitation, Bolton touched the boulder. In an instant he felt The Boulder’s presence and it whispered to him. Not only that, but it gave him new life and the knowledge of the past. He got to work on building a tavern in order to spread the word of The Boulder to everyone who visits. Eventually more people stopped to listen as they got their drinks. They heard Bolton’s stories and they too gathered near The Boulder and settled in their own houses, creating the first town of Boulderov, which was named Pedregal. Bolton communed with the Boulder more and more, being taught the lore of the world. And so the early Boulderism was born.

During Boulderov’s growth, a strange object followed by lots of fire was seen flying away from the ground and into the sky. This was later revealed to be the actions of a member of Huitca, who wanted to use pieces of the Moon for his own selfish reasons. This was done by the influence of a god of chaos that was locked away inside of the moon. Eventually this rocket that was intended to get the Moon's pieces slammed directly into it, shattering it to pieces. Following this, a large hunk of endstone hit the plains near Pedregal. The Pedregal's Cathedral has been built around this great boulder.

Modern Boulderism
On a rainy day Mimek heard the whispers coming from the boulder in the middle of Pedregal. It demanded a sacrifice. He quickly gathered all kinds of rocks and presented them in front of the boulder. He then heard a booming noise and in front of him a meteor of End Stone crashed into the Pedregal's boulder. After the dust settled he came closer, paying no mind to the flames surrounding it. Upon touching the meteorite he heard another whisper, telling him to slay a beast lurking in The End dimension. He slew the beast - the dragon, and brought its head from The End to Rathnir.

Years has passed with The Boulder remaining silent, but eventually Mimek received A Sign from Him, telling him to go venture to where it all started and ask for guidance. Mimek refused to clarify what that means. There they received two more Signs. Deciphering what those Signs meant and where do they lead them took a while, with few failed attempts, but eventually he arrived in the lands of Forest Gate, above The Unreachable Library. There he found a sphere, a boulder of primordial rock. The Boulder asked him to open it, but this task turned out to be near impossible. He prayed for many days, decorating its surroundings, and even setting up a house around the sphere, but he was powerless. Not knowing what to do next, during a rainfall by the Pedregal’s river he drank the Guardian Water and began fishing to clear up his head. With all those elements present that belong to Khanih Andesite Pax they sent out their helping hand in the form of a compass. It led Mimek to the Cathedral’s boulder. Upon stepping into the boulder, he felt his surroundings shift and once again he arrived at the primordial sphere. It has opened before him accompanied by thunderous strikes, although the opening was tiny. Crawling inside he found a peculiar block, indestructible like its shell with glimmering buttons on its side. He put upon it the compass and felt the need to see the Cathedral’s boulder once more. Inside the boulder was the most holy book. Its aura was oozing with the power of The Boulder and The Four Golems. Its pages were empty, impatiently craving to be filled with the truth that The Boulder shared with us. Over the course of few weeks Mimek spent days and nights filling them with everything he learnt and even filling them with something he didn't, like The Boulder was guiding his hands. And so the holiest book was called The Boulder's Whisper

The Boulder
The greatest and most powerful one. He does not reveal himself to any being and only interacts with others through whispers. Mysterious, omniscient, and omnipotent.

Core Commandments
Each of the Pillars has their own commandments, but they all share these ones:


 * 1) Never ridicule any deity.
 * 2) Make your creators proud.
 * 3) Don't utter a Pillar's name in vain.

Elsad Stone Jag - The Stone Golem
The god of stasis, determinism, and laws of physics. They are depicted as a humanoid made from stones perfectly balancing on top of each other in a scholar’s robe, holding a clock and a level. Elsad measures time the world has left to achieve equilibrium - eternal stasis.

They are popular among teachers, knowledgeable people, nihilists, and explorers. Their symbols include: stone, clock and a level, laws of physics, mathematics,

Elsad’s commandments:

 * 1) Understand the world around you.
 * 2) Learn and teach others.
 * 3) Your emotions shan't guide you. Be stoic.
 * 4) Predict events using facts and knowledge.
 * 5) You shall not gamble.

Hadstur Diorite Lem - The Diorite Golem
The god of chaos, passion, war, and fire. They are depicted as a jagged diorite armour, with flaming sword in one hand and blue and red vines wrapped around the other.

You can often find warriors, outgoing people, and law enforcers among their followers. It is said that The Diorite Golem loves alcohol, and how it burns their throat. Their symbols include: diorite, the Sun and stars, the Nether, weeping vines, Undead.

Hadstur’s commandments:

 * 1) Enjoy your life to its fullest.
 * 2) Never hide your thoughts and emotions.
 * 3) Let others express their opinion.

Khanih Andesite Pax - The Andesite Golem
The god of family, water, cold, air and art. They are depicted as an andesite human, with a jug in one hand pouring water to a cup in another.

Their followers are artists, explorers, peasants, and in general the most peaceful bunch. Their symbols include: andesite, jug, cups, water, conduit, brush

Khanih’s commandments:

 * 1) You shall not lie.
 * 2) You shall not cheat.
 * 3) Abstain from stimulants.

Omilfroyim Granite Araur - The Granite Golem
The god of life, civilization, and consciousness. They are depicted as a granite human covered in mist, with long green hair made of plants, with a bell in their left hand.

Their followers are townspeople, merchants, philosophers, caretakers, gardeners and hunters. Their symbols include: granite, leaves, bell,

Omilfroyim’s commandments:

 * 1) Obey the law.
 * 2) Contribute to society as society contributes to you.
 * 3) Show great respect to all that is living.
 * 4) Live your life to the fullest but recognize that death is a part of life.
 * 5) Recognize the beauty in differences.

The Myths
The Boulder whispered these stories to first boulderists through end stone meteorites.

The Creation
There was nothing in the abyss, only potential that could become everything. This potential eventually manifested itself into one being, one body, which we now call The Boulder. As he was everything, the universe itself, he tore off tiny parts of himself for creation to be possible. The first and the biggest one became a companion, another thinking being, yet tiny in comparison to The Boulder’s greatness - Elsad Stone Jag. They created spheres floating in the empty abyss and called them planets, and established rules on how the planets behaved in relation to another. Those rules were called the laws of physics.

The Boulder, pleased with the results, went on to mould three more beings. The first one, Hadstur Diorite Lem, created burning spheres of gas called stars, that lit up the dark and cold universe. The second one, Khanih Andesite Pax, covered the planets with water, as they deemed them to be getting too hot from stars’ light.

Inspired by The Boulder’s creations, the third being - Omilfroyim Granite Araur, tried to mould their own lesser beings to observe how they would shape the universe, but as soon as they were created, they died. Their bodies were too frail to endure the environment of the universe. Feeling determination, they went to try to create a dimension suitable for them. Khanih seeing their sibling’s effort, made a layer of protection around one planet, and asked Elsad to bring it to a balanced distance from Hadstur’s star. Elsad, impressed with the balance it provided to the world, went on to place all the planets on orbits around their stars and so solar systems and galaxies were formed.

Omilfroyim was called to come back to the overworld, and was presented with a perfect planet for Omilfroyim’s creations. Thanking the siblings for their efforts, they created all life: from tiniest microbes, to plants, to the biggest animals, and eventually humans.

Eventually humans found a piece that The Boulder tore off. It was a large boulder made out of a rock unknown to them - The End Stone. Through it, they heard whispers that taught them the truth of the universe. They began to call the one whispering to them The Boulder, and the four gods that accompany Him, The Four Golems. Combined, they are The Five Pillars.

Elsad’s Lessons
Early humans possessed some intelligence, yet not enough to build a civilisation. Elsad grew tired of observing how humanity only thought about their survival, and never about the great wonders of the world The Five Pillars created for them. Elsad through whispering stones encouraged cavemen to seek knowledge, and they obliged. Through their own efforts they created a great civilisation. Their magic was most powerful, their art beautiful, and their culture rich. They wrote some of their knowledge on obsidian tablets to conserve their wisdom until the end of times… which eventually came.

Hadstur’s Wrath
Ancient civilisation eventually developed portals to other dimensions. An obsidian portal led to the dimension created by Omilfroyim where they found endless caves. The other, forged with end stone, led to the center of the abyss, the domain of The Boulder, The End. Offended by their brassiness to enter The Boulder’s domain, Hadstur purged their civilization with fiery might, only leaving structures deep underground intact, like Strongholds. The Diorite Golem closed off the portals and trapped those living in Omilfroyim’s dimension without a way back. Hadstur then poured his flame into the dimension transforming it into a hellscape, now called The Nether. From now on, all descendants of those people were dragged there after their death, forced to roam the infernal dimension as undead for all eternity. The native people of The Nether eventually adapted to their new surroundings, growing long ears and snouts, becoming Pigmen.

Omilfroyim’s Compassion
Horrified to witness what became of their precious humans, Omilfroyim pleaded with Hadstur to have mercy on them. The Granite Golem argued that the descendants were innocent and those in The Nether suffered for long enough, and should be freed. Hadstur was not convinced, and assumed that they would make the same mistakes as their ancestors, and that he was merciful with sparing their lives. To free them, Omilfroyim proposed a deal. They gave Hadstur two seeds: one blue and one red. The warped blue seed would grow with the evil they commited, and the crimson red would grow with their good deeds. They betted that if the blue seed were to completely grow over The Nether then all of humanity would be punished by Hadstur, and if the red seed were to do the same, then all of humanity would ascend to The End. The undead were freed from The Nether and now can be rarely seen during the darkest of nights, as the sun burns them with Hadstur’s wrath.

The End and The Nether
Boulderites believe that after death, their soul goes to The End - a never changing landscape of end stone. It is believed that this dimension is the closest to The Boulder Himself. One of the common misconceptions is that the souls transform into endermen - that is not true. Early Endermen were oen of the first successful creation of Omilfroyim that survived the harsh universe, although they were not perfect. The Granite Golem let them live in The End, and over the million years they evolved into what we know today.

That wasn't always the case though. In early days of the universe The Nether was the only afterlife known to humans. A place of punishment for sins they committed during life. After agreement of Hadstur and Omilfroyim, humanity was granted permission to ascend to The End upon death, if they were deemed as good.

The Moon
Boulderites often pray to The Moon, as its core is a functioning portal to The End itself. After End Portals became unusable, and heaven during one's life unattainable, Boulderites turned their attention to The Moon - a giant boulder made out of end stone. Whenever a chunk of The Moon is found, a church is quickly constructed to give it a proper respect. The biggest chunk of The Moon on earth is found in Pedregal's Cathedral.

Construction of Altars
Boulderite altars are simple to made, use cheap materials, and little effort to construct. This streamlining of altars made them common throughout the world.

In the middle is the main altar - it is made of end stone, but if not accessible, stone or sandstone. In bottom left of the altar there is a block of stone, top left is diorite, top right is andesite, and finally, bottom right is granite. This arrangement of stones symbolises all of The Five Pillars. There is red cloth placed upon the altar, to symbolise goodness.

Instead of placing the main altar in the middle, some place it in front of the four pillars. That is also a valid arrangement.

Boulders
There are two boulders in Pedregal made out of end stone, presumed to be parts of the destroyed Moon. One is in the middle of the city and a giant one is in The Pedregal's Cathedral, On few occasions The Boulder whispered through them which always resulted in grand events.

There are also two floating rocky boulders in Pedregal defying laws of physics, probably blessed by Elsad himself. One is in west part of Pedregal and the other is floating above the end stone altar in The Pedregal's Cathedral.

There is a spherical, floating boulder made out of primordial rock somewhere in Syltör. Its origin is unknown, but its power is great.

The Boulder's Whisper
The holiest book, oozing with divine power of The Five Pillars. Its copies can rarely be found all over Rathnir, inheriting some of the power of the original.

Other Truths
The Boulder doesn't share his truth in just one way. Because of that there are few interpretations of his whispers.

The first interpretation is the ancient Boulderist religion, as seen in Ceremonies of The Five Pillars and The Book of Prayers.

The early Boulderism one is written in The Boulder Books. Bolton Yale, the first pope of Boulderism has written down the truths The Boulder shared with him onto few books, and compiled them into one - The Boulder Books. It is the widest spread Boulderism book.

The modern Boulderism is based on the newest truth as seen in this article and in The Boulder's Whisper.