ToxTo

ToxTo is the primarily religion or spiritual framework of Plo Tbrov. It is a realist religion, and emphases belief in the observable rather than the in-observable and superstition. It is not totally atheistic and doesn't fully follow the scientific method, often relying more on anecdote and leaning more in to animism, and som ToxTo believe in deities - but it does emphasise finding an understandable explanation rather than handwaving or magic.

## Divisions

### Orthodox ToxTo

The orthodox sect of the religion exists in the culturally Tbrov and T\*ches areas in the north of the Plo Tbrov peninsula.. They reject almost all deities, spirits and superstitions, though often attribute sentience in objects. Certain members of this sect, especially the members of the T\*ches subculture, a moral highground over other religions and other sects of ToxTo. There is no specific name for the more orthodox sect as they consider themselves the true believers of ToxTo, believing others are not - but T\*ches may be used derogatively for those being rude and pushing their beliefs down others' throats.

### Creole ToxTo

The creole sect (aka T^"xT^") of the religion exists primarily in the culturally culturally 5o~xT areas of Plo Tbrov, namely in the south and colonies. The main distinction is that it is syncretic and believers often have beliefs in other deities, spirits and traditions. This is justified by the argument that deities reveal themselves to people, and once seen can be believed in. Believers are often asked to prove that at least one person saw the deity in question, and complex chains of "who saw what" are often formed with difference of belief having to do with who trusts who - with religious leaders often having visions that their followers believe but that others do not. Families with ties outside of Plo Tbrov are much more likely to believe in the deity their relatives also believe in, although it is frowned upon to do this for purely familial reasons.

## Beliefs and Stories

The most prominent story/belief told amongst believers of ToxTo is the story of The King of Dreams. Debates are had as to the truth of it and the nature of The King of Dreams are often held, but it is strongly attested that it is true and respected members of the Council of Elders maintain that an Elder originally told it as truth and that Elders do not lie. Relics said to be from the story, such as a crown that seemingly depicts the story in shaped metal and a bag, are held within The Black Plethora Library (C'bro\*.Cbro\*.). Orthodox ToxTo tend to believe that it was some sort of extended hallucination, and that the artefacts are faked - but some believe that the King of Dreams is some form of entity whose nature is not fully known. Some T^"T^" (especially those few in the north) worship The King of Dreams as a spirit or minor deity, though some also consider Him to be a dead deity - worth a space in a pantheon but not direct worship.

### The King of Dreams

A ship set sail for far off lands, aboard were a captain, an elder and a dozen crew on hand. But they are not fortuitous and a storm gripped their ship. They fought to keep their ship afloat as waves crashed them this way and that, hurling one crewmate overboard. They braved the storm for many hours in the night and once it came to an end they found themselves in yet more misfortune for a sea mist had followed it only later that day. The sea mist was a patient enemy and they were left there, without sight of land for days on end... but it too did pass and when they finally got to see the stars again, the stars they looked upon were not the stars of their home seas and the gas giant hung strangely in the sky.

They sailed for days if not weeks until they saw in the distance the outline of a craggy shore, and they set sail for it.

As the crew make their way onto the foreign shore, they see a great jungle and what appears to be smoke from within. Taking the smoke as a sign of civilization, they move deeper into the rainforest, eventually running into a great lake of black water and a mighty city built atop it, as though it were floating. Entering the city, they find strange people. Many of them take the forms of familiar races, but some seem like jumbles between many different creatures and some are utterly alien. Their clothing seems to have no rhyme or reason, some being totally covered in layers upon layers of fur or dyed or patterned cloth while others wore little more than a loincloth, and some even walked completely naked (similarly, the architecture of the city lacked any rhyme or reason - thatched huts were cramped up against towering structures that stretched to the ends of the sky, and while some streets were so wide they were more like fields, some were so thin they seemed impossible to walk through). And strangest of all, despite being an utterly foreign city which none of the crew recognised, all the crewmembers understood every word of every conversation in the city - they all heard them in their own native tongues, though the conversations themselves were bizarre and hardly made any sense. And while no-one believed them, the sharp-eyed ship's lookout could've sworn he'd blinked and seen a passerby go from being humanoid to some horrific night creature with many claws...

As they made their way through the city, the confused crew grew tired and afraid of this bizarre foreign world. One crewmate said they missed their home and wished they could have their spouse's cooking, and before the crew's very eyes, a great feast appeared of every home-cooked meal imaginable - when the crewmate tasted it they were shocked, saying it tasted exactly like their spouse's food.

Another crewmate wished for riches and a great chest filled with unimaginable wealth appeared in their arms. Yet another wished they were home, and the disappeared before their very eyes. The crew grew very excited and was about to start wishing for all sorts of things, but the Elder rebuked them, saying they didn't understand the nature of these wishes yet and needed to learn more about them. They wished for an explanation, and before the crew smoke-like mist appeared to gather in a vaguely humanoid form wearing what appeared to be a crown, and from it's hands regal and confident signing came.

"I am the King of Dreams. Here you are, in the Land of The Mist, in my Royal Capital. When your ship was lost in the fog, you came across my country, where all your desires may come true. Stay here as long as you'd like, and wish for anything you want. But know that all you ask for should not be brought with you back to your homeland. Simply ask to go back, and I will grant your wish."

The reaction to this was mixed. A few didn't see the point if they couldn't keep their riches and immediately asked to be returned. Some were excited, spent a few days doing all that they wished, and then went back once they'd had their fair share. A few had little to live for back home and wished to be made permanent citizens of the Land of The Mist, which the King graciously granted. The Captain, however, was a greedy and power-hungry man, and wished for their own kingdom with endless wealth and all people beneath them, which the King of Dreams granted. The Elder saw this and feared that the Captain would usurp the King of Dreams and strand them in this strange land, so they wished for an object that would take them home if they ever touched it, which was granted in the form of a flawless diamond.

Eventually, the Captain's greed came to a head when they wished to become the King of Dreams, and the old King granted their wish, disappearing into mist upon the wind and leaving only His crown behind, which the foolish Captain snatched up and put on. They realised they could now break the one rule and return home with all the wealth they accrued in the Land of The Mist, so they wished to go home and retain everything they had wished for. When they disappeared from the Land of The Mist, the Royal Capital no longer had a King of Dreams to run it and immediately vanished, leaving its inhabitants, including the Elder and the crewmates who had become citizens, to fall into the black lake below. The bizarre denizens morphed into horrible creatures and nightmare things with gaping maws and fearsome teeth, who swallowed the crewmates-turned-citizens whole as they screamed in terror, condemning them to an eternal nightmare they would never wake from. The Elder simply took out the diamond they had kept for so long and touched it, and they w brought back from the Land of The Mist...

they awoke on the ship to find it in calm, still waters, with no blowing wind and no land in sight. they looked around, seeing many of the crewmates also awaking from what seemed to have been a long and restful sleep. they rubbed their eyes in exhaustion. Was that really all that the Land of The Mist was? Simply a strange dream they all shared after a magical storm? If it was all a dream, then that would explain why no one could bring anything with them back home... they walked up and down the ship - it seemed most people had woken up. But they quickly realised it was more than a dream. A few crewmates simply would not wake up no matter what. They recognised them as the ones that had fallen into the black lake, and the Captain seemed to be missing. All they found in their place was a bag and a golden crown.

When the crew opened the bag, all that was in was a fine mist that rose up into the ship's sails, and the ship began moving as though there was a wind blowing. The Elder forbade anyone from touching or wearing the crown, and the crew obeyed - they had an uneasy feeling about it. In less than an hour, the ship was brought back to the land from which it came, and the sailors finally collapsed onto its shores with much relief. The Elder simply wrapped up the crown in sheets and went to the Council, hoping to learn more about it from their peers.