Beetriaty

Overview
Beetriaty is a cult-like religion that believes in enlightening the world about beetroots and the true gods and catalyzing the Day of Reckoning (the end of the world). Beetrians however believe that they will be saved when the world is destroyed because of their faith. They believe that beetroots and cannibalism both give both power and knowledge and are the bridges between mankind, the underworld and the divine.

History
The actual origins and events in the history of Beetriaty are debated. This is the story that most Beetrians currently believe, but there is evidence to suggest it has changed a lot from the truth through the years.

Origins
Beetriaty originated in the catacombs of Solanaria, a city in Bardonia. Followers of Tuberism in Solanaria condemned the worshippers and consumers of the beetroot as they were committing 'heretical' acts. All 'alleged' beetroot consumers and worshippers, which is debated to have included a lot of the innocent non-religious population, were slaughtered or imprisoned in the city's dungeons where they were tortured or executed. All the corpses of the victims of the massacre were thrown into the lower levels of the catacombs where they would remain unseen for several years.

The ideology was founded when Jorgel and his Tuberist father Hipps descended into the catacombs where they found a cauldron of beetroot and human soup. The deity Cauldrax emerged from the cauldron and slayed Jorgel's father, before making Jorgel drink from the cauldron to see the truth. It spoke to Jorgel, reminding him of the massacre he saw the Tuberists commit as a child, and delivered him the message, "Through beetroot and blood they can all be saved."

These words are what caused Jorgel to devote himself to Beetriaty and spread its messages.

Fall of the founder
Soon after Jorgel would encounter the deity Bthoro. He raised a small cult of worshippers and joined with other enemies of Tuberism from elsewhere in Bardonia. His ultimate plan was to contaminate the entire vodka supply of the city of Solanaria with beetroot to enlighten the population. When his beetroot hoard was discovered by Tuberist authorities, the plan fell through. Soon after Jorgel was captured by the tyrant mayor Erian Seiz. He survived an execution but was mortally wounded with a stab to his heart in the ensuing battle between loyalists to Erian and rebel groups. At the end of his life, the cultists performed a ritual funeral with the founder's body.

Beliefs
Beetrians share few beliefs currently due to the religion still being in a primitive state, but amongst them are:

Sanctity of Beetroots
Beetroots are undisputedly an object of major importance in Beetriaty. The condemning of beetroots ultimately caused the deities to reveal themselves to man in hopes of ridding the world of beetroot hate, and the eating of beetroots can cause people to be spoken to and enlightened by the gods. This shows how beetroots are the main connection between humans, the underworld, and the divine.

Day of Reckoning
The Day of Reckoning is an idea shared and accepted by many faiths, but none look forward to the end of the world as much as Beetrians. Followers of Beetriaty anticipate that the rest of the world will be punished by the gods for their mistreatment of the Beetrians and Beetroot worshippers and ignorance of the gods. They believe that Beetrians themselves will be at one with the gods as they spectate the destruction of every last block in the world. It is believed that Bthoro, a huge horned deity will rise from the sea and overlook this destruction.

Cleansing of the Disbelievers
Beetrians believe it is their duty to rid the world of disbelievers. They will spread the word of Beetriaty and proselytize others, but if this fails, they will not hesitate to use violence against those who do not accept the way of the beetroot. This is based on the first message of Beetriaty, "Through Blood and Beetroot they can all be saved". Beetrians show particular violence towards Tuberists. The religion of Tuberism strongly condemns the worshipping of the beetroot. There is a recorded history of Beetroot worshipper execution in Tuberism's holy city of Port Solanaria occurring in many gruesome ways not limited to public beheading, genocide, imprisonment and starvation, torture, and burning at the stake. For this reason, violent plots against Tuberists are frequent in Beetrian History.

Practices
Similarly to beliefs, there are currently few practices.

Consumption of Beetroots
Beetrians should regularly eat beetroots to show their loyalty to the deities and love of the vegetable. This is one of the most basic practices done by Beetrians. Beetroots are most commonly eaten raw or cooked as a soup; some enjoy the delicacy of human blood in their beetroot soup. It is also believed the drinking of beetroot soup is a method of contact with the Gods, and that the deity Cauldrax's whispers can be heard within the soup.

Cannibalism & Corpses
Various species of intelligent life (humans, dwarves, elves etc.) can be eaten alive or dead so that they become part of the Beetrian. Beetrians will eat corpses and sacrifice them so that they and their deities grow in strength and knowledge.

Ritual Funeral
The traditional Beetrian funeral involves the removal of the heart of the Beetrian, which is then replaced by a beetroot. The body is then placed on a raft or vessel of some sort before being pushed out to sea. This ritual is based on the funeral of the founder. The idea is that the Beetrian will be united with Bthoro who lives at sea, and during the day of reckoning, because of their beetroot heart, they will be able to rise again and witness the destruction of the planet. The heart of the dead is often drained of all its blood which is drank by other cultists.

Bthoro
The giant horned deity Bthoro is believed to be the most powerful and the king of the Beetrian gods.

Appearance

Bthoro has two huge arching horns either side of his skull-like head, he has bright red skin and a human-like build with his chest open and exposing his ribs and heart, his heart has the appearance of a huge beetroot. Although he has only been seen from the waist up, Beetrians say that he is 100 metres tall.

History and Beliefs

He first appeared to Jorgel Rykuh, emerging out of the seas outside of Port Solanaria at the white cliffs of Syltor up to his waist. He appeared here again a second time, but only his head emerged above the water, to swallow the body of the founder during his ritual funeral. It is believed that Bthoro will swallow the bodies of all cultists who have gone through the correct ritual funeral (removal of the heart and replacement with a beetroot), so that they can be born again to watch him destroy the planet.

Cauldrax
The first deity to reveal itself and cause the beginning of Beetriaty.

Appearance

The deity is tall skinny and human-like in appearance. It does however have red-skin, six arms, two horns and an extremely gaunt, almost skull-like head. The deity moves by crawling with its six arms, and dwells inside of cauldrons of beetroot and human soup.

History and Beliefs

This deity crawled out a cauldron of soup to kill the founder's father and convert him to Beetriaty. It is believed the whispers of this deity are contained within the soup he dwells in, and can often be heard by those drinking beetroot soup.