Religions of Aerathiea

## **The Religions of Aerathiea**

Worship of the central sun of Sirath, her consort Moloth and her children, the sisters had been practiced in Aerathiea for at least the past 20,000 years at least.  There are some Fey records that go back to a legend of an ancient migration that they undertook 80,000 years ago to escape the sinking of their land into the sea, But records that far back are sketchy at best, even for a race that can live for 1000's of years.

**Omnus Musteria** or “Universal Mystery” is the reformation religious order that has swept

   Aerathiea over the last 2000 years.   Brought to Aerathiea by an army of Iberian soldiers chasing the Mayan through underground passages for their gold.  The Maya being displaced Nilori, saw no recourse than to follow the ancient paths when they were beaten and attacked by the more organized and technologically savvy Spaniards and Portuguese who called themselves "conquerors."  When these conquistadores chasing the Maya arrived in Aerathiea, it took them many years to adapt and assimilate.  When it was clear they were not going back they first tried to spread the Christian gospel to natives in the local area and continued the only means of conquest they understood - Brutality.  Infighting between the Spanish and Portuguese factions of their community almost destroyed them.   In order to survive they threw off the mantle of old ways, declared themselves all Iberians and adopted a new tolerance for their own kind.

As they took wives and assimilated with the natives and the languages and customs began to blend, they evolved their religion as an amalgam of the old Christian ways, blended with insights from their new world.  Over the next 200 years, calling themselves the Casteen, they grew and prospered and honed their new religion and it became the dominate force through their entire province.  Over the course of the next 1300 years, they spread out, factionalized and were beaten back many times through the course of many allegiances and many wars.  It was very hard to maintain a foothold against many races of what the Casteen always thought were savages, other races that could only be described as demons, dragons and more mundane Jurassic competition.
It wasn’t until the expedition of Grumm, Waite and Ostwald that brought airship technology to Aerathiea.  Grumm had the help of the Nilori to get him back home and Oswald traded the technology to the Casteen for his life that they adapted to the ship building that they were already so good at.  Now both sides have had 500 years of mastering airship building.

### **The Original Mystery - Nagath**

The religion of Nagath  or The Universal Mystery is a narrative about how the five sisters were all sent to Aerathiea, each with a universal virtue of gratitude, hope, kindness, service, and trust and spread love and compassion across the universe and teach all species to do the same. (there is no word for “world” as separate from “universe”, it is all one thing.)

### **The Reformation - Muster**

The Reformation movement or New Revelations of Omnus Musteria  teach that these five sisters were raped and murdered for their virtue by their brother Moloth which makes him reviled by the church.  Now, permanently ensconced in the heavens, they are reunited with their mother Sirith and the Universal drama unfolds every month where Moloth consumes one or more of them but is eventually beaten back by the mother.

Converts to Omnus Musteria are encouraged to live a life of virtue, emulating the five sisters to the best of their abilities, forsaking an earlier life of hedonism.  They are encouraged to procreate but to be sober and thoughtful in all things and never give themselves into to drunken lusts.  It is a religion open to all species - except the Fey of course, as they have no souls.

### **Omnus Exotheosia**

Means “The doctrine of authority” and is the authoritative arm of Omnus Musteria.  They are given the authority by the Holy See at Darak Solon (“The tower of seeing”) to hold council and spread the Universal Mystery to the entire universe.

### **Pope Clemonte**

Pope Clemonte is the current sitting Pontiff for Omnus Musteria Filian

###

### **Harnor-Everoth**

The Holy House of Harnor-Everoth is the reforging of the original, proud clan of House Davici to become the mouthpiece, lantern and sword of Omnus Musteria, the Universal Truth.  The Musteria was revealed almost two thousand Morae ago.  It is the Universal truth handed down by the sisters, immortalized in the sky above us.

### **The Five Sisters**

   The newer religion tends to depreciate the Sirath / Moloth worship as “Pagan” in favor of the 5 sisters.  The sisters are moons that orbit closer and faster to Sirath, “dancing” and constantly flitting around, but, like young girls, never leaving their mother’s protection.  Since they are faster moving, closer to Sirath and further from the observer, most people see them only as points of light, flitting around the sun.  There are numerous other particles of debris that can be seen via telescope but since the 5 sisters can be seen to be rocky planetoids, virtually identical to Moloth, the use of telescopes or any other optically enhancing technology in areas under Church protection is strictly prohibited, or in the very least, licensed only to trained Church observers.
The more learned establishments that are not under Church protection see them for what they are.  In the polar regions, it is clearly obvious that the 5 sisters orbit Sirath. Of course, the Church discourages such expeditions of discovery as fruitless and needlessly channeling resources from the blessed work of the Church.

### **The old religions**

    There is a magical aura to the old religious order.  Adepts are able to do things

that normals cannot explain.  These “powers” are more fully understood by the Fey, Asari and Emperor Drakkor who are most likely the original inhabitants.  Nilori and Dranoki arrived later and do not seem to have as high a latent ability to possess these gifts, but there are groups that foster hidde

n talents among clans.  It is something to be hidden and repressed now and practiced in secret as long as the far reaching eyes and arms of the church are present.

Among the Nilori, there is a propensity toward regeneration and healing.  An adept in the art can go into a trance and recover very easily from a knife wound and has on occasion been known to regenerate limbs, though this generally takes many months.  They are also known for their uncanny speed, agility and almost un-nilor like hunting skills and weapons mastery.

    Recently things have gotten more out of hand as a band of Technologists calling themselves techno-mages have demonstrated powers of their own that are not explainable by the masses of inhabitants of Aerathiea.  These techno-mages go from village to village offering their services in exchange for converting people to an alternative religion, no longer based on the mother/son but on something deeper and darker.  It is feared through their wanderings and meddling that they may have awakened one of the “old ones.”
**The Incarnate Daughter** - Highest Priestess of the old religion.

### **The Old Ones**

    Right out of Lovecraftian Mythos.  The old ones would be the race that the Asari battled about 70 million years ago that led to the destruction of both home worlds and the creation of the Protectorate that the Asari are being forced to begrudgingly maintain.

### **Passage to Xion**

The church discourages any acknowledgment of the ancient religions and actively pursues and punishes anyone within its influence that breaks these laws.  The church controls about 1/4 of the land area of Aerathiea in one way or another.

There is an ancient prophecy about Judgment day from the old religion that speak of standing in the shadow of Moloth and allowing him to judge your soul / worthiness on the last day and all those that are found worthy will cross the rainbow bridge into the promised land.

This is of course a wormhole that opens up a a specific date at a specific time that creates a bridge between Earth and Jupiter when the Moon and Io are also perfectly in conjunction.

There is a specific square that is now controlled by the church that people would have to be standing on a specific time to be part of this transference.